Decade of the Gregorian calendar (1930-1939)
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Welcome to It's A Wonderful Podcast!Celebrating one of our favourites, and one of Old Hollywood's greatest directors at the height of his powers throughout June as we journey through the 1930s with a series on FRANK CAPRA!An unusual twist in Capra's career, a hugely budgeted, philosophical fantasy spectacle exploring humanity's flaws and the simplicity that life should be; there's plenty of Capra sentimentality, humour, and love of people growing together, but we're in the mystical land of Shangri-La and we just can't get ourselves out!Morgan and Jeannine talk LOST HORIZON (1937) starring Ronald Colman, Jane Wyatt, Edward Everett Horton & Thomas Mitchell on this week's It's A Wonderful Podcast!Our YouTube Channel for Monday Madness on video, Morgan Hasn't Seen TV, Retro Trailer Reactions & Morehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvACMX8jX1qQ5ClrGW53vowThe It's A Wonderful Podcast Theme by David B. Music.Donate:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ItsAWonderful1Join our Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/ItsAWonderful1IT'S A WONDERFUL PODCAST STORE:https://www.teepublic.com/user/g9designSub to the feed and download now on all major podcast platforms and be sure to rate, review and SHARE AROUND!!Keep up with us on (X) Twitter:Podcast:https://twitter.com/ItsAWonderful1Morgan:https://twitter.com/Th3PurpleDonJeannine:https://twitter.com/JeannineDaBean_Keep being wonderful!!
We're joined this episode by guest Brad Elmore, director of THE WOLFMAN'S HAMMER, BIT, and BOOGEYMAN POP, to talk about the book Howard Chaykin created for the Atlas/Seabord line, THE SCORPION, set in the 1930s about an immortal adventurer. Chaykin later reworked the character into DOMINIC FORTUNE for Marvel. WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/live/g9X3QqtQ-Kw You can read all 3 issues here: https://archive.org/details/the-scorpion-complete_20240616/The%20Scorpion%2001/ WATCH THE WOLFMAN'S HAMMER!: https://youtu.be/yjLWrxRlmXE?si=vujMUGZ1NeOEvPl0 TAKE JOHN'S SURVEY ABOUT COMICS: https://iu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_78L6fCCluZuR6fA SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.patreon.com/BronzeAgeMonsters THREADLESS SHOP: https://bronzeagemonsters.threadless.com/ JOIN US ON OUR DISCORD SERVER: https://discord.gg/wdXKUzpEh7
In 1930s Florida, Carl Tanzler's love for a young woman didn't end with her death—it began a horrifying obsession. After stealing her corpse and living with it for seven years, his twisted devotion shocked the nation. Was it love, madness, or something far darker?We're telling that story tonight
REFRESHER COURSE ON WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE 1930S IN THE LAND OF BACH AND MOZART: 4/8: Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power Hardcover – Deckle Edge, by Timothy W. Ryback (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Takeover-Hitlers-Final-Rise-Power/dp/0593537424 From the internationally acclaimed author of Hitler's Private Library, a dramatic recounting of the six critical months before Adolf Hitler seized power, when the Nazi leader teetered between triumph and ruin In the summer of 1932, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse. One in three Germans was unemployed. Violence was rampant. Hitler's National Socialists surged at the polls. Paul von Hindenburg, an aging war hero and avowed monarchist, was a reluctant president bound by oath to uphold the constitution. The November elections offered Hitler the prospect of a Reichstag majority and the path to political power. But instead, the Nazis lost two million votes. As membership hemorrhaged and financial backers withdrew, the Nazi Party threatened to fracture. Hitler talked of suicide. The New York Times declared he was finished. Yet somehow, in a few brief weeks, he was chancellor of Germany. 1933
REFRESHER COURSE ON WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE 1930S IN THE LAND OF BACH AND MOZART: 7/8: Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power Hardcover – Deckle Edge, by Timothy W. Ryback (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Takeover-Hitlers-Final-Rise-Power/dp/0593537424 From the internationally acclaimed author of Hitler's Private Library, a dramatic recounting of the six critical months before Adolf Hitler seized power, when the Nazi leader teetered between triumph and ruin In the summer of 1932, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse. One in three Germans was unemployed. Violence was rampant. Hitler's National Socialists surged at the polls. Paul von Hindenburg, an aging war hero and avowed monarchist, was a reluctant president bound by oath to uphold the constitution. The November elections offered Hitler the prospect of a Reichstag majority and the path to political power. But instead, the Nazis lost two million votes. As membership hemorrhaged and financial backers withdrew, the Nazi Party threatened to fracture. Hitler talked of suicide. The New York Times declared he was finished. Yet somehow, in a few brief weeks, he was chancellor of Germany. 1936
REFRESHER COURSE ON WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE 1930S IN THE LAND OF BACH AND MOZART: 6/8: Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power Hardcover – Deckle Edge, by Timothy W. Ryback (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Takeover-Hitlers-Final-Rise-Power/dp/0593537424 From the internationally acclaimed author of Hitler's Private Library, a dramatic recounting of the six critical months before Adolf Hitler seized power, when the Nazi leader teetered between triumph and ruin In the summer of 1932, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse. One in three Germans was unemployed. Violence was rampant. Hitler's National Socialists surged at the polls. Paul von Hindenburg, an aging war hero and avowed monarchist, was a reluctant president bound by oath to uphold the constitution. The November elections offered Hitler the prospect of a Reichstag majority and the path to political power. But instead, the Nazis lost two million votes. As membership hemorrhaged and financial backers withdrew, the Nazi Party threatened to fracture. Hitler talked of suicide. The New York Times declared he was finished. Yet somehow, in a few brief weeks, he was chancellor of Germany. 1936
REFRESHER COURSE ON WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE 1930S IN THE LAND OF BACH AND MOZART: 5/8: Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power Hardcover – Deckle Edge, by Timothy W. Ryback (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Takeover-Hitlers-Final-Rise-Power/dp/0593537424 From the internationally acclaimed author of Hitler's Private Library, a dramatic recounting of the six critical months before Adolf Hitler seized power, when the Nazi leader teetered between triumph and ruin In the summer of 1932, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse. One in three Germans was unemployed. Violence was rampant. Hitler's National Socialists surged at the polls. Paul von Hindenburg, an aging war hero and avowed monarchist, was a reluctant president bound by oath to uphold the constitution. The November elections offered Hitler the prospect of a Reichstag majority and the path to political power. But instead, the Nazis lost two million votes. As membership hemorrhaged and financial backers withdrew, the Nazi Party threatened to fracture. Hitler talked of suicide. The New York Times declared he was finished. Yet somehow, in a few brief weeks, he was chancellor of Germany. 1934 BERLIN
REFRESHER COURSE ON WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE 1930S IN THE LAND OF BACH AND MOZART: 8/8: Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power Hardcover – Deckle Edge, by Timothy W. Ryback (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Takeover-Hitlers-Final-Rise-Power/dp/0593537424 From the internationally acclaimed author of Hitler's Private Library, a dramatic recounting of the six critical months before Adolf Hitler seized power, when the Nazi leader teetered between triumph and ruin In the summer of 1932, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse. One in three Germans was unemployed. Violence was rampant. Hitler's National Socialists surged at the polls. Paul von Hindenburg, an aging war hero and avowed monarchist, was a reluctant president bound by oath to uphold the constitution. The November elections offered Hitler the prospect of a Reichstag majority and the path to political power. But instead, the Nazis lost two million votes. As membership hemorrhaged and financial backers withdrew, the Nazi Party threatened to fracture. Hitler talked of suicide. The New York Times declared he was finished. Yet somehow, in a few brief weeks, he was chancellor of Germany. 1937
REFRESHER COURSE ON WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE 1930S IN THE LAND OF BACH AND MOZART: 3/8: Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power Hardcover – Deckle Edge, by Timothy W. Ryback (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Takeover-Hitlers-Final-Rise-Power/dp/0593537424 From the internationally acclaimed author of Hitler's Private Library, a dramatic recounting of the six critical months before Adolf Hitler seized power, when the Nazi leader teetered between triumph and ruin In the summer of 1932, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse. One in three Germans was unemployed. Violence was rampant. Hitler's National Socialists surged at the polls. Paul von Hindenburg, an aging war hero and avowed monarchist, was a reluctant president bound by oath to uphold the constitution. The November elections offered Hitler the prospect of a Reichstag majority and the path to political power. But instead, the Nazis lost two million votes. As membership hemorrhaged and financial backers withdrew, the Nazi Party threatened to fracture. Hitler talked of suicide. The New York Times declared he was finished. Yet somehow, in a few brief weeks, he was chancellor of Germany. 1933 GOERING
REFRESHER COURSE ON WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE 1930S IN THE LAND OF BACH AND MOZART: 1/8: Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power Hardcover – Deckle Edge, by Timothy W. Ryback (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Takeover-Hitlers-Final-Rise-Power/dp/0593537424 From the internationally acclaimed author of Hitler's Private Library, a dramatic recounting of the six critical months before Adolf Hitler seized power, when the Nazi leader teetered between triumph and ruin In the summer of 1932, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse. One in three Germans was unemployed. Violence was rampant. Hitler's National Socialists surged at the polls. Paul von Hindenburg, an aging war hero and avowed monarchist, was a reluctant president bound by oath to uphold the constitution. The November elections offered Hitler the prospect of a Reichstag majority and the path to political power. But instead, the Nazis lost two million votes. As membership hemorrhaged and financial backers withdrew, the Nazi Party threatened to fracture. Hitler talked of suicide. The New York Times declared he was finished. Yet somehow, in a few brief weeks, he was chancellor of Germany. 1931
PREVIEW: Author Charles Spicer, "Coffee with Hitler," reminds us that the 1930s was dominated by pacifist opinions, an aversion to war that was supported across Europe, especially in London and Paris. More later. 1931 LONDON BUSINESS PANIC
REFRESHER COURSE ON WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE 1930S IN THE LAND OF BACH AND MOZART: 2/8: Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power Hardcover – Deckle Edge, by Timothy W. Ryback (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Takeover-Hitlers-Final-Rise-Power/dp/0593537424 From the internationally acclaimed author of Hitler's Private Library, a dramatic recounting of the six critical months before Adolf Hitler seized power, when the Nazi leader teetered between triumph and ruin In the summer of 1932, the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse. One in three Germans was unemployed. Violence was rampant. Hitler's National Socialists surged at the polls. Paul von Hindenburg, an aging war hero and avowed monarchist, was a reluctant president bound by oath to uphold the constitution. The November elections offered Hitler the prospect of a Reichstag majority and the path to political power. But instead, the Nazis lost two million votes. As membership hemorrhaged and financial backers withdrew, the Nazi Party threatened to fracture. Hitler talked of suicide. The New York Times declared he was finished. Yet somehow, in a few brief weeks, he was chancellor of Germany. 1932
Welcome to It's A Wonderful Podcast!Celebrating one of our favourites, and one of Old Hollywood's greatest directors at the height of his powers throughout June as we journey through the 1930s with a series on FRANK CAPRA!A fun double feature for the show this week as we look at and compare two different eras of Capra's career with his first Best Director nomination with LADY FOR A DAY (1933) starring Warren William & May Robson, and his own remake of the story, POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES (1961) starring Bette Davis & Glenn Ford; his last feature!Our YouTube Channel for Monday Madness on video, Morgan Hasn't Seen TV, Retro Trailer Reactions & Morehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvACMX8jX1qQ5ClrGW53vowThe It's A Wonderful Podcast Theme by David B. Music.Donate:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ItsAWonderful1Join our Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/ItsAWonderful1IT'S A WONDERFUL PODCAST STORE:https://www.teepublic.com/user/g9designSub to the feed and download now on all major podcast platforms and be sure to rate, review and SHARE AROUND!!Keep up with us on (X) Twitter:Podcast:https://twitter.com/ItsAWonderful1Morgan:https://twitter.com/Th3PurpleDonJeannine:https://twitter.com/JeannineDaBean_Keep being wonderful!!
Welcome to It's A Wonderful Podcast!Celebrating one of our favourites, and one of Old Hollywood's greatest directors at the height of his powers throughout June as we journey through the 1930s with a series on FRANK CAPRA!Starting this week, Morgan and Jeannine get into his first of four collaboration's with Barbara Stanwyck, and his first movie to receive Academy Award buzz, as he tackles religious hypocrisy, evangelicalism, and the art of the con artist in what becomes a softening romance story; THE MIRACLE WOMAN (1931) starring Stanwyck alongside David Manners!Our YouTube Channel for Monday Madness on video, Morgan Hasn't Seen TV, Retro Trailer Reactions & Morehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvACMX8jX1qQ5ClrGW53vowThe It's A Wonderful Podcast Theme by David B. Music.Donate:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ItsAWonderful1Join our Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/ItsAWonderful1IT'S A WONDERFUL PODCAST STORE:https://www.teepublic.com/user/g9designSub to the feed and download now on all major podcast platforms and be sure to rate, review and SHARE AROUND!!Keep up with us on (X) Twitter:Podcast:https://twitter.com/ItsAWonderful1Morgan:https://twitter.com/Th3PurpleDonJeannine:https://twitter.com/JeannineDaBean_Keep being wonderful!!
Have you ever wondered what it might be like to wed an Antiques Freak? Wonder no more, as Ken and Dee take the Marital Rating Scale test developed in the 1930s by George W. Crane (Ph.D., M.D.), cofounder of the Scientific Marriage Foundation. Shout out to QuestionableAdvice on tumblr for this incredible, baffling, and incredibly baffling quiz.
Becky and Jey talk about books of the 1930s including: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Angus and the Ducks by Marjorie Flack, The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff, and Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink. Check out American Indians in Children's Literature here: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/ Find our reading challenge here: https://longviewlibrary.beanstack.com/
The Art of Value: Politics host JJ reacts to and discusses parts of some recent interviews with two of the world's leading experts on authoritarianism and fascism, Timothy Snyder and Anne Applebaum. The discussion is on similarities and differences between Trump's second term so far, and Hitler's 1930s fascist Germany. Related episodes:We Need to Talk About Fighting Fascism in America!https://youtu.be/fbsWSAXenSETrump Official Aiming to Suspend Your Constitutional Right https://youtu.be/fXtQ0zt8l2wReferenced videos:How to Fight Fascism in America — with Timothy Snyder | Prof G Conversationshttps://youtu.be/3NIwH4nKaDgKleptocracy, Inc. — with Anne Applebaum | Prof G Conversations https://youtu.be/qyYqJolXE_E
The Art of Value: Politics host JJ reacts to and discusses parts of some recent interviews with two of the world's leading experts on authoritarianism and fascism, Timothy Snyder and Anne Applebaum. The discussion is on similarities and differences between Trump's second term so far, and Hitler's 1930s fascist Germany. Related episodes:We Need to Talk About Fighting Fascism in America!https://youtu.be/fbsWSAXenSETrump Official Aiming to Suspend Your Constitutional Right https://youtu.be/fXtQ0zt8l2wReferenced videos:How to Fight Fascism in America — with Timothy Snyder | Prof G Conversationshttps://youtu.be/3NIwH4nKaDgKleptocracy, Inc. — with Anne Applebaum | Prof G Conversations https://youtu.be/qyYqJolXE_E
Black Ghost 1930s Program 1 A Mysterious Apparition Has Been Robbing Cripples
Jason G and I saw Sinners on April 17, 2025. We both enjoyed the movie. Initially, I felt it was boring and didn't care about the characters' backstory. I even dozed off a few times. Jason thought it was a little slow to start, but it improved as the movie progressed. We go into further detail in our spoiler review. Check out the audio and video we recorded right after seeing the film, as usual. Thoughts? Comments? Do so on the blog here. Rate, like, leave a review on Apple podcasts or wherever you're able to do so. If you've enjoyed this episode, please support this podcast by doing any, all your shopping through my affiliate link: AMAZON: http://amzn.to/2dRu3IM or DONATE/TIP here https://bit.ly/2LD1mwy SUBSCRIBE Everywhere HERE https://bit.ly/3tkjIbV Let's keep in touch, sign up for the email list here https://bit.ly/42QhW
This week we rip apart Sinners (2025) Directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B Jordan. We sink our teeth into Ryan Coogler's villains, being black in jim crow America, Black history should be African history, freaky vampires, and so much more.
On this episode of the podcast, host Dr Pasquale Iannone explores the little-known early films of one of the most influential filmmakers of all time, German director Douglas Sirk. Sirk is synonymous with one particular genre. His most famous films, such as Magnificent Obsession (1954), All That Heaven Allows (1955), Written on the Wind (1956) and Imitation of Life (1959) are glossy, luxurious Technicolor melodramas which would go on to inspire the likes of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Todd Haynes and many others. But there is more to Sirk than melodrama - he made war films, crime movies, historical dramas and comedies in a career spanning over 25 years and several countries. Earlier this year, Eureka Entertainment released a box set titled Sirk in Germany (1934 - 1935), a collection which takes us all the way back to the beginning of Sirk's film career. The set includes beautiful restorations of his first three features as well as several short films, all of which were made in the early years of the Nazi regime. Alongside bonus material from noted film historians Sheldon Hall and Tim Bergfelder, there are three audio commentaries from the University of Edinburgh's very own David Melville Wingrove. David is a Teaching Fellow at the University's Centre for Open Learning where he teaches hugely popular courses on both film and literature, specialising in dark and fantastical themes and styles. He is also a prolific writer, regularly contributing to publications such as Senses of Cinema. David and Pasquale discuss Sirk's first short film Two Greyhounds (1934) and his first feature April! April! (1935), both light comedies centring on mistaken identity which skewer - mostly with affection - the mores of the German middle class. David helps to place the films in historical context and he also tells Pasquale why Sirk, who was very much one of the leading lights of the German theatre in the late 20s and early 30s, decided to make the move into filmmaking.
When a detective's daughter vanished in 1930s Denver, it looked like a kidnapping — but what unfolded behind closed doors was a domestic nightmare involving poison, deception, and a stepmother with a deadly secret.Darkness Syndicate members get the ad-free version of #WeirdDarkness: https://weirddarkness.com/syndicateDISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.IN THIS EPISODE: They found the first body stuffed inside the church library's closet. Then a second body turned up. It's the creepy case of Theo Durrant – better known in San Francisco as the Demon of the Belfry. (Demon of the Belfry) *** In 1989 a man anonymously claimed he had worked at Area 51 where alien technology was being reverse-engineered for the Pentagon. It sounded like the crazed thoughts of a madman at the time. But now, thirty years later, it does not seem so absurd. (Bob Lazar, The Pentagon, And UFOs) *** One of our Weirdo family members tells the true story of a young child told not to be sad when her grandfather passes away… before anyone knew he had died. (The Old Woman In The Basement) *** Some very strange things have been taking place in Sedona Arizona – including ghosts, UFOs, and even people supposedly seeing living dinosaurs. (Strangeness at the Bradshaw Ranch) *** Is it possible that the reason Jack The Ripper was never caught, is because he was only visiting London at the time and then returned to his home in Missouri, USA? (Was Jack The Ripper From St. Louis?) *** It's a story called “Murder Without Motive”. It's a chapter from the upcoming audiobook I'm narrating called “Suffer The Children: American Horrors, Homicides, and Hauntings” by Troy Taylor.CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Lead-In00:03:25.609 = Show Open00:05:39.964 = Murder Without Motive00:40:31.066 = Was Jack The Ripper From St. Louis?00:54:08.389 = Strangeness At Bradshaw Ranch01:06:54.694 = The Old Woman In The Basement01:13:20.939 = Bob Lazar, The Pentagon, and UFOs01:17:56.029 = Demon Of The Belfry01:22:42.826 = Show Close, Verse, and Final ThoughtSOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE…“Murder Without Motive” by Troy Taylor from the audiobook “Suffer The Children”: https://amzn.to/2YNrSdk“Was Jack The Ripper From St. Louis?” by Troy Taylor: http://bit.ly/2HG5QUh“Demon of the Belfry” by Orrin Grey: http://bit.ly/2JJbsiO“Bob Lazar, The Pentagon, And UFOs” by George Knapp and Matt Adams: http://bit.ly/30IC60u“Strangeness at the Bradshaw Ranch” by Brent Swancer: http://bit.ly/2JI4Dhz“The Old Woman In The Basement” by Ashley Delia, submitted directly to WeirdDarkness.com=====(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: June, 2022EPISODE PAGE at WeirdDarkness.com (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/MurderWithoutMotiveTAGS: true crime, paranormal, supernatural, Weird Darkness, Pearl O'Loughlin, Leona O'Loughlin, child murder, 1930s crime, murder without motive, Denver true crime, female killers, stepmother crimes, historical murder cases, true crime podcast, Bradshaw Ranch, Sedona Arizona, UFO sightings, alien encounters, Bigfoot, shadow people, interdimensional portals, haunted ranch, unexplained phenomena, Jack the Ripper, Francis Tumblety, St. Louis mystery, Victorian serial killers, London murders, Area 51, Bob Lazar, UFO reverse engineering, alien technology, Pentagon UFOs, government cover-ups, Demon of the Belfry, Theo Durant, San Francisco murder, belfry murders, church crime, unsolved mysteries, mysterious deaths, haunted history, American horror stories, macabre history, creepy stories, real ghost stories, psychic visions, true paranormal encounter, mysterious deaths, old newspaper crimes, cold case murder, haunted lake, vintage true crime, historical horror
Listen to the weekend edition with Victor Davis Hanson and cohost Sami Winc. Topics include a discussion of fascism in the 1930s, the polls on Trump's approval, Trump goads Jerome Powell, Kristi Noem's glam, Harvard and tax exemption, and nemesis touches partisan lawyers.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Generals and politicians calling for rearmament often talk about the UK facing a "1937 moment" of rising threats and a deteriorating international situation. But what actually happened in the late 1930s, and how was an indebted and cash-strapped Britain able to mobilise its industry and spend so much more on armaments? Are there similarities to today and what can we learn? We talk to historian Dan Todman about the economic and military parallels.Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins.With Daniel Todman.Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
As a former senior US trade official during the first Trump administration, I well understand the difficulty others have in trying to make sense of the developments over the past several weeks.
Pie Down Here — Produced by Signal HillIn the 1980s, when Robin D.G. Kelley was 24 years old, he took a bus trip to the Deep South. He was researching and recording oral histories with farmworkers and Communist Party members who had organized a sharecroppers union in Alabama during the Great Depression.Kelly used those oral histories to write his award winning book, Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists during the Great Depression.Recently Kelley listened back to those early recordings with Signal Hill contributor Conor Gillies. He hadn't heard some of the recordings in decades. Memories came flooding back as Kelley reflected on the people, the story and the power of oral history. Robin Davis Gibran Kelley is an American historian and academic, and the Gary B. Nash Professor of American History at UCLA. His books include the prize-winning Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original (Free Press, 2009); Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination (Beacon Press, 2002, new ed. 2022. His essays have appeared in dozens of publications, including The Nation, the New York Times, the New Yorker, New York Review of Books and more.Pie Down Here was produced by Conor Gillies and edited by Liza Yeager and Omar Etman, with help from the Signal Hill team: Jackson Roach, Annie Rosenthal, and Lio Wong. Music by Nathan Bowles. You can listen to the entire first issue of Signal Hill — eight original stories — on their website at signalhill.fm, or wherever you get podcasts. The Kitchen Sisters Present is produced by The Kitchen Sisters (Nikki Silva & Davia Nelson) with Nathan Dalton and Brandi Howell. The Kitchen Sisters Present is part of Radiotopia from PRX, a curated network of independent producers.
John Maytham is joined by Professor Bruce Rubidge, Director of the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research at the University of the Witwatersrand and former head of the Evolutionary Studies Institute – to talk about the Fossil Museum in Graaf Reinet, which houses the worlds most unique species.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Stephen Grootes speaks to Feroz Basa, Head of Global Emerging Markets at Sanlam Investments, about the alarming parallels between the current US tariff hikes and those of the 1930s, and how this escalation could potentially trigger a global economic downturn, impacting emerging markets, including South Africa. The Money Show is a podcast hosted by well-known journalist and radio presenter, Stephen Grootes. He explores the latest economic trends, business developments, investment opportunities, and personal finance strategies. Each episode features engaging conversations with top newsmakers, industry experts, financial advisors, entrepreneurs, and politicians, offering you thought-provoking insights to navigate the ever-changing financial landscape.Thank you for listening to The Money Show podcast.Listen live - The Money Show with Stephen Grootes is broadcast weekdays between 18:00 and 20:00 (SA Time) on 702 and CapeTalk. There’s more from the show at www.themoneyshow.co.za Subscribe to the Money Show daily and weekly newslettersThe Money Show is brought to you by Absa. Follow us on:702 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702702 on Instagram: www.instagram.com/talkradio702702 on X: www.x.com/Radio702702 on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@radio702CapeTalk on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: www.instagram.com/capetalkzaCapeTalk on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567CapeTalk on X: www.x.com/CapeTalkSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Stephen Grootes speaks to Feroz Basa, Head of Global Emerging Markets at Sanlam Investments, about the alarming parallels between the current US tariff hikes and those of the 1930s, and how this escalation could potentially trigger a global economic downturn, impacting emerging markets, including South Africa. The Money Show is a podcast hosted by well-known journalist and radio presenter, Stephen Grootes. He explores the latest economic trends, business developments, investment opportunities, and personal finance strategies. Each episode features engaging conversations with top newsmakers, industry experts, financial advisors, entrepreneurs, and politicians, offering you thought-provoking insights to navigate the ever-changing financial landscape.Thank you for listening to The Money Show podcast.Listen live - The Money Show with Stephen Grootes is broadcast weekdays between 18:00 and 20:00 (SA Time) on 702 and CapeTalk. There’s more from the show at www.themoneyshow.co.za Subscribe to the Money Show daily and weekly newslettersThe Money Show is brought to you by Absa. Follow us on:702 on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702702 on Instagram: www.instagram.com/talkradio702702 on X: www.x.com/Radio702702 on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@radio702CapeTalk on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: www.instagram.com/capetalkzaCapeTalk on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567CapeTalk on X: www.x.com/CapeTalkSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Music includes: After Yor Gone by the Benny Goodman Quartet, If You Were Mine by Billie Holiday, Harlem Airshaft by Duke Ellington, Manteca by Dizzy Gillespie, Boplicity by Miles Davis and I Love paris by Cecil Taylor.
Curse of Politics was created by Air Quotes Media with support from our presenting sponsor TELUS, as well as CN Rail and Candu Energy. Plus don't miss Pollara polling brought to you by Enbridge Gas.David Herle, Scott Reid, Jordan Leichnitz, and Kory Teneycke provide insights on the latest in Canadian politics.Thank you for joining us on #CurseOfPolitics. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or your favourite podcast app.Watch conversations from Curse of Politics via Air Quotes Media on YouTube.
Sandra Cho and David Liu give their thoughts on auto tariffs. They discuss the uncertainty around the exact rate or the amount that car prices will rise. David sees short-term increases especially. Sandra says history could repeat itself, citing the 1930s where tariffs drove the economy deeper into recession. She also talks about how many manufacturers make the parts for a single car in multiple countries, meaning that a percentage of the car would be subject to tariffs.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day.Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about
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Chag Purim Sameach! Enjoy this discussion from 2022 where Danny speaks with Benjamin Balthasar, associate professor of English at Indiana University-South Bend, about the history of Jewish anti-imperialism from the 1930s until today. Subscribe today for more episodes like this and ad-free content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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4/4: The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong's Greatest Dissident, and China's Most Feared Critic by Mark L. Clifford (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Troublemaker-Became-Billionaire-Greatest-Dissident/dp/1668027690 Jimmy Lai escaped mainland China when he was twelve years old, at the height of a famine that killed tens of millions. In Hong Kong, he hustled and often slept overnight on a table in a clothing factory where he did odd jobs. At twenty-one, he was running a factory. By his mid-twenties, he owned one and was supplying sweaters and shirts to some of the biggest brands in the United States, from Polo to The Limited. His ideas about retail led him to create Giordano in 1981, and with it “fast fashion.” A restless entrepreneur, as Giordano prepared to go public, he was thinking about a dining concept that would disrupt Hong Kong's fast-food industry. But then came Tiananmen Square democracy protest and the massacre of 1989. 1930S
This week, we discuss the events that led to Hitler and the Nazi's rise to power in 1920s and 1930s Germany.
This week, Mike and Laureen will speak with Blaise Misztal, VP for Policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), about what might happen in Gaza once the war has concluded. You'll also hear from Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois about why he believes we're seeing shades of the 1930s right here in the United States and around the world. Thank you for listening, subscribing, and sharing the Third Opinion Podcast!
Subscribe for $5.99 a month to get bonus content most Mondays, bonus episodes every month, ad-free listening, access to the entire 800-episode archive, Discord access, and more: https://axismundi.supercast.com/ Subscribe to One Nation, Indivisible with Andrew Seidel: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-nation-indivisible-with-andrew-seidel/id1791471198 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0w5Lb2ImPFPS1NWMG0DLrQ In the inaugural episode of One Nation Indivisible, host Andrew L. Seidel explores the provocative question of whether the United States today mirrors Germany in the 1930s. Joined by German historian Annika Brockschmidt, the episode examines historical parallels, focusing on the rise of authoritarianism and fascist tendencies in both countries. They discuss the use of legal mechanisms, political violence, and propaganda, highlighting similarities and differences between Trump and Hitler. The conversation delves into how average citizens and political figures can act to resist these dangerous trends, emphasizing the importance of civic engagement and vigilance in preserving democracy. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/StraightWhiteJC Order Brad's book: https://bookshop.org/a/95982/9781506482163 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Songs include; It Don't Mean a Thing by Ivie Anderson, Do Nothing Till You Hear From me by Al Hibbler, Blue Skies by Jimmy Rushing, Blues In the Night by Cab Calloway, It Ain't Necessarily So by Maxine Sullivan and Night In Tunisia by Sarah Vaughn.
The war in Ukraine is firmly back on the agenda of Western leaders. Keir Starmer was at a hastily organised European summit in Paris on Monday, as Russian and American negotiators prepare to hold talks in Saudi Arabia.Meanwhile the PM has announced he would be willing to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine as peacekeepers.But with military recruitment at historically low levels and defence spending languishing, is our diminished Army up to the job? Kamal and Gordon ask Lord Richard Dannatt, former head of the British Army, who says it is “outrageous” that Ukraine has been excluded from planned peace talks and suggests military spending should be boosted to 3.5% of GDP.Later, the Telegraph's film critic Tim Robey reflects on a night of bad jokes and surprise results at the Baftas - and reveals which films are worth seeing.Read: Potentially putting Britons in harm's way is a huge responsibility – but we must be ready to do our bit for Europe, Keir StarmerMunich shows time has run out. The UK must expand its armed forces, Lord DannattProducer: Lilian FawcettPlanning Editor: Venetia RaineyExecutive Producer: Louisa WellsSocial Media Producer: Rachel WelshVideo Editor: Andy MackenzieStudio Operator: Meghan SearleEditor: Camilla TomineyOriginal music by Goss Studio Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sophie Thatcher is a multifaceted star on the rise. You may have seen her last year in Heretic, opposite Hugh Grant and Chloe East, or in the Disney+ miniseries The Book of Boba Fett. Sophie also plays “Natalie” in the delicious TV series Yellowjackets on SHOWTIME. Its third season premieres on Valentine's Day.Most recently, Sophie stars in Companion alongside Jack Quaid. It's a science fiction, robot thriller that you can see in theaters right now. Sophie joins Feeling Seen to discuss Companion, her love for karaoke, and the 1972 musical Cabaret! Sophie talks about the time she auditioned for the role of Sally Bowles and the time she performed Cabaret for a school talent show. Plus, we get into Sophie's 2024 EP, Pivot & Scrape and the 90s gem that is My So-Called Life.Then Jordan has one quick thing about Prime Video's upcoming political action film G20, starring EGOT title holder Viola Davis as an ass-kicking President of the United States. We can dream! Feeling Seen is hosted by Jordan Crucchiola and is a production Maximum Fun. Need more Feeling Seen? Keep up with the show on Instagram and Bluesky.
Traci Thomas is the creator and host of the critically acclaimed literary podcast The Stacks, where Traci chats with an array of guests about the books we love and loathe, the impact reading has on our lives, and the way the written word shapes culture. This week, creative mediums collide and find common ground. Traci joins Feeling Seen to talk historical fictions, unlikeable female characters, and Vivien Leigh's portrayal of the tenacious Scarlett O'Hara in the 1939 historical romance drama Gone with the Wind. Plus, Traci and Jordan take to the stars to boast about their respective astrological signs. Can Leo season come any sooner?Then, Jordan has one quick thing about Companion. A new trailer for the film brings a new twist!You can keep up with Traci's words and writings on her Substack, Unstacked.Sarah Churchwell's The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America Tells. Feeling Seen is hosted by Jordan Crucchiola and is a production Maximum Fun. Need more Feeling Seen? Keep up with the show on Instagram and Bluesky.
Former CIA Director John Brennan weighs in on Tulsi Gabbard's nomination to serve as Director of National Intelligence, Nobel Prize-winner Maria Ressa shares crucial lessons for reporting on a government that's hostile to the free press, and why this week's selection for the Velshi Banned Book Club, John Steinbeck's “The Grapes of Wrath” is still so relevant to American life and politics that it's still being banned.
As Stanley Tucci reflects, "Given the circumstances in today's world, the parallels between then and now are impossible to ignore. It's an incredible story, but it's also happening today, to millions of people . . . It's a story about people in a certain place and time, and what happened to them, and what happened to them has happened before, and has happened since, and will continue to happen. Unless we as the human race begin to understand that we are all the same.” What would you do if fascism and antisemitism seized your homeland? In his award-winning podcast, documentarian David Modigliani takes listeners on a gripping journey through his family's escape from Italy in 1938. Pack One Bag, featuring actor Stanley Tucci, delves into Modigliani's grandparents' love story—his grandfather, a prominent book publisher who once advised Mussolini but later turned against him. As Modigliani retraces their steps across Italy, he uncovers hidden Fascist spy documents, personal family diaries, and a poignant Jewish love story that echoes through time. *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC. Listen – AJC Podcasts: The Forgotten Exodus: with Hen Mazzig, Einat Admony, and more. People of the Pod: Gov. Josh Shapiro and AJC CEO Ted Deutch on Combating Antisemitism Mijal Bitton on What It Means to Be a Jew Today The Next Chapter in Catholic-Jewish Relations What's Next for the Abraham Accords Under President Trump? You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. __ Transcript of Conversation with David Mogdiliani and Stanley Tucci: Manya Brachear Pashman: As a documentary filmmaker, David Modigliani has created a variety of works on politics in America, improv comedy, and the improv comedy of politics in America. But during the pandemic, he discovered the love letters of his grandparents, written moments before they fled fascist Italy. Those letters led him to produce a more personal project – an award-winning podcast series starring Stanley Tucci, titled Pack One Bag. David is with us now to talk about that journey. David, welcome to People of the Pod. David Mogdiliani: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so glad to be here. Manya Brachear Pashman: So, at the core of your podcast, Pack One Bag, is the story of your grandfather, a Nobel Prize winner who fled Italy in 1938 and this was a story that you heard as a young man, as a teenager, right? But if you could share with our listeners what that story was, when you originally heard it. David Mogdiliani: Yeah, so my grandfather, I was just a five year old kid when he won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1985. But as I became a teenager and started to grow up, I became sort of fascinated by their love story, the story of escape. Which was basically that my grandfather, Franco Modigliani, had been a 19 year old kid in Rome when Mussolini passed the racial laws against Jews like him, and he didn't know quite what to do, and he was so fortunate that he had fallen in love with this girl from Bologna named Serena Calabi, whose family had really been planning for this moment for many years, had had the foresight and the privilege to move resources outside of the country, put together an exit strategy, and when they fled Italy for Paris in the fall of 1938 they invited him to join them. They invited their daughter's boyfriend to join them. And the family was in Paris for about nine months and then made it onto the Normandie, a French ocean liner that left the coast of France in August of 1939 and turned out to be the last boat out of mainland Europe before Hitler invaded Poland and World War II began. So that kind of fairy tale escape, a whirlwind romance, that getting married, you know, in Paris on the run, and arriving in the US, kind of just in the nick of time, was the kind of origin story that I grew up with as a kid. Manya Brachear Pashman: And how did your grandmother's family know how to read those tea leaves? David Mogdiliani: My grandmother's father had been known as ile de libri, the king of the books in Italian because he had founded and run along with his wife, something called La messaggerie italiane, which was the biggest book distribution business in all of Italy. It gave him resources and an understanding of where things might be going in Europe in the 1930s so I had known all of that. But when I sort of became more interested in this project and wanted to learn more, and dug into some boxes that my dad had, 19 boxes of my family's documents, we found inside them, a couple of letters from Benito Mussolini to my great grandfather, the king of the books, and that kind of was a staggering moment to see the signature of the future dictator of Italy there at the bottom of the page. Mussolini had been a lefty socialist newspaper editor in 1914, 1915, and when he had been kicked out of the Socialist Party for supporting Italy's intervention and involvement in World War I, the Socialist Party had kicked him out, and he had decided to start his own newspaper. He needed help doing that, and it turns out that my great grandfather had not only advised him on sort of launching his startup newspaper, but had also funneled a secret subsidy from the French government to Mussolini to fund this paper. So I was relieved to learn that he later had broken with Mussolini, you know, didn't follow sort of the whole fascist experiment, but that he had a sense of Mussolini's temperament, his character. And really, after Mussolini killed a political opponent of his in 1924, a couple of years after coming into power, that is when my great grandfather said, if things continue this way, there's no future for us in this country. Manya Brachear Pashman: And when you say your great grandfather, the king of the books, concluded that there was no future for us, did he mean your family, or did he mean the Jewish community? David Mogdiliani: I think at that time, in 1924, he meant our family, and I suppose also those who were not interested in kind of following a blindly fascist authoritarian dictator to the extent that he might transform the country. One of the things that I was sort of fascinated to learn in this project was that Italy was, in fact, a very inclusive place for Jews. In 1870, the country was sort of unified, and the Jews who had been in ghettos across Italy for hundreds of years, were released, became really central part of Italian society, which was a very tolerant society. Mussolini, in fact, had a couple of Jews in his cabinet. As late as 1935 had a Jewish lover. And it was not really until a later stage of Mussolini's fascism that he very swiftly turned against the Jews, eventually passing the Leggi Razziali, the racial laws, which really instituted a whole set of restrictions that only got worse. Manya Brachear Pashman: So talk a little bit about your process. I mean, how did you piece together this saga and all of the many pieces of this story that you had not known before, this saga that eventually became 10 episodes of your podcast. David Mogdiliani: Yeah, you know, during COVID, a lot of people baked banana bread. I pulled out my grandparents' love letters. I had always wanted to interview them to document– I had been a documentary filmmaker for many years and to capture their story–and I kind of just never got around to it. Before I did it, they died. They passed away. And so I had kind of been living with a sense of guilt about that. But I was in a new romance with a woman named Willa. We had become quarantine mates during the pandemic, she was really curious about the seeds of this family story that I'd shared with her. And we pulled out these love letters, which, in fact, my grandmother had translated into English for her grandchildren, because she really wanted them to know how you know, love had gotten them through the horror of that period. And pulling out those love letters, I was sort of stunned by how fresh and relevant they seemed. Not these kind of black and white mementos from a time gone by, but in a world where there was increasing authoritarian leadership around the world where antisemitism was on the rise, again, their letters to one another, which were going back and forth between Rome and Bologna. They were dealing with these questions, how do we deal with rising fascism? How bad is the antisemitism getting, and what do we do about it? And inside of those boxes, we found not only letters from Mussolini, but kind of the other part of the story. You asked me about the story I grew up with the fairy tale escape that was kind of the baseline that I was operating from. What I had not fully understood was that when my grandfather fled Italy with his girlfriend, and the king of the books, and was so fortunate to escape with them, he left behind his whole family, including his mother and his older brother, Giorgio. And eventually, as World War II kicked off, as they got into the Nazi occupation of Rome, all he could do was read about, you know, the Nazis invading his hometown, what was going on abroad, and he had lost touch entirely with his brother, and yet, what We found inside of these 19 boxes was a 25 page letter from my grandfather's brother, Giorgio, from the older brother that he'd left behind. And that 25 page letter, it had come just after the war ended. And it said, essentially, you know, we survived. And there's so much to tell you, you know, here's how. And it was just this page turning epic of how my grandfather's brother had shepherded his young family through the war, how they had hid in a small hill town outside of Rome, how he had taken on fake identity, and his little children had learned their fake names and identities and how to cross themselves and go to church and pose as though they were Catholic, and ultimately, how they had made it all the way through to the liberation of Rome. And that, to me, felt like this whole other world, the kind of parallel universe that my grandparents had escaped, the experiences that they might have had if they'd not been so fortunate to be among. Those who were able to flee, and that, along with the question of, why do we have these letters from Mussolini, you know, in the basement, and what's going on with the king of the books, all of that made me want to go back to Italy to dig into my family's past, to better understand this story, to find, you know, answers that could inform my present moment. At the time, you know, I thought, well, I'll need someone to help me, an audio engineer, at least if we're going to do a podcast. And Willa said, Well, you know, or I could do it. She had learned some audio skills in film school, and I had this question of, like, is this a good idea? Like mixing my budding romance with, you know, digging into my family's, you know, unknown history, but her curiosity had kind of inspired me to dig into this story in the first place, and so we set off together back to Italy with kind of no idea of just how far that adventure would take us. Manya Brachear Pashman: So I should explain that that saga, you tell that saga in the 10 episodes of the podcast, and the voice of your grandfather is actually that of actor Stanley Tucci. How did you connect with Stanley about this project, and what was it about the project that appealed to him? David Mogdiliani: I knew that we wanted to bring not only the personal investigative nature of kind of solving some of these mysteries, putting together the pieces, but also to bring to life the experiences and the stories of the characters in this podcast. And so I knew that I could bring to life the voices of my grandparents, which I remembered so well, but I really wanted to bring to life as well the king of the books, my great grandfather, and whenever I thought about him as this kind of debonair Italian, you know, media magnate who got his family out of dodge just in time, he seemed like this kind of cultured, congenial hero that someone like Stanley Tucci might play. And I'd been in touch with Stanley Tucci a few years prior in regards to his searching for Italy series, we almost worked together on that the scheduling didn't work out, but we'd formed a relationship, and so I shared with him, Hey, I'm digging into the story. I'm finding all this incredible stuff. I want to tell it in audio. And he said, I'd love to help. How can I be part of this? In addition to those more standard documentary techniques. We also do a little bit of kind of creative storytelling, and it's wonderful to have Stanley Tucci do that. We travel to London, where he lives, and did two long recording sessions with him, and he, having Italian parents and grandparents of his own, speaking Italian well, was able to snap right into that character. He needed very little direction, and it was a great joy to hear him kind of bring that character to life. Manya Brachear Pashman: And in fact, you had a conversation with him about his own family history and the importance of connecting to that. And I want our listeners to hear a clip of that conversation. __ David Mogdiliani: Okay, so tell me, I guess what drew you to the story. Why spend some time doing this? Stanley Tucci: Well, a number of things. I'm interested in Italian history, Italian stories, Italian people. I'm interested in World War II, and given the circumstances in today's world, you can't help but be interested in the parallels of that time and our time. It's your family story. It's an incredible story, but it's something that's happening today. It's happening as we speak. It's happening all over the world to literally millions of people. David Mogdiliani: I know you get asked this a lot, but what was your first connection to learning about Italy and its history and what happened to there? Stanley Tucci: My mother's father fought in World War I. He was a corpsman, and he was up in the Alps, and I mean, like the worst fighting, but he never spoke of that. But we were always told about our family history. We were able to live in Italy when I was a kid, and we were able to go visit my family. This is in the early 1970s down in Colombia, and that was fascinating, because it wasn't even 30 years after the war. But that history was really important to us, and the way that those stories were really funny that they would tell, or really frightening that they would tell. And like basically every Italian family, those stories were always told at, you know, dinner parties, at gatherings, at holidays, and you always had a connection with your family. You were always doing things with your family. Sometimes you were like, Why are we here? No one seems to be getting along, you know. But that said, it's invaluable. Understanding that history, knowing those people. And I really love this story because it's a universal story. It is an Italian story, but it's not an Italian story. It's a Jewish story, but it's not a Jewish story. It's a story about people in a certain place and time, and what happened to them. And what happened to them has happened before and has happened since and will continue to happen. Unless we as the human race begins to understand that we are all the same. That's why I like this story. It's about hope for equality. ___ Manya Brachear Pashman: David, you use the word refugee. I'm just curious if your grandparents considered themselves refugees, given the timing of their departure and then the timing of what their relatives that they left behind experienced. David Mogdiliani: Yeah, and I know actually they specifically did. There's a letter, when my grandmother fled with her parents in early September of 1938. Her father had told her, we're going to leave in the morning. We're going to make this look just like we're going on vacation so we don't draw any undue attention. And I want you to pack one bag and we'll take off in the morning. And they went ahead to Paris, and they were joined there a few weeks later by my grandfather, who had to settle some of his affairs in Rome and get his act together. And so there are letters from my grandmother, having just arrived in Paris, writing to her boyfriend back in Rome and hoping that he's going to come soon. And she says, quite specifically, we're in this tiny hotel room, and we're really refugees now, everything feels quite different. She, of course, had come from this privileged background. She grew up in this beautiful villa on the hill above Bologna that her father had built, a villa that they had to abandon very quickly. And so she was sort of encountering the reality of being outside of her comfort zone, of not having sort of the comforts that she had grown up with and wishing and hoping that her beloved would join her soon, which would kind of allay some of her anxiety as a refugee. I think they also felt that sense of being unsettled through their nine months in Paris, from the fall of 1938 until the summer of 1939 being unsure of whether war might break out during that period, my great grandfather, my grandmother's father, the king of the books, he found that his bank accounts inside of Italy had been blocked by the fascist regime, something that we uncovered in more detail in the archives in Rome as we dug into these fascist documents that were kept about all of this persecution, and they had this sense of being unsure of quite when they would leave and how far kind of the tentacles of the fascist regime might extend. And so I do think that they felt like refugees, even if they themselves did not encounter one tenth of the horrors that the family members who remained behind did. Manya Brachear Pashman: We have a narrative podcast series called The Forgotten Exodus that really speaks to that. It's about Jews fleeing the Middle East and leaving their homes behind. I mean, that's what you're doing, is you're leaving your home behind, even if you were hated in your home, even if you faced violent antisemitism, it was still home. I'm curious how much your family was fleeing fascism, or were they fleeing antisemitism? Were they fleeing more of one than the other, or did they go hand in hand? David Mogdiliani: Yeah, well, I think that their initial plans that my great grandfather, the king of the books, was making, were related more to fascism, to his understanding of Mussolini and to political violence and how far things might go. But in the summer of 1938 as he began to get information about the coming racial laws against Jews, and in early September of 1938 when the racial laws were passed such that Jewish children could no longer go to public schools. Teachers couldn't teach at public schools or universities if they were Jewish. Jews could not own a business with more than 99 employees. They couldn't have domestic help of non Jews. And that initial, you know, set of restrictions against them only increased that fall in the following months, you know, obviously getting to the point eventually that Jews could own nothing, that even the debts that they owed to other people should be diverted to the state. But the beginning of those racial laws is quite literally what they were fleeing when they then decided to execute their exit strategy. It was the promulgation of the racial laws that caused them to leave. Manya Brachear Pashman: In other words, they began to develop that exit strategy because of fascism. It was initially kind of envisioned as a flight from fascism, but when the culture became antisemitic. That was the trigger. David Mogdiliani: Exactly. Manya Brachear Pashman: What have I not asked you, David, that you think is a really important point to mention. David Mogdiliani: I would say, just about the love and humor that's such a big part of this story. My grandparents were, you know, constantly bickering at one another in this very loving way that we capture in the podcast, just the jump start of their romance was amazing to me. I mean, my grandmother came into Rome with her father, the businessman. She encountered this young kid who she later called il tipo ridiculo, meaning the ridiculous character, because he was just sort of a pesky all over the place, you know guy. And when she came back a second time, he had this plan to take her out, and he had concocted this outing up the Via Appia Antica, which is the ancient road outside of Rome. They got to know each other a little better, and she let him just steal a little kiss at the end of that little date. And the next morning, when she was going back to Bologna, he showed up at the train station in this suit, you know, two sizes too big for him. He's pacing the platform, and he had come to declare his undying love for her. He was so worried that she was going to get a marriage proposal from a fancy guy in Bologna, and he felt like he had to state his case. And she was like, you know, you got to calm down. You know, it was just a kiss. You know, this is really over the top. And she told him, I want you to not write to me for three months. She really wanted this kind of cooling off period. She said, then write to me if you want. And let's see, you know, if we really have a connection. And so three months later, she's in Bologna, and she gets this package from Rome, and on the top it says: Oh aspettato tre meze, signora di tatoreza. (I waited three months, Madam Dictator.) Ma ogna notte teo scritto. (But every night I wrote to you.) And she opens it up, and there's 91 little letters inside. So every night he had written to her, and then he had saved them and sent them all at the end. So these kind of dramatic, you know, acts of romance and love, the way that they got married inside of the fascist Italian consulate in Paris, that was a huge part of their story, and I think a huge part of what got them through that very anxious, you know, experience. Manya Brachear Pashman: You talk about how this moment in history jumpstarted your grandparents' romance. Do you mind sharing with listeners what happened to that girlfriend who tagged along and helped you with this project? David Mogdiliani: It's probably about 3% you know, of the overall story. We're really focused on the story of my grandparents, my great grandparents. But yes, this girlfriend Willa that I had, that had sparked curiosity about my grandparents story when we pulled out the love letters four years ago, as she then came with me as we went back to Italy, digging into the archives, interviewing our cousins, bringing this story to life, and of course, brought us a lot closer together. Our own relationship continued on, and we were married last year. And just about three and a half months ago, we welcomed our first child, Marcello Vita Modigliani, Vita meaning life in Italian which was a family name. So yes, my own romance has been part of this story as well. Manya Brachear Pashman: David, thank you so much. I really appreciate you doing this project and then coming and speaking with us about that. It really is quite relevant and quite instructive. And so thank you so much. David Mogdiliani: Thank you. It's been a pleasure to be here, and folks can find pack one bag anywhere they listen to podcasts, Apple, Spotify, but really anywhere, including at packonebagshow.com. You can stream it straight from the website there at packonebagshow.com and thanks so much for this wonderful conversation. I really enjoyed it. Manya Brachear Pashman: If you missed the last episode, be sure to tune in for the conversation between AJC CEO Ted Deutch and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. In that conversation on the ground in Philadelphia, Governor Shapiro and Ted talked about the antisemitism the governor has faced, the importance of nuance and how simply there is none when it comes to expressions of anti-Jewish hatred.
PREVIEW: UKRAINE: APPEASEMENT: Professor Serhii Plokhy, author "The Russo-Ukrainian War," outlines the Minsk II agreement in 2015 that included an echo of the 1930s appeasement. More tonight 1944 Kyiv in the Great Patriotic War, 1941-45.