Best-selling author Brenden Slocum discuss themes of authorship, authenticity and art from his novel about uncovering the truth about a composer’s legacy.
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The alliances and rivalries of Cold War-era journalists
Journalism professor Kathryn J. McGarr joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why the media after WWII often presented a monolithic view of the world while keeping their readers and listeners in the dark about the truth.
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The devilish decade: A look back at the 2000s
Critic Kristian Vistrup Madsen makes the case that the aughts were marked by sexualization, obscenity and war – and why we ate it up.
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Winning WWII didn’t win Black military members their civil rights
Matthew Delmont, a history professor at Dartmouth College, joins guest host John McCaa to discuss the Black leaders who shined a light on the racism at home after fighting fascism abroad.
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The case for Europe acting like an empire
Oxford professor Timothy Garton Ash makes the case that to stabilize the continent, the E.U. must embrace some imperial characteristics.
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What Holocaust education misses
Dara Horn joins host Krys Boyd to discuss why focusing on the atrocities of WWII hasn’t stopped growing antisemitism today – and to offer ways we need to expand education about Jewish life to combat it.
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Is beauty always worth the pain?
Katy Kelleher, a contributor to Paris Review, pulls back the curtain on the luxuries we long for – from flowers to gems – to show beauty doesn’t come without a price.
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The purr-plexing evolution of cats
Jonathan B. Losos joins us to discuss the evolution of our feline friends and explore the relationship we humans have with Felis catus.
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Studying the universe before there was light
Emma Chapman, a Royal Society research fellow at the University of Nottingham, discusses the 100 million years missing from the timeline of the universe, and efforts to uncover the secrets of the stars.
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Untangling the true story of a scandalous shipwreck
New Yorker staff writer David Grann joins us to discuss a British warship called the Wager, which wrecked in Patagonia in the 1740s, and the conflicting stories of its surviving castaways.
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What really happened to the Branch Davidians
Author Jeff Guinn joins guest host John McCaa to discuss the failed 1993 ATF siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas.
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The trauma of slavery did not end with Emancipation
Kidada E. Williams, a history professor at Wayne State University, tells the stories of people trying to rebuild their lives after slavery, and how for many, life was still extremely difficult in the years that followed.
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