Shows – Milt Rosenberg: Recent Episodes
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Added 8.2.19. Historian and journalist Stephen O’Shea delves with Milt into the medieval uprising in Languedoc in France’s south against the Catholic Church, by Christian Dualistic, Gnostic Cathars, or “pure ones.” O’Shea is author of a number of books, including , “The Great Heresy: The Revolutionary Life And Death Of The Medieval Cathars.” … More
Added 7.12.19. The Pakistani Islamic militant who masterminded the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers and other deadly terrorist attacks now remains in custody at Guantanamo Bay. Investigative journalist and author Richard Miniter wrote the definitive account of his life and career, titled, “Mastermind: The Many Faces Of The 9/11 Architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.” … More
Add 6.22.19. Milt interviews a trio of experts on Mormonism’s present form as a major religion, and a significant presence in U.S. life. Guests are Jana Riess, author of “Mormonism for Dummies,” Patrick Q. Mason, Chair in Mormon Studies at Claremont Graduate University, and Chicago Tribune religion reporter Manya Brashear. … More
Added 6.14.19. Milt interviews Kyle Olson in 2011 about his then-new book, “Indoctrination.” Olson is the founder and CEO of the Education Action Group, a Michigan-based non-profit which favors charter schools and education vouchers and has attracted attacks from pro-teachers-union advocates as a tool of the DeVos family, Republicans, and conservatives. … More
Added 6.7.19. Loaded with historical radio clips, Milt interviews broadcast historian J. Fred MacDonald about 20th Century broadcasting history. The show starts with a vintage clip that jolts the listener back to a national turning point. The Sunday broadcast of the New York Philharmonic, live, playing Shostakovich’s Symphony #1 in F Minor, is interrupted by a news bulletin, … More
Added 5.31.19. Modern Russia is a study in intersectionality. How is it shaped by the overlapping spheres of strongman leader Vladimir Putin, the criminal oligarch class, plus a media more and more owned by said oligarchs, and the restless but still somewhat cowed masses? What are the key takeaways on the nation’s resurgent geopolitical profile? … More
Added 5.24.19. Situated on the site of modern-day Istanbul, the city of Byzantium – also known for some time as Constantinople – was an empire which bridged antiquity and the dawn of modernity, and became the dominant economy, culture and military in Europe. Joining Milt in a closer look at the Byzantine Empire through the peregrinations of time are Dean Miller, … More
Added 5.17.19. With historians John Lynn of the University of Illinois and Brian Sandberg of Northern Illinois University, Milt in this vintage episode explores what drove conquerors such as Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and Hitler to do what they did. What was the role of “legacy preoccupation” in Alexander’s quests? How exactly did Hitler conceptualize his symbiosis with the body politic? … More
Added 5.10.19. Before email, there was this thing called the letter. As most people born prior to the digital age likely know, for many centuries letters served not only as a means of private communication but also as a rich source of material for historians and other scholars. Though we think of letters as typically extemporaneous and personal, … More
Added 5.3.19. In this 2000 episode, Milt interviews famed U.S. astronaut Jim Lovell about the tricky Apollo 13 mission, and more. The 1970 voyage was to be the third U.S. moon landing – but minutes before touch-down, an oxygen tank explosion caused major damage to the spacecraft. That forced a tricky but ultimately safe return to earth. … More
Added 4.25.19. In this 1986 episode, Milt and Rabbi Harold Kushner explore questions for The Ages stemming from Kushner’s then just-published book, “When All You’ve Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough: Living A Life That Matters.” It became a bestseller, and followed Kushner’s breakout 1981 bestseller, “When Bad Things Happen To Good People,” … More
Added 4.18.19. Decorated Marine, Vietnam War rifle platoon leader, novelist, Yale grad and Rhodes Scholar Karl Marlantes discusses with Milt his non-fiction exploration, “What It’s Like To Go To War.” He begins by noting that “the overwhelming feeling of war is a combination of sadness at the deaths of friends and foes,” … More
Added 4.11.19. Milt delves into sleep with two experts: James Herdegen and Kristen Knutson. At the time of the broadcast he was director of the Sleep Science Center at University of Illinois-Chicago, and she was a biomedical anthropologist and professor of medicine at University of Chicago. Together they explore the science of sleep, … More
Added 4.2.19. Milt interview the father-daughter author team Marvin and Deborah Kalb on their then-new book, “Haunting Legacy: Vietnam And The American Presidency From Ford To Obama.” Together they unearth how, why and to what effect U.S. presidents in the years since the Vietnam War’s end, have let our nation’s unsatisfying experience in that conflict shape subsequent military and foreign policy decision making. … More
Added 3.25.19. Milt and New Testament scholars Barbara E. Reid and Klyne Snodgrass explore – as Milt puts it – “the real man Jesus, as he is knowable” with a focus on the “actual facts of the earthly career of Jesus” and its connection to the Christian faith. The starting point is an encomium to Jesus from none other than Napoleon, … More
Added 3.14.19. Schopenauer famously posited, “Clio, the muse of history, is as thoroughly infected with lies as a street whore with syphilis.” Cicero, by contrast, said, “the first law of writing history is truth.” Napoleon thought, “history is the invention of historians.” How history is constructed – and to what degree we can trust it, … More
Added 3.7.19. Renowned war historian Max Hastings, a former editor of the The Telegraph newspaper in the U.K., sits down with Milt to discuss his then-new account of World War II titled “Inferno: The World At War – 1939-1945.” It was time, Hastings tells Milt, to turn the focus away from generals, … More
Added 2.27.19. The sun: it is the constant in the life of the earth and its current inhabitants, but it is not all that trustworthy or stable. It has made great trouble for us in the past, and could make even more trouble in the not-distant future. At least, so posits science writer Lawrence E. … More
Added 2.21.19. Milt in this 2011 conversation with rancher, author, historian and Hoover Institution scholar Victor Davis Hanson, applies a historical filter to present-day controversies over U.S. engagement in the Middle East, and our domestic rhetoric of redistribution, among other things. Hanson had just authored a historical novel titled, “The End of Sparta.” … More
Added 2.13.19. When the Nazis purged non-Aryans from the ranks of cabaret performers, there were almost none left. That’s because, remarkably, most of them in the Weimar Republic, were Jewish. How was is that they were compelled to be there then? Love of the art and its cultural resonance is something deeply felt to Rebecca Joy Fletcher. … More
Added 2.5.19. In this vintage 1993 episode Milt and two classicists examine how the Ancient Greeks endured a not-entirely hostile takeover by the nascent Roman Empire, and what happened after that. How, within several centuries, did a bunch of Roman provincials dwelling on seven hills and embroiled in feuds with other narrowly-focused rivals, … More
Added 1.30.19. Dim that PC, pause the iPod, put down the iPhone. Quick, now: if the point of life were to perfect the soul and the intellect, how would you go about it? Surely not by sharing another “viral” cat video. Such are the challenges posed by the discipline of philosophy, Platonic branch. … More
Added 1.22.19. Born in the 1930s in the United States but greatly appreciated, analyzed and advanced by European critics and auters, the film noir genre accented the predatory side of man and the city as a vortex of temptation and depravity. The femme fatale, the “good girl,” the flawed hero – … More
Added 1.15.19. As feminism’s gradual ascent became evident, feminist icon Gloria Steinem said, “Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry.” That’s still a lot to chew on. Joining Milt to discuss the changing roles and realities for men and women in the United States of the 21st Century are author and Manhattan Institute scholar Kay Hymowitz, … More
Added 1.8.19. Italian immigrants with anarchist leanings are arrested with no warrant; tried based on no real evidence; and convicted and executed for a 1920 Massachusetts payroll heist that resulted in two deaths. How did authorities, the press, and the public see their way clear to this seemingly stunning miscarriage of justice? Milt explores the troubling tenor of the times with attorney and historian Theodore W. … More
Added 12.10.18. Milt interviews Joe and Teresa Graedon about their then-new book, “Top Screw-ups Doctors Make And How To Avoid Them.” The noted consumer health writers had a syndicated newspaper column, and a show on PBS. They also run the informative web site peoplespharmacy.com. Each year in the U.S., … More
Added 12.5.18. Guest Richard Epstein – a legal and political scholar – lays out the tenets of classical liberalism versus modern day progressivism. The differences are fairly vast, and instructive. He was, at the time of this interview, the author most recently of “Why Progressive Institutions Are Unsustainable.” Epstein is a professor of law and director of the Classical Liberal Institute at New York University, … More
Added 11.27.18. Here in the fast and furious times of late 2018, the Catholic Church’s priest sex scandal has led to intensifying debate about the legitimacy of the faith itself. But, argues one current analyst in The Federalist, it’s a problem of conduct, not doctrine. There remains much that is timeless and beneficial – … More
Added 11.14.18. If the Greek gods of antiquity were alive today, their lives would make for maximum clickbait. Their heroic exploits were equalled only by their grand appetites for sin and self-regard. Naturally, there is much to mine from their legends. With two noted classics scholars Milt delves into the gods of the Greek pantheon in ancient mythology, … More
Added 11.6.18. It’s been said that to be a U.S. Presidential contender requires “ambition, stamina, and pure shamelessness.” There’s a tradition among writers and political analysts of putting successful – and unsuccessful – U.S. Presidential campaigns under the microscope. It dates back at least as far as Theodore White’s classic of the genre titled “ … More
Added 10.30.18. Milt in 2011 interviews historian Deborah Lipstadt on her then-new book, “The Trial of Adolf Eichmann.” Sitting behind bulletproof glass in court in Jerusalem, Eichmann was tried and subsequently sentenced to death for his central role serving Hitler by overseeing the transport of millions of Jews to death camps, … More
Added 10.24.18. Milt interviews the Peabody Award-winning film documentarist Joseph Dorman upon the 2011 release of his film, “Sholom Aleichem: Laughing In The Darkness.” To many, Aleichem is known mainly as the writer who work gave rise to “Fiddler On The Roof.” Accordingly, Dorman tells Milt, he thought of Aleichem as “a dusty Jewish humorist of the past.” … More
Added 10.16.18. Milt interviews celebrated playwright, author and essayist David Mamet in 2006 upon the publication of Mamet’s book, “The Wicked Son: Anti-Semitism, Self-Hatred And The Jews.” The book is dedicated by Mamet, “To the Jews…whose favorite Jew is Anne Frank…who bow the head reverently at a baptism and have never attended a bris – … More
Added 10.10.18. In this 2011 episode Milt talks with two authors about the 2008 financial meltdown in the U.S. and necessary course corrections going forward, as economy-builders traverse the slippery slopes of growth. One guest is Economist columnist and former Financial Times writer Philip Coggan. He is author of “ … More
Added 10.2.18. Beware of any story that starts out like this: “A friend of my cousin’s wife’s brother’s co-worker saw this happen and could not believe it.” You probably shouldn’t believe it, either. But how tall tales become more or less accepted truth reveals much about us – and our fears, … More
Added 10.2.18. Dating to not later than the mid-90s, this episode focuses on archaeology tied to the biblical lands and times. With eminent experts rich in field-dig experience and historical perspective, Milt explores whether, in fact, the walls of Jericho really may have come tumbling down as Joshua led the attack. Or does the evidence suggest otherwise? … More
Added 9.25.18. When Rachel Bertsche moved to Chicago to be with her boyfriend (soon to be husband) she left behind her “besties,” or best girlfriends, in New York. So, using digital and analog means she intentionally set out to meet – once a week for a whole year – with candidates to take their place. … More
Added 9.25.18. Architecture can make our souls soar, or sink. At the same time, in big cities it is bound up in the economics of land development and the politics of preservation and zoning. In recent years, sustainability, landscape integration and practical functionality have all become more important in the practice of the craft. … More
Added 9.18.18. Milt in this vintage 1980 broadcast talks with noted philosopher, educator and author Mortimer Adler about his then-new book, “How To Think About God: A Guide For The 20th Century Pagan.” His central contention is that “there are rational grounds for believing that God exists.” Milt, a self-admitted “20th Century Pagan,” … More
Added 9.18.18. Milt in this 2012 episode talks with Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, a cardiologist – and science writer Kathryn Bowers. They authored the book, “Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health And The Science Of Healing.” This fascinating discussion explores the underpinnings and philosophical ramifications of how the study of animal health and well-being can and does guide advances in human health. … More
Added 9/10/18. Milt in this 2011 episode delves into education reform with top-tier veteran journalist Steven Brill, who had just authored, “Class Warfare: Inside The Fight To Fix America’s Schools.” They discuss how Brill developed the book and what he learned along the way. It’s an insider account including a close look at the personal dynamics among influencers – … More
Added 9/10/18. Milt in this 2012 episode interviews popular science author Dava Sobel about the subject of her then-latest book, “A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized The Cosmos.” The Renaissance mathematician and astronomer played it cagey on proofs and details after in 1510 issuing notice that the universe revolved in fact, … More
Added 9/4/18. Milt in this October, 1997 episode interviews noted historian Michael Beschloss on what he learned writing the first of two volumes based on once-secret White House tapes made by President Lyndon Baines Johnson in the first two years of his presidency – starting with the hurried taking of office by the former Vice President after the assassination of President John F. … More
Added 9/4/18. Mega-wealthy do-gooders such as George Soros and Warren Buffet speak forcefully of the moral imperative to guarantee the societal security of the less well-off – but in fact, they can be viewed as merely the latest in a long line of elites who advance that line in alliance with progressive leaders, … More
Added 7.26.18. Milt is joined in this 2010 conversation by Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson, who had just authored “The Warmth Of Other Suns: The Epic Story Of America’s Great Migration.” It brings to life the travails, hopes and dreams of more than six million African-Americans who moved from the U.S. … More
Added 7.26.18. To preserve big game animals being hunted to extinction, legendary explorer and taxidermist Carl Akeley embarked time and again on perilous expeditions in the wilds of Africa. This champion of conservation created the African Hall at the New York Museum of Natural History and cavorted with outsize personalities of the times, … More
Added 7.18.18. Milt in this 2010 episode interviews former FBI Agent Bob Hamer, author of “The Last Undercover: An FBI Agent’s Dangerous Dance With Evil.” Hamer specialized in undercover sting operations against the baddest of the bad guys. To catch them, he at various times impersonated a buyer of drugs from Los Angeles street gangs, … More
Added 7.18.18. Urban sociology was born in Chicago at the University of Chicago in the 1930s by street-savvy scholars who got out, explored communities and dug into non-academic realities to develop and test their theories. Broadly speaking, they were seeking to better understand and document how immigrants, politicians, classes and interest groups in major cities relate to each other and conduct necessary social transactions, … More
Added 7.10.18. Milt in 2010 interviewed three Chicago policemen about what their work is like. They are Brendan Daugherty, John Wrigley, and Martin Preib – who had recently authored, “The Wagon And Other Stories From The City.” Describing the book, The Guardian wrote, “At the age of 40, … More
Added 7.10.18. Everything you thought you knew about the history of baseball – our “national pastime” – is wrong. Or, at least, quite a bit of it. That is the upshot of a close look at the sport’s long arc in U.S. popular history by Mitchell Nathanson, a professor at the Villanova University School of Law, … More
Added 6.26.18. Wars: they just don’t make ’em like they used to. Milt explores the wars of antiquity with noted historian John Lendon of the University of Virginia. Lendon is author of, among other things, the book “Song of Wrath: The Peloponnesian War.” Milt and Lendon traverse a range of related topics, … More
Added 6.26.18. True, four of the last seven governors of Illinois have gone to jail. And Chicago has long been a leading-edge laboratory of institutionalized political corruption. But don’t overlook the suburbs. Developing this theme further – with plenty of additional insight on state and Chicago corruption – are Milt’s two guests, in this 2012 episode. … More
Added 6.12.18. Bite into this: in-vitro meat as a real-meat, more-humane alternative to fare from the slaughterhouse. More ostrich meat in your diet, along with fish raised indoors, and tasty, satisfying wheat-less bread “baked” through fermentation of raw ingredients. Let’s chew on a few more things. How do we make tomatoes great again, … More
Added 6.12.18. Milt in this 2011 interview debriefs Sara Anson Vaux, who taught religious studies and film at Northwestern University and authored the treatise, “The Ethical Vision of Clint Eastwood.” She contends Eastwood’s films, while broadly understood to be ripping good stories, also cover important ethical, religious, and philosophical grounds which should not be given short shrift. … More
Added 6.12.18. Foreshadowing much of the current conversation about the Middle East, Milt plus guests Charles Lipson and Laith Saud explore pressing questions such as, do Israel and Iran actually have any real intention of working out their differences, or is all the rhetorical jousting really just for political affect? How should Israel think about compromise with Palestine while still preserving the Israeli state? … More
Added 6.5.18. The practice of psychiatry in recent decades has grown in sophistication and diagnostic capabilities. Milt in this 2010 probe discusses the state of modern psychiatry with three prominent researcher-practitioners. They are: Mani Pavuluri, Founding Director of the Pediatric Mood Disorders Program, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine; Will Cronenwett, … More
Added 6.5.18. Some of the major charismatic preachers who made a difference in religious life, have also changed the course of history. For starters, think Martin Luther King, Jr., Mohammed, and Rabbi Hillel. How exactly does this happen, and why? Milt explores the anatomy of religious leaders’ influence on society. He is joined by Chicago Tribune religion reporter Manya Brachear Pashman, … More
Added 6.5.18. Was the U.S. Civil War really inevitable, or was the firing of the first shots of battle in Charleston in 1861 more contingent – upon a series of events and circumstances that might very well have played out differently? Milt in this 2011 conversation digs deeper into the roots of that epic conflict, … More
Added 5.29.18. Milt talks in 2010 with noted scholar Richard Rhodes, who had just authored his fourth major book on nuclear weapons. It was titled, “The Twilight Of The Bombs: Recent Challenges, New Dangers, And The Prospects For A World Without Nuclear Weapons.” Rhodes won the Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction for his 1986 book, … More
Added 5.29.18. Milt talks with numismaticists Robert Feiler and Robert Leonard of the Chicago Coin Club about how exactly it is that money makes the world go round. In this 2010 conversation, they delve into the history of currency, its political uses, how its value is actually guaranteed, and the role of currency in economic considerations including debt, … More
Added 5.29.18. Milt sits down with three Chicago restaurant industry denizens to discuss the ins and outs of the business. They are GianCarlo Nardini, co-owner of Club Lago; Michael Taus, then chef-owner of Zealous; and Liz Van Leeuwen, then front of the house manager at Avec, a Mediterranean dining establishment. They dine out on a broad menu of topics including how to read – … More
Added 5.22.18. From not-so-distant decades when aldermen and committeemen had the Real Juice, to the present day where power is more concentrated in the Mayor’s Office, novelist Mark M. Quinn in this 2009 conversation with Milt explores the fascinating and dismaying ins and outs of Chicago political corruption. It’s a somewhat fluid and nuanced thing, … More
Added 5.22.18. In this 2012 episode, Milt talks with two experts about man’s similarities and differences with primates. Is our own free will to some extent an illusion, because we’re hard wired to act in certain ways in certain situations? Discussants probe the tension between our biological programming and our higher nature, which stems from a more acute consciousness, … More
Added 5.22.18. Never one to shy away from the classics, Milt in this 2012 episode delves into what comprises the canon of classic American fiction. His guests are Professors of English Priscilla Perkins of Roosevelt University and Kenneth Warren of the University of Chicago. Together they delve into questions such as “what makes Nathaniel Hawthorne great? … More
Added 5.15.18. Milt in 1982 goes mano a mano with Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko, in this rare and revealing interview. The author of penetrating current-events, cultural and political essays – in the Chicago Daily News and later the Sun-Times and Tribune – under Milt’s questioning delves into his remarkable rib-cooking prowess, … More
Added 5.15.18. Guests are prominent radio historian Fred MacDonald, and Matthew Erlich, author of “Radio Utopia: Post-War Audio Documentary In The Public Interest.” With Milt, they discuss how popular U.S. radio shows helped shape public consciousness in the years following World War II. Themes included the fight against fascism, … More
Added 5.15.18. In this brief historical excerpt shortly following the 1973 publication of a young, Cambridge-educated Arianna Huffington’s critique of Western feminism, “The Female Woman,” Milt opens the disquisition with an admittedly chauvinist question: “What’s a nice Greek girl like you doing taking on the women’s liberation movement?” Arianna explains that although there has been no shortage of male chauvinist pigs to which she has been exposed in her homeland, … More
Added 5.10.18. In this 2012 interview, Milt with author Paul Dickson brings to life the epic adventures of Major League Baseball’s most prodigious innovator, the larger-than-life Bill Veeck. The Baseball Hall of Famer – and owner, variously, of the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Browns – managed to offend and irritate other owners at the same time he delighted fans and sportswriters. … More
Added 5.8.18. Milt in 2010 talked with author Bart Madden about what Madden calls the “invisible graveyard” of patients who “are dying needlessly because they are denied timely access to the most innovative new drugs.” Drawing from his book, “Free To Choose Medicine” Madden argues that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) bears considerable responsibility for the problem. … More
Added 5.7.18. Milt opens up the line to callers to talk about an epidemic of street violence including 11 fatal shootings and the wounding of 43 others over Chicago’s 2012 Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately, the storyline gained impetus in the years to follow. Hear what Chicagoans calling in to the show, and public officials, … More
Added 5.7.18. In this second installment of expert interviews conducted during the week of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York, Milt talks to Morton Kondracke, then the editor of Roll Call magazine; and Bill Gertz, then the Pentagon correspondent for The Washington Times. This fascinating and historic discussion foreshadows much of the subsequent response of the U.S. … More
Added 5.7.18. In these broadcast excerpts dating from shortly after the terrorist strike on the World Trade Center in New York, Milt speaks with two expert panels. The first is made up of Daniel Pipes of the Middle East Forum, plus three University of Chicago political scientists: Charles Lipson, John Mearshimer, and Robert Pape. … More
Added 5.3.18. Milt in 2009 interviewed writer and political analyst P.J. O’Roure about his other life as a car journalist. O’Rourke had just had published a collection of related articles titled, “Driving Like Crazy.” The chat veers from the golden era of the U.S. auto industry toward a range of related topics including: how both the manufacturing and hot-rodding of cars has changed; … More
Added 5.3.18. Milt sat down in 2009 with writer and political humorist Harry Stein to discuss his book, “I Can’t Believe I’m Sitting Next To A Republican: A Survival Guide For Conservatives Marooned Among The Angry, Smug, And Terminally Self-Righteous.” Stein is the author of numerous books, and a contributing editor to City Journal. … More
Added 5.3.18. Milt in 2009 interviewed two journalists who found themselves in very hot water with the Canadian government, for what they had published relating to radical Islam. They were Ezra Levant, author of, “Shakedown: How Our Government Is Undermining Democracy In The Name Of Human Rights,” and Mark Steyn, … More
Added 5.3.18. Milt in 2009 interviews FDR’s eldest grandson Curtis Roosevelt Dall, who authored the book, “Too Close To The Sun: Growing Up In The Shadow Of My Grandparents Franklin and Eleanor.” They talk about Curtis’ take on growing up in the White House as one of the “First Grandchildren” … More
Added 5.2.18. In this 2010 Interview, Milt talks with Bernard Wasserstein, a University of Chicago scholar, about the history of 20th Century Europe. Wasserstein had recently authored the book, “Barbarism And Civilization: A History of Europe In Our Time.”
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The night before the presidential election of 2012 callers voice their voting intentions and give their reasons. The contrast between then and what will probably be on their minds this coming November is – to say the least – striking!
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Salman Rushdie. Henry Kissinger, Charlton Heston, Howard Cosell, Mike Wallace, Mike Royko, Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Buck O’Neill, Herblock and Pete Hamill are some of the memorable guests in this batch of outstanding excerpts from earlier programs.
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Inevitably, language guardians focus more on abuse than upon admirable use. Either way, this is a topic of eternal interest and prone to generate amusement and argument. And, by the way, which presidential candidate speaks of experts as “pundints” rather than “pundits?”
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And, if so, what does “He” want of us? Three scholars–a rabbi, a Christian minister and a Professor of Divinity–join us in a mind-stretching and probing discussion of competing theologies.
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The inventor of the great detective, Sherlock Holmes, was, in his own life, a physician-adventurer whose experiences match those of the Wizard of Baker Street. John Lettenberg, in his biography of four years ago–and in this discussion recorded when he came to visit with us–puts forth a rich portrait of the fabulous Doctor Doyle.
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James Flynn, a leading psychologist from Australia, offers evidence that average IQ has been increasing across recent decades. Here’s his evidence and the skeptical response of the psychologist-host of the program.
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The “big bang” occurred some 13.7 billion years ago and thus began the universe. But was it only one of many (perhaps an infinity) of other such events which also generated many (perhaps an infinity) of other universes? That and other basic cosmological questions are under discussion here with three major astrophysicists.
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When was that? The 30s, 40s and 50s during which every form flourished including the classic “soap operas,” band broadcasts, variety shows, comedy series and extensive coverage of World War II. Our guide is the major radio historian, Fred MacDonald and here he is along with many great sound clips.
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What will we be eating (and why) a hundred years from now or – for that matter – in 2020? The future of food depends upon climate, politics, costs and sheer human curiosity and perversity, according to the three experts who joined us in this discussion.
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The mode of ultimate inquiry represented by the likes of Plato and Aristotle still flourishes. One of the most significant practitioners of modern philosophy is Martha Nussbaum, with whom we had this memorable conversation focused on classical and contemporary concerns.
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The preface to World War II was, of course, the Spanish Civil War. What caused it, how it was fought and the ultimate consequences of the fascist victory are discussed here by Stanley Payne, that war’s most notable historian.
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Baseball did not begin in Cooperstown N.Y. Nor was it invented by Abner Doubleday. The real history of the game and its further evolution are colorfully recounted here by one of its leading scholars.
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A good politician knows how to deliver a speech that pulls at the heartstrings. An effective politician knows how to work in a joke or some clever wordplay to put the people at ease. And then there’s the political gaffe, which can sink a campaign or make a mockery of one’s rule. Rich Rubino is a fine political reporter, pundit and author who has given us a great collection of odd and obscure political facts in a previous work. … More
Michael Shermer, editor of Skeptic magazine, takes on and sees through some of the major realms of pseudoscience and the higher forms of fakery. Among his targets are: Deepak Chopra, “intelligent design,” mind reading and the deceits of Sigmund Freud.
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…..who was Winston S. Churchill, Member of Parliament and editor of a major volume of his Grandfather’s speeches. We hear many excerpts from the great war-time speeches and, with the younger Churchill, discuss the many persisting problems not solved by the war. And, of course, of equal fascination are the grandson’s memories of what Churchill looked like to the boy who was his favored grandson. … More
The basic unanswered (unanswerable?) question is how did language originate. Are we uniquely structured (larynx, throat, tongue, etc.) and intelligent (brain) so that we are the only linguistic animals? And, if not, what is the nature and extent of the “languages” of other species? For that matter, does thinking require language itself? We are joined by three professors of linguistics in this vivid 2001 discussion. … More
In this comparatively early venture in pessimism about the moral strength pf the West, two leading historians of the classical world voice their doubts about whether Europe can (or will) resist the second coming of Islam. They are Victor Davis Hanson and Bruce Thornton who joined us in this prescient discussion in 2008.
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Two gigantic men try to push each other out of small sand pit. That’s Sumo wrestling, the distinctive sport of Japan. The way those wrestlers cheat – and similar subjects- helped to suggest some of the basic insights of Freakonomics. Here’s the account provided by economics professor Steven D. Levitt shortly after the publication of his first book on the Freakonomics of everyday life. … More
Israel’s Six Days War with Egypt, Jordan, Syria, etc. established its present borders and delivered solid, territory-loss to its hostile neighbors. It was brilliantly recounted by Michael Oren, an American-born Israeli in his book which was subtitled, “June 1967 and the making of the modern middle east.” Here is our full conversation with Oren who went on, later, to be Israel’s ambassador to Washington and now is a leading member of the Knesset. … More
…..may well be Venice, which may ultimately go fully underwater. But a thousand strange Venetian tales (all true) will persist. Of its many aberrant inhabitants was Ezra Pound the American poet and traitor who broadcast anti-American and anti-Semitic programs from Rome during the second world war. Released from a psychiatric hospital after seven years, he settled in Venice with the most loyal of his mistresses and some very rich supporters. … More
Robert Macneil, broadcast journalist of Canadian origin, has an abiding interest in the varying accents and vocabularies of english speakers. His book “Do You Speak American?” examines American regional accents and in this program from 2005 we listen to many of them and analyze how they were formed. The range is all the way from Brooklyn to California “valley girl.” … More
…..not with the Marx Brothers but, celebrating the 2008 opening of the Chicago Lyric Opera, we talked with Peter Sellars, then the director of the company and also with the conductor of the new opera “Dr. Atomic.” Among our guests by recording are: Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, Bryne Terfel. Renata Tibaldi and Maria Callas. A great and memorable time was had by all. … More
Those are only a few of the crimes pursued by “private eyes.” Three leading licensed investigators join us with tales of murder, arson, fraud, infidelity and abused innocence. They are Paul Ciolino, Steve Kirby and Mike Carlson, each of whom runs his own investigative firm and, no surprise, they have some great and chilling tales to tell.
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The two debaters in this program from ten years ago are David Dennett, famous philosopher from Tufts University (and one of the main advocates of the “new atheism”) and David Cook, professor of philosophy at Wheaton College. Of some seven or eight times that we did discussions on the atheism/religion conflict, this one was most frequently requested for rebroadcast.
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Christopher Dickey, son of the great American poet and an international journalist, wrote a book in 2009 predicting much more terrorism to come. He was prescient and his analysis remains most relevant down to the present time of escalated Islamist assault upon the West and its national cultures.
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A number of listeners over the years have remembered this one and asked that we put it up on podcast. Here in conversation with John Anderson of the Tribune we are recounting the great actor’s visit to the program on a decidedly wet St. Patrick’s Day.
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Three veteran journalistic observers of the great game sat down one night in 2002 to share their wisdom. Here is the fascinating outcome – a general treatise about the game that is definitely not a mere set of predictions about the then-current season (in which the Cubs did not particularly distinguish themselves).
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We bandy about the words “liberal” and “conservative” as we discuss just about anything in the realm of public policy or private preference. In this conversation from 2008 we examine the history of conservative thought from Edmund Burke to the present. Our guide ran the conservative publishing house (simply “Regnery”) for many years.
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However his presidency is now evaluated, Jimmy Carter’s life story is an American saga of outstanding interest. Here he shares his account of his childhood in rural, backwoods Georgia and the beginnings of his political career.
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…or geography or philosophy or how to read or write the language? That, says E.D. Hirsch, was the problem thirty years ago when he wrote “Cultural Literacy” and it is still the case for far too many American high school and college students. Last year, long after our original discussion of the great failure of American education, we discussed it again and found that cultural illiteracy still prevails. … More
By most accounts, the third GOP debate was a circus which strangely pitted the Republican candidates banding together to fend off their foes – not the Democrats, but rather their moderators from CNBC.
To shed light on the proceedings – if there was any of political value – we turn to a fine panel. In studio, Richard Baehr and Ed Lasky of American Thinker, … More
We’re always keen to keep abreast of all of the latest political news. One member of our Political A-Team is Joseph Morris, former U.S. Assistant Attorney General and all-around polymath. We brought him to the show to discuss the upcoming election and the candidates on both sides, the troubles in the Middle East, and a vast range of other topics. … More
8 Men Out. Shoeless Joe Jackson. Even the most casual baseball fan will know a bit about the 1919 Chicago White Sox–or Black Sox*. But what is the true story behind the scandal? As we all know, Hollywood often takes liberties with the facts when producing a feature length film. And how did that World Series give birth to the game as we know it today? … More
Dr. Philip Jenkins has written extensively on the ‘Lost Gospels‘. In this newest book, The Many Faces of Christ, he takes on the notion that these books on the life and divinity of Jesus were never really accepted by the church. To the contrary, they were openly and regularly discussed by early church fathers and elders all the way through the middle ages. … More
What a week it’s been in the political world. Hillary Clinton was back on the Hill again testifying about Benghazi. U.S. troops engaged in the Middle East. Assad visited Putin in Moscow. Putin’s troops continued their assault on ISIS. A wave of terror and retaliation once again grips Israel. Joe Biden dropped out of the race for the American presidency. … More
Dr. James McPherson has dedicated his entire career to the study of the Civil War. As he so eloquently shows us in his new book, the Civil War is still as relevant–if not more relevant–to our current times than to those that were directly affected by it.
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Often when studying history we focus on the major figures. This is no less true in American history, where we may discuss founding fathers, maybe Lincoln, or the great generals of our wars. But one man who was very much a major figure who has been overlooked with the passage of time is Henry Clay. Clay spent time in both the House and the Senate and ran for the presidency on multiple occasions. … More
It’s nearing the time that we must check in with the political world on a regular basis. As of this writing, Donald Trump still leads the GOP race, seemingly to the chagrin and exasperation of top pollsters and major news networks. Hillary Clinton is embroiled in an email scandal, and Joe Biden may challenge her.
For these and many, … More
In this snippet we discuss Pamela Paul’s book Pornified. It shows the history of pornography, where it is today, the ramifications of where it’s headed, and the fallout thus far.
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What started in the 1600s in the West Indies spread across North America in what could be described as sometimes tumultuous. Yet it opened a way to more freedom and tolerance for all religions, and how they were practiced.
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This is about the formulation and the growth of the civil rights movement along with the setbacks and changes that occurred during that long period. One outcome is a strain of white guilt that continues to forcefully shape today’s political culture, discourse, and public policy. And which, ironically, may well comprise a form of racism itself. The author Shelby Steele has written powerfully and convincingly on the topic. … More
The more things change, the more they remain the same. We look at different approaches to making money in the various markets and witness creating wealth out of thin air and losing it all in one short breath. A lively discussion of what was, what is, and what might be if we’re not careful and play safe.
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This show was recorded only a few years after the Vietnam war ended and gives a good perspective on how four veterans recalled it and felt about their experience.
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This discussion was recorded in 2007 and in some cases tells a sometimes different story of what went on in Vietnam and what happened when it was over. Compared to the show above that was recorded in 1978, this episode reveals that for many who were there, it will never quite be over.
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One of the best political analysts in Israel is Caroline Glick, deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post. She’s joined here by Richard Baehr, political editor of The American Thinker. The basic questions addressed: Will the new pact with Iran work? (No). Does it threaten Israel’s survival? (Yes). Can and will Israel do anything about it? What?
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AFTRA is the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. SAG is the Screen Actors Guild. And the Players are veteran performers who love the “old time radio” in which they performed as very young actors. They appeared with us many times doing wonderful bits (such as Bob and Ray) and whole programs (such as the Lux Radio Theater). Here is their first appearance on our program as performed eight years ago. … More
…was the title of a book by Paul Davies published in 2007. He was and is one of the great astrophysical cosmologists and had just moved to the U.S. from his native Australia. Unlike many other members of his academic guild he favors the hypothesis that a transcendent presence or force (God?) was and is involved in the origin of the universe and its “tuning” … More
As far back as 2007 (the year of this program) lots of American professors began expressing alarm and anger over the reduction of intellectual standards, the abandonment of “high culture” and the leftwards politicization of most American universities. Three critics joined us one memorable night in voicing the indictment and specifying the disturbing details.
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A few years after the end of her premiership Margaret Thatcher came to spend two hours with us, and we are still looking for the full tape! But here’s a fascinating fragment of that conversation from 1992 as she reminisces about her first meeting with Gorbachev when he dropped in for a real conversation (with no preparatory notes and only his translator) at 10 Downing Street. … More
…or, as the famous Albert Schweitzer put it, “Der Besuch dem Historichen Jesu.” It has occupied the full careers of many biblical scholars. One of the foremost in our time is John Dominic Crossan. He is joined in this conversation by Ray Pickett of the Lutheran School of Theology.
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…whether in radio or television are provided by “voice-over actors,” many of whom pursue their special trade (it’s really a very special art!) in Chicago. Here are four of them telling the secrets of the trade, invoking their many voices and having a good gossip session one night back in 2002. One of them is the famous Joel Corey who was the snap in Kellog’s “snap, … More
Here’s a famous linguist who disagrees with contemporary advocates of the simple, minimalist style whether in writing or in oratory. To the contrary, John McWhorter tells us, in this spirited conversation from 2003, that he favors and misses the “elevated speech” that once marked the public utterances of great political figures and great writers. The conversation abounds with examples of memorable quotations. … More
What’s the connection? We assert nothing more than on one fine night in 2008 we did a two part program with two biographers who had done excellent and separate books about these two men of great (and incomparable) attainment. It rather makes one wish that we could get Disraeli and Buffett together in a live, trans-chronological radio discussion.
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To our interview collection of occupants of the office (Henry Kissinger, Cyrus Vance, George Schultz, Madeline Albright) we must add Warren Christopher. He filled that most important cabinet position during all of the first term of Bill Clinton. Here in 2001 he reminisces about such problems as Bosnia, Haiti, NAFTA and Yeltsin on his good and bad (drunken) days.
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The question has often been asked. Here, former CIA Director William Colby addresses one famous instance: the case of KGB defector Yuri Nosenko. Curiously, one important CIA personage, James Jesus Angleton, ended by madly accusing Colby himself of being a double agent of the KGB!
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Yes, of course. The list is a long one that does not begin and end with Edmund Burke. Here is a discussion with a thoughtful and well-informed historian who has done a fine book about 14 American conservatives who help to define that political species.
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Two makers of modern dictionaries discussed their always challenging task (decisions, decisions, decisions!) and the questions of why in 2003 and how all languages are always in the process of changing.
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Some of the earliest dinosaurs – from which the later and larger ones evolved – were found in the U.S. by Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago. Here in a 2004 discussion he describes how he and his student assistants went about finding them and extracting them from the ground and, dating them.
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Jack Germond was one of the great print and TV journalists focused upon national politics. In 2004 he took a cynical but amused look at the unreliability of his journalistic brethren – particularly as they offered their quick and dramatic appraisals on weekend TV.
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The term was used at the time to describe the leading journalists who defamed Jefferson, Hamilton, Adams and Washington himself. In 2006 Eric Burns did a detailed and fascinating book about them and their temptation toward blackmail. Here he is in a memorable discussion on the eve of the publication of his book and its startling revelations. We’re reminded of just how low was the point from which American political journalism began. … More
In 2000 we were joined by Sergei Khrushchev, Nikita’s son. He had by then become a professor at Brown University and had just published a definitive volume on his father’s personal history and political career, his role in the Cold War and his ultimate fall from power. We were joined in discussion with this fascinating guest by John Bushnell, professor of Russian history at Northwestern University. … More
We are joined by Tom Fleming, author of “The Great Divide: The Conflict Between Washington and Jefferson.”
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Shortly after he got out of prison, Erlichman, a central White House and Watergate figure, came to chat. He told us how his boss – President Richard Nixon – should have handled the Watergate affair once it was disclosed to the public. Here’s a memorable excerpt.
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In this 2000 program, Nathanial Philbrick, author of “In the Heart of the Sea,” recounts the true-life story that probably inspired Melville’s Moby Dick. The Essex, a whaleship out of Nantucket, was completely destroyed by the great sperm whale that it was pursuing in the South Pacific about a thousand miles east of the Marquesas Islands.
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Despite his trial in Jerusalem and his subsequent execution, Eichmann, who was in charge of the Holocaust of European Jewry, remains an enigmatic figure. Was he merely a bureaucrat “following orders” or was he an enthusiastic mass-murderer? One of the best book-length studies of Eichmann was by Neal Bascom. Here he is in a full discussion from 2009.
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Is Homo Sapiens directly descended from some prior species? If so, it would probably be “Homo Neanderthalis.” That is the question with which this fine discussion from 2004 begins. One of the participants is a biological scientist and the other is engaged in archeological anthropology. Both have spent their careers trying to track the long geneology of our species.
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“Strange” because of its fictional beginning, but full of revelations from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Edmund Morris. He is joined in this conversation from 1999 by Joe Morris. The two Morrises are not related except in their shared and striking competence as political historians.
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As you have probably heard, Peter Schweitzer, author of the recent book “Clinton Cash,” asserts that they are. Here, he lays out his case.
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The four canonical gospels are not the only ones. Recent research and archeology have uncovered gospels attributed to Thomas, Mary, Judas and others. These gospel found in 1945 at Nag Hamadi in Egypt suggest that in the early centuries a great competition raged between what we now know as Christianity and an earlier and quite different form: gnostic Christianity. These matters were fully discussed with us in 2007 by two great biblical scholars, … More
Bellow died in 2005 and about a week later we commemorated his passing with an extended discussion of his art and his life. One of our guests, Richard Stern, was Bellow’s close friend and played a major role in bringing him to the University of Chicago. Both Stern and our other guest, Alexander Hemon, were important working novelists at the time of this deeply probing discussion. … More
Graham Allison, former Assistant Secretary of Defense and one of the founders of the Kennedy School at Harvard, wrote a book 11 years ago saying that such an attack was ultimately inevitable. In this riveting conversation from 2004 he lays out the facts and the reasoning behind his warning. The likely source of such an attack is no longer Osama Bin Laden. … More
What if the Confederacy had won at Gettysburg? That and similiar questions always arise as one ponders the mysteries of history. The Gettysburg counterfactual and others are examined here in a discussion in 2001 featuring three military historians.
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No, it’s not the group you think it is. It’s “Beyond the Fringe” an early post-war group introduced here, in a program about British and American comedy, by Abe Peck who was one of our regulars in the 1980s. Peter Moore is in the group as are various others who went on to prominence after they escaped from Oxford University. … More
As many of you know, Milt is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Chicago. Having spent so many decades in the field, he’s often hesitant to discuss it. But this fascinating new book by the highly regarded Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman proved too much to ignore. Listen to these two amazing minds discuss the mind itself along with the history of psychology and psychiatry. … More
These days in the Middle East the threat of death at the hands of ISIS is forcing ostensible conversions away from other faiths and into Islam. But of course real conversions from one faith to another do occur in other circumstances and often with deep conviction. Here is a memorable conversation back in 1985 with three women who went, respectively, … More
You could of course answer Adam or Moses. But for Robert Pinsky, former poet laureate of the United States, it has to be David. So he attests – and reveals why – in this engrossing conversation with Judaic historian Benjamin Sommer and the fascinated moderator of the program. The extra attraction: Some wonderful poems about David read here by Pinskey. … More
Here are brief clips for each of them as they appeared on our program back in the 80s. Their voices and styles were distinctive and if you are over 50 you should be able to identify all of them. For that matter, many of their films are still frequently on view.
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There may be some whose ESP power enables them to actually do that. But James (the Amazing) Randi, having sought them for many years, has never found one. However – and it is a big “however” – he does do great “cold readings” which persuade the person being read that his mind and history have been magically probed. Here he is one night disguised as “The Incredible Zoran” … More
Does that title suggest a newly-arisen concern? Not actually. Here are three veteran football players (all from the Chicago Bears) telling their disturbing stories way back in 2001. What emerges in this rollicking conversation is that getting your bones broken gains you temporary riches, great stories and permanent pain.
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Back in 1995, as he was readying himself for his attempt to get elected to the State Senate of Illinois, this youngish Chicago lawyer (and former community organizer!) joined us to discuss his new book and his attitudes toward various major matters. Having heard him on the air for this hour and a half discussion would you have predicted a “big public career” … More
Those, say our guests, that are among “the best that has been thought or said.” Our two very well read guests are Mark Bauerlein of Emory University and Bruce Gans of Wright College – who is also the founder of the Great Books Institute. Yes of course, Plato, Machiavelli, Dante, Shakespeare and the rest of that crowd are discussed; but you will be surprised and probably fascinated by some of the other authors who show up and are here quoted and appreciated in a memorable discussion from 2004. … More
That is the title of a book by Jerry Coyne, one of our guests in this assertive and informative 2009 show. He is Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Chicago. Our other guest, Robert Richards, is in Philosophy of Science at the same institution. Both are experts on Darwinian theory. But, say the doubters, how could something as complex as the human eye have “just evolved” … More
That was the title of a major book by Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams. We discussed it with them in 2006 and went for the very big picture. Primack, of the University of California at Santa Cruz, is a cosmologist and one of the discoverers of “dark matter.” What do you know about the origins of the Universe, about its size and total content, … More
The idea that it is – and that experience is the basic influence upon personality – was strongly argued by British philosopher John Locke. The contrary view is that much of what we are in intelligence, personality and character is set by genetics. The simpler version of the argument is “nature vs. nurture.” Steven Pinker, Professor of Psychology at Harvard, … More
One of the best analysts I know makes a point of never voting! That’s Robert Schmuhl, Chairman of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Insights about the current and rather disheartening political scene abound in any extended conversation with this clear-eyed fellow who keeps his distance (the better to see behind their masks) from the pols and their acolytes. … More
That’s one way to define Robert Parker, who was the master of that literary genre – though personally he was a great friend and an always amusing companion. I was lucky enough to know him for many years before his too-early demise. Here is one of our conversations which covers a hell of a lot in a mere 22 minutes. … More
That was the sub-title of Bob Woodward’s book about William Casey, who ran the CIA as a war operation. Before Casey’s death in 1987 Woodward interviewed him deeply and fully – and shortly after that published this astonishing account and gave us this rather stunning discussion of the hidden history he had uncovered.
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The language of the Jews of Europe persists despite the devastating effects of the Holocaust. Here in 1995 we discuss that language and its influence upon American English and popular culture with three masters of the language and its history.
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For what? For seizure of power and subsequent authoritarian rule. In this program from 2008, Professor Phillip Freeman, author of a new biography of the leading Roman, tracks his rise, conquests, and dramatic fall on the Ides of March. It is noteworthy that in many languages the term for the King (such as Tsar and Kaiser) are variants of Caesar. … More
Here is a recent conversation recordedDaniel Pipes, the best expert by far on the seething and long-running anti-western turmoil in the Arab Middle East. But first some words of background.
Many American foreign affairs scholars classify themselves as of the school of “realism.” That supposedly means that they take inter-nation competition and distrust as always operative, potentially or actually. … More
Atheism has probably been debated as long as religion has been available. Inevitably such debate is a not uncommon feature on talk shows. On Extension 720 we have had a number of such discussions and the one that is remembered as the most calm, illuminating and mutually respectful occurred in 2007. And here it is.
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…is, as far as we know, still being put together. Ultimately it will list every one of the 465,000 species of beetles. How many ant-eaters, marmosets or orchids are there or have there been? The project started back in 2007 when we discussed the almost infinite number of life forms with three of the contributing biological scientists. Does the vast range of biodiversity require the conception of “intelligent design” … More
According to Richard Posner, a public intellectual uses general ideas drawn from history, philosophy and the sciences to analyze public problems and issues of general concern. George Orwell is an example of a great public intellectual, says Judge Posner – who goes on to argue that they don’t make them as they used to. In this vigorous conversation from 2002, … More
Two linguistic science specialists join us in this conversation from 1996 as we ask and they answer such basic questions as: How did language originate? Do non-human animals ever achieve real language? What are the major families of language? Why and how do languages change and new ones emerge? If the French (actually from Normandy) had not successfully invaded Britain in 1066, … More
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Leonard Pitts joined us in 2006 to discuss his then just-published book “Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood.” He deals here with problems which have persisted: how to prepare a black child for contacts with police; the effects of feminist theory upon black fatherhood; absent-father black families as a source of social pathology and as a source of suffering for the father himself. … More
Well, maybe not everything but in this spirited conversation with two physicians and one psychologist – all specialists on aging – we get around to almost everything. Including: longevity and its extension, modes of decline, methods of cognitive maintenance and, more broadly, the joys as well as the burdens of aging.
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Over 800 people died in the middle of the Chicago River on an early morning at dockside one sunny day in July of 1915. Matching the tragedy of the Titanic, it is now lost in memory except for the tales still told in Chicago. Here is a striking account by Jay Bonansinga. He did the definitive history and discussed it with us one night in 2004. … More
Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, Horthy, and Antonescu all led fascist states in 20th century Europe. The first two listed led their nations against us in World War II. How did fascism arise? What were its central ideas and intentions? Was war essential to the fascist program? How and why did the populations of Germany, Italy, Hungary, Spain and Romania support their fascist regimes? … More
The Old Testament – the Hebrew Bible or Tanach – combines myth, allegory and particularly in the later books, historical events. Modern biblical scholarship has worked for over a hundred years to decode the text so as to reveal the “true story” of the group that became the Jews. James Kugel is one of the leading contributors to that effort. … More
A 2005 Jihadist terror bombing killed 57 London commuters. The next day we talked with a dear London friend, the mystery novelist P.D. James who had a few years earlier been elevated to the peerage and thus was a member of the House of Lords. Lady James gave us a chilling account of what had just happened and a most insightful interpretation of this early chapter in the terrorist assault upon the West. … More
Our guest in this deep-probing discussion is historian Scott Appleby of the University of Notre Dame. He was, together with Martin Marty, the founder and director of a great project on modern religious fundamentalism which involved the contributions of over a hundred scholars from around the world as they investigated the origins and militant intentions and programs of Islam, Christianity, … More
Of the many programs we have done on evolutionary theory and research none was more sharply and effectively focused on the (failed) challenge to Darwinism posed by the “theory” of intelligent design. In this discussion from 2002 two great guests, Robert Richards and Robert Roose, review the general evolutionary view and take on the ultimate issue concerning the complexity of the human eye. … More
So said Wellington about the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo – and the same can be said and is said by our guest, John Ferling – about the outcome of our Revolutionary War. In this 2006 conversation the masterly historian reviews how lucky we were and how much our victory was a gift from the French, who finally provided the naval blockade which blocked the escape of the British from Yorktown. … More
Talk-show host Michael Medved writes sharp and popular books advancing an optimistic view of the American prospect. Back in 2009 we discussed his then-just published work, “The 10 Big Lies About America.”
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…that swept the country for 10 or so years was at its height when we did this program. Thousands of female “patients” were persuaded by stupid or incompetent “psychologists” that they had been sexually abused by their fathers or by others when in fact nothing of the sort had happened. The psychological injuries to those who had these false memories implanted and to those they accused still persist though the social panic has by now died out. … More
A striking side-note from a discussion in 1981 with Elie Wiesel, Nobel Laureate and historian of the Holocaust. He reveals that he himself was, inadvertently, the source of that designation – meaning, in the original Hebrew, “burnt offering” – for the term that has come to stand for the mass murder of European Jewry.
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And here’s another charged conversation with the political scientist on our A Team, Charles Lipson of the University of Chicago. As we dart about in our usual free-associative style some of the matters we hit upon are:
- What do the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street movement have in common?
- Did Obama represent the last gasp of Democratic Party “progressivism?” … More
Of the making of books there is no end. So says the Book of Ecclesiastes. But according to Adam Bellow, son of Saul, the strong liberal or “progressive” tilt of modern fiction is not counter-balanced by conservative or “traditionalist” fiction. As a publisher of conservative writers such as Charles Murray and Dinesh deSousa and – as influenced by his father and his father’s close associate, … More
The trio of Hitler, Stalin and Mao were responsible for some 100 million political murders of civilians. Of these some 48 million could be traced to Mao Tse Tung and his two mad campaigns known as “The Great Leap Forward” and “The Cultural Revolution.” The terrifying and inevitably riveting story was told by Oxford University historian Roderick Macfarquhar in his book “Mao’s Last Revolution.” … More
Vergil, Plato, Augustine, Dante, Goethe, Austen, Melville – are theirs all “great books?” By common designation they are. What about Dickens, James, Hemingway, Cocteau and Mickey Spillane? The later group may be more immediately enjoyable than the former. But here are two professors of literature who joined us in 2005 with a great discussion of the great books concept and, … More
By the year 2005 the Chicago Mafia had experienced – and performed – some 1,500 murders. A great investigation in that year disclosed much about who killed whom…and why and how. Also illuminated in that investigation was how the Mafia was coordinated into the rule and function of a great American city. Here, in rich narrative detail, is the full story as reported by three of the city’s foremost crime experts. … More
So far, no far-flung empire has lasted more than 1,500 years (the Romans) unless you count the many dynasties of Egypt, the last of which was run by Alexandrian Greeks. The great questions addressed by “large-picture” historians are how empires rise and how and why they inevitably fall. Three such academic historians joined us in 2006 to discuss the Roman, … More
In one of his last appearances with us before his untimely demise, Carl Sagan pondered where, when and how mankind would go once it had shuffled off this earthly coil. Here is a brief and tantalizing excerpt.
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We are astonished. The “we” is me and my guest, Charles Lipson, member of our old A-Team and one of the country’s five leading political scientists (by Rosenberg Ranking). Astonished by what? By the man who wasn’t there. Where? In Paris, of course.
Yet other things about the recent performance of our old colleague from the University of Chicago continue to astonish – … More
That’s the title of a wonderfully outspoken book by John Silber who was, for many years, the President of Boston University. Architecture is, of course, the most public of the arts. You can put a bad painting in the basement but not a bad building. Always an outspoken critic, Silber finds many modern buildings that he would like to have torn down. … More
That can be said to be the basic assignment of psychologists, psychiatrists and, these days particularly, neuroscientists. But the original investigators of the human mind were those we now call philosophers. They are still at it and, using only mind itself, they sometimes clarify many issues and come upon many exciting prospects that one does not get from the more formally scientific investigators. … More
Victor Davis Hanson is a fourth-generation California rancher has long been concerned about the poor prospects that face the flood of Mexican illegal immigrants even if – or when – they attain legal status. In his book “Mexifornia,” which we discussed with him way back in 2003, he made some worried predictions about the poor life prospects for under-educated young Mexicans who were crossing the border in vast numbers. … More
After D-Day the general expectation was that Germany would be defeated within a few months if only because they had less than one-tenth of the planes and tanks than did the Allies. Instead it was a “long, hard slog.” Sir Max Hastings, a great war historian, joined us for this program in 2004 to present the detailed overview, as developed in his book “Armageddon,” … More
The “then” is represented by this program from 2007 with three Chicago-based counter-terrorism agents, one of them from the FBI. The “now” is represented by the recent news from France, Nigeria and, of course, from Iraq where the terrorist “Islamic State” is now engaged in killing non-orthodox Sunnis and any Shiites they can get their hands on while their leader announces that Jihadis should target all Americans. … More
As Gilbert and Sullivan have someone sing in Pinafore, “things are seldom what they seem.” A great instance in recent American history is the Cuban Missile Crisis. This refers to the causes, the weapons, the Soviet motives, the deep disagreements at the White House and how close we actually came to war. A very important and valuable book on the crisis was written by John Gresham who was our guest, … More
Lots of them have been written though sometimes in rather stiff, academic language. A swinging, delightful (but still philologically accurate) version was done back in 2007. Its author Seth Lerer, a professor of English at Stanford, was an equally swinging and delightful guest. Here is our rather richly illustrated conversation about the Latin, Anglo-Saxon, German and French origins of the language which has now become the most widely used in all the modern world. … More
During her last week in office (early 2001) U. S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright came to visit with us and here in a longish excerpt she does her “tour of the horizon” – focusing on the outstanding foreign affairs problems she was about to hand over to her successor. She was the first woman to fill that office and also the second of Jewish familial background. … More
…named Ed Conlon joined us one night back in 2004. Of the many beat cops who have written about “the life,” he is the only one we have met who is also a graduate of Harvard. What he has to say about his adventures, misadventures and the eternal problem of crime-control is strikingly relevant to the current national “crisis” about violence in front of and behind the badge. … More
The question about Alan Dershowitz persists or grows stronger: Is he a conservative liberal or vice-versa? His two-sidedness is as evident in this recent conversation as it has been in his many years of public commentary and advocacy. The man is hard to classify but always a delight to talk with and – when it comes to his sheer mastery of relevant detail – … More
Having already done books on most of the negative virtues, Joseph Epstein did another masterwork back in 2002. It was a hilarious analysis of how we try to lord it over one another by faking superior wisdom, importance and influence. Here he joins us together with John Anderson of the Tribune, an expert on “high society,” as they indulge their knowledge of snobology with tales from the front lines of pretention and high arrogance. … More
Sheldon Patinkin, a great figure in Chicago theater, knew everything worth knowing about the modern musicals. As he was putting together his great book on the subject, he joined us to talk about Gershwin, George M. Cohan. Rogers and Hammerstein, Sondheim, et al. And he bought along his records and tapes!! Here is our discussion with loads of great American music. … More
…so far in human history was – most relevant judges would agree – Sir Isaac Newton. He wrote down in a mathematical mode of his own invention (calculus!) some equations which described and predicted accurately how all of the known physical universe works. James Gleick did the great modern biography of Newton and here he is in 2003 in a full discussion of the man who defined the laws of physics when he was 23 years old. … More
…as a basic plan for how to direct American foreign policy is Joseph Nye. Here he is in a 2005 conversation with us about how “Hard Power” (i.e. military force) often backfires and undermines American foreign policy intentions. As a man in and out of government and for some years the Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, … More
Robert Putnam did the book (yes, “Bowling Alone”) which argued that we were losing our “connectedness” to one another and becoming isolated and selfish individuals. But then, in 2003, he discovered that we were reconnecting in new ways. Here, with a colleague, he explains why and how. As you listen, you might ask yourself whether he described you and yours accurately in his then-new book “Better Together.” … More
The travelers on this excursion are a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General (Joe Morris), a lawyer and broadcaster focused on “strategic” issues (Mary Hartigan) and the co-founder and Political Editor of The American Thinker (Richard Baehr).
Liberal versus Conservative is the way you classify this sort of discussion but it never – well, hardly ever – describes or predicts the way the discourse will go. … More
The beginning of modern Judaism can be traced to the crisis of 70 A.D. when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem. This was the point of transition from priestly to rabbinic Judaism. But as our three truly expert guests explain, the persisting duality between mysticism and rationalism can be found in every stage of the long history. Of special interest in this program is the attention given to the most mysterious of all Judaic scripture: The Kabbalistic Zohar. … More
That was the title of Henry Kissinger’s book published in 2001 and discussed with us in a memorable and far-ranging “tour of the horizon.” Topics included: missile defense, the instability caused by the end of the cold war, the Ruandan genocide, the emergence of modern China, the “dreadful” state of the Middle East at the beginning of the new century and, … More
Or, at least, who tried to acquire all important knowledge by reading every word of the Encyclopedia Britannica. This ambitious young fellow, Alan Jacobs, then wrote an amusing book about his project and in 2004 discussed what he had learned while the proprietor challenged the limits of his and the EB’s knowledge. A good time was had by all.
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That was the rather surprising subtitle of a brilliant biography of John Kennedy published in 2006. The author Barbara Leaming was fully conversant with – and dismayed by – JFK’s “private life,” but found grounds for admiration of the achievements of the public man. … More
Never was Murphy’s Law more applicable than in the ravaging storm called Katrina which came close to destroying New Orleans and environs. A year later the country was still reeling and struggling with accusations of “racist indifference” and governmental incompetence. In 2006 we were joined by
four excellent discussants, both scientific and journalistic, discussing the what, why and who of the disaster. … More
The scandal in our public education is most obvious in the schools of the “inner city,” but also bedevils most of the rest of the schools of comparatively affluent America. Why and how? Through the injurious effects of “niceness” and “educational egalitarianism.” Not only is no child to be left behind, he or she is to be given no honest evaluation of performance, … More
That title is prompted by a great quotation that I only recently encountered: “Liberalism is the politics of kindness.” The source is Garrison Keiller, the sage of Lake Woebegone, and I found it in William Voegeli’s new book, “The Pity Party” by which he means to convey his summary judgement of the Democrats.
His argument, most colorfully and baldly stated in the book, … More
Here’s Bernard Goldberg, formerly of CBS television, and the author of various indignant (but funny) book-length screeds We talked in 2009 at which time he had “nothing against Barack Obama,” but much against the press’s love affair with him. Apart from Goldberg’s contempt for his former colleagues, he conveys strong admiration (verging on secular apotheosis) for Obama at the very beginning of his presidency. … More
Steve Lubet, one of the guests on this program from 2006, had just written a book titled “Lawyer’s Poker.” He and two other experienced trial attorneys tell vivid tales from the courtroom and they do tend to verify the saying that “a trial does not determine who is right but who had the best lawyer.”
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There is much lore – story after story after story – about the injury that divorce delivers to the children of the now dissolved marriage. Is this 2006 discussion we examine the actual research on the “dysfunctional” consequences for the children. Our two guests are among the most salient researchers. Alan Carlson is Director of the Howard Center for Religion and Society; … More
When did language in its “modern” form – that is, with grammar, syntax and extended vocabulary – actually come from, in both space and time? How do languages such as French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian and Romansch differentiate from a common source, Latin? Why do children acquire second or third languages much more easily than adults? Our guests are both leading linguistic scholars: Fred Schwink of the University of Illinois and Jason Merchant of the University of Chicago in this 2005 discussion. … More
The thousands of Holmesians in the world live by that precept. They know that Holmes, who retired 80 years ago, now lives in Sussex where he is a devoted beekeeper but still takes on occasional crime cases. Three of those students of the past and continuing career of Holmes joined us in this discussion. Though it occurred way back in 1994, … More
Among the major figures who have tried to understand it “all” is Joel Primack, physicist at the University of California. He helped discover the “dark matter” of which 25 percent of the universe is composed. He and his wife, Nancy Abrams, joined us in this 2006 conversation to discuss their book, “The View From The Center of the Universe.” Among the less-than-trivial questions addressed are: how did the universe begin? … More
Before the heirarchs of the digital world became the heroes of business students and MBA professors, the most admired “captain of industry” was Jack Welch, the long-term head of General Electric. Shortly after he retired in 2001 we chatted with him and found him delightfully and surprisingly bright, candid, unaffected and probably not really ready for retirement. As this conversation and his continuing public presence reveal. … More
Midrash is the Hebrew word for commentary, particularly commentary on the Hebrew Bible. Many secular intellectuals have been drawn toward that very challenge, among them Leon Kass, physician, philosopher and teacher of the humanities, now a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. At the time of this 2003 conversation, he was a professor at the University of Chicago, on leave in Washington, … More
To define genius may be madness, but our guests – a nascent professor of English and, of all things, an economist – take on the challenge. The guiding theme is that the burning brilliance of the young genius and the steadiness of the Old Master are virtually non-overlapping. The argument in this 2006 conversation is illustrated by quotations from great poets and novelists, … More
Anyone who teaches in an American college or university and is over 50 knows – but may not admit or confess – that the average freshman is below, often far below, what was average even as recently as 20 years ago. The deficiencies are in math skills, history, knowledge of science and, of course, in the ability to write or comprehend real English. … More
The question is very often asked and, of course, there is no answer. But a list of the top ten would have to include Peggy Noonan. Here she is in high form, articulate, candid and rich with political aversions and enthusiasms. The basis for this conversation in 2001 was her then new book, “When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan.” … More
Psychologists have argued for a century or more over these questions: What is intelligence? How is it distributed within varied populations? Is it genetically determined? Can it be affected by education, by personality, mood and, for that matter, diet? Social psychologist Richard Nisbet joined us to give his research-based answers to those and other questions in this 2009 conversation.
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John Cornwell, a British historian focused on Germany before and during the war, joined us in 2003 to discuss his challenging book , “Hitler’s Scientists: Science, War and the Devil’s Pact.” After all Jewish scientists were fired and left Germany, only two out of thousands of remaining scientists protested. Some others left but, in the main, the many thousands pursued their work seeking not only truth but public reward and either imbibing or privately resisting the Nazi ideology. … More
Way back in the late 70s as the program took shape we sometimes focused on modes of music that preoccupied the proprietor. On one particular night, caught here in a rather brief excerpt, two practitioners of bluegrass try to define the nature and production of its distinctive sound….and then we segue into a perfect performance by the Stanley Brothers of “The Maple on the Hill.” … More
We drew together two members of our “A-Team” and a major Democratic strategist. They are: old friend and regular Chris Robling; the Chicago Tribune’s great editorial cartoonist, Scott Stantis: and joining us for the first time, Kevin Lampe who really is and has long been an election manager and consultant for Democratic party candidates.
Our friendly combatants zero in on a number of expected and unexpected issues and questions. … More
The French really do admit getting joy out of life. Two who seem to make that claim with authenticity are Mirais Guiliano, author of “French Women Don’t Get Fat,” and Dominick Toigne, Parisian chef. Here in 2006 they ruminate joyfully on cuisine and then wander into the sociology or philosophy of actual real life in modern yet still-traditional France.
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The recent death at 93 of Ben Bradlee, the former editor of the Washington Post, led us back to this 1995 conversation when he revealed some surprising things about Watergate, Woodward, Bernstein, and their key source known as “Deep Throat.” He played his role as well or better than did Jason Robards in the movie about those events.
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Way back in 1974 there occurred a memorable encounter with Abba Eban who served Israel at the UN and ultamitely as Foreign Minister and a great public intellectual. An amusing side impression during this early encounter is Eban’s totally British rhetorical style as he denies any persisting British identity.
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Ira Berkow of the New York Times was the most interesting sports writer we ever encountered – not merely for his knowledge of the technical sides of baseball, tennis, football, etc. – but because of his great skill in painting verbal portraits of the performers, brilliant, superhuman, eccentric, or merely human. Essentially he was a novelist let loose upon the field and in the ring. … More
Christopher Fitzhenry Robling is a corporate communications professional, sometime broadcaster, sometime election commissioner – and a principled critical observer of the current regime. His preoccupations include economics, foreign policy (or its absence), sheer corruption and rewarded incompetence. All come under his purview as he lays out an “after six years” (that should be time enough) evaluation of the works and ways of that fellow Chicagoan who is still lingering around the White House. … More
Scott Berg at the age of 33 had a scheduled interview with Hepburn which turned out to be a close friendship that lasted till her death. He then went on to do an insightful and fascinating biography of her as “one smart cookie” who managed to be a movie star for 60 years. Here is our 2003 conversation, including one delightful clip from “The Philadelphia Story.” … More
The meaning of the title is that both Harry and I experience “awe” when contemplating the oddities and delights of his career as actor, satirist and all-around great mimic. Here he is, seriously kidding around in a 2006 conversation and tracking from Saturday Nite Live to his own show. Simple confession: Harry is one of my favorite show biz people. … More
Ronald Radosh was raised within that culture and ranks as one of the leading and former “red diaper babies.” He went on as an academic to be one of the major investigators of that culture, its works, ways, and achievements. Here in 2001 he discusses, his book, “Commies: The Old Left, The New Left And The Left-Over Left.” To this day he remains a controversial figure in American academic life. … More
…was, of course, the so-called “Battle of the Bulge .” In 2003 four American veterans of that last great assault share their vivid memories of how the Wehrmacht advanced with massive force and was after a dreadful month of unrelenting combat, routed by the American and British armies led respectively by Patton and Montgomery.
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Bernard Lewis has been the single most influential, academically-based scholar of the history, religion, politics and present disorder of the Arab world. Now in his nineties and still productive, he has propounded a general interpretation of “What Went Wrong,” the title of one of his most important books, with the once-flourishing and now-disordered Islamic civilization. Here in 2004 he discusses with us – … More
What’s Putin doing in the title? That’s to remind ourselves that if the first two items don’t totally exhaust our correlated capacities for worry, pessimism and despair, there’s always the reactivated cadaver of the Soviet Union to keep us in persisting dysphoria. There are Russianists and Russianists and lots of them still linger in Fukayamish optimism that at least the “cold war” … More
That burden was nothing less than mental disease which kept Sherwin Nuland in a mental hospital for over a year. A distinguished Professor Of Surgery at Yale, he is also the celebrated author of many finely-wrought books drawn from medical science and culture, among them “How We Die” and “The Wisdom of the Body.” Though I had known him for years, … More
Those 40 years in the 19th century ended at Wounded Knee with the final defeat of Indian counter forces. A great figure in this extended war was Crazy Horse, who is memorialized in a fine and vivid biography by Joseph Marshall, himself a member of the Lakota Sioux tribe. He is joined in this 2004 discussion by Brian Hosner, an historian of this epic struggle. … More
Publisher Adam Bellow, son of Saul, looked to his famous father to land his first job. Such stories provide a good basis for this wide-ranging 2005 discussion in 2005 of nepotism in our time and across history. Beyond the moral issue of should it be done are the sociological issues of: How often is it done? How is it well or poorly done? … More
It remains a contentious issue in military history but, probably, the British outfit called the “Special Air Service” was the beginning. It was put together at the time of the Falklands war between the UK and Argentina and then went on to secret missions in Asia and all over the Middle East. One of the original SAS fighters, Andy McNab, … More
Ideas do indeed have consequences and the ideas that flow from University-based Middle East Studies Centers often have strong pro-Arab, anti-Israeli influence in policy-making sectors of the State Department and the White House itself. According to Martin Kramer, one of the few Israeli policy scholars who has ever served in such institutions – always as a visitor funded by extra-university sources – … More
Jean Shepherd fully deserved that title. He is long gone but much remembered by fans who hear fragments of the Shepherd style in some of the best of the ad-lib broadcasters today. Here we talk with his biographer Eugene Begmann in 2005 and then get a smashing excerpt from Shepherd waking up night-time New York.
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The obituarist here is the great Mark Steyn. When not contemplating the dishonesty of the left and the decline of western civilization, he writes some of the most interesting and most entertaining obituaries ever published. Here he is visiting with us in 2007 and chatting about various exemplary and appalling recently concluded lives including Ronald Reagan, Princess Margaret, Idi Amin, … More
This was based on a prediction from, of all people , George Will. The 2001 conversation deals with “the psychology of religion,” a course that I was teaching at the time. Some 13 years later Cardinal George was about to retire but remained one of the great intellectual presences within the Catholic church.
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…was waged over the New Testament and the question of which books, including various “gospels,” were to be included and which rejected. Two great Biblical scholars, Bart Ehrman of the University of North Carolina and Margaret Mitchell of the University of Chicago, in 2005 reviewed the rich modern research including the most important issue of how the Resurrection acquired canonical status. … More
…is either directly or inversely related to its length. Thus, taking two great clichés about history, if Santayana (“those who forget history are condemned to repeat it”) is true or false then Henry Ford (“history is bunk”) is correspondingly false or true. Whether concerning history, politics, love, wealth or life itself (“life is a bitch and then you die”), the thousands (millions?) of aphorisms, … More