Monica L. Smith, professor of anthropology at UCLA, joins us to explain how the development of cities – from Mesopotamia to the present – is strongly linked to the prosperity of humankind as a whole.
Read more
A Marine Revisits The Battlefield
Veteran and writer Elliot Ackerman joins us to talk about the people he met upon returning to the Middle East after previous military tours.
Read more
The Heartbreak that Shaped Barbara Bush
USA Today’s Susan Page joins us to talk about how former first lady Barbara Pierce Bush wielded power behind the scenes– as both the wife of a president and the mother of one, too.
Read more
Fat Phobia’s Racist Origins
University of California, Irvine sociologist Sabrina Strings joins us to talk about how societal attitudes towards fatness – particularly when it comes to black women – became increasingly negative in the years that followed.
Read more
The Racial Message Of Public Monuments
Kirk Savage joins us to talk about how Confederate monuments came to dominate public spaces.
Read more
When The U.S. Invaded Canada
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson joins us to revisit the major players and the battles in The Revolutionary War from a 21st Century perspective.
Read more
Why Beef Is What’s For Dinner
Notre Dame visiting professor Joshua Specht joins us to recount the complex history – filled with exploitation and innovation – of the beef we consume.
Read more
Why Are Laws Hard To Change? Follow The Money
Princeton sociology professor Paul Starr joins us to talk about how concentrated wealth is often at the root of societal stagnation.
Read more
Supreme Court Nominations As Senate Proxy War
Michael Kirk joins us to talk about how a fairly uneventful process of a Supreme Court nominee unanimously approval became ground zero for partisan conflict.
Read more
How Political Is The Roberts Court?
Joan Biskupic joins us to talk about Chief Justice John Roberts’ commitment to conservative principles and his dedication to preserving the court’s image.
Read more
Is Racism Still A Problem? Depends Who You Ask
Juliana Horowitz joins us to talk about how Americans’ views on race break down across racial lines, which she researched for the Race in America 2019 survey from the Pew Research Center.
Read more
Why Societies Recover– or Don’t– from Crises
Pulitzer Prize-winner Jared Diamond joins host us to talk about his latest effort on the topic, which looks specifically at why some countries recover from trauma while others don’t.
Read more