Story in the Public Square
309 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 10 ratingsStory in the Public Square is a weekly, 30-minute series that brings audiences to the intersection of storytelling and public affairs. Hosted by Jim Ludes and G. Wayne Miller, Story in the Public Square offers a spirited but respectful dialogue. Often funny, always provocative, each episode of Story in the Public Square
moves beyond traditional public affairs programming to consider the impact of narrative and storytelling on public life today.
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Episodes
A Closer Look at Drugs and the FDA with Mikkael Sekeres
July 09, 2024 04:00 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBIn 2011, the Food and Drug Administration held a hearing to review a drug previously approved for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. The hearing was fraught with concerns over the drug’s safety competing with cancer patients who felt they were alive because of the drug. Dr. Mikkael Sekeres was on the panel receiving testimony, and weighing what he heard against the long history of the FDA to make sure drugs are safe AND effective. Mikkael Sekeres is a professor of medicine and chie...
Dr. Elizabeth Comen on the Myths that Have Influenced Malpractice in Women's Healthcare
June 25, 2024 04:00 - 27 minutes - 25.1 MBFor thousands of years, a mix of truth, lies, and down-right myths have shaped medicine’s understanding of the female body. While the modern era has seen progress, Dr. Elizabeth Comen tells us those narratives about women and their bodies continue to shape the care provided women today. Comen is a Medical Oncologist specializing in breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a professor at New York University. She earned her bachelor’s degree in the History of Science fro...
How a Brush with Death Changed One Man’s Perception of the Afterlife with Sebastian Junger
June 18, 2024 04:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBAs a best-selling author, Sebastian Junger has taken us to sea with an ill-fated fishing boat and, as a documentarian, shown us the reality of war in Afghanistan. But his new book is his most intensely personal, a look at his own health crisis, the near-death experience it triggered, and how it shaped his views on an afterlife. Sebastian Junger is the #1 New York Times bestselling-author of “The Prefect Storm,” “Fire,” “A Death in Belmont,” “War,” “Tribe,” “Freedom” and his latest work, ...
One Immigrant’s Journey from El Salvador to the United States with Javier Zamora
June 11, 2024 04:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBImmigration remains a hot-button in American politics, but Javier Zamora tells the story of his own entry into the United States—a journey and a story that put a human face on the issue. Zamora is the author of “SOLITO,” his New York Times bestselling memoir and is the 2024 Reading Across Rhode Island Selection. Born in La Herradura, El Salvador in 1990, his parents fled the country due to the U.S.-funded Salvadoran Civil War from 1980-1992. Zamora was raised by his grandparents until t...
Tricia Rose on Breaking Free from Systemic Racism
May 30, 2024 19:20 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBRacism is often described as an individual failing, but Dr. Tricia Rose explains that racism is better understood as the result of a system built over generations and even centuries—and perpetuated by the stories we tell about it today. Rose is the Chancellor’s Professor of Africana Studies and Associate Dean of the Faculty for Special Initiatives, Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. She studies African American life, culture, and the impact of inequality...
Telling the Story of the World War II Ghost Army with Rick Beyer
May 30, 2024 19:18 - 28 minutes - 26 MBAt the height of World War II, American military commanders created a unit dedicated to deception to give Allied forces an advantage on the battlefield. The artists, sound technicians, and radio operators of the so-called Ghost Army remained hidden for decades, but filmmaker Rick Beyer made sure their stories were told. Beyer is a New York Times best-selling author, an award-winning documentary producer, and a long-time history enthusiast. His independent documentary, “The Ghost Army,” pr...
Parental Activism and the Politicization of Public Schools with Laura Pappano
May 14, 2024 04:00 - 27 minutes - 25.2 MBPublic education has a long and varied history in the United States. But Laura Pappano says the challenges it faces now from parent-activists and partisan politics is unlike anything America’s schools have seen. Pappano is an award-winning journalist and author who has written about K–12 and higher education for over 30 years. A former education columnist for the Boston Globe, Pappano has written about education for the New York Times, Hechinger Report, Harvard Education Letter, Washingt...
Vanessa Lillie on the Historical Erasure of Indigenous People and their Current Representation
May 07, 2024 04:00 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBThe novelist has a way of exploring issues—putting flesh on bones—to tell stories about people that can educate, inform, sometimes inspire, and often anger. Vanessa Lillie uses that art form to shine a light on challenges facing native communities and native women, in particular. Lillie is the author of the 2023 USA Today bestselling suspense novel, “Blood Sisters,” which launches a new series with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit at the heart of the stories. “B...
Exploring Love and Loss as a Muse with Brian Turner
April 30, 2024 04:00 - 27 minutes - 25 MBThe poet’s ability to capture meaning with words has long been one of humanity’s great gifts. Brian Turner has that muse and uses poetry to explore enduring questions of love and loss. Turner is the author of five collections of poetry “Here, Bullet;” “Phantom Noice;” “The Wild Delight of Wild Things;” “The Dead Peasant’s Handbook” and “The Goodbye World Poem.” He has also authored a memoir, “My Life as a Foreign Country,” and is the editor of “The Kiss” and co-editor of “The Strangest o...
The Contemporary Implications of Europe’s Recent History with Timothy Snyder
April 23, 2024 04:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBThe history of 20th century autocracy seemed to race into the distance with the end of the Cold War. But Dr. Timothy Snyder cautions that in the decades since 1989, the West has seen the rise of new autocratic movements—some in traditional adversaries and some much closer to home. Snyder is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. He has written eight books discussing issues in Central and Eastern E...
News Deserts to Media Startups: Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy on America’s News Landscape Today
April 16, 2024 04:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBThomas Jefferson famously said he’d prefer newspapers without government over government without newspapers. In large parts of the United States today, government exists without independent news sources—undermining accountability and diminishing civic participation. Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy tell us that despite these troubling trends, there’s much to celebrate in the work of community news outlets around the country. Clegg spent over three decades at The Boston Globe and retired in 201...
Daniel Schulman on the German-Jewish Immigrants who Built the United States’ Modern Financial Systems
April 09, 2024 04:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBWe take for granted that the “immigrant experience” is part of the American story. But in an epic new history Daniel Schulman tells the story of the Jewish immigrants who built some of America’s biggest financial institutions and transformed America. A best-selling author, Schulman is known for his first book, “Sons of Wichita,” a biography of the Koch brothers, which was a finalist for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award. His second book, “The Money Kings,” w...
Secretary Margaret Spellings on a Path to Bipartisanship in America
March 19, 2024 04:00 - 27 minutes - 24.9 MBWorking together across party lines is anathema to much of political Washington, but Margaret Spellings says doing so is the only way to create solutions that last. A nationally recognized leader in public policy, Spellings serves as President and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center. Previously, Spellings was President and CEO of Texas 2036, president of University of North Carolina System and president of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas after she served as U.S. Secretary...
Pete Hammond on This Year’s Best Picture Nominees and Trends at the Oscars
March 12, 2024 04:00 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MBHollywood’s annual night-of-nights is upon us with the Academy Awards around the corner. Pete Hammond helps us take stock of the film industry and the films singled out for their powerful storytelling this year. Hammond, widely considered the pre-eminent awards analyst for film and television, is Deadline’s Awards Columnist covering the Oscar and Emmy seasons. He is also Deadline's Chief Film Critic, having previously reviewed films for MovieLine, Boxoffice magazine, Backstage, Hollywood...
Kliph Nesteroff on Culture Wars and Why the Problem Isn’t a New One
March 05, 2024 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBIt's easy to listen to the news and conclude that we have never been more gripped by the so-called “Culture Wars.” But Kliph Nesteroff argues just the opposite: today’s conflict isn’t a fluke, it’s part of a long history of conflict, controversy and recrimination. Canadian comic Kliph Nesteroff is, according to the New York Times, the “premier popular historian of comedy.” He has authored two books since starting out as a stand-up comic, including “The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundr...
Analyzing Historical Race Relations and their Contemporary Implications with Françoise N. Hamlin
February 27, 2024 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBTo some, the civil rights era seems like ancient history, but to others, it’s within living memory. Françoise N. Hamlin helps put the history of the era into a broader context about who we are as a people and what it means to be an American. Hamlin is the Royce Family Associate Professor in history and Africana studies at Brown University. Prior to joining the faculty at Brown, Hamlin was a fellow at the University of Michigan, Harvard University, the Radcliffe Institute, and the Andrew ...
Suzanne Nossell on the Importance of Being Free to Read
February 20, 2024 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBFree speech is under assault in educational settings, school committees, university boards and political rallies across the United States. Suzanne Nossell warns the danger isn’t just about our access to books and ideas, but to the fundamental human rights and political freedoms we all hold dear. Nossell currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of PEN America, the leading human rights and free expression organization, and the author of “Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All....
Investigating 20th-Century Connections to Partisan Politics and Modern Conservatism with Richard Aldous
February 01, 2024 17:58 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBIt’s easy to look at American politics, now, and find individuals for whom loyalty to party or an individual leader is the only thing that matters. But Richard Aldous tells us of another time when service to the nation was the highest service in public life. Aldous is the Eugene Meyer Professor of British history and Culture at Bard College and specializes in twentieth-century history. He earned his Ph.D., from the University of Cambridge and is a Fellow in the Royal Historical Society. ...
Analyzing American Politics Through a Pop-Culture Lens with Joanna Weiss
January 26, 2024 20:24 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBMost who write about politics focus on the horse-race of elections or the specifics of policies. But Joanna Weiss says we should view American politics—especially current American politics—through a pop-culture lens. Weiss is the executive director of the AI Literacy Lab at Northeastern University, a project to connect journalists and technologists. She is a contributing writer at POLITICO Magazine and is a former columnist, television critic, and political reporter at the Boston Globe; a...
Daniel Golden on Preserving Journalism’s Instrumental Role in our Democracy
January 16, 2024 17:00 - 28 minutes - 26 MBThere was a time in the United States—not that long ago, actually—when local newspapers played an undisputed positive role in holding people in authority to account. Daniel Golden is a journalist practicing his craft in that great tradition. Golden is a Boston-based senior editor and reporter at ProPublica. He has been instrumental in three Pulitzer Prizes, two as an editor and one as a reporter. He co-edited a ProPublica series on Latin American asylum-seekers caught between the U.S. g...
Naomi Baron on Our Future With AI and Human Creativity
January 16, 2024 00:40 - 28 minutes - 26 MBWriting and creative expression have long been among the defining characteristics of humanity as a species. But Naomi Baron chronicles the rise of artificial intelligence and its myriad abilities to write, to compose, to create—and what it means for our humanity. Baron’s research interests include language and technology, reading, first language acquisition, the relationship between speech and writing and the history and structure of English. A former Guggenheim Fellow, Fulbright Fellow,...
Rainer Lohmann on His Research on Toxic Chemicals in Our Environment and Our Future With Them
January 03, 2024 16:01 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBPersistent Organic Pollutants: you don’t need a Ph.D. in chemistry to recognize realize they are dangerous. But Dr. Rainer Lohmann has been studying POPs for some time and their danger to the environment and human beings. Lohmann’s research combines marine organic geochemistry and environmental chemistry to study recalcitrant organic compounds, including persistent organic pollutants on the molecular level. He has led Superfund Research Center at the University of Rhode Island since 2018...
The 2023 Story of the Year: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence with Evelyn Farkas
December 20, 2023 05:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBThe year began with chaos in the U.S. House of Representatives and ended much the same. Along the way, we saw technology demonstrate its potential to reshape human productivity and creativity; we have seen wars and violence; and we have worried aloud about the health of American Democracy. Dr. Evelyn Farkas helps us take stock of all of that and name our 2023 “Story of the Year.” Farkas is one of the nation’s premier voices on American foreign policy and geopolitics, and one of the nat...
Navigating the Currents of Global Affairs and Domestic Politics with Tom Nichols
December 13, 2023 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBFrom the violence in the Middle East to the dysfunction in Congress, the world feels increasingly untethered. Tom Nichols spent his early career analyzing threats to American security and now is unapologetic in his warnings about the threats to American democracy. Nichols is an author and a staff writer for The Atlantic. His expertise encompasses a broad range of topics, including nuclear weapons, international security, Russia, and the overarching challenges to democracy globally and i...
Unraveling the Violence of Jim Crow South with Tananarive Due
November 22, 2023 05:00 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBThe elements of a scary story might be exotic, super-natural, or even mundane. Tananarive Due weaves all of those things together in an ethereal world of her creation to explore the violence of the Jim Crow South. Due is an award-winning author who teaches Black Horror and Afrofuturism at the University of California-Los Angeles. She is an executive producer for the documentary “Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror” and has written for “The Twilight Zone” and “Horror Noire” projects....
Navigating the Future: The Global Landscape in 2076 with Thomas Barnett
November 15, 2023 05:00 - 28 minutes - 26 MBGlobalization is often portrayed as the bogeyman in American politics. Thomas Barnett credits it with making the world better, more peaceful, and even more equitable. In the future, he argues, it will continue to drive even more profound shifts in the way the world operates—with real challenges for American leadership and security. Barnett is a strategic planner who has worked in United States national security affairs across his entire career. He also operates a consulting practice, B...
Trauma and the Science of Resilience with Jonathan DePierro
November 08, 2023 05:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBEveryone faces challenges in life, but when those challenges are born of trauma, the challenge to persevere becomes more daunting. Dr. Jonathan DePierro discusses the science of resilience and how we can all thrive in the wake of adversity. DePierro is the Associate Director of the Center for Stress, Resilience and Personal Growth which provides comprehensive programming to support the resilience and mental health of Mount Sinai faculty, staff, and trainees. His clinical expertise is in...
Navigating Identity and Race Childhood to Adulthood with Nyani Nkrumah
November 01, 2023 04:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBThe transition from childhood to adulthood ushers in a wide variety of difficult questions like who actually loves us, and why. Nyani Nkrumah explores those coming-of-age themes, as well as issues of race, identity, trauma, and who is responsible for the person we actually are. Nkrumah was born in Boston and grew up in Ghana, West Africa and later Zimbabwe. Nkrumah holds a doctorate from Cornell University and attributes her love of writing to her mother, a former English and literature...
American History Through the Perspective of its Indigenous Inhabitants with Ned Blackhawk
October 25, 2023 04:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBFor too long, the history we’ve considered “America’s” has really just been the history of European conquest. Ned Blackhawk argues that there is no American history without its first, indigenous inhabitants. Blackhawk is a Professor of History and American Studies at Yale. He is the author of “Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the early American West,” a study of the American Great Basin that garnered half a dozen professional prizes, including the Frederick Jackson Turner Pr...
Creating Change for Girls Across the World with Dale Hanson Bourke
October 18, 2023 04:00 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBAll over the world, girls face challenges—and outcomes—far worse than boys—a fact borne out by research on different continents and in different societies. But Dale Bourke says that the challenges facing girls shouldn’t overwhelm us; they should inspire us. Bourke is an award-winning writer and editor who has served as president of the CIDRZ Foundation and SVP at World Relief, publisher of Religion News Service, and has been a syndicated columnist. She has traveled extensively and wr...
Discovering Longevity With Bill Kole: How Does Living Longer Impact Society?
October 10, 2023 04:00 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBOne constant human wish is for the longevity of the people we love. Bill Kole explores the coming era of “super-aging,” where more and more of us will live more than a century, with dramatic consequences for retirement, finances, relationships, and even the politics of the next century. Kole, the author of “The Big 100: The New World of Super- Aging,” recently retired as New England editor for The Associated Press. He is an award-winning former foreign correspondent who’s reported from...
How The Chains Of Poverty Prevent People From Being Free: Putting An End To Poverty In America With Matthew Desmond
September 26, 2023 04:00 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBThe United States is both the richest country on Earth, and yet beset with a crushing poverty that saddles too many Americans. Dr. Matthew Desmond is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and sociologist who says the reality of American poverty is sustained by those who benefit from it. Matthew Desmond is a professor of sociology at Princeton University and joined the Harvard Society of Fellows in 2010. He is the author of four books, including “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American C...
Brad Sears on Current Issues Facing the LGBTQ Community
September 21, 2023 15:48 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBIn 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that love is love is love and marriage equality became recognized in all 50 states. Brad Sears warns, however of legislative efforts across the country to roll back LGBTQ rights. Sears is the Founding Executive Director and Rand Schrader Distinguished Scholar of Law and Policy at the Williams Institute. He is also the Associate Dean of Public Interest Law at UCLA Law. Sears has published several research studies, primarily on discrimination against LGBT ...
Experimental Psychology: Exploring Public Perception of Morality and More with Adam Mastroianni
September 20, 2023 13:51 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MBEvery generation seems to lament the decline in public virtues, morality, and decency. But Adam Mastroianni argues that those perceptions are generally not rooted in reality. Mastroianni is an experimental psychologist and author of the science blog, “Experimental History.” He earned his doctorate in psychology from Harvard in 2021, and his work has been covered everywhere from The New York Times to “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” He is originally from Monroeville, Ohio (pop. 1,400). Outside of s...
Catalyzing Social Change Through Architecture with Justin Brown
September 13, 2023 15:09 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBArchitecture is about the built environment. But Justin Brown helps lead a firm whose mission is to use architecture to help move communities forward, promote social justice and healing, and expand the possibilities of tomorrow for cities and their residents. Brown is a co-founder and Principal at MASS Design Group focused on expanding architectural work in the U.S. He leads the Hudson Valley Office in Poughkeepsie, NY and is dedicated to the growth of MASS’s Social Justice and Adaptive R...
Exploring the Narratives that Have Shaped History and Conflict with Jade McGlynn
August 29, 2023 18:14 - 28 minutes - 26.3 MBIn grade school, we might learn history in class and think of it as a straightforward recitation of facts and dates. Dr. Jade McGlynn however, explains that history’s stakes are high—shaping the collective memories and national narratives that can prepare a nation for great trials and even conflict. McGlynn is an author and Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. Her research focuses on Russia’s war against Ukraine since 2014, propaganda, memory politics,...
Elizabeth Rush Investigates the Impacts of Climate Change with a Journey to the End of the Earth
August 22, 2023 04:00 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBFor longer than anyone can remember, politicians and concerned citizens have asked ‘what kind of world are we leaving our children?’ Elizabeth Rush grappled with that question in a very personal way when she journeyed to Antarctica’s fragile glaciers to chronicle the work of scientists trying to understand the realities of a changing climate. Rush is the author of “Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and “The Quickening: Creation an...
America’s Educators: Documenting a Year in the Life with Alexandra Robbins
August 17, 2023 14:35 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBSchools are at the heart of communities across the United States, and teachers are at the heart of each school. Alexandra Robbins shares a year in the life of three teachers, the schools in which they teach, and the children whose lives they shape Robbins is the author of five New York Times bestselling books, is an investigative reporter and a recipient of the prestigious John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest Magazine Journalism, given by the Medill School of Journalism. In 2022, ...
Haruka Sakaguchi Captures Cultural Identities Through the Lens
August 17, 2023 14:24 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MBThe photographers eye sees things the rest of us might not. Haruka Sakaguchi uses the camera to tell stories about cultural identity and intergenerational trauma. Sakaguchi is a Japanese documentary photographer based in New York City. She was born in Osaka, Japan and immigrated to the US with her parents when she was three months old. Sakaguchi’s documentary work focuses on cultural identity and intergenerational trauma. Her clients have included The New York Times, National Geographic,...
Examining the Historical Bias in the Algorithms Shaping our World with Meredith Broussard
August 02, 2023 19:18 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBThe myth is that technology is unbiased, but says the truth is more complex and explains how bias and discrimination creep into the algorithms that shape the modern world. Broussard is a data journalist and an associate professor at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University, research director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology, and the author of several books, including “More Than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech” and “Arti...
Examining Gender Inequality Through the Lens of American Sports
July 25, 2023 04:00 - 28 minutes - 26 MBFor all of the excitement and glamour, professional female athletes still lag well behind their male counterparts in terms of how much they earn, the power they wield in their profession, and the respect afforded them. Macaela MacKenzie shows that this phenomenon in sports is no different from the experience of women across American society. MacKenzie is a journalist who writes about women and power. She covers women’s equality through the lenses of sports, wellness, and the gender gap acr...
Power and Accountability in America’s Justice System with Elie Honig
July 19, 2023 15:40 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBJustice is supposed to be blind. But Elie Honig says that individuals blessed with power, fame, and money have advantages in the criminal justice unavailable to most Americans. Honig is a former New Jersey and federal prosecutor with extensive experience leading and managing criminal trials and appeals. He provides strategic advice to individuals and businesses in government-facing investigations as well as counsel on internal investigations. Honig previously served as Director of the D...
Combatting Polarization and Charting A Way Forward with Peter T. Coleman
July 11, 2023 04:00 - 28 minutes - 26 MBPolitical polarization is at epidemic levels in the United States—shaping national politics, friendships, and even family dynamics. But Peter T. Coleman says it doesn’t have to be that way—that each of us can adopt simple practices to reduce the polarization in our lives and in our communities. Dr. Coleman is Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University where he holds a joint appointment at Teachers College and The Earth Institute. He directs the Morton Deutsch Internation...
Exploring the Urgent Issues of Our World Through Poetry with Joshua Bennett
June 28, 2023 21:11 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBPoetry comes in many forms. Dr. Joshua Bennett explores the history of “spoken word” and its expansion of the contours of poetry and its ability to capture the urgent, social issues of the day. Bennett is the author of five award-winning books of poetry, criticism, and narrative nonfiction, including “Spoken Word: A Cultural History,” “The Study of Human Life,” which is currently being adapted for television in collaboration with Warner Brothers Studios, “Owed,” “Being Property Once Myself...
Shafo Sahil and Matt Waters on The Bond of the Battlefield
June 21, 2023 15:09 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBSoldiers know what it means to keep the faith—a character trait valued in others given the grim realities of fighting on distant battlefields. Shafo Sahil and Matt Waters know the bond borne of shared battlefield experience and can help us understand what recent Hollywood portrayals got right and what they got wrong. Shafo Sahil was an interpreter who was assigned to work as a Special Forces interpreter and completed over 100 missions in Afghanistan, including one where he saved for Matt ...
Life Beyond Traumatic Brain Injury with Jamie MoCrazy
June 13, 2023 15:06 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBAnyone who has ever enjoyed watching sports will typically concede that part of the appeal is absolute wonder at the skill, drive, courage, and commitment it takes to perform at the highest levels. Jamie MoCrazy embodied all of those attributes as an extreme skier until a traumatic brain injury ended her competitive career. MoCrazy is an American freestyle skier and motivational speaker who began winning State Championships on Connecticut in gymnastics and skiing at age nine. She was the...
Examining America’s History Through Story with Ilyon Woo
June 13, 2023 15:05 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MBIt’s been said that the history of an era is written in the countless acts of individuals, doing their best to live their own lives. Ilyon Woo shares the story of one married couple whose personal journey—literally and figuratively—charts the course of the United States in the dozen years before the American Civil Car. Woo is the New York Times best-selling author of “Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom” and “The Great Divorce: A Nineteenth-Century Mother’s ...
Exploring Human Displacement as a Result of Climate Change with Jake Bittle
May 31, 2023 20:10 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBThe pantheon of writers focused on climate change ranges from scientists and scholars to poets lamenting the loss of our environment. Jake Bittle documents the impact of climate on people, including the great migration of Americans caused by changes to the Earth’s environment. Bittle is an author and climate change specialist for the non-profit magazine Grist. His work has been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, Harper’s and other media outlets. He is also author of the new boo...
Azar Nafisi on the Power of Literature in Our World Today
May 16, 2023 15:41 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBSo much of our modern life is built upon simplifying the complex. We reduce social interactions to likes and follows on social media and dilute the “news” in our favorite echo chambers. But Azar Nafisi warns that life is not simple, and the complexity found in great literature is ultimately liberating of the mind and essential to the health of our democracy. Nafisi is a best-selling author and professor. She was a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University’s School ...
Jessica Grose on the experiences of motherhood in America today
May 12, 2023 14:20 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBMotherhood is the stuff of childhood play and, often, adult anxieties. Jessica Grose unpacks the realities of motherhood in the United States today, the reasons for those anxieties, and the experience of mothers from various walks of life. Grose is an established author and opinion writer at the New York Times. She is the founding editor of the email newsletter and website, Lenny. Her coverage of the pandemic earned her the title of a Glamour “Game Changer” in 2020. She has worked as an...