Silas Chamberlin joins us to talk about how the 19th Century urban walking clubs developed into a leisure activity practiced in every state in the union.
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How Play Made The World
We discuss how history has been shaped by the pursuit of amusement with Steven Johnson, creator of the PBS series “How We Got to Now.”
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The Republic Of Spin
This hour, we’ll talk about how every administration since then has used presidential press conferences as opportunities to craft the messages they want the American public to hear with Rutgers University presidential historian David Greenberg. He writes about the topic in “Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency”
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The Investigation Of Crocker Land
This hour, we’ll talk about how a team of explorers endured everything from blizzards to disease to a drunken sea captain with University of Central Arkansas history professor David Welky, author of “A Wretched and Precarious Situation: In Search of the Last Arctic Frontier.”
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Treasures Of The Earth
This hour, we’ll talk about how humans throughout time have turned to the Earth for the materials that power our civilization, the subject of the new NOVA series “Treasures of the Earth: Gems, Metals and Power,” which airs tonight on KERA-TV.
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The General Vs. The President
This hour, we’ll talk with H.W. Brands, chair of the history department at UT-Austin, about his new book “The General vs. The President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War.”
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The Rise Of Populism
This hour, we’ll talk about how populists movements form and gain momentum with John B. Judis, author of “The Populist Explosion: How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics.”
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The Battle Of Chosin
This hour, we’ll talk about how the the fight at Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War set the course for American foreign policy with historian Hampton Sides. He contributed to the American Experience documentary “The Battle of Chosin,” which airs Nov. 1 on KERA-TV.
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Change For Cuba
This hour, we’ll talk about what it’s like to visit Cuba today – and about if the country is ready for the influx of tourists – with Cynthia Gorney. Her story “Here Comes a Wave of Change for Cuba” appears in the November issue of National Geographic magazine.
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The Last Laugh
This hour, we’ll talk about if it will ever not be “too soon” to crack a joke about the Holocaust with Ferne Pearlstein. She explores one of comedy’s most taboo topics with Mel Brooks, Louis C.K., Chris Rock and other comedians in her documentary “The Last Laugh,” which screens Thursday as part of Videofest.
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Stalin's Last American Spy
This hour, we’ll talk about how Noel Field betrayed his country to become one of Joseph Stalin’s top spies – only to have the tables turned on him by the KGB. We’ll be joined by Kati Marton, who tells the story in “True Believer: Stalin’s Last American Spy.”
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Esperanto: A Universal Language
This hour, we’ll talk about the invention – and ultimate failure – of Esperanto with Princeton professor Esther Schor, author of “Bridge of Words: Esperanto and the Dream of a Universal Language” (Metropolitan Books).
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