Peniel Joseph is the Barbara Jordan Chair in Political Values and Ethics at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. He joins us to assess the current push for racial equality – from the election of Barack Obama to Black Lives Matter.
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Everybody hates gerrymandering, but it’s here to stay
Professor Nick Seabrook joins guest host John McCaa to discuss the history of gerrymandering — even Abraham Lincoln was a victim — and why it’s not so easy to mitigate its effects today.
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Meet the migrant rebels who sparked the Mexican Revolution
Historian Kelly Lytle Hernandez joins guest host John McCaa to discuss the Magónistas – brothers who fought for anarchy against the Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz – and the very wealthy U.S. business owners they angered along the way.
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Why we can trace today’s America to Reconstruction
Kermit Roosevelt III, a professor of Constitutional law, joins guest host John McCaa to talk about how Abraham Lincoln’s vision of America and the Reconstruction period that followed served as a course correction.
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The people who inspired the Founding Fathers
Historian Marilynne Robinson joins guest host John McCaa for a look at the people and events that shaped the Founding Fathers’ principles.
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When did parenting get so competitive?
Andrew Bomback is an associate professor of medicine at Columbia University. He offers advice on how to break free of the intense cultural pressure surrounding parenting.
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The pioneering plastic surgeons of WWI
Science writer Lindsey Fitzharris joins us to tell the story of Harold Gillies, a plastic surgeon who established one of the first hospitals for facial reconstruction as he worked to heal both body and soul.
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The moments that made their mark on music
Pianist Stuart Isacoff joins us to talk about the history of Western music, guiding us through how the sounds we hear have changed, and how politics and religion pushed their trajectories.
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The legendary hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson
Prof. Thomas S. Kidd joins guest host John McCaa to discuss the ways Thomas Jefferson diverged from his own moral compass, from owning enslaved people to religion, and how it complicates the portrait of a man we know from history books.
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The power of statues for those who take them down
Historian Samuel Biagetti joins us to talk about the historical patterns of iconoclasm and why he believes many statues honoring controversial figures have been torn down in recent years.
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Black Native Americans work to reclaim their identity
Journalist Caleb Gayle talks about the struggle for Black Creeks to regain tribal recognition, how the government was involved, and how Black Creeks see themselves today.
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Imagine finding a T. Rex
David K. Randall, a reporter for Reuters, tells the story of Barnum Brown’s discovery of the T-rex and how this discovery amazed the world.
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