StocktonAfterClass
334 episodes - English - Latest episode: 15 days ago - ★★★★★ - 39 ratingsRon Stockton was a professor of political science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn for 48 years. His specialty was non-western politics and political change. He taught classes on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Religion and Politics, the Politics of Revolution, Non-Western politics, and American politics. He also taught in the Honors Program, focusing upon foundational readings from the 18th and 19th centuries. He has an interest in religion and politics and in the role of religio-ethnic groups in the political system. The listener can anticipate talks on Arab-Americans, Jews, African-Americans, the Scots-Irish, and Evangelicals. He has lectured and written on American politics, public opinion, and voting behavior and on the role of religious organizations and ideologies in the political system. There will be occasional discussions of books and films that address serious issues. And he has lectured and published and even taught a class on gravestones, especially those of different ethnic and religious groups such as Muslims, African-Americans, Jews, and Native Americans. The goal of the podcast series is to provide analysis and commentary by a political scientist to explain and make accessible political, historical, and cultural developments in the United States and around the world, and to give the listener analytical tools to understand those developments. It is also to entertain the listener.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Obama's Presidential Memoir: A Promised Land
March 11, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 47.9 MBThis is my summary of Barack Obama's presidential memoir. It is a stunningly elegant book, intimate, informative, insightful, candid. Obama's style is as a story teller, someone sitting in the living room discussing with you what really happened. It reminds me of Jimmy Carter's family story, An Hour Before Daylight. Anyone taking a drive across country would be happy if they took that with them. This is probably true of the Obama memoir as well. Not only do I discuss the memoir, and ...
Obama's Presidential Memoir: A Promised Land
March 11, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 47.9 MBThis is my summary of Barack Obama's presidential memoir. It is a stunningly elegant book, intimate, informative, insightful, candid. Obama's style is as a story teller, someone sitting in the living room discussing with you what really happened. It reminds me of Jimmy Carter's family story, An Hour Before Daylight. Anyone taking a drive across country would be happy if they took that with them. This is probably true of the Obama memoir as well. Not only do I discuss the memoir, and ...
Grandfather Stories (that I told my grandchildren)
March 09, 2021 02:00 - 21 minutes - 14.6 MBI decided early on that a grandfather should be a story teller. I would entertain the four grandkids by telling stories. Sometimes these were real stories, and sometimes they were made up. I would say, "Do you want a real story or a made up one?" My grandson would often ask for a real story, but the other kids were more flexible. These are three stories that I told my grandkids. Children love to hear stories over and over, so these were not one-off stories. You may not like these s...
Grandfather Stories (that I told my grandchildren)
March 09, 2021 02:00 - 21 minutes - 14.6 MBI decided early on that a grandfather should be a story teller. I would entertain the four grandkids by telling stories. Sometimes these were real stories, and sometimes they were made up. I would say, "Do you want a real story or a made up one?" My grandson would often ask for a real story, but the other kids were more flexible. These are three stories that I told my grandkids. Children love to hear stories over and over, so these were not one-off stories. You may not like these s...
Religion and Politics 1. Feuerbach and How we Think About God
March 07, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 44.1 MBWhen I would start my class on Religion and Politics, my first lecture would always be on Feuerbach. He would give students a new way to think. We could focus on the God Idea- which we humans generate. This had nothing to do with God but rather with human thinking. We could analyze "outside of the circle" of believers as I would call it. This is a bit of an intellectual discussion, but I have tried to make it accessible. If you think this might upset you, then skip it. If you want...
Religion and Politics 1. Feuerbach and How we Think About God
March 07, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 44.1 MBWhen I would start my class on Religion and Politics, my first lecture would always be on Feuerbach. He would give students a new way to think. We could focus on the God Idea- which we humans generate. This had nothing to do with God but rather with human thinking. We could analyze "outside of the circle" of believers as I would call it. This is a bit of an intellectual discussion, but I have tried to make it accessible. If you think this might upset you, then skip it. If you want...
Vernon Jordan: A Civil Rights Giant, and Power Broker
March 04, 2021 23:00 - 21 minutes - 15.1 MBVernon Jordan died on March 2, 2021. He was one of the last of the Civil Rights generation, those giants who were contemporaries of Martin Luther King. (Jesse Jackson is the last of that generation, unless I have forgotten someone). Jordan was at the center of DC politics, and of advancing Black rights. As a close friend of Bill Clinton, he got questioned in the Monica scandal. His answers show the substance of the man. I met him once, when he was doing a book tour. I was able to...
Israel Palestine 5. Ariel Sharon. Hero or Murderer or Security Threat?
March 02, 2021 17:00 - 14 minutes - 9.69 MBTo his fans, who were many, Ariel Sharon was a hero, a defender of his people. His exploits during the 1973 war were legendary. But not everyone agreed. To the Lebanese he was the Butcher of Beirut. Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, under whom Sharon served, saw him as a security threat, an insubordinate general who escalated the Lebanese War into a major crisis. Begin said that he expected to wake up some morning to look out the window and see his office surrounded by tanks. And Sh...
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 5. Ariel Sharon. Hero or Murderer or Security Threat?
March 02, 2021 17:00 - 14 minutes - 9.69 MBTo his fans, who were many, Ariel Sharon was a hero, a defender of his people. His exploits during the 1973 war were legendary. But not everyone agreed. To the Lebanese he was the Butcher of Beirut. Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, under whom Sharon served, saw him as a security threat, an insubordinate general who escalated the Lebanese War into a major crisis. Begin said that he expected to wake up some morning to look out the window and see his office surrounded by tanks. And Sh...
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 5. Ariel Sharon. Hero or Murderer or Security Threat?
March 02, 2021 17:00 - 14 minutes - 9.69 MBTo his fans, who were many, Ariel Sharon was a hero, a defender of his people. His exploits during the 1973 war were legendary. But not everyone agreed. To the Lebanese he was the Butcher of Beirut. Former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, under whom Sharon served, saw him as a security threat, an insubordinate general who escalated the Lebanese War into a major crisis. Begin said that he expected to wake up some morning to look out the window and see his office surrounded by tanks. And Sh...
Nelson Mandela: The Greatest Black Man of the 20th Century
February 25, 2021 01:00 - 15 minutes - 10.5 MBThis describes the two times Jane and I crossed paths with Nelson Mandela. Once was in Cape Town, once in Detroit. How amazing to come so close to greatness.
Nelson Mandela: The Greatest Black Man of the 20th Century
February 25, 2021 01:00 - 15 minutes - 10.5 MBThis describes the two times Jane and I crossed paths with Nelson Mandela. Once was in Cape Town, once in Detroit. How amazing to come so close to greatness.
Israeli Palestinian Conflict 14. Christian Zionism: Prophecy, politics, public opinion, Israel
February 21, 2021 21:00 - 50 minutes - 35 MBChristian Zionism is the belief that the Bible predicted the creation of a Jewish state in 1948 and that Christians are obligated to support that state. This belief grew out of the Protestant Reformation in the 1600s. By the late 1800s it was very strong in America. What is interesting is that the Protestant idea of "restoring" the Jews to Jerusalem predates the emergence of Jewish political Zionism in 1896 when Herzl wrote his famous essay. This podcast, which was et up as a classroom ...
Israeli Palestinian Conflict 14. Christian Zionism: Prophecy, politics, public opinion, Israel
February 21, 2021 21:00 - 50 minutes - 35 MBChristian Zionism is the belief that the Bible predicted the creation of a Jewish state in 1948 and that Christians are obligated to support that state. This belief grew out of the Protestant Reformation in the 1600s. By the late 1800s it was very strong in America. What is interesting is that the Protestant idea of "restoring" the Jews to Jerusalem predates the emergence of Jewish political Zionism in 1896 when Herzl wrote his famous essay. This podcast, which was et up as a classroom ...
Christian Zionism: Prophecy, politics, public opinion, Israel
February 21, 2021 21:00 - 50 minutes - 35 MBChristian Zionism is the belief that the Bible predicted the creation of a Jewish state in 1948 and that Christians are obligated to support that state. This belief grew out of the Protestant Reformation in the 1600s. By the late 1800s it was very strong in America. What is interesting is that the Protestant idea of "restoring" the Jews to Jerusalem predates the emergence of Jewish political Zionism in 1896 when Herzl wrote his famous essay. This podcast, which was et up as a classroom ...
Deep Blue: How to find my publications for free
February 21, 2021 21:00 - 1 minute - 972 KBDeep Blue is the University of Michigan virtual archive on the internet. You can find my publications there -- articles, talks, essays, book chapters. They can be downloaded for free. When I mention one of my articles or talks during a podcast, you can follow up if you wish. Update (June 1, 2021) 1. Google "University of Michigan Deep Blue" 2. Once in, click on Deep Blue Repositories. 3. Then enter my name Stockton, Ronald. Stockton alone will not work. If perchance, y...
Deep Blue: How to find my publications for free
February 21, 2021 21:00 - 1 minute - 972 KBDeep Blue is the University of Michigan virtual archive on the internet. You can find my publications there -- articles, talks, essays, book chapters. They can be downloaded for free. When I mention one of my articles or talks during a podcast, you can follow up if you wish. Update (June 1, 2021) 1. Google "University of Michigan Deep Blue" 2. Once in, click on Deep Blue Repositories. 3. Then enter my name Stockton, Ronald. Stockton alone will not work. If perchance, y...
Rules of Good Studenting
February 17, 2021 19:00 - 14 minutes - 10.1 MBThis is a short discussion of only about 15 minutes. These are not rules in the traditional sense of rules and you do not have to be a student in the traditional sense of being enrolled in a class. These "rules" are more guidelines for how to listen in a way that will maximize your ability to engage with difficult topics on which you might have pre-existing perspectives. My classroom students really liked these rules. Note: While I originally wrote these rules for the benefit of my...
Rules of Good Studenting
February 17, 2021 19:00 - 14 minutes - 10.1 MBThis is a short discussion of only about 15 minutes. These are not rules in the traditional sense of rules and you do not have to be a student in the traditional sense of being enrolled in a class. These "rules" are more guidelines for how to listen in a way that will maximize your ability to engage with difficult topics on which you might have pre-existing perspectives. My classroom students really liked these rules. Note: While I originally wrote these rules for the benefit of my...
Israel Palestine 4. Arab Revolt of 1936, Part B
February 17, 2021 18:00 - 37 minutes - 25.7 MBThis is the second half of the talk on the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939. The focus is on how all parties to this conflict -- British, Jewish, Palestinian -- were transformed in fundamental ways, and how the consequences of the uprising set the stage for future developments.
Israel Palestine 4. Arab Revolt of 1936, Part B
February 17, 2021 18:00 - 37 minutes - 25.7 MBThis is the second half of the talk on the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939. The focus is on how all parties to this conflict -- British, Jewish, Palestinian -- were transformed in fundamental ways, and how the consequences of the uprising set the stage for future developments.
Israel Palestine 4. Arab Revolt of 1936 Part A
February 17, 2021 18:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBThe 1936 Arab Revolt was a turning point in this conflict. It changed the nature of British policy, of Palestinian politics, and of Jewish politics. To make this more accessible, I have broken the talk into two parts, A and B. You will notice that these thought were directed to a class. There are a couple of times when I mention documents. I wish I could attach documents to these podcasts, but perhaps you can find them on the internet. I suggest that you print out a map of the 193...
Israel Palestine 4. Arab Revolt of 1936 Part A
February 17, 2021 18:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBThe 1936 Arab Revolt was a turning point in this conflict. It changed the nature of British policy, of Palestinian politics, and of Jewish politics. To make this more accessible, I have broken the talk into two parts, A and B. You will notice that these thought were directed to a class. There are a couple of times when I mention documents. I wish I could attach documents to these podcasts, but perhaps you can find them on the internet. I suggest that you print out a map of the 193...
Impeachment for Insurrection. The Trial of Donald J. Trump
February 14, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 44.9 MBFor those who had the luxury and time and inclination to watch five days of an impeachment trial, and watched discussions, and read extensively, this may not be necessary. But if you were not and did not, this is my analysis of what happened and why. Enjoy. The music is by G. Kevin Dewey, a musical legend in southeast Michigan.
Impeachment for Insurrection. The Trial of Donald J. Trump
February 14, 2021 21:00 - 1 hour - 44.9 MBFor those who had the luxury and time and inclination to watch five days of an impeachment trial, and watched discussions, and read extensively, this may not be necessary. But if you were not and did not, this is my analysis of what happened and why. Enjoy. The music is by G. Kevin Dewey, a musical legend in southeast Michigan.
Israel Palestine 3. Background to Zionism
February 09, 2021 03:00 - 57 minutes - 39.6 MBJews had traditionally said that they were "Germans of the Jewish faith" or something similar. But by the end of the 19th century there was a new movement -- Jewish nationalism or Zionism -- that had a different perspective. Zionism is the belief that the Jews are not merely a religious or an ethnic group but a national people living in temporary exile and awaiting a return to their homeland. How did this transformation occur? This podcast discusses the enlightenment, its impact on Jewish...
Israel Palestine 3. Background to Zionism
February 09, 2021 03:00 - 57 minutes - 39.6 MBJews had traditionally said that they were "Germans of the Jewish faith" or something similar. But by the end of the 19th century there was a new movement -- Jewish nationalism or Zionism -- that had a different perspective. Zionism is the belief that the Jews are not merely a religious or an ethnic group but a national people living in temporary exile and awaiting a return to their homeland. How did this transformation occur? This podcast discusses the enlightenment, its impact on Jewish...
Israel Palestine 2. Three Narratives About Israel
February 09, 2021 01:00 - 22 minutes - 15.5 MBIt is often helpful to understand how we think before we approach new material. In American discourse, there are three dominant narratives in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, the Jewish Narrative, the Arab Narrative, and the Evangelical Narrative. Each of these has a way of integrating and interpreting material that creates a coherent explanation of the nature of the conflict and how the various parties interact. Many people deny they have a pre-existing narrative. Their perspectives...
Israel Palestine 2. Three Narratives About Israel
February 09, 2021 01:00 - 22 minutes - 15.5 MBIt is often helpful to understand how we think before we approach new material. In American discourse, there are three dominant narratives in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, the Jewish Narrative, the Arab Narrative, and the Evangelical Narrative. Each of these has a way of integrating and interpreting material that creates a coherent explanation of the nature of the conflict and how the various parties interact. Many people deny they have a pre-existing narrative. Their perspectives...
Israel Palestine 1. A Podcast Series
February 09, 2021 00:00 - 13 minutes - 9.64 MBI am going to present a series of podcasts on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. For 40 years I taught a class on that topic. I have published and lectured on that topic, and have visited Israel and Palestine (and other countries in the region) multiple times. I think I have interesting insights that I am pleased to share. This introduction will give you an idea of what will be in that series. Those who want to engage this topic seriously should also listen to the podcast on the narra...
Israel Palestine 1. A Podcast Series
February 09, 2021 00:00 - 13 minutes - 9.64 MBI am going to present a series of podcasts on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. For 40 years I taught a class on that topic. I have published and lectured on that topic, and have visited Israel and Palestine (and other countries in the region) multiple times. I think I have interesting insights that I am pleased to share. This introduction will give you an idea of what will be in that series. Those who want to engage this topic seriously should also listen to the podcast on the narra...
Understanding Impeachment
February 05, 2021 03:00 - 1 hour - 42.2 MBThis is a discussion of the history and logic of impeachment. What did our founders have in mind when they wrote of "high crimes"? What do the concepts of Contract Theory of Government and "we the people" tell us? Is the President subject to the law the way other citizens are? Is there such a thing as "absolute Immunity," as Donald Trump said? Is the president just like Louis XIV "except four years at a time," as Richard Nixon said? Can a President be sued while in office? Or even arr...
Understanding Impeachment
February 05, 2021 03:00 - 1 hour - 42.2 MBThis is a discussion of the history and logic of impeachment. What did our founders have in mind when they wrote of "high crimes"? What do the concepts of Contract Theory of Government and "we the people" tell us? Is the President subject to the law the way other citizens are? Is there such a thing as "absolute Immunity," as Donald Trump said? Is the president just like Louis XIV "except four years at a time," as Richard Nixon said? Can a President be sued while in office? Or even arr...
Introduction to My Podcasts
February 04, 2021 22:00 - 8 minutes - 6 MBProfessor Stockton introduces himself and some of the topics he will be discussing. Among those are the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Religion and Politics, non-western political systems, the politics of revolution, American politics, public opinion and voting behavior, religio-ethnic groups, graveyards, contemporary events, and occasionally books and films of merit. Thoughtful comments are always welcome: [email protected] Update: I am new at this. Podcasts cannot accomm...