Have private corporations taken over the U.S. government? We’ll talk this hour with Allison Stanger, author of “One Nation Under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy” (Yale University Press, 2009).
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The Assassination of JFK
Can you remember the assassination of President Kennedy? Or does your knowledge of that tragic moment come from a history textbook rather than news reports or firsthand accounts? We’ll spend this hour with Tom Jennings, executive producer of the new documentary “The Lost JFK Tapes,” and Gary Mack, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, where the film will have its premiere tomorrow night before airing nationally on the National Geographic Channel.
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A Search for America's Christmas Present
Is Frisco, Texas, the capitol of over-the-top Christmas excess? We’ll talk this hour with Washington Post pop culture writer Hank Stuever, author of the new book, “Tinsel: A Search for America’s Christmas Present” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009).
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India's Harvest of Water
Is an ambitious new water system in India a viable alternative to monsoon season for the nation’s farmers? We’ll talk with Sara Corbett, whose article “A Harvest of Water” appears in this month’s issue of National Geographic Magazine.
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The Life and Legacy of Archimedes
How much do you know about the man who leaped from his bathtub exclaiming “Eureka!” on discovering a scientific principle that, today, allows a balloon to fly? We’ll talk this hour with biographer Alan Hirshfeld, whose new book is “Eureka Man: The Life and Legacy of Archimedes” (Walker and Company, 2009).
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The Fall of the Wall
Twenty years ago this week the Berlin Wall came down, signaling the beginning of the end for the Soviet Empire. We’ll discuss that historic moment and how it still reverberates today with James F. Hollifield, Ph.D., Professor and Director of SMU’s Tower Center for Political Studies. In the ArtandSeek segment, we’ll talk with Miguel Harth Bedoya, Music Director of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.
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The Fall of the Soviet Empire
How did the collapse of the USSR’s European empire happen so quickly and peacefully in the waning months of the 80s? We’ll talk to Victor Sebestyen, author of “Revolution 1989: The Fall of the Soviet Empire” (Pantheon, 2009).
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A Law Enforcement View of Terrorism
What challenges do security experts face when an individual terrorist can pose as much threat as a powerful rogue nation? This hour we’ll discuss the law enforcement view of terrorism with Oliver “Buck” Revell, President of Revell Group International and former Associate Deputy Director of the FBI. He’s in town to speak at the World Affairs Council of Dallas Fort Worth.
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The Battles That Saved South Korea From Extinction
Why is the Korean War often overlooked in the canon of American military history? We’ll spend this hour with Bill Sloan, author of the new book “The Darkest Summer: Pusan and Inchon 1950: The Battles That Saved South Korea – and the Marines – From Extinction” (Simon and Schuster, 2009).
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The Influence of Abigail Adams
As wife of the nation’s second president and mother of the sixth, Abigail Adams influenced the founding days of the United States, but who was she really? We’ll talk this hour with Woody Holton, author of “Abigail Adams” (Free Press, 2009), a new biography on America’s second First Lady.
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Shoah as Turning Point
How does the Holocaust continue to affect us today? We’ll spend this hour with Elliott Dlin, executive director of the Dallas Holocaust Museum, and Rick Halperin, director of SMU’s Human Rights Education Program. They are part of a series of events on “Holocaust Legacies: Shoah as Turning Point” this fall at SMU.
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The Inside Story of Barack Obama's Historic Victory
How did a grassroots political movement forever change the way that presidential campaigns are run? We’ll talk with David Plouffe, political strategist and author of the new book, “The Audacity to Win: The Inside Story and Lessons of Barack Obama’s Historic Victory” (Viking, 2009).
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