Harvard Business School historian Nancy Koehn explains why history’s exceptional leaders prove that the greatest of leaders aren’t born – they’re made.
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America’s Battle With The Bottle
Christopher Finan joins us to tell the stories of Iroquois leader Handsome Lake, prohibitionist Carrie Nation, AA founders Bill Wilson and Bob Smith and others who’ve tried to get America sober.
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Life As A Tudor
Historian Ruth Goodman joins us to talk about the ups and downs of English life during the reign of Henry VIII, which she writes about in “How to Be a Tudor: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Tudor Life.”
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The History of American Hiking
Silas Chamberlin joins us to talk about how the 19th Century urban walking clubs developed into a leisure activity practiced in every state in the union.
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The General Vs. The President
This hour, we’ll talk with H.W. Brands, chair of the history department at UT-Austin, about his new book “The General vs. The President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War.”
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The Battle Of Chosin
This hour, we’ll talk about how the the fight at Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War set the course for American foreign policy with historian Hampton Sides. He contributed to the American Experience documentary “The Battle of Chosin,” which airs Nov. 1 on KERA-TV.
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Stalin's Last American Spy
This hour, we’ll talk about how Noel Field betrayed his country to become one of Joseph Stalin’s top spies – only to have the tables turned on him by the KGB. We’ll be joined by Kati Marton, who tells the story in “True Believer: Stalin’s Last American Spy.”
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Esperanto: A Universal Language
This hour, we’ll talk about the invention – and ultimate failure – of Esperanto with Princeton professor Esther Schor, author of “Bridge of Words: Esperanto and the Dream of a Universal Language” (Metropolitan Books).
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The History Of Parkland Hospital
This hour, we’ll talk about Parkland Hospital’s storied past with Dr. John Boyd, and anesthesiologist who trained at Parkland who has written a new history of the hospital.
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Alcohol And America
We’ll talk about the influence booze has had on our nation with Susan Cheever, author of “Drinking in America: Our Secret History.”
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Weighty Issues
We’ll talk about our national obsession with thinness with the author of “Body of Truth: How Science, History, and Culture Drive Our Obsession with Weight – and What We Can Do About It.”
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The Urbanization Of Texas
Since World War II, most Texans have moved from rural areas to cities. This hour, we’ll talk about how politics and economics fueled the change with David G. McComb, author of “The City in Texas: A History.”
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