This hour, we’ll talk about how we got to now with American Museum of Natural History curator Ian Tattersall.
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Finding Constants In A Changing Constitution
What would the Founding Fathers think of our interpretation of the Constitution? We’ll ask the question to Carol Berkin, professor of history at Baruch College and author of ‘The Bill of Rights: The Fight to Secure America’s Liberties.’
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Reviewing Reagan
Ronald Reagan guided the U.S. through the last days of the Cold War and ushered in a new breed of conservatism that still reverberates today. We’ll take inventory of his legacy this hour with biographer H.W. Brands.
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A Full Inventory Of Our 44th Presidency
We’ll spend this hour with David Bromwich, whose essay in the June issue of Harper’s is “What Went Wrong: Assessing Obama’s Legacy.”
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Running From The Nazis, Together
It took Anthony Doerr 10 years to write his novel about a blind French girl and a German boy in exile during the Nazi occupation in France. He won a Pulitzer for it.
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How NASA Helped End Segregation
While NASA’s primary mission in the 1960s was to go to the moon, it also wanted to improve the economy and use its program for social change.
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From Bacon to ‘Charlotte’s Web’
This hour, we’ll talk about the relationship between humans and pigs with Mark Essig, author of Lesser Beasts: A Snout-to-Tail History of the Humble Pig.
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Alexander Graham Bell On Tape
Anytime you check your voicemail or call Grandma, thank c. This hour, from NPR headquarters in Washington, we’ll talk about the father of the telephone — and his other pioneering works — with Carlene Stephens, curator of the National Museum of American History exhibition “Hear My Voice: Alexander Graham Bell and the Origins of Recorded Sound.”
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So Long, Saigon
The documentary “Last Days in Vietnam” illustrates the tough choices facing American troops during the chaotic final days of the war. This hour, we’ll talk about the film with its director, Rory Kennedy, and producer Keven McAlester.
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Weighty Issues
We’ll talk about our national obsession with thinness with the author of “Body of Truth: How Science, History, and Culture Drive Our Obsession with Weight – and What We Can Do About It.”
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Getting To Know Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs is remembered as a visionary innovator whose relentless drive once alienated him from the Apple family. This hour, we’ll talk about how the arrogant genius ultimately changed the lives of billions across the world with Rick Tetzeli, co-author of “Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader.”
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Women Spies In The Civil War
This hour, we’ll get to know a socialite, farmer, abolitionist and widow who each knew how to dig up a secret with Karen Abbott. She profiles them in her book, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War.
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