Elizabeth Mitchell joins us to discuss an incendiary, false story published in two newspapers during the Civil War and how it became a battle of the press vs. the president.
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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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The Violent Path To Emancipation
H. W. Brands, Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, joins us to talk about a man who called for change via murder and another who looked to Washington for solutions.
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James Baker: American Power Broker
Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent for The New York Times, joins us to talk about Baker’s close and competitive friendship with George H.W. Bush – and about his diplomatic work that reshaped the world in the last quarter of the 20th Century.
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Does Voting Really Have To Be This Hard?
This hour, we’ll talk about mail-in ballots and the actual risk of voter fraud. We’ll hear from a former state redistricting chairman about how dividing up voting districts is much more complicated than you might think. And we’ll talk about ongoing efforts to fight voter suppression.
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A Former FBI Deputy Director On The Russian Threat
Peter Strzok served as deputy director of the counterintelligence division and received the bureau’s highest investigative honor, the Director’s Award for Excellence. He joins us to talk about his career tracking Russian interference – and about his very public firing after President Trump took office.
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The Deterioration Of US-China Relations
Mary Gallagher, director of the International Institute at the University of Michigan, joins us to discuss the current state of U.S.-China relations and what it would take for the relationship to improve.
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Stuck At Home, Rick Steves Dreams Of Europe
Rick Steves, the host of the PBS series “Rick Steves Europe” joins us to virtually whisk us away to bucolic cobble stone streets and dramatic Alpine views.
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Main Streets As The Beating Hearts Of Communities
Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove, professor of urban policy and health at The New School, joins us to talk about how physical spaces are turned into communities, from her research in 178 cities across 14 countries.
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A Look At The Past And Present Of Illness In The White House
Jeffrey Engel is the founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. He joins us to talk about how previous administrations have communicated with the public about the health of the president.
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In Politics, The Loneliest Place Is The Middle
P.J. O’Rourke is a contributing editor at the Weekly Standard, a Cato Institute fellow and editor-in-chief of the web magazine American Consequences. He joins us to talk about how before we return to civility, we first must return to sanity.
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How We Might Fix Election Security
Journalist Benjamin Wofford joins us to talk about Texas election administrator Dana DeBeauvoir, who partnered with the tech world to build a safer election system.
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