Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchHow Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington with Marcia Chatelain
Episode 36
There is no shortage of footage immortalizing the men who spoke at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, when 250,000 Americans gathered…
3 weeks, 5 days ago
Apocalyptic Abolitionism: How Millennialists Helped Abolish Slavery and Reform America with Kevin M. Burton (NYU Press, 2026)
Episode 35
Shows how apocalypticism helped drive anti-slavery abolitionism and inspire progressive social reform in nineteenth-century America In March 1844, Me…
4 weeks ago
Tess Chakkalakal, "A Matter of Complexion: The Life and Fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt" (St. Martin's Press, 2025)
Episode 34
In A Matter of Complexion: The Life and Fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt (St. Martin's Press, 2025), Tess Chakkalakal gives readers the first compreh…
1 month ago
Randal Maurice Jelks, "My America: Langston Hughes on Democracy" (Broadleaf Books, 2026)
Episode 33
Celebrated poet, essayist, playwright, and American artist Langston Hughes is one of the few American writers who consistently wrote about democracy …
1 month ago
Bryant Simon, "For Customers Only: Public Bathrooms and the Making of American Inequality" (U Chicago Press, 2026)
Episode 31
Americans have nowhere to go. Nationwide, countless public spaces lack one crucial thing: bathrooms, never mind ones that are safe and functional. Ye…
1 month, 1 week ago
Catherine A John, "Afroindigenization: A Theory of Grassroots Cultural Practice" (Duke UP, 2026)
Episode 1974
In Afroindigenization: A Theory of Grassroots Cultural Practice (Duke University Press, 2026), Catherine A. John addresses the underbelly of spiritua…
1 month, 1 week ago
Samantha Barbas, "Hate Speech: The Legal and Cultural History of an American Dilemma" (U California Press, 2026)
Episode 1973
The United States has no hate speech laws; hate speech is generally considered to be free speech under the First Amendment. In Hate Speech: The Legal…
1 month, 1 week ago
Justin Ellen, "Better Than Grandma's: Comfort Desserts We Grew Up Loving" (Rolling Pin Press, 2026)
Episode 1972
We all love the desserts we grew up with-the ones tied to family, tradition, and the moments we remember most. But as much as we love those recipes, …
1 month, 1 week ago
R. Douglas Hurt, "The Country People: An Agricultural History of the American Revolution" (U Georgia Press, 2026)
Episode 1971
Although historians have given considerable attention to the American Revolution, the agricultural history of the American War for Independence exist…
1 month, 1 week ago
Christopher Freeburg, "Soul: A Brief History of Black Cultural Life" (Yale UP, 2026)
Episode 1970
Today’s guest, Christopher Freeburg, is the author of Soul: A Brief History of Black Cultural Life (Yale University Press, 2026). This book explores …
1 month, 2 weeks ago