David Reynolds, professor of international history at Christ’s College, Cambridge and fellow of the British Academy, joins us to talk about Brexit in this historical context.
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A Vice-President’s Dream (Or Nightmare)
Jared Cohen, adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins us to talk about the vice-presidents who rose to the occasion when the president they served under died – and the ones who didn’t.
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The Evolution Of Protests
Peniel E. Joseph, founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas at Austin, joins us to talk about how these protests resemble demonstrations of the Civil Rights era – and how social media and video footage have changed how people protest.
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Meet The Woman Pilots of WWII
Katherine Sharp Landdeck, associate professor of history at Texas Woman’s University and a Guggenheim Fellow at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, joins us to talk about these trailblazing female aviators.
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Science Denial Is Nothing New (Ask Galileo)
Mario Livio, astrophysicist and author, joins us to talk about Galileo Galilei, who revolutionized science and, because of it, endured condemnation and accusations of heresy.
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The Year Our World Became Global
Yale historian Valerie Hansen joins us to talk about the long, winding path to this modern life.
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A Black Woman Tracks Down Her White Founding Father
Bettye Kearse joins us to talk about tracing her own heredity, which lead her to an enslaved woman and a head of state.
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Inventing The Wheel (The First Time)
Science writer Cody Cassidy joins us to tell the stories of people who changed how we live in ways big and small.
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What Our Clothes Reveal About Us
Shahidha Bari, professor of fashion cultures and histories at the London College of Fashion, joins us to talk about what we’re telling the world when we put on a ballgown – or a pair of worn-out jeans.
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A Nine Letter Word For Diversion: Crossword
Adrienne Raphel joins us to talk about how these newspaper throw-ins became a fixture of daily life.
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MLK and Malcolm X Were More Alike Than You Realize
Peniel E. Joseph, founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the University of Texas at Austin, joins us to talk about the relationship between the most recognized leaders of the Civil Rights era.
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When Science Misses The Forest For The Trees
Lulu Miller, co-founder of NPR’s “Invisibilia,” joins us to talk about her study of the first president of Stanford University, a taxonomist obsessed with fish, and how his discoveries — and ultimately his intellectual myopia — helped her to make sense of her own world.
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