Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchFirst historian Herodotus knew the power of story
For someone who died more than 2,400 years ago, Herodotus's voice is still very much alive. "He knows the way [a good story] can elevate but also corrupt and destroy our thinking," says professor Lin…
Published on 4 weeks ago
Hope lies in knowing that "we've changed the world before”
Political analyst Rachel Maddow and author/activist Rebecca Solnit are sharp observers of Trump 2.0. They both share a common ground: opposition to anti-democratic actions taken by the second adminis…
Published on 4 weeks, 1 day ago
How mind-bending theories could solve mysteries in physics
Physics has been full of astonishing discoveries over the past century. But they open up even bigger mysteries that scientists are working feverishly to explain. What is dark energy? And why is the e…
Published on 1 month ago
To fix America's caste system, acknowledge it exists: author
The true story of America is that it was built on a caste system comparable to India’s, says Pulitzer-prize-winning American journalist Isabel Wilkerson. The author argues that it's key to recognize …
Published on 1 month ago
Mexican fiction turns drug kingpins into vicious vampires
There’s a burgeoning genre of fiction coming from Mexico — stories that merge socio-political history and the impact of drug-related violence with fantastical stories of eerie ghosts, zombies, and mo…
Published on 1 month ago
Can democracies survive the attacks on the rule of law?
Even in some of the world’s sturdiest democracies, leaders are deliberately undermining courts to weaken checks on their power. In many cases, the justice system is being sidelined. How much damage h…
Published on 1 month ago
This lawyer turns real legal cases into page-turners
War criminals, Nazi fugitives, and a viable threat to American democracy — sounds like a classic page-turner but author and lawyer Philippe Sands isn't making this up. His book, 38 Londres Street is …
Published on 1 month ago
How Indigenous Americans discovered Europe
Indigenous Americans on European soil can be found throughout historical records, but historian Caroline Dodds Pennock says they have largely been ignored. In her book, On Savage Shores, she traces t…
Published on 1 month ago
33 years of the campus free speech controversy
In the early 1990s, “woke” was "politically correct," "DEI" was known as "affirmative action,” and the term “cancel culture” had yet to be coined. The language was different, but the controversies of…
Published on 1 month, 1 week ago
Can you have compassion for someone you never agree with?
Ask yourself: can you? It is a question that George Eliot asks over and over through her characters in Middlemarch, a 19th-century novel that speaks to our own fractious age. Eliot highlights how imp…
Published on 1 month, 1 week ago