S8E19 Podcast: Last Seen: The Enduring Search By Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families

Stan’s guest this week is historian Judith Giesberg, discussing her riveting new book, Last Seen: The Enduring Search By Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families, published in February by Simon and Schuster. Slavery broke many families apart, and Giesberg’s book details the fascinating and often heartbreaking search for lost children, parents, and otherContinue Reading »

S8E18 Podcast: On Air: The Triumph and Tumult of NPR, National Public Radio

Stan’s guest is award-winning author and GHS Dooley Distinguished Fellow Steve Oney, discussing his new book On Air (published by Avid Reader Press) on the history of National Public Radio. From “All Things Considered” to “Car Talk” and “This American Life,” from Bob Edwards to Anne Garrels to Cokie Roberts and Ira Glass, Steve coversContinue Reading »

S8E17 Podcast: Shots Heard Round the World: The American Revolution and John Ferling

Stan’s guest this week is renowned historian John Ferling, who talks about his new (and perhaps final) book on the American Revolution, published just in time for the event’s 250th anniversary. Ferling reflects on his life and his remarkable 50-year career as one of America’s leading historians of the Founding era.

S8E16 Podcast: The Most Powerful Court in the World: A History of the Supreme Court

Will abortion be legal? Should people of the same sex be allowed to marry? Stan’s guest is UCLA law professor Stuart Banner, discussing his latest and very timely book, The Most Powerful Court in the World: A History of the Supreme Court of the United States, published in November by Oxford University Press.

S8E15 Podcast: “Savage, Barbarian, Civilized”: The Invention of Prehistory and Our Obsession With Human Origins

Do we study the deep past only to justify our present actions toward those we deem less “civilized”? Are humans fundamentally good and altruistic or mean and self-serving? Is “human nature” warlike or peaceful? Stan’s guest this week is author and historian Stefanos Geroulanos of New York University, discussing all of these issues from hisContinue Reading »