"Don Morrison's 3 Minutes of Madness" artwork

"Don Morrison's 3 Minutes of Madness"

252 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 days ago - ★★★★ - 3 ratings

Funny, often uplifting and mercifully short. Don Morrison is an author ("The Death of French Culture," "How Obama Lost America,") professor (Tsinghua University in Beijing, Sciences Po in Paris), and former editor at Time Magazine. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Financial Times, Smithsonian, Le Monde, Le Point, Liberation, Caixin and other leading publications. He is a commentator for NPR's Robin Hood Radio and a columnist for the Berkshire Eagle.

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Episodes

The End of the World

April 17, 2024 17:59 - 2 minutes - 4.22 MB

Somebody sent me a silly internet article. Now I'm scared. 

What Would Trump Do?

April 12, 2024 20:13 - 2 minutes - 4.18 MB

The candidate has been surprisingly specific about how he would govern. We should pay attention. 

A Period of Uncertainty

April 06, 2024 02:50 - 2 minutes - 4.25 MB

America is at war. Over punctuation. 

The Cruelest Season

March 27, 2024 18:20 - 2 minutes - 4.27 MB

Ah, spring! Nature's ultimate con job. And we're not helping. 

The Volunteer

March 22, 2024 18:05 - 2 minutes - 4.22 MB

Where is Joseph of Arimathea when we need him? He's here, but you may not have noticed. 

Our Man in Havana

March 15, 2024 15:06 - 2 minutes - 4.28 MB

Cuba is dying, and we're mostly to blame. 

Two Women, One Dream

March 01, 2024 18:46 - 2 minutes - 4.24 MB

How a chance encounter by a couple of women from very different worlds changed the face of music. 

Go Fund Trump

February 25, 2024 19:01 - 2 minutes - 3.91 MB

I started a GoFundMe campaign to pay our ex-president's legal bills. It didn't go the way I expected. 

Taylor Swift for President

February 16, 2024 20:09 - 3 minutes - 4.43 MB

Politics used to be a serious undertaking. Now, it's a TV miniseries. May the best show get renewed.

A Rhapsody for America

February 10, 2024 23:58 - 2 minutes - 4.3 MB

100 years on, a jazz-infused musical mess still has its charms..

Royal Pains

February 02, 2024 16:38 - 2 minutes - 4.33 MB

Monarchy has its critics but also its charms. Is there a lesson for America here? 

Keep Our Highways Humorous

January 26, 2024 19:02 - 3 minutes - 4.39 MB

More states are introducing witty road-safety signs. The feds want to stop them.

The New Puritans

January 18, 2024 19:32 - 2 minutes - 4.23 MB

How book banning became our new national pastime. Only it isn't so new. 

Using the H-Word

January 03, 2024 04:16 - 2 minutes - 4.32 MB

As scientists agitate to retitle a beetle, its unsavory namesake pops up in the U.S. presidential campaign. 

You've Never Had It So Good

December 21, 2023 04:17 - 3 minutes - 4.5 MB

In 1959, a national election hinged on whether the economy was really as good as it seemed. Sound familiar? 

Christ in the Elevator

December 15, 2023 19:30 - 2 minutes - 2.76 MB

Christmas is days away, but its music has been annoying us for weeks. Maybe that's a good thing.

A Scrooge for Our Time

December 08, 2023 02:48 - 5 minutes - 5.4 MB

Marley was dead. But could his successor as House Speaker learn the true meaning of Christmas?

Gracie is Missing

November 30, 2023 21:59 - 2 minutes - 3.97 MB

Losing touch with loved ones is bad enough. Not knowing whether they're alive or dead can be torture. 

Recycle This!

November 23, 2023 19:02 - 2 minutes - 4.13 MB

It's great that you separate the reusables from your trash, but you may be doing it all wrong. 

The Mother of All Conspiracies

November 16, 2023 02:57 - 2 minutes - 4.36 MB

How JFK's death 60 years ago made the world go insane -- and stay that way. 

Of Laughter and Forgetting

November 09, 2023 23:43 - 2 minutes - 2.7 MB

Our two leading presidential candidates can't seem to remember stuff. Is that such a big deal? 

The Last of the Mohicans

November 03, 2023 13:34 - 2 minutes - 2.65 MB

After centuries of slaughter and dislocation, Native Americans are on the rise

Random Acts of Kindness

October 26, 2023 14:01 - 2 minutes - 1.25 MB

Here's something that might arrest our downward slide into nastiness. 

Fear Itself

October 20, 2023 02:56 - 2 minutes - 2.57 MB

Can humankind survive the weaponization of anxiety?

The Trouble with X

October 13, 2023 14:28 - 2 minutes - 4.31 MB

Israel-Hamas misinformation flourishes on a social media site run by a certain free-speech absolutist.

Tell Me a Story

October 05, 2023 01:13 - 2 minutes - 3.98 MB

Reading to your kids in the age of book banning. 

Georgia on my Mind

September 27, 2023 15:39 - 2 minutes - 4.18 MB

On Russia's southern border, a small nation dreams of the West -- and lives in uncertainty.

The Tooth about Stress

September 08, 2023 18:47 - 2 minutes - 4.24 MB

Why America is suffering an epidemic of tooth-grinding. 

A Night(mare) at the Opera

August 31, 2023 16:03 - 2 minutes - 4.14 MB

Why can't America pay its culture workers what they're worth?

Hard-wired for Hades

August 24, 2023 16:35 - 2 minutes - 4.31 MB

No wonder it's hard to accept the reality of climate change. We're programmed not to. 

Killing the Messengers

August 18, 2023 03:28 - 2 minutes - 4.35 MB

A newspaper is raided, somebody dies, and the American press is suddenly back in 1837. For me, it's personal.

Local Hero

August 11, 2023 21:25 - 2 minutes - 4.26 MB

A small white town sent a smart black boy into the world. More than a century later, he's finally coming home.

When Politicians Get Old

August 04, 2023 02:23 - 2 minutes - 4.12 MB

Our leaders are growing long in the tooth and won't step aside. Here's how to fix that. 

Clusters of Trouble

July 26, 2023 15:55 - 2 minutes - 4.37 MB

The U.S. just gave Ukraine a banned weapon. Should we be alarmed? 

It Did Happen Here

July 19, 2023 21:50 - 2 minutes - 4.25 MB

How America almost dumped democracy in the 1920s. 

Sputnik Moment

July 07, 2023 20:26 - 2 minutes - 4.22 MB

American loves upward mobility. So why have we made college so impossibly expensive?

The Shock of the New

June 25, 2023 05:23 - 2 minutes - 4 MB

Why our obsession with the new, the shiny, the technologically advanced is not very smart.

The Chandelier in the Bathroom

June 16, 2023 03:00 - 2 minutes - 4.28 MB

Sloppy document handling earns a former president 37 criminal charges, but a related crime of his is largely ignored.

The Death Limit

May 25, 2023 02:56 - 2 minutes - 4.24 MB

Instead of arguing about federal debt, maybe we should focus on saving taxpayer lives. 

The Song of Lunch

May 19, 2023 02:40 - 2 minutes - 4.17 MB

When the world of work paused to make way for something more important. 

The Center Cannot Hold

May 10, 2023 21:28 - 2 minutes - 4.3 MB

Arguing can be healthy, but the current epidemic of incivility is killing us. Literally. 

Flat-Earthers, Arise!

May 03, 2023 21:42 - 2 minutes - 4.25 MB

How Antarctica became the latest front in the war against truth.

Lookin' for a Home

April 27, 2023 18:34 - 2 minutes - 4.32 MB

Let's make it easier for people to find a better place to live.

A Home Run for Climate Change

April 18, 2023 22:25 - 2 minutes - 4.31 MB

Why baseballs travel farther, and other unexpected consequences of global warming.

The Last Picture Show

April 12, 2023 22:38 - 2 minutes - 4.07 MB

Tough times for movie theaters. Can they be saved? 

Beer Hall Justice

April 07, 2023 03:19 - 2 minutes - 7.52 MB

Should an ex-president be prosecuted for a crime? Here's a lesson from 1923. 

Factory Kids

March 29, 2023 15:51 - 2 minutes - 4.2 MB

Child labor is making a comeback. That's not good. 

Basketball is America

March 23, 2023 02:42 - 2 minutes - 4.24 MB

March madness -- a reminder that, among other truths, underdogs can win.

Don's Start with the Weather

March 16, 2023 03:00 - 2 minutes - 4.09 MB

Ever think you're living in a bad novel? Just wait.

The Trouble with Girls

March 09, 2023 21:35 - 2 minutes - 3.93 MB

Sure, boys face problems these days, but young women may have it even worse.

Books

Lady of the Lake
1 Episode