Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchProfessor Dante Lauretta discusses his book The Asteroid Hunter and his early career at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, recalling how mentor Mike Drake and Lockheed Martin recruited him in 2004 for a daring asteroid sample retu
Season 8 Episode 463
Professor Dante Lauretta discusses his book The Asteroid Hunter and his early career at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, …
2 weeks, 3 days ago
James Shapiro reflects on the sad later lives of Flanagan and Dies, and debunks a legend involving Orson Welles and a critic of Voodoo Macbeth.
Season 8 Episode 462
James Shapiro reflects on the sad later lives of Flanagan and Dies, and debunks a legend involving Orson Welles and a critic of Voodoo Macbeth.
2 weeks, 3 days ago
James Shapiro describes how the Dies Committee targets Director Hallie Flanagan using dubious testimony from Hazel Huffman to brand the Federal Theatre Project's plays as communist propaganda.
Season 8 Episode 462
James Shapiro describes how the Dies Committee targets Director Hallie Flanagan using dubious testimony from Hazel Huffman to brand the Federal Thea…
2 weeks, 3 days ago
James Shapiro details how Congressman Martin Dies used the House Un-American Activities Committee to attack the Federal Theatre Project to gain political power and media fame.
Season 8 Episode 462
James Shapiro details how Congressman Martin Dies used the House Un-American Activities Committee to attack the Federal Theatre Project to gain poli…
2 weeks, 3 days ago
James Shapiro discusses Federal Theatre Project plays like One-Third of a Nation, which critiqued housing inequality, and Liberty Deferred, a never-produced play about lynching in America.
Season 8 Episode 462
James Shapiro discusses Federal Theatre Project plays like One-Third of a Nation, which critiqued housing inequality, and Liberty Deferred, a never-p…
2 weeks, 3 days ago
James Shapiro recounts how the Federal Theater simultaneously staged Sinclair Lewis's anti-fascist play It Can't Happen Here across American cities after Hollywood studios rejected the film adaptation.
Season 8 Episode 462
James Shapiro recounts how the Federal Theater simultaneously staged Sinclair Lewis's anti-fascist play It Can't Happen Here across American cities …
2 weeks, 3 days ago
James Shapiro details Welles's innovative Voodoo Macbeth, its anti-fascist themes, the racial condescension of white critics, and the production's massive success and subsequent national tour across America.
Season 8 Episode 462
James Shapiro details Welles's innovative Voodoo Macbeth, its anti-fascist themes, the racial condescension of white critics, and the production's m…
2 weeks, 3 days ago
James Shapiro explains how Rose McClendon and John Houseman established the Negro Unit, hiring a young Orson Welles to direct the revolutionary Macbeth production in Harlem.
Season 8 Episode 462
James Shapiro explains how Rose McClendon and John Houseman established the Negro Unit, hiring a young Orson Welles to direct the revolutionary Macb…
2 weeks, 3 days ago
James Shapiro discusses the historic 1936 Harlem premiere of Macbeth, the Federal Theater Project's creation under Harry Hopkins and Hallie Flanagan, and its significance for democracy during the Depression era.
Season 8 Episode 462
James Shapiro discusses the historic 1936 Harlem premiere of Macbeth, the Federal Theater Project's creation under Harry Hopkins and Hallie Flanagan…
2 weeks, 3 days ago
Matthew Shindell outlines the history of robotic exploration, from Mariner to Ingenuity, while noting the political and technical hurdles facing future human missions to Mars.
Season 8 Episode 461
Matthew Shindell outlines the history of robotic exploration, from Mariner to Ingenuity, while noting the political and technical hurdles facing futu…
2 weeks, 3 days ago