S8E14 Podcast: The Driving Machine: Why Our Cars Look The Way They Do

Stan’s guest this week is renowned architect Witold Rybczynski, who discusses his new book, The Driving Machine: A Design History of the Car, published by W.W. Norton. In this wide-ranging discussion, the author reflects on why cars are reflections of our national character, from the Model T to the Range Rover, and how automotive legendsContinue Reading »

S8E13 Podcast: Is Technology Changing What it Means to Be Human?

Do people prefer texting to face-to-face encounters? Will handwriting become obsolete? Have we lost the mental capacity for patience and boredom? And if we have, does it matter? Stan’s guest this week is author and historian Christine Rosen of the American Enterprise Institute, who tackles the impact of technology on what it means to beContinue Reading »

S8E12 Podcast: Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman’s March Revisited

Stan’s guest this week is historian Bennett Parten, talking about his new book, Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman’s March and the Story of America’s Largest Emancipation, published by Simon & Schuster on January 21, 2025. Sherman’s March has remained controversial to this day, and this book is a major new interpretation of the March and itsContinue Reading »

S8E11 Podcast: Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn

This week Stan talks to Christopher Cox, Senior Scholar in Residence at the University of California, Irvine, about his new book, Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn, published in 2024 by Simon & Schuster. Cox’s focus is on Wilson’s role in the movements for women’s suffrage and racial equality, and his open hostility to both. ThisContinue Reading »

S8E10 Podcast: The 2024 Reading Year in Review

This week Stan reviews his reading in 2024: how many books and pages, fiction and non-fiction, and offers tips on age-old reading problems, including: how to get more reading into your life, should you write in your books, reading in a distracted age, suffering from book guilt and how to conquer it, and more. PlusContinue Reading »