Podcasts about American Historical Association

Alan Lowe speaks with Dr. Margaret Weitekamp of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum about its transformation ahead of America's 250th anniversary. They explore how new exhibits, immersive storytelling, and iconic artifacts like the Wright Flyer, Space Shuttle Discovery, and Neil Armstrong's spacesuit bring aviation and space history to life. Weitekamp discusses the museum's role as both a public institution and research center, preserving innovations from early flight to modern space exploration. She also reflects on international collaboration, private sector contributions, and how triumph and tragedy alike shape our understanding of humanity's journey beyond Earth.     Guest Bio Dr. Margaret Weitekamp is the curator and department chair of the space history department at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. She holds a BA from the University of Pittsburgh and earned her MA and PhD in history from Cornell University. A former Mellon Fellow in the humanities, she also served as the American Historical Association's NASA Aerospace History Fellow at NASA Headquarters. Since joining the museum in 2004, she has led major curatorial efforts and became department chair in 2019. Dr. Weitekamp is a widely published author, including Space Craze and Spaceships: An Illustrated History of the Real and the Imagined.     Show Highlights (2:09) The goals of the renovation and when it's going to be completed (6:28) The Udvar-Hazy Center (8:09) What Margaret Weitekamp does at the National Air and Space Museum (10:49) Key moments of American flight innovation documented at the museum (18:50) Artifacts on display that tell the story of American innovation in getting to the moon (22:12) The space shuttle's impact on our understanding of Earth and space (25:58) How the museum communicates with NASA about adding to their collection (29:32) The role of international competition versus collaboration in forwarding innovation (32:48) The private sector's role in space innovation and how the museum interacts with it (34:57) How satellites are used and what American innovations have contributed to them (38:35) The way the Air and Space Museum teaches about unmanned missions like Voyager (41:13) What we've learned from past mistakes, such as the Challenger explosion (44:59) What's made the biggest impression on Margaret since she's been at the museum (47:11) What we should keep in mind when looking at the next 250 years of space innovation (49:51) How to follow what's going on at the National Air and Space Museum     Links Referenced Spaceships: An Illustrated History of the Real and the Imagined: https://www.amazon.com/Spaceships-2nd-Illustrated-History-Imagined/dp/1588347265/ Space Craze, America's Enduring Fascination With Real and Imagined Space Flight: https://www.amazon.com/Space-Craze-Americas-Fascination-Spaceflight/dp/1588347257 National Air and Space Museum: https://airandspace.si.edu  

In Market Encounters: Consumer Cultures in Twentieth-Century Ghana (Ohio UP, 2017), Bianca Murillo explores the shifting social terrains that made the buying and selling of goods in modern Ghana possible. Fusing economic and business history with social and cultural history, she traces the evolution of consumerism in the colonial Gold Coast and independent Ghana from the late nineteenth century through to the political turmoil of the 1970s. Murillo brings sales clerks, market women, and everyday consumers in Ghana to the center of a story that is all too often told in sweeping metanarratives about what happens when African businesses are incorporated into global markets. By emphasizing the centrality of human relationships to Ghana's economic past, Murillo introduces a radical rethinking of consumption studies from an Africa-centered perspective. The result is a keen look at colonial capitalism in all of its intricacies, legacies, and contradictions, including its entanglement with gender and race. Bianca Murillo is a professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She is a historian of modern Africa, with research and teaching interests in global economies, decolonization, and race and gender studies. While her work focuses on twentieth-century Ghana, her research on international business and capitalism is comparative and transnational. Dr. Murillo has published articles in the journals Gender & History, Enterprise & Society, and Africa. Her current book project, Financing Africa's Future, is a history of debt, foreign investment, and fraud in Ghana's post-independence era. Recent writings featuring this research appear in Africa is a Country and History Workshop. Murillo's research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Council of Learned Societies, the Institute of Citizens & Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson Foundation), Fulbright-Hays Program, and the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship Program (U.S. Department of Education). She is an elected board member of the Business History Conference (Association) and has served as an elected committee member and committee chair for the American Historical Association. You can learn more about her work here Afua Baafi Quarshie is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the Johns Hopkins University. Her research focuses on mothering and childhood in post-independence Ghana. Let's face it, most of the popular podcasts out there are dumb. NBN features scholars (like you!), providing an enriching alternative to students. We partner with presses like Oxford, Princeton, and Cambridge to make academic research accessible to all. Please consider sharing the New Books Network with your students. Download this poster here to spread the word. Please share this interview on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Bluesky. Don't forget to subscribe to our Substack here to receive our weekly newsletter. 150,000,000 million lifetime downloads. Advertise on the New Books Network. Watch our promotional video. Learn how to make the most of our library. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In Market Encounters: Consumer Cultures in Twentieth-Century Ghana (Ohio UP, 2017), Bianca Murillo explores the shifting social terrains that made the buying and selling of goods in modern Ghana possible. Fusing economic and business history with social and cultural history, she traces the evolution of consumerism in the colonial Gold Coast and independent Ghana from the late nineteenth century through to the political turmoil of the 1970s. Murillo brings sales clerks, market women, and everyday consumers in Ghana to the center of a story that is all too often told in sweeping metanarratives about what happens when African businesses are incorporated into global markets. By emphasizing the centrality of human relationships to Ghana's economic past, Murillo introduces a radical rethinking of consumption studies from an Africa-centered perspective. The result is a keen look at colonial capitalism in all of its intricacies, legacies, and contradictions, including its entanglement with gender and race. Bianca Murillo is a professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She is a historian of modern Africa, with research and teaching interests in global economies, decolonization, and race and gender studies. While her work focuses on twentieth-century Ghana, her research on international business and capitalism is comparative and transnational. Dr. Murillo has published articles in the journals Gender & History, Enterprise & Society, and Africa. Her current book project, Financing Africa's Future, is a history of debt, foreign investment, and fraud in Ghana's post-independence era. Recent writings featuring this research appear in Africa is a Country and History Workshop. Murillo's research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Council of Learned Societies, the Institute of Citizens & Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson Foundation), Fulbright-Hays Program, and the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship Program (U.S. Department of Education). She is an elected board member of the Business History Conference (Association) and has served as an elected committee member and committee chair for the American Historical Association. You can learn more about her work here Afua Baafi Quarshie is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the Johns Hopkins University. Her research focuses on mothering and childhood in post-independence Ghana. Let's face it, most of the popular podcasts out there are dumb. NBN features scholars (like you!), providing an enriching alternative to students. We partner with presses like Oxford, Princeton, and Cambridge to make academic research accessible to all. Please consider sharing the New Books Network with your students. Download this poster here to spread the word. Please share this interview on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Bluesky. Don't forget to subscribe to our Substack here to receive our weekly newsletter. 150,000,000 million lifetime downloads. Advertise on the New Books Network. Watch our promotional video. Learn how to make the most of our library. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-studies

In Market Encounters: Consumer Cultures in Twentieth-Century Ghana (Ohio UP, 2017), Bianca Murillo explores the shifting social terrains that made the buying and selling of goods in modern Ghana possible. Fusing economic and business history with social and cultural history, she traces the evolution of consumerism in the colonial Gold Coast and independent Ghana from the late nineteenth century through to the political turmoil of the 1970s. Murillo brings sales clerks, market women, and everyday consumers in Ghana to the center of a story that is all too often told in sweeping metanarratives about what happens when African businesses are incorporated into global markets. By emphasizing the centrality of human relationships to Ghana's economic past, Murillo introduces a radical rethinking of consumption studies from an Africa-centered perspective. The result is a keen look at colonial capitalism in all of its intricacies, legacies, and contradictions, including its entanglement with gender and race. Bianca Murillo is a professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills. She is a historian of modern Africa, with research and teaching interests in global economies, decolonization, and race and gender studies. While her work focuses on twentieth-century Ghana, her research on international business and capitalism is comparative and transnational. Dr. Murillo has published articles in the journals Gender & History, Enterprise & Society, and Africa. Her current book project, Financing Africa's Future, is a history of debt, foreign investment, and fraud in Ghana's post-independence era. Recent writings featuring this research appear in Africa is a Country and History Workshop. Murillo's research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, American Council of Learned Societies, the Institute of Citizens & Scholars (formerly the Woodrow Wilson Foundation), Fulbright-Hays Program, and the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship Program (U.S. Department of Education). She is an elected board member of the Business History Conference (Association) and has served as an elected committee member and committee chair for the American Historical Association. You can learn more about her work here Afua Baafi Quarshie is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the Johns Hopkins University. Her research focuses on mothering and childhood in post-independence Ghana. Let's face it, most of the popular podcasts out there are dumb. NBN features scholars (like you!), providing an enriching alternative to students. We partner with presses like Oxford, Princeton, and Cambridge to make academic research accessible to all. Please consider sharing the New Books Network with your students. Download this poster here to spread the word. Please share this interview on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Bluesky. Don't forget to subscribe to our Substack here to receive our weekly newsletter. 150,000,000 million lifetime downloads. Advertise on the New Books Network. Watch our promotional video. Learn how to make the most of our library. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The American Historical Association was chartered by Congress in 1884 and has played an essential role in helping foster and spread great historical research. AHA incoming Executive Director Sarah Weicksel and pioneering public historian Ed Ayers join us for a discussion of AHA's history, its current projects and the damage that recent government policy has done to historians' ability to create and share an honest history of the United States. Learn more by visiting the American Historical Association's website at historians.org. The report discussed in this episode is “American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools.” Dr. Sarah Jones Weicksel is Director of Research and Publications and incoming Executive Director at the AHA and Research Associate at the Smithsonian's National Museum of History. Dr. Ed Ayers is Tucker-Boatwright Professor of the Humanities and President Emeritus at the University of Richmond. His book In the Presence of Mine Enemies: War in the heart of America, 1859-1863 won the Bancroft Prize and Beveridge Award in 2004 and in 2013 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal. Join us for a live recording of the Road to Now in Washington, DC on May 29 at The Hamilton Live ft. guests Major Garett, Margaret Talev & Doug Heye. The theme is murder & mayhem in the capital city- get your tickets here!   This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

President Donald Trump has threatened the federal funding and jobs of institutions and individuals that document, archive, and analyze historical materials. On March 27, 2025, Trump signed “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” an executive order that directs Vice President JD Vance to eliminate "divisive race-centered ideology" from Smithsonian museums, educational and research centers, and the National Zoo and to “restore” American history. While Trump has framed these actions as “efficiency” measures or removing bias in favor of women and underrepresented minorities, they are better understood as removing professionals who preserve the images and documents that politicians and public officials use to create powerful narratives. Today's guests are two historians featured in a Washington Post article on the firing of federal historians and the new oral history project designed to capture the history of federal firings, layoffs, and the current work climate. Dr. Jason Chernesky is a historian of medicine, public health, and environmental history whose research focuses on child health issues in the United States. Jason was the historian for the Food and Drug Administration until receiving a termination letter in February 2025. He is now on temporary administrative leave and the creator of the emergency oral history project. Dr. Beth English is the Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians. Her research and teaching focus on the historical and contemporary labor movement, working-class issues, globalization, deindustrialization, and women in the workplace. She is the author of A Common Thread: Labor, Politics, and Capital Mobility in the Textile Industry, and co-editor of Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy. Beth has contributed to the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, Huffington Post, The New Republic, and other media outlets. Mentioned in the podcast: OAH's Emergency Oral History Project for federal workers (fired, on leave, or currently working) Gift link to the Washington Post article by Kyle Swenson about the oral history project “Origins of the FDA History Office” on the FDA website Organization of American Historians (OAH)'s Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material Arlington National Cemetery website removes histories highlighting Black, Hispanic, and women veterans Joint statement from the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians Previous Postscripts with historian Dr. Wendy Rouse (Donald Trump is Erasing History – and what YOU can do about it) and executive directors of AHA and OAH, Drs. Jim Grossman and Beth English (Postscript: Not a Matter of Left or Right: Historians Fighting Censorship) Donate to the Emergency Oral History Project Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

President Donald Trump has threatened the federal funding and jobs of institutions and individuals that document, archive, and analyze historical materials. On March 27, 2025, Trump signed “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” an executive order that directs Vice President JD Vance to eliminate "divisive race-centered ideology" from Smithsonian museums, educational and research centers, and the National Zoo and to “restore” American history. While Trump has framed these actions as “efficiency” measures or removing bias in favor of women and underrepresented minorities, they are better understood as removing professionals who preserve the images and documents that politicians and public officials use to create powerful narratives. Today's guests are two historians featured in a Washington Post article on the firing of federal historians and the new oral history project designed to capture the history of federal firings, layoffs, and the current work climate. Dr. Jason Chernesky is a historian of medicine, public health, and environmental history whose research focuses on child health issues in the United States. Jason was the historian for the Food and Drug Administration until receiving a termination letter in February 2025. He is now on temporary administrative leave and the creator of the emergency oral history project. Dr. Beth English is the Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians. Her research and teaching focus on the historical and contemporary labor movement, working-class issues, globalization, deindustrialization, and women in the workplace. She is the author of A Common Thread: Labor, Politics, and Capital Mobility in the Textile Industry, and co-editor of Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy. Beth has contributed to the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, Huffington Post, The New Republic, and other media outlets. Mentioned in the podcast: OAH's Emergency Oral History Project for federal workers (fired, on leave, or currently working) Gift link to the Washington Post article by Kyle Swenson about the oral history project “Origins of the FDA History Office” on the FDA website Organization of American Historians (OAH)'s Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material Arlington National Cemetery website removes histories highlighting Black, Hispanic, and women veterans Joint statement from the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians Previous Postscripts with historian Dr. Wendy Rouse (Donald Trump is Erasing History – and what YOU can do about it) and executive directors of AHA and OAH, Drs. Jim Grossman and Beth English (Postscript: Not a Matter of Left or Right: Historians Fighting Censorship) Donate to the Emergency Oral History Project Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

President Donald Trump has threatened the federal funding and jobs of institutions and individuals that document, archive, and analyze historical materials. On March 27, 2025, Trump signed “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” an executive order that directs Vice President JD Vance to eliminate "divisive race-centered ideology" from Smithsonian museums, educational and research centers, and the National Zoo and to “restore” American history. While Trump has framed these actions as “efficiency” measures or removing bias in favor of women and underrepresented minorities, they are better understood as removing professionals who preserve the images and documents that politicians and public officials use to create powerful narratives. Today's guests are two historians featured in a Washington Post article on the firing of federal historians and the new oral history project designed to capture the history of federal firings, layoffs, and the current work climate. Dr. Jason Chernesky is a historian of medicine, public health, and environmental history whose research focuses on child health issues in the United States. Jason was the historian for the Food and Drug Administration until receiving a termination letter in February 2025. He is now on temporary administrative leave and the creator of the emergency oral history project. Dr. Beth English is the Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians. Her research and teaching focus on the historical and contemporary labor movement, working-class issues, globalization, deindustrialization, and women in the workplace. She is the author of A Common Thread: Labor, Politics, and Capital Mobility in the Textile Industry, and co-editor of Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy. Beth has contributed to the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, Huffington Post, The New Republic, and other media outlets. Mentioned in the podcast: OAH's Emergency Oral History Project for federal workers (fired, on leave, or currently working) Gift link to the Washington Post article by Kyle Swenson about the oral history project “Origins of the FDA History Office” on the FDA website Organization of American Historians (OAH)'s Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material Arlington National Cemetery website removes histories highlighting Black, Hispanic, and women veterans Joint statement from the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians Previous Postscripts with historian Dr. Wendy Rouse (Donald Trump is Erasing History – and what YOU can do about it) and executive directors of AHA and OAH, Drs. Jim Grossman and Beth English (Postscript: Not a Matter of Left or Right: Historians Fighting Censorship) Donate to the Emergency Oral History Project Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

President Donald Trump has threatened the federal funding and jobs of institutions and individuals that document, archive, and analyze historical materials. On March 27, 2025, Trump signed “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” an executive order that directs Vice President JD Vance to eliminate "divisive race-centered ideology" from Smithsonian museums, educational and research centers, and the National Zoo and to “restore” American history. While Trump has framed these actions as “efficiency” measures or removing bias in favor of women and underrepresented minorities, they are better understood as removing professionals who preserve the images and documents that politicians and public officials use to create powerful narratives. Today's guests are two historians featured in a Washington Post article on the firing of federal historians and the new oral history project designed to capture the history of federal firings, layoffs, and the current work climate. Dr. Jason Chernesky is a historian of medicine, public health, and environmental history whose research focuses on child health issues in the United States. Jason was the historian for the Food and Drug Administration until receiving a termination letter in February 2025. He is now on temporary administrative leave and the creator of the emergency oral history project. Dr. Beth English is the Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians. Her research and teaching focus on the historical and contemporary labor movement, working-class issues, globalization, deindustrialization, and women in the workplace. She is the author of A Common Thread: Labor, Politics, and Capital Mobility in the Textile Industry, and co-editor of Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy. Beth has contributed to the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, Huffington Post, The New Republic, and other media outlets. Mentioned in the podcast: OAH's Emergency Oral History Project for federal workers (fired, on leave, or currently working) Gift link to the Washington Post article by Kyle Swenson about the oral history project “Origins of the FDA History Office” on the FDA website Organization of American Historians (OAH)'s Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material Arlington National Cemetery website removes histories highlighting Black, Hispanic, and women veterans Joint statement from the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians Previous Postscripts with historian Dr. Wendy Rouse (Donald Trump is Erasing History – and what YOU can do about it) and executive directors of AHA and OAH, Drs. Jim Grossman and Beth English (Postscript: Not a Matter of Left or Right: Historians Fighting Censorship) Donate to the Emergency Oral History Project Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this compelling episode of 10x Your Team, Camden and Otis McGregor welcome psychologist and author Cynthia Adams for an insightful discussion about trust, storytelling, and the delicate balance of sharing sensitive stories. Drawing from her experience writing "First He Killed The Minuteman," Cynthia shares valuable insights about building trust with sources and maintaining integrity in the storytelling process. The conversation, punctuated by an unexpected guest appearance, naturally weaves together professional wisdom with real-world moments, demonstrating how leadership principles apply across different contexts.More About Cynthia and First He Killed The Minuteman:Storrs, Connecticut, U.S.A. January 2025 – News release from author Cynthia Herbert-Bruschi Adams sharing the gripping description of murders and other crimes committed by honors student Peter Manfredonia, who spent Memorial Day Weekend, 2020, in a frenzy. His actions claimed the life of a Willington man, Ted DeMers (model for Connecticut's Minuteman statue), and severely injured his neighbor, both with a Samurai sword. While escaping, Manfredonia holds a third Willington man hostage in his own home. But two days later, the terror continues as Manfredonia robs and murders a childhood friend in Derby and kidnaps his girlfriend. The nightmare goes further as he is pursued across state lines for six days. The author interviews survivors and the perpetrator. The story is told with vivid, and at times horrifying, descriptions.About the Author: A Professor Emerita from the University of Connecticut and Psychologist author Cynthia Herbert-Bruschi Adams' non-academic books include “Italian Spices: A Memoir” (currently sold out) and a trilogy of New England horror novels including “The Farmhouse on Cemetery Hill Rd.,” “The Portal,” and “Ah, Grace!,” which along with “The Red Toque: Love and Loss in the Time of Tito,” are available on Amazon or via her website https://www.getbooksbycindy.com/. “First He Killed the Minuteman” is her first true crime book. Adams is a member of the American Psychological Association, Authors Guild, Slovene Studies Society, American Historical Association, and Italian American Writers.The Cam and Otis Show - Podcast - MasterfileChapter Times and Titles:Opening and Setting the Stage [00:00 - 05:00]Introduction to the episodeDiscussion about perspective and opportunitiesUnexpected guest appearanceThe Writing Journey [05:00 - 15:00]Book development processTimeline and challengesPublisher interactionsBuilding Trust in Storytelling [15:00 - 25:00]Relationship building with sourcesEthics in sharing sensitive storiesMaintaining integrityThe Psychology of Trust [25:00 - 40:00]Professional insightsLeadership applicationsBuilding genuine connectionsImpact and Responsibility [40:00 - 50:00]Managing sensitive informationCreating meaningful narrativesBalancing different perspectivesClosing Thoughts [50:00 - End]Key takeawaysFinal reflectionsShow outro#10xYourTeam #CamAndOtis #CynthiaAdams #LeadershipThroughStorytelling #TrustAndIntegrity #RealLeadership #StorytellingMatters #BuildingTrust #AuthorInterview #PsychologistPerspective #TrueCrimeNarrative #LeadershipInCrisis #StorytellingWithPurpose #EthicalStorytelling #FirstHeKilledTheMinuteman #PeterManfredoniaCase #RealWorldLeadership #BehindTheStoryCynthia Adams website:  https://www.getbooksbycindy.com/

The presidents of the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians join the podcast to talk about the effects of historical censorship, data shredding, meaningful public education – and what everyone can do to fight back. After being sworn in as the 47th president, Donald Trump issued a slew of executive orders. The order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” declares that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” This order has swiftly affected what people may read on websites or museum panels that describe historical events and artifacts. As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” Dr. Beth English is Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians. Her research and teaching focus on the historical and contemporary labor movement, working-class issues, globalization, deindustrialization, and women in the workplace. She is the author of A Common Thread: Labor, Politics, and Capital Mobility in the Textile Industry, and co-editor of Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy. She has contributed to the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, Huffington Post, The New Republic, and other media outlets. Dr. James R. Grossman is executive director of the American Historical Association. Previously, he was vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library, and has taught at University of Chicago and University of California, San Diego. Among his many publications are the award-winning books, Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration and A Chance to Make Good: African-Americans, 1900–1929. His articles and short essays have focused on various aspects of American urban history, African American history, ethnicity, higher education, and the place of history in public culture. His public facing scholarship includes work published in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, The Hill, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Education. Grossman has consulted on history-related projects generated by the BBC, Smithsonian, and various theater companies, film makers, museums, libraries, and foundations. He has served on the governing boards of the National Humanities Alliance, American Council of Learned Societies, Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Center for Research Libraries. Mentioned: OAH's Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material For federal workers who are interested in sharing their experiences, OAH's Emergency Oral History Project Arlington National Cemetery website removes histories highlighting Black, Hispanic, and women veterans National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Removal of climate data from government websites Contribute to AHA and OAH 5calls ap for connecting with federal senators and representatives AHA Action Alert for Iowa residents (and AHA letter to Iowa Senate Education Committee) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The executive directors of the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians join the podcast to talk about the effects of historical censorship, data shredding, meaningful public education – and what everyone can do to fight back. After being sworn in as the 47th president, Donald Trump issued a slew of executive orders. The order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” declares that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” This order has swiftly affected what people may read on websites or museum panels that describe historical events and artifacts. As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” Dr. Beth English is Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians. Her research and teaching focus on the historical and contemporary labor movement, working-class issues, globalization, deindustrialization, and women in the workplace. She is the author of A Common Thread: Labor, Politics, and Capital Mobility in the Textile Industry, and co-editor of Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy. She has contributed to the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, Huffington Post, The New Republic, and other media outlets. Dr. James R. Grossman is executive director of the American Historical Association. Previously, he was vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library, and has taught at University of Chicago and University of California, San Diego. Among his many publications are the award-winning books, Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration and A Chance to Make Good: African-Americans, 1900–1929. His articles and short essays have focused on various aspects of American urban history, African American history, ethnicity, higher education, and the place of history in public culture. His public facing scholarship includes work published in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, The Hill, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Education. Grossman has consulted on history-related projects generated by the BBC, Smithsonian, and various theater companies, film makers, museums, libraries, and foundations. He has served on the governing boards of the National Humanities Alliance, American Council of Learned Societies, Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Center for Research Libraries. Mentioned: OAH's Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material For federal workers who are interested in sharing their experiences, OAH's Emergency Oral History Project Arlington National Cemetery website removes histories highlighting Black, Hispanic, and women veterans National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Removal of climate data from government websites Contribute to AHA and OAH 5calls ap for connecting with federal senators and representatives AHA Action Alert for Iowa residents (and AHA letter to Iowa Senate Education Committee) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

The presidents of the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians join the podcast to talk about the effects of historical censorship, data shredding, meaningful public education – and what everyone can do to fight back. After being sworn in as the 47th president, Donald Trump issued a slew of executive orders. The order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” declares that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” This order has swiftly affected what people may read on websites or museum panels that describe historical events and artifacts. As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” Dr. Beth English is Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians. Her research and teaching focus on the historical and contemporary labor movement, working-class issues, globalization, deindustrialization, and women in the workplace. She is the author of A Common Thread: Labor, Politics, and Capital Mobility in the Textile Industry, and co-editor of Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy. She has contributed to the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, Huffington Post, The New Republic, and other media outlets. Dr. James R. Grossman is executive director of the American Historical Association. Previously, he was vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library, and has taught at University of Chicago and University of California, San Diego. Among his many publications are the award-winning books, Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration and A Chance to Make Good: African-Americans, 1900–1929. His articles and short essays have focused on various aspects of American urban history, African American history, ethnicity, higher education, and the place of history in public culture. His public facing scholarship includes work published in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, The Hill, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Education. Grossman has consulted on history-related projects generated by the BBC, Smithsonian, and various theater companies, film makers, museums, libraries, and foundations. He has served on the governing boards of the National Humanities Alliance, American Council of Learned Societies, Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Center for Research Libraries. Mentioned: OAH's Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material For federal workers who are interested in sharing their experiences, OAH's Emergency Oral History Project Arlington National Cemetery website removes histories highlighting Black, Hispanic, and women veterans National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Removal of climate data from government websites Contribute to AHA and OAH 5calls ap for connecting with federal senators and representatives AHA Action Alert for Iowa residents (and AHA letter to Iowa Senate Education Committee) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

The presidents of the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians join the podcast to talk about the effects of historical censorship, data shredding, meaningful public education – and what everyone can do to fight back. After being sworn in as the 47th president, Donald Trump issued a slew of executive orders. The order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” declares that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” This order has swiftly affected what people may read on websites or museum panels that describe historical events and artifacts. As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” Dr. Beth English is Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians. Her research and teaching focus on the historical and contemporary labor movement, working-class issues, globalization, deindustrialization, and women in the workplace. She is the author of A Common Thread: Labor, Politics, and Capital Mobility in the Textile Industry, and co-editor of Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy. She has contributed to the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, Huffington Post, The New Republic, and other media outlets. Dr. James R. Grossman is executive director of the American Historical Association. Previously, he was vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library, and has taught at University of Chicago and University of California, San Diego. Among his many publications are the award-winning books, Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration and A Chance to Make Good: African-Americans, 1900–1929. His articles and short essays have focused on various aspects of American urban history, African American history, ethnicity, higher education, and the place of history in public culture. His public facing scholarship includes work published in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, The Hill, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Education. Grossman has consulted on history-related projects generated by the BBC, Smithsonian, and various theater companies, film makers, museums, libraries, and foundations. He has served on the governing boards of the National Humanities Alliance, American Council of Learned Societies, Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Center for Research Libraries. Mentioned: OAH's Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material For federal workers who are interested in sharing their experiences, OAH's Emergency Oral History Project Arlington National Cemetery website removes histories highlighting Black, Hispanic, and women veterans National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Removal of climate data from government websites Contribute to AHA and OAH 5calls ap for connecting with federal senators and representatives AHA Action Alert for Iowa residents (and AHA letter to Iowa Senate Education Committee) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

The presidents of the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians join the podcast to talk about the effects of historical censorship, data shredding, meaningful public education – and what everyone can do to fight back. After being sworn in as the 47th president, Donald Trump issued a slew of executive orders. The order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” declares that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” This order has swiftly affected what people may read on websites or museum panels that describe historical events and artifacts. As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” Dr. Beth English is Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians. Her research and teaching focus on the historical and contemporary labor movement, working-class issues, globalization, deindustrialization, and women in the workplace. She is the author of A Common Thread: Labor, Politics, and Capital Mobility in the Textile Industry, and co-editor of Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy. She has contributed to the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, Huffington Post, The New Republic, and other media outlets. Dr. James R. Grossman is executive director of the American Historical Association. Previously, he was vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library, and has taught at University of Chicago and University of California, San Diego. Among his many publications are the award-winning books, Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration and A Chance to Make Good: African-Americans, 1900–1929. His articles and short essays have focused on various aspects of American urban history, African American history, ethnicity, higher education, and the place of history in public culture. His public facing scholarship includes work published in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, The Hill, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Education. Grossman has consulted on history-related projects generated by the BBC, Smithsonian, and various theater companies, film makers, museums, libraries, and foundations. He has served on the governing boards of the National Humanities Alliance, American Council of Learned Societies, Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Center for Research Libraries. Mentioned: OAH's Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material For federal workers who are interested in sharing their experiences, OAH's Emergency Oral History Project Arlington National Cemetery website removes histories highlighting Black, Hispanic, and women veterans National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Removal of climate data from government websites Contribute to AHA and OAH 5calls ap for connecting with federal senators and representatives AHA Action Alert for Iowa residents (and AHA letter to Iowa Senate Education Committee) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law

The presidents of the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians join the podcast to talk about the effects of historical censorship, data shredding, meaningful public education – and what everyone can do to fight back. After being sworn in as the 47th president, Donald Trump issued a slew of executive orders. The order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” declares that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” This order has swiftly affected what people may read on websites or museum panels that describe historical events and artifacts. As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” Dr. Beth English is Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians. Her research and teaching focus on the historical and contemporary labor movement, working-class issues, globalization, deindustrialization, and women in the workplace. She is the author of A Common Thread: Labor, Politics, and Capital Mobility in the Textile Industry, and co-editor of Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy. She has contributed to the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, Huffington Post, The New Republic, and other media outlets. Dr. James R. Grossman is executive director of the American Historical Association. Previously, he was vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library, and has taught at University of Chicago and University of California, San Diego. Among his many publications are the award-winning books, Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration and A Chance to Make Good: African-Americans, 1900–1929. His articles and short essays have focused on various aspects of American urban history, African American history, ethnicity, higher education, and the place of history in public culture. His public facing scholarship includes work published in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, The Hill, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Education. Grossman has consulted on history-related projects generated by the BBC, Smithsonian, and various theater companies, film makers, museums, libraries, and foundations. He has served on the governing boards of the National Humanities Alliance, American Council of Learned Societies, Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Center for Research Libraries. Mentioned: OAH's Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material For federal workers who are interested in sharing their experiences, OAH's Emergency Oral History Project Arlington National Cemetery website removes histories highlighting Black, Hispanic, and women veterans National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Removal of climate data from government websites Contribute to AHA and OAH 5calls ap for connecting with federal senators and representatives AHA Action Alert for Iowa residents (and AHA letter to Iowa Senate Education Committee) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The presidents of the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians join the podcast to talk about the effects of historical censorship, data shredding, meaningful public education – and what everyone can do to fight back. After being sworn in as the 47th president, Donald Trump issued a slew of executive orders. The order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” declares that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” This order has swiftly affected what people may read on websites or museum panels that describe historical events and artifacts. As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” Dr. Beth English is Executive Director of the Organization of American Historians. Her research and teaching focus on the historical and contemporary labor movement, working-class issues, globalization, deindustrialization, and women in the workplace. She is the author of A Common Thread: Labor, Politics, and Capital Mobility in the Textile Industry, and co-editor of Global Women's Work: Perspectives on Gender and Work in the Global Economy. She has contributed to the Washington Post, NPR, Vox, Huffington Post, The New Republic, and other media outlets. Dr. James R. Grossman is executive director of the American Historical Association. Previously, he was vice president for research and education at the Newberry Library, and has taught at University of Chicago and University of California, San Diego. Among his many publications are the award-winning books, Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration and A Chance to Make Good: African-Americans, 1900–1929. His articles and short essays have focused on various aspects of American urban history, African American history, ethnicity, higher education, and the place of history in public culture. His public facing scholarship includes work published in the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time, The Hill, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Inside Higher Education. Grossman has consulted on history-related projects generated by the BBC, Smithsonian, and various theater companies, film makers, museums, libraries, and foundations. He has served on the governing boards of the National Humanities Alliance, American Council of Learned Societies, Association of American Colleges and Universities, and Center for Research Libraries. Mentioned: OAH's Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material For federal workers who are interested in sharing their experiences, OAH's Emergency Oral History Project Arlington National Cemetery website removes histories highlighting Black, Hispanic, and women veterans National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Removal of climate data from government websites Contribute to AHA and OAH 5calls ap for connecting with federal senators and representatives AHA Action Alert for Iowa residents (and AHA letter to Iowa Senate Education Committee) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 20th, Donald Trump issued an executive order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The order announced that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” The enforcement of this executive order has rippled through the United States – and has included removing words and images from websites and papering over interpretive panels in museums. For example, material related to the Enola Gay -- a WWII Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets – was removed because it contained the word “gay.” As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” To discuss how – and why – the Trump administration is censoring and removing historical materials, my guest is Dr. Wendy L. Rouse, Professor of History at San Jose State University where she is the program coordinator for the History/Social Science Teacher Preparation Program. Her research focuses on the history of gender and sexuality in the Progressive Era – and her publication for the National Park Service was changed after the executive order. She is the author of books and articles, including Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement published by NYU Press in 2022. Susan's NBN conversation with Wendy about the book is here. Mentioned in the Podcast: Organization of American Historians (OAH)'s Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material Reports by AP about scrubbing military websites and NPR on removal of photographs and mentions of trans and queer on National Park Service websites LBGTQ Historian statements and articles including letter signed by 360 historians Wendy's blogposts on OutHistory and the NYU Press blog 5calls ap for connecting with senators and representatives GLBT Historical Association Multiple LGBTQ organizations, represented by Lambda Legal, have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's executive orders attempting to erase transgender people and deny them access to services Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

On January 20th, Donald Trump issued an executive order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The order announced that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” The enforcement of this executive order has rippled through the United States – and has included removing words and images from websites and papering over interpretive panels in museums. For example, material related to the Enola Gay -- a WWII Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets – was removed because it contained the word “gay.” As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” To discuss how – and why – the Trump administration is censoring and removing historical materials, my guest is Dr. Wendy L. Rouse, Professor of History at San Jose State University where she is the program coordinator for the History/Social Science Teacher Preparation Program. Her research focuses on the history of gender and sexuality in the Progressive Era – and her publication for the National Park Service was changed after the executive order. She is the author of books and articles, including Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement published by NYU Press in 2022. Susan's NBN conversation with Wendy about the book is here. Mentioned in the Podcast: Organization of American Historians (OAH)'s Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material Reports by AP about scrubbing military websites and NPR on removal of photographs and mentions of trans and queer on National Park Service websites LBGTQ Historian statements and articles including letter signed by 360 historians Wendy's blogposts on OutHistory and the NYU Press blog 5calls ap for connecting with senators and representatives GLBT Historical Association Multiple LGBTQ organizations, represented by Lambda Legal, have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's executive orders attempting to erase transgender people and deny them access to services Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

On January 20th, Donald Trump issued an executive order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The order announced that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” The enforcement of this executive order has rippled through the United States – and has included removing words and images from websites and papering over interpretive panels in museums. For example, material related to the Enola Gay -- a WWII Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets – was removed because it contained the word “gay.” As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” To discuss how – and why – the Trump administration is censoring and removing historical materials, my guest is Dr. Wendy L. Rouse, Professor of History at San Jose State University where she is the program coordinator for the History/Social Science Teacher Preparation Program. Her research focuses on the history of gender and sexuality in the Progressive Era – and her publication for the National Park Service was changed after the executive order. She is the author of books and articles, including Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement published by NYU Press in 2022. Susan's NBN conversation with Wendy about the book is here. Mentioned in the Podcast: Organization of American Historians (OAH)'s Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material Reports by AP about scrubbing military websites and NPR on removal of photographs and mentions of trans and queer on National Park Service websites LBGTQ Historian statements and articles including letter signed by 360 historians Wendy's blogposts on OutHistory and the NYU Press blog 5calls ap for connecting with senators and representatives GLBT Historical Association Multiple LGBTQ organizations, represented by Lambda Legal, have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's executive orders attempting to erase transgender people and deny them access to services Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

On January 20th, Donald Trump issued an executive order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The order announced that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” The enforcement of this executive order has rippled through the United States – and has included removing words and images from websites and papering over interpretive panels in museums. For example, material related to the Enola Gay -- a WWII Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets – was removed because it contained the word “gay.” As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” To discuss how – and why – the Trump administration is censoring and removing historical materials, my guest is Dr. Wendy L. Rouse, Professor of History at San Jose State University where she is the program coordinator for the History/Social Science Teacher Preparation Program. Her research focuses on the history of gender and sexuality in the Progressive Era – and her publication for the National Park Service was changed after the executive order. She is the author of books and articles, including Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement published by NYU Press in 2022. Susan's NBN conversation with Wendy about the book is here. Mentioned in the Podcast: Organization of American Historians (OAH)'s Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material Reports by AP about scrubbing military websites and NPR on removal of photographs and mentions of trans and queer on National Park Service websites LBGTQ Historian statements and articles including letter signed by 360 historians Wendy's blogposts on OutHistory and the NYU Press blog 5calls ap for connecting with senators and representatives GLBT Historical Association Multiple LGBTQ organizations, represented by Lambda Legal, have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's executive orders attempting to erase transgender people and deny them access to services Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

On January 20th, Donald Trump issued an executive order entitled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.” The order announced that “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality. Under my direction, the Executive Branch will enforce all sex-protective laws to promote this reality...” The enforcement of this executive order has rippled through the United States – and has included removing words and images from websites and papering over interpretive panels in museums. For example, material related to the Enola Gay -- a WWII Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets – was removed because it contained the word “gay.” As a new joint statement from the American Historical Association and Organization of American Historians recounts, “Some alterations, such as those related to topics like the Tuskegee Airmen and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, have been hurriedly reversed in response to public outcry. Others remain. The scrubbing of words and acronyms from the Stonewall National Monument webpage, for instance, distorts the site's history by denying the roles of transgender and queer people in movements for rights and liberation. This distortion of history renders the past unrecognizable to the people who lived it and useless to those who seek to learn from the past.” To discuss how – and why – the Trump administration is censoring and removing historical materials, my guest is Dr. Wendy L. Rouse, Professor of History at San Jose State University where she is the program coordinator for the History/Social Science Teacher Preparation Program. Her research focuses on the history of gender and sexuality in the Progressive Era – and her publication for the National Park Service was changed after the executive order. She is the author of books and articles, including Public Faces, Secret Lives: A Queer History of the Women's Suffrage Movement published by NYU Press in 2022. Susan's NBN conversation with Wendy about the book is here. Mentioned in the Podcast: Organization of American Historians (OAH)'s Records at Risk Data Collection Initiative for individuals to report removed or changed material Reports by AP about scrubbing military websites and NPR on removal of photographs and mentions of trans and queer on National Park Service websites LBGTQ Historian statements and articles including letter signed by 360 historians Wendy's blogposts on OutHistory and the NYU Press blog 5calls ap for connecting with senators and representatives GLBT Historical Association Multiple LGBTQ organizations, represented by Lambda Legal, have filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's executive orders attempting to erase transgender people and deny them access to services Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One cannot turn on the news on TV or read a newspaper without hearing the words - Constitutional crisis. There's so much confusion about whether we are in a Constitutional Crisis or not, Professor Alexandra Keyssar rejoined the podcast to help us understand what a Constitutional crisis is and whether we are in one.Alexander Keyssar is the Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy. An historian by training, he has specialized in the exploration of historical problems that have contemporary policy implications. His book, The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States (2000), was named the best book in U.S. history by both the American Historical Association and the Historical Society; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Award. A significantly revised and updated edition of The Right to Vote was published in 2009. His 1986 book, Out of Work: The First Century of Unemployment in Massachusetts, was awarded three scholarly prizes. Keyssar is coauthor of The Way of the Ship: America's Maritime History Reenvisioned, 1600-2000 (2008), and of Inventing America, a text integrating the history of technology and science into the mainstream of American history. In addition, he has co-edited a book series on Comparative and International Working-Class History. In 2004/5, Keyssar chaired the Social Science Research Council's National Research Commission on Voting and Elections, and he writes frequently for the popular press about American politics and history. Keyssar's latest book, entitled Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? (2020), is published by Harvard University Press.

In this History Speaker Series event, public historian Karen Sieber discusses her career as a public historian and historical consultant, focusing on her recent research on Moses Dickson and the Underground Railroad in Minnesota. Karen received her master's degree in public history from Loyola University Chicago. She is best known as the creator of Visualizing the Red Summer, which is part of the AP African American Studies curriculum nationwide. Her work has been featured by the Library of Congress, National Archives, American Historical Association, Smithsonian and others. She also appears as an expert on Black history in documentaries like the CBS, Smithsonian, and BET collaboration, Tulsa 1921: An American Tragedy. Last year she led the scholarly team for the NEH award winning series, “Examining Military History from the Margins.” In 2025 she will be developing a series of documentary shorts funded by PBS related to America's 250th anniversary. She will also be leading preservation, exhibit design, and outreach efforts for a project in St. Paul, Minnesota, related to Pullman Porter history. She also teaches public history courses in Southern New Hampshire's graduate History program.

In April 1769 a small British vessel sailing along the southern coast of Hispaniola discovered a shipwreck near the current border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. An investigation found no survivors aboard. But they also found a log which identified that ship as the Black Prince. And there the mystery might have ended. But over the next eight years, “ship's crew members surfaced in unexpected places and recounted its demise.” That demise is part of the story in James H. Sweet's Mutiny on the Black Prince: Slavery, Piracy, and the Limits of Liberty in the Revolutionary Atlantic World. But so too is how the Black Prince came to be wrecked on the Hispaniolan reef; how its crew escaped; and how the owners of the ship, and the interest they represented, took their own revenge. Above all it is a story of how Atlantic slavery was linked not only to commerce, but nearly every other corner of the 18th century world. James H. Sweet is the Vilas-Jartz Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a past president of the American Historical Association. He has previously been the prize-winning author of Recreating Africa: Culture, Kinship, and Religion in the African-Portuguese World, 1441-1770 and Domingos Álvares, African Healing, and the Intellectual History of the Atlantic World.   

Today we have the February 25, 1945, episode of The Story Behind the Headlines. Hosted by Cesar Saerchinger, the show was a joint venture between NBC and the American Historical Association that took a deeper look at the news of the day. Visit our website at BrickPickleMedia.com/podcasts. Subscribe to the ad-free version at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/worldwar2radio/subscribe.

Links1. Scot McFarlane, "The Canoe," American Historical Association.

“Expect More Bulldozings”, the Princeton historian Matthew Karp predicts in this month's Harpers magazine about MAGA America. In his analysis of the Democrats' loss to Trump, Karp argues that the supposedly progressive party has become disconnected from working-class voters partially because it represents what he calls "the nerve center of American capitalism." He suggests that for all Democrats' strong cultural liberalism and institutional power, the party has failed to deliver meaningful economic reforms. The party's leadership, particularly Kamala Harris, he says, appeared out of touch with reality in the last election, celebrating the economic and poltical status quo in an America where the voters clearly wanted structural change. Karp advocates for a new left-wing populism that combines innovative economic programs with nationalism, similar to successful left-wing leaders like Obrador in Mexico and Lulu in Brazil and American indepedents like the Nebraskan Dan Osborne. Here are the 5 KEEN ON takeaways in our conversation with Karp:* The Democratic Party has become the party at the "nerve center of American capitalism," representing cultural, institutional, and economic power centers while losing its historic connection to working-class voters. Despite this reality, Democrats are unwilling or unable to acknowledge this transformation.* Kamala Harris's campaign was symptomatic of broader Democratic Party issues - celebrating the status quo while failing to offer meaningful change. The party's focus on telling voters "you never had it so good" ignored how many Americans actually felt about what they saw as their troubling economic situation.* Working-class voters didn't necessarily embrace Trump's agenda but rejected Democrats' complacency and disconnection from reality. The Democrats' vulnerability at the ballot box stands in stark contrast to their dominance of cultural institutions, academia, and the national security state.* The path forward for Democrats could look like Dan Osborne's campaign in Nebraska - a populist approach that directly challenges economic elites across party lines while advocating for universal programs rather than targeted reforms or purely cultural politics.* The solution isn't simply returning to New Deal-style politics or embracing technological fixes, but rather developing a new nationalist-leftist synthesis that combines universal social programs with pro-family, pro-worker policies while accepting the reality of the nation-state as the container for political change.Bulldozing America: The Full TranscriptANDREW KEEN: If there's a word or metaphor we can use to describe Trumpian America, it might be "bulldoze." Trump is bulldozing everything and everyone, or at least trying to. Lots of people warned us about this, perhaps nobody more than my guest today. Matthew Karp teaches at Princeton and had an interesting piece in the January issue of Harper's. Matthew, is bulldozing the right word? Is that our word of the month, of the year?MATTHEW KARP: It does seem like it. This column is more about the Democrats' electoral fortunes than Trump's war on the administrative state, but it seems to apply in a number of contexts.KEEN: When did you write it?KARP: The lead times for these Harper's pieces are really far in advance. They have a very trim kind of working order. I wrote this almost right in the wake of the election in November, and then some of the edits stretched on into December. It's still a review of the dynamics that brought Trump into office and an assessment of the various interpretations that have been proffered by different groups for why Trump won and why the Democrats lost.KEEN: You begin with an interesting half-joke: given Trump's victory, maybe we should use the classic Brechtian proposal to dissolve the people and elect another. You say there are some writers like Jill Filipovic, who has been on this show, and Rebecca Solnit, who everybody knows. There's a lot of hand-wringing, soul-searching on the left these days, isn't there?KARP: That's what defeat does to you. The impulse to essentially blame the people, not the politicians—there was a lot of that talk alongside insistences that Kamala Harris ran a "flawless" campaign. That was a prime adjective: flawless. This has been a feature of Democratic Party politics for a while. It certainly appeared in 2016, and while I don't think it's actually the majority view this time around, that faction was out there again.The Democratic Party's TransformationKEEN: It's an interesting word, "flawless." I've argued many times, both on the show and privately, that she ran—I'm not sure if even the word "ran" is the right word—what was essentially a deeply flawed campaign. You seem to agree, although you might suggest there are some structural elements. What's your analysis three months after the defeat, as the dust has settled?KARP: It doesn't feel like the dust has settled. I'm writing my piece now about these early days of the Trump administration, and it feels like a dust cloud—we can barely see because the headlines constantly cloud our vision. But looking back on the election, there are several things to say. The essential, broader trend, which I think is larger than Harris's particular moves as a candidate or her qualities and deficits, has to do with the Democratic Party as a national entity—I don't like the word "brand," though we all have to speak as if we're marketers now.Since Obama in particular, and this is an even longer-running trend, the Democratic Party's fortunes have really nosedived with voters making less money, getting less education, voters in working-class and lower-middle-class positions—measured any way you slice it sociologically. This is not only a historic reversal from what was once the party of Roosevelt, which Joe Biden tried to resurrect with that giant FDR poster behind him in the White House, but it represents a fundamental shift in American politics.Political scientists talk about class dealignment, the way in which, for a long time, there essentially was no class alignment between the parties. These days, if anything, there's probably a stronger case for the Republicans to be more of a working-class party just from their coalition, although I think that's overstated too. From the Democratic perspective, what's striking is the trend—the slipping away, the outmigration of all these voters away from the Democrats, especially in national elections, in presidential elections.The Party of CapitalKEEN: You put it nicely in your piece—I'm quoting you—"The fault is not in the Democrats' campaigns, it's in themselves." And then you write, and I think this is the really important sentence: "This is a party that represents the nerve center of American capitalism, ideological production and imperial power." Some people might suggest, well, what's wrong with that? America should be proud of its capitalism, its imperial power, its ideological production. But what's so surreal, so jarring about all this is that Democrats don't acknowledge that. You can see it in Harris, in her husband, in San Francisco and in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where you live. You can see it in Princeton, in Manhattan. It's so self-evident. And yet no one is willing to actually acknowledge this.KARP: It's interesting to think about it that way because I wonder if a more candid piece of self-recognition would benefit the party. I think some of it is there's a deep-seated need, going back to that tradition of FDR and especially on the part of the left wing of the party—anyone who's even halfway progressive—to feel like this is the party of the little guy against the big guy, the party of marginalized people, the party of justice for all, not just for the powerful.That felt need transcends the statistics tallied up in voting returns. For the media and institutional complex of the Democratic Party, which includes many politicians, that reality will still be a reality even if the facts on the ground have changed. Some of it is, I think, a genuine refusal to see what's in front of you—it's not hypocritical because that implies willful misleading, whereas I think it's a deeper ideological thing for many people.The Status Quo PartyKEEN: Is it just cyclical? The FDR cycle, Great Society, New Deal, LBJ—all of that has come to an end, and the ideology hasn't caught up with it? Democrats still see themselves as radical, but they're actually deeply conservative. I've had so many conversations with people who think of themselves as progressives and say to me, "I used to think I'm a progressive, but in the context of Trump or some other populist, I now realize I'm a conservative." None of them recognize the broader historical meaning. The irony is that they actually are conservative—they're for the status quo. That was clear in the last election. Harris, for better or worse, celebrated the old America, and Trump had a vision of a new America, for better or worse. Yet no one was really willing to acknowledge this.KARP: Yes, institutionally and socially, the Democrats have become the party of the status quo. People on the left constantly lambaste Democrats for lacking a bold reform agenda, but that's sort of not the point. Some people will say Joe Biden was the most progressive president since FDR because he spent a lot of money on infrastructure programs. But my view is that enhanced government spending, which did increase the federal budget as a share of GDP to significant levels, nevertheless didn't result in a single reform program you can identify and attach to Biden's name.Unlike all these progressive Democratic presidents past—even Obama had Obamacare—it's not really clear what Biden's legacy is other than essentially increasing the budget. None of those programs, none of that spending, improved his political popularity because that money was so diffuse, or in other cases so targeted that it went to build this one chip plant in one town in Ohio. If you didn't happen to be in that county, it made no difference to you. There wasn't anything like healthcare reform, structural family leave reform, or childcare reform—something that somebody could say, "This president actually changed the way my life operates for the better."Cultural Politics and ClassKEEN: Let's talk about cultural politics. Thomas Frank has sometimes been accused, if not of racism, certainly of being a kind of conservative populist, even if he sees himself from the left. Is one of the reasons why the Democratic Party has lost the support of much of the American working class attributable to cultural politics, to the new left victory in the '60s and its control of the Democratic agenda, which is really manifested in many ways by somebody like Kamala Harris—a wealthy lawyer running as a member of the diverse underclass?KARP: Look, I don't want to say the Democrats lost because of "woke." I think there were larger issues in play, and the principal one is this economic question. But you can't actually separate those issues. What people have intuited is that the Democrats have become a party that has retained, if anything advanced, this cultural liberalism coming out of the new left. As recently as 2020, there was a very new left-like insurgency of street protests focused on police brutality and structural racism.I don't actually think Americans are broadly hostile to civil rights equality and, in substance, a lot of the Democratic positions on those issues. But when you essentially hollow out your party's historic core connection to the working class and to economic reform, and in a hundred different ways from Clinton to Obama to Biden take so much off the table in terms of working-class politics, then it's no wonder that a lot of people come to think these minority populations are essentially the clients of very powerful patrons.Paths ForwardKEEN: You note in a tweet that the Democrats are what you call "politically pathetic." In your piece, you write about Dan Osborne, an independent union steamfitter who ran for Senate in Nebraska. Are guys like Osborne the fix here? The solution? A new way of thinking about America, perhaps learning from right-wing populism—a new populism of the left?KARP: Absolutely. I don't think they're a silver bullet. There are a lot of institutional and social obstacles to reconstituting some kind of 19th-century style or mid-twentieth century style working-class project, whether it's organizing labor unions or mass parties of the left. That being said, the Osborne campaign absolutely represents an electoral road forward for people who want real change.He wildly outperformed not just Kamala Harris but the other Democrat running for Senate. His margins were highest precisely in the places where Democrats have struggled the most. In the wealthy suburban districts around Omaha where Harris actually won, Osborne more or less held serve. But where he really ran up the score was further out in rural areas and among workers. I would bet a lot of money that he way overperformed with voters with lower education levels and lower incomes.Looking to the FutureKEEN: Finally, is there an opportunity in a structural sense? You're still presenting the old America, a federal state. But the Trump people, for better or worse, are cutting this. They're attacking it on lots of levels. Are there really radical ideas, maybe not traditional left-wing ideas or even progressive ideas, certainly associated with technology—you talked about universal basic income, decentralization, even what we call Web3—which might revitalize progressives in the 21st century, or is that simply unrealistic?KARP: We've got to keep our eyes open. My little faction of the sort of dissident left is often accused of being overly nostalgic by opponents on the left. I take the criticism that the vision I've laid out risks being nostalgic, towards the middle decades of the 20th century when union density was higher, industrial America was stronger, and you had healthy families and good jobs.I'm very leery of technological quick fixes. I don't think the blockchain is going to resurrect socialism. I do think there is a political opportunity that would represent a more conscious break with the liberal leftism that has been in the water of the Democratic Party and the progressive left since 1968. We need to move away from this sort of championship of small groups and towards a more universal, family-centered, country-centered approach.I think the current is flowing towards the nation-state and not towards the globe. So I'm okay with tariff politics, with the celebration of the national, and to some extent with this impulse to get control of the border. That doesn't mean mass deportations, but it does mean having some actual understanding of who is coming into the country and some orderly procedure. Every other country in the world, including those lefty social democracies, has that.The successful left-wing leaders have all been nationalists of one kind or another. Look at AMLO in Mexico or Lula in Brazil. There are welfare policies that are super popular that can be branded not as some airy-fairy Nordic social democracy thing, but as a pro-family, pro-worker, pro-American sensibility that you can easily connect to traditional values and patriotic sentiment. It's the easiest thing in the world, at least ideologically, to imagine that formulation. What it would run afoul of is a lot of entrenched institutional connections within the Democratic Party and broadly on the left, within the NGO world, academia, and the media class, who are attached to the current structure of things.Matthew Karp is a historian of the U.S. Civil War era and its relationship to the nineteenth-century world. He received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 and joined the Princeton faculty in 2013. His first book, This Vast Southern Empire: Slaveholders at the Helm of American Foreign Policy(Link is external) (Harvard, 2016) explores the ways that slavery shaped U.S. foreign relations before the Civil War. In the larger transatlantic struggle over the future of bondage, American slaveholders saw the United States as slavery's great champion, and harnessed the full power of the growing American state to defend it both at home and abroad. This Vast Southern Empire received the John H. Dunning Prize from the American Historical Association, the James Broussard Prize from the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic, and the Stuart L. Bernath Prize from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. Karp is now at work on two books, both under contract with Farrar, Straus, & Giroux. The first, Millions of Abolitionists: The Republican Party and the Political War on Slavery, considers the emergence of American antislavery mass politics. At the midpoint of the nineteenth century, the United States was the largest and wealthiest slave society in modern history, ruled by a powerful slaveholding class and its allies. Yet just ten years later, a new antislavery party had forged a political majority in the North and won state power in a national election, setting the stage for disunion, civil war, and the destruction of chattel slavery itself. Millions of Abolitionists examines the rise of the Republican Party from 1854 to 1861 as a political revolution without precedent or sequel in the history of the United States. The second book, a meditation on the politics of U.S. history, explores the ways that narratives of the American experience both serve and shape different ideological ends — in the nineteenth century, the twentieth century, and today.Named as one of the "100 most unconnected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's least known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four poorly reviewed books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two badly behaved children. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

This week we dive headfirst into discussions over the Fourteenth Amendment, birthright citizenship, racial discrimination, families, hope, and love with Dr. Kathryn Schumaker as we talk about 2016's Loving and her new book Tangled Fortunes: The Hidden History of Interracial Marriage in the Segregated South.About our guest:Dr. Kathryn Schumaker's scholarship is focused on intersections of race, gender, and American law. Her new book, Tangled Fortunes: The Hidden History of Interracial Marriage in the Segregated South (Basic Books, January 2025), explores how interracial families survived in the hostile political, social, and legal environment of Jim Crow Mississippi. She is also the author of Troublemakers: Students' Rights and Racial Justice in the Long Twentieth Century (NYU Press, 2019). She has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation, the American Historical Association, and the American Society for Legal History. 

In an era where even toothpaste shopping can trigger an existential crisis, intellectual historian Sophia Rosenfeld explore how we became both imprisoned and freed by endless options. Her new book The Age of Choice traces our evolution from a world where nobility bragged about not having any choices to one where choice itself has become our modern religion. From voting booths to gender identity, from Amazon's infinite scroll to dating apps' endless swipes, Rosenfeld reveals how "freedom of choice" conquered modern life - and why having too many options might be making us less free than we'd like to think.Here are the 5 KEEN ON takeaways from our conversation with Rosenfeld:* Choice wasn't always central to freedom: Historically, especially among nobility, freedom was associated with not having to make choices. The modern equation of freedom with endless choice is a relatively recent development that emerged alongside consumer capitalism and democracy.* The transformation of choice from moral to preferential: There's been a fundamental shift from viewing choice primarily as a moral decision (like Hercules choosing between right and wrong paths) to seeing it as an expression of personal preference (like choosing between toothpaste brands). The mere act of having choice became morally significant, rather than actually making the "right" choice.* Democracy's evolution transformed voting: The shift to secret ballots in the late 19th century marked a crucial change in how we exercise democratic choice, moving from communal decision-making to private, individual choice - a change that philosophers like John Stuart Mill actually opposed, fearing it would reduce democracy to consumer-style selection.* Choice can work against collective good: While individual choice is celebrated as freedom, it can actually hinder addressing collective challenges like climate change or public health, where limiting individual choices might better serve the common good.* The paradox of modern choice: While we've extended choice into previously unthinkable areas (gender identity, sexuality, family relationships), many people are simultaneously seeking ways to reduce choice overload - from AI recommendations to personal shoppers - suggesting we may have reached the limits of how much choice we can handle.Sophia Rosenfeld is Walter H. Annenberg Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History at the University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches European and American intellectual and cultural history with a special emphasis on the Enlightenment, the trans-Atlantic Age of Revolutions, and the legacy of the eighteenth century for modern democracy. Her newest book, to be published by Princeton University Press in February 2025, is entitled The Age of Choice: A History of Freedom in Modern Life. It explores how, between the 17th century and the present, the idea and practice of making choices from menus of options came to shape so many aspects of our existences, from consumer culture to human rights, and with what consequences. She is also the author of A Revolution in Language: The Problem of Signs in Late Eighteenth-Century France (Stanford, 2001); Common Sense: A Political History (Harvard, 2011), which won the Mark Lynton History Prize and the Society for the History of the Early American Republic Book Prize; and Democracy and Truth: A Short History (Penn Press, 2019). Her articles and essays have appeared in leading scholarly journals, including the American Historical Review, the Journal of Modern History, French Historical Studies, and the William and Mary Quarterly, as well as publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Dissent, and, frequently, The Nation. From 2013 to 2017, she co-edited the journal Modern Intellectual History. In 2022, A Cultural History of Ideas, a 6 volume book series covering antiquity to the present for which she was co-general editor with Peter Struck, appeared with Bloomsbury and won the Association of American Publishers' award for best reference work in the humanities. Her writing has been or is being translated into French, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Hindi, Korean, and Chinese. Rosenfeld received her B.A. from Princeton University and her Ph.D. from Harvard University. She has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, the Mellon Foundation, both the Remarque Institute and the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Paris, and the American Council of Learned Societies, as well as visiting professorships at the University of Virginia School of Law and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris). Prior to arriving at Penn in January 2017, she was Professor of History at Yale University and, before that, the University of Virginia. She also served a three-year term from 2018 to 2021 as Vice President of the American Historical Association, where she was in charge of the Research Division. In 2022, she held the Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the North at the Library of Congress, and she was also named by the French government Officier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques. Among her other ongoing interests are the history of free speech, dissent, and censorship; the history of aesthetics (including dance); the history of political language; political theory (contemporary and historical); the history of epistemology; the history of information and misinformation; the history of the emotions and senses; the history of feminism; universities and democracy; and experimental historical methods.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

First up, Ralph welcomes back constitutional law expert Bruce Fein to talk about his reaction to Donald Trump's inaugural address. Then Ralph is joined by Public Citizen Co-President Robert Weissman to discuss Public Citizen's lawsuit against Trump regarding Elon Musk's D.O.G.E task force. Finally, Ralph speaks with Public Citizen's Government Affairs lobbyist Craig Holman about the flood of donations from corporations and billionaires to Trump's inaugural fund.Bruce Fein is a Constitutional scholar and an expert on international law. Mr. Fein was Associate Deputy Attorney General under Ronald Reagan and he is the author of Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for Our Constitution and Democracy, and American Empire: Before the Fall.Sitting on that platform at the inauguration was probably trillions of dollars held by individuals—not by companies, just individuals—fabulous wealth. And you have to ask, if these are business people, why are you at the political event? Why aren't you building a better mousetrap? Why aren't you like Thomas Edison, looking to find new ways of doing business? It's because all of their profits come from manipulating government in their favor. It's the opposite of so-called capitalism.Bruce FeinRemember that this lust for power transcends all reason, and that we're endowed with that lust.Bruce FeinRobert Weissman is a staunch public interest advocate and activist, as well as an expert on a wide variety of issues ranging from corporate accountability and government transparency, to trade and globalization, to economic and regulatory policy. As the President of Public Citizen, he has spearheaded the effort to loosen the chokehold corporations and the wealthy have over our democracy.The alleged purpose [of D.O.G.E.] is to advance efficiency of the government. But what it's really about is rolling back regulations—the things that give us clean air, clean water, safe food, fair workplace, economic justice, protections against discrimination, and more—to benefit corporate bottom lines, on the one hand, and on the other, to pursue a right-wing libertarian extremist agenda with slashing government spending, especially to protect the most poor and vulnerable.Robert WeissmanMusk said at first he wanted to try to cut $2 trillion from the budget every year. That's an impossibility, since the entire budget of discretionary spending is less than $2 trillion. Apparently, if you're the richest person in the history of the world, you don't actually have to know anything that you're talking about to be taken seriously.Robert WeissmanCraig Holman serves as Public Citizen's Capitol Hill lobbyist on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance rules. He is also working with European nongovernmental organizations and members of the European Commission and Parliament in developing a lobbyist registration system for the European Union. Previously, he was senior policy analyst at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, and he has assisted in drafting campaign finance reform legislation (including pay-to-play legislation), and has conducted numerous research projects on the initiative process and the impact of money in politics. What's interesting is that some previous inaugural committees…didn't want to make it look like their administration's on the auction block by taking million-dollar donations from special interests and corporations. And so Bush had limited contributions to $100,000, Obama limited to $50,000 as well—they just didn't want it to look like they're putting their whole administration on the auction block. Trump doesn't seem to care about that.Craig HolmanNews 1/22/25* On January 20th, Joe Biden handed over the presidency to Donald Trump. In one of his last acts before leaving office, former President Biden commuted the sentence of Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, NPR reports. Peltier has been imprisoned for nearly 50 years following his conviction for the murder of two FBI agents at the Pine Ridge reservation; he has never wavered in maintaining his innocence. Despite Peltier being 80 years old and in increasingly poor health, NPR reports FBI Director Christopher Wray urged Biden not to “pardon Leonard Peltier or cut his sentence short.” Biden ultimately did not pardon Peltier, instead merely allowing him to complete his sentence under house arrest. In a statement, Peltier himself said “It's finally over — I'm going home…I want to show the world I'm a good person with a good heart.” Friend of the show Tom Morello, a longtime advocate for Peltier's release, wrote “Leonard has become a friend over the years and I am so glad…he will be able to spend his remaining years with family and friends.” Peltier's daughter Kathy, shocked by Biden's last-minute commutation after decades of being rebuffed by successive presidents of both parties, said “I'm just thankful that he had the balls and the guts to do it.”* Donald Trump was inaugurated on Monday, making him the first president in the modern era to serve non-consecutive terms. Immediately following his formal assumption of power, he issued a flurry of executive orders, including an exhaustive list of “rescissions” of Biden's executive actions. Among these, POLITICO reports that Trump immediately put Cuba back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, signifying a return to the bad old days of hostility towards our island neighbor. This is only expected to worsen with American foreign policy being directed by Marco Rubio. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called Trump's reversal “an act of arrogance and disregard for truth,” adding “the legitimate and noble cause of our people will prevail and we will once again succeed.”* Another Trump executive order issued Monday formally created the Department of Government Efficiency, aka DOGE. However, it seems that instead of creating a new agency, this action mainly just renamed the U.S. Digital Service – an existing executive branch office – the U.S. DOGE service. Moreover, this newly redubbed USDS does not appear to have a mandate to cut the federal workforce. Instead, it seems to be primarily concerned with updating federal information technology systems. Reading between the lines, it seems likely that Trump is putting Elon Musk in charge of this federal IT agency as a means to dole out public money to the tech oligarch and his cronies, rather than streamline the functions of the federal government.* In more Big Tech news, CBS reports President Trump is “set to announce billions of dollars in private sector investment to build artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States.” According to this report, OpenAI, Softbank and Oracle are planning a joint venture called “Stargate,” to begin with a massive data center in Texas. These corporations are planning to pour $500 billion into this project over the next four years. This will almost certainly be augmented by public funds provided by the Trump administration.* Turning to Gaza, Democracy Now! reported Saturday that both Biden and Trump gave Israel the “green light” to resume the assault on Gaza if Netanyahu felt it necessary. This piece quotes Netanyahu, saying that both presidents “gave full backing to Israel's right to return to fighting if Israel reaches the conclusion that negotiations of the second stage is fruitless.” As this piece notes, Israel killed approximately 200 Palestinians after the ceasefire was agreed upon last Wednesday. We can only hope the ceasefire holds and that President Trump sticks to his commitment to enforce the deal.* At the same time, friend of the show Norman Solomon is out with a piece in the Hill on the class action lawsuit filed by 800 Northern California residents, including Solomon himself, against their Democratic representatives in Congress, alleging that they are “illegally helping to provide weapons to Israel for use in committing genocide in Gaza.” As Solomon admits, the suit, directed against Congressmen Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson is unlikely to get far. However, he does believe both that the funding of the genocidal war is illegal under the humanitarian Leahy Laws and that these lawsuits can apply much needed scrutiny to these members and force them to register the opposition of their constituents to their positions – something with which many Democrats have refused to reckon. Solomon hopes to make Gaza a defining issue in the 2026 California Democratic Congressional primaries.* Two weeks ago, we discussed the American Historical Association's vote to condemn the “scholasticide” occurring in Gaza. Since then however, the AHA has tried to backpedal and delegitimize that vote. On January 17th, the AHA Council released a statement in which they write that while they deplore “any intentional destruction of Palestinian educational institutions, libraries, universities, and archives in Gaza,” the council considers the scholasticide resolution “outside the scope of the Association's mission and purpose.” The AHA Council therefore decided to disregard the vote of its membership and unilaterally veto the resolution. This cowardly and disgraceful decision to nullify the voice of America's historians will ironically be a stain on the history of the organization itself.* In more foreign affairs news, the crisis in South Korea continues to deepen. Last week, President Yoon was formally incarcerated pending his trial before the country's Constitutional Court after he attempted to seize power in a coup. Upon his detention, South Korean political newsletter Blue Roof reported that “Pro-Yoon supporters are rioting… storming the courthouse and attacking the marshals.” Security forces however were able to subdue the rioters, per Reuters. The Constitutional Court will now decide whether or not to remove Yoon from the presidency. Yoon could also face a trial on insurrection charges which would carry penalties up to and including life in prison and even capital punishment.* Turning back to domestic news, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, representing the cops of Philadelphia, is currently engaging in contract negotiations with the city – and making outrageous new demands. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that beyond pay raises and better vacation policy, “the police union is seeking to roll back transparency and accountability measures that predate the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest of 2020.” Indeed, the FOP is seeking to terminate the department's decade-long policy of releasing the names of most officers involved in shootings, prevent the Citizens Police Oversight Commission from investigating police misconduct, and “restrict outside access to currently available records ― such as those detailing how fired officers return to the force through the once-secretive grievance arbitration process.” Beyond these measures to make the police more secretive and less accountable to the public, the FOP is also demanding outrageous new perks for police officers, including interest free home loans and provisions allowing cops to live outside the state. We can only hope the city remains firm in these negotiations and preserves the public's right to know* Finally, CNN is out with a new poll showing the Democratic Party registering its worst ratings in decades. According to this poll, “a 58% majority of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say that the…Party needs major changes, or to be completely reformed, up from just 34% who said the same after…2022.” This comes on the heels of a January 15th YouGov poll showing that a plurality of Biden 2020 voters who didn't vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 said “ending Israel's violence in Gaza was the top issue affecting their vote choice.” The CNN poll also showed that “Only 49% of Democratic-aligned adults say they expect their party's congressional representatives to be even somewhat effective at resisting GOP policies.” Yet, perhaps the starkest number from this poll is “just 33% of all Americans express a favorable view of the Democratic Party, an all-time low in CNN's polling dating back to 1992.” These abysmal results should be a wakeup call to the moribund leadership of the party as the country drives of a cliff. If history is any indication though, the Democrats will remain asleep at the wheel.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to talk to PEN America's Jeremy Young about what a second Trump administration holds in store for higher education. It was an informative—and sobering—conversation. Over the next four years, we should be prepared for a tsunami of ideologically-driven threats to academic freedom, campus free expression and the basic integrity of higher education. If you would rather read than listen, there is a transcript attached below. Show NotesPEN America's *Educational Censorship* page is a terrific resourceOn Christopher Rufo, see Benjamin Wallace-Wells, “How a Conservative Activist Invented the Conflict Over Critical Race Theory,” New Yorker, June 18, 2021 and Michael Kruse, “DeSantis' Culture Warrior: ‘We Are Now Over the Walls,'” Politico, March 24, 2023. For Rufo's take on critical race theory, in his own words, see this YouTube video. Here is the full text of Executive Order 13950, which became the template for most of the anti-CRT (or “divisive concepts”) laws passed in red states. On the Stop WOKE Act, the marquee anti-CRT law signed into law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in 2022, check out these two Banished episodes:The Sunshine State Descends into Darkness (Again)Will Florida's "Stop WOKE Act" Hold Up in Court?Jeffrey Sachs and Jeremy Young predict the future: “For Federal Censorship of Higher Ed, Here's What Could Happen in 2025” (PEN America, January 2, 2025)For more on the phenomenon of “jawboning,” see this page from FIRE and this page from the Knight First Amendment Institute On “anticipatory obedience,” see this excerpt from Timothy Snyder's 2017 book, On Tyranny On legislative challenges to campus DEI, see the Chronicle of Higher Education DEI Legislation Tracker. (We are quite skeptical of many conventional DEI efforts but state bans are a cure that is far worse than the disease )For a deeper dive on accreditation, see Eric Kelderman, “Trump's Vision for College Accreditation Could Shake Up the Sector” (Chronicle of Higher Education, November 26, 2024)On Title VI investigations by the Office of Civil Rights, see Zach Montague, “Campus Protest Investigations Hang Over Schools as New Academic Year Begins” (New York Times, October 5, 2024)Here is the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. Kenneth Stern, one of the definition's main authors, explains why he is concerned it is being used to promote campus censorshipOn the prospect of a much heftier endowment tax for the country's wealthiest institutions, see Phillip Levine, “How Trump Could Devastate Our Top Colleges' Finances” (Chronicle of Higher Education, January 13, 2025). Levine addresses the normative question—should college endowments be taxed?—here. TranscriptJeff: So, we're looking forward to a second Trump administration.Jeremy: Are we looking forward to a second Trump administration?Amna: No…towards.Jeff: We are anticipating…I personally am dreading a second Trump administration.Amna: This is Banished and I'm Amna Khalid, along with my colleague Jeff Snyder. Jeff and I were delighted to have the chance to catch up with PEN America's Jeremy Young at the recent American Historical Association conference in New York City. He's one of the most informed and astute analysts of government driven censorship in higher education today. We started by asking him to tell us a little about PEN America.Jeremy: PEN America is a 102 year old organization that exists at the intersection of literature and human rights. It is one of 140 PEN centers around the world which are in a loose network of PEN Centers governed by PEN International. PEN America's mission is to celebrate literature and defend the freedoms that make it possible, of which two of the foremost are academic freedom and freedom of expression.Amna: And what's your specific role?Jeremy: I am the Director of State and Higher Education Policy at PEN America, which means that I oversee our Freedom to Learn program, which leads actions and responses to educational censorship legislation, largely from the state governments, but also from the federal government. Things like DEI bans, critical race theory restrictions, and various other types of restrictions on faculty governance and university autonomy.Amna: We're eager to hear your predictions on what the higher ed sector should be bracing for with the second Trump administration. But first, Jeremy, could you please remind us of the nature of the attacks against higher education during Trump 1.0?Jeremy: In the summer and fall of 2020, this really happened late in the first Trump administration, there was a national panic around critical race theory, and this was created by Chris Rufo and some others really as a response, a backlash, if you will, against the George Floyd protests, the Black Lives Matter movement, the popularity of the 1619 Project, and so on, this sort of moment of racial reckoning. And so Rufo and others (Rufo is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute) decided to use this term critical race theory, which of course is an academic term with a particular set of meanings but to, as he put it, decodify and recodify it, essentially weaponize it to mean things that weren't all that connected to the actual theory of critical race theory and were really just a sort of catchall for criticisms of DEI and other race-based pedagogies and ideas. And so Rufo was able to convince president Trump to issue an executive order 13950 called Race and Sex Stereotyping that laid out a list of nine divisive concepts which bore some passing resemblance to critical race theory, but really were vague, and general, and banned all sorts of practices related to race, gender, and identity, and ideas related to race, gender, and identity that were unclear and difficult to interpret. Originally, this was a restriction aimed solely at trainings in government agencies…the executive order never went into effect. It was stayed by a court and repealed on the first day of the Biden administration. But that language of the divisive concepts then began to appear in state legislatures aimed now squarely at education. At first, at K-12 institutions primarily, and over time, higher education became more and more of the target.In 2023, we started to see a shift toward sort of broad spectrum attacks on higher education, moving away from some of the direct speech restrictions of the critical race theory bans, in part because of court cases that had gone adversely for those restrictions, and instead restricting broad swaths of university governance, including DEI offices, the ability of a university to manage diversity work on its own as a sort of shared governance function, tenure restrictions on faculty governance, restrictions on curriculum, which I think are going to be very prominent in 2025.Amna: You mentioned backlash to the 2020 racial reckoning as a key factor driving the anti-CRT movement. Can you say something more about where this opposition to CRT and now DEI is coming from?Jeremy: I think that there are several causes that are inseparable from one another. I think there are people who actually do want to restrict those particular ideas on campus, who want to advance a sort of triumphalist Western canon narrative of America as the victor, and they're just very opposed to any discussions that paint the United States in any way that is not hyper-patriotic and perfect. There's absolutely some racism, some sexism, some, some discrimination, discriminatory bias that's involved.I also think that there is a real desire to simply crush university power that I think comes out of the educational realignment that we have seen over the last 10 years. Kamala Harris won college educated Americans by 14 points, and four years ago, Joe Biden won them by four, and prior to the 2016 election, there was essentially no difference between the parties, really, at any time in American history on the axis of college education. There is now a sense I think among some conservative forces that instead of the long-time conservative project of reforming universities, having more viewpoint diversity, think of the Koch Centers in various institutions. Instead they're a place where liberals go to get educated, so we should just crush them, right? So I think that's part of it. It's just the goal of taking away universities' autonomy on everything is a key component.And the third component is political gain. And that is the one that has fluctuated the most over this period. Glenn Youngkin won a come from behind victory running on criticizing critical race theory in K-12 schools. And Steve Bannon said in 2021, I think about critical race theory and I see 50 new House seats in the midterm elections. Now, when that didn't happen, I think it began to become clear that these attacks are not as salient as they were thought to be. I think in 2023 and 2024, there was a real move away from that, especially with, also with the collapse of the DeSantis presidential campaign, which was built entirely around this idea of him being, fighting the war on woke. There was a sense that, maybe you still want to do these things, but now it's going to be quiet, it's going to be stealth mode, because there's no political gain to be gotten from having a big press release around this, around the Stop WOKE Act. But the other two motivations, the motivation of restricting certain ideas about race; and the motivation of smashing the power of higher education, those have remained constant.Jeff: Very succinct and helpful. Thank you. You and your colleague Jeffrey Sachs recently wrote an informative and sobering piece about Trump's plans for higher ed in 2025 and beyond. Maybe you could tell us a little about your key predictions. The first one you mention is jawboning. What is jawboning and why should we be worried about it?Jeremy: Jawboning, put simply, is when government officials, instead of passing a law requiring someone who isn't a government official to do something, they simply browbeat or bully or threaten them into doing it. In some ways you can look at the congressional hearings as a form of jawbonings or making threats against presidents at Columbia and Harvard and so on. But the classic example is actually what we're seeing at the state level where lawmakers are simply going to university presidents and say, saying, okay, we're not going to pass a DEI ban or a curriculum restriction. We're going to simply request that you make one on your own or we'll cut your funding. Or we'll pass one next year that's worse than anything you could imagine. It's a very intimate form of censorship, right? It takes restrictions out of the legislative process where they can be challenged at a hearing; out of the judicial process where they can be challenged on constitutional grounds; and every single one of these bills has at least some constitutional infirmities. And instead makes it just a threat, right? We're gonna cut your budget. What are you gonna do about that? It's a very difficult position for presidents to be in because they don't have a lot of leverage.Jeff: I think it was Yale historian Timothy Snyder who coined the term anticipatory obedience.  He said it was a dynamic that's often seen under conditions of rising authoritarianism. So you've got individuals and groups that start to make concessions they think will appease the powers that be. Is there a connection here to jawboning?Jeremy: Yes, so we talk about over compliance and pre-compliance. We're not going to comply with the letter of the law, we're going to comply with the spirit of the law. There is a law in Alabama that passed in 2024 that restricts some elements of DEI, but does not actually ban outright the DEI offices. And every university in Alabama has treated it as though it is an outright ban. And that's significant, in particular, because of the nature of these laws. You know, you go look at a set of statutes in a state legislature or the federal government, what you'll notice is that most laws are very precise. Think about traffic laws. What are you allowed to do on the road? It's very specific. You can drive this many miles an hour this particular way. There's no room for interpretation. There's no room for judgment because the goal is to make you comply with the law. These laws are intentionally vague. They ban broad swaths of ideas which are never defined in the laws.What does it mean to say, for instance, one of the divisive concepts, to say that you're not allowed to say that the United States is fundamentally racist. What does that mean? It doesn't say in the law what that means. It's left up to your interpretation, which means whoever is going to enforce that law gets to decide whether you violate it. That is actually a constitutional violation. It's against the 14th Amendment. And while the courts have found all sorts of infirmities with these laws, that's the one they've found the most consistency. Not freedom of speech, not racial discrimination but vagueness. So over-complying with a vague law is, it's difficult to avoid because these laws lend themselves to over-compliance because they're so vague. But it's also vitally important to avoid doing that.The other thing that we see is pre-compliance, which is just imagining that the legislature is going to pass a law but then whether or not they do it. We intervened with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, one of the seven accrediting bodies because they were basically enacting what a restriction in Project 2025 that would have forbidden them to have a DEI standard for universities they accredit. And just doing it preemptively.It's not clear whether the education department is able to pass that restriction without legislation. And it's not clear whether legislation or the regulation would survive a court challenge. And they're just saying we'll just take it out. That's pre-compliance. You don't want to do that. And what we argued successfully, is that, again, even if you don't think an accreditor should have a DEI standard, we don't take a position on that. The worst time to get rid of your DEI standard is one month before a new administration that's promised to ban it tells you to. That's the moment when you put up your back and say, no, we're not going to comply with this.Jeff: Jeremy, tell us a little bit more about the new Trump administration's plans to disrupt the conventional work of accreditors.Jeremy: So higher education institutions are accredited by one of seven accrediting bodies, six of which have historically served certain regions, but now under new federal regulations the university can work with any of the seven accreditors. But they still tend to be concentrated in regions.Accreditation is really the only thing that separates a real substantive university from a diploma mill; and the way that accreditation is enforced, is that the Department of Education will only provide federal student financial aid, which 55 percent of all students receive, to schools that it recognizes as legitimate accreditors, which currently is those seven institutional accreditors. They are private or nonprofit organizations. They're run by academics. They have their pluses and minuses, but they are pretty much the guarantor of institutional quality in higher education. And if you look at Project 2025, everything that they say they want to do to higher education is focused on accreditation. They have identified these accreditors as the soft underbelly of higher education. And the simplest thing that they want to do and that they probably will at least try to do is to ban accreditors from having DEI standards, of which six of the seven currently do.But they really want to go further. What they really want to do is to undermine the system of accreditation itself by allowing any jurisdiction, any state, to either charter its own accreditor or serve as its own accreditor. So Ron DeSantis could become the accreditor for all universities in Florida. And now instead of those universities having DEI offices, he can say you cannot be accredited in the state of Florida unless you've banned DEI and basically instituted a classical curriculum, a Hillsdale style classical curriculum. It's a little more complicated than project 2025 makes it sound. Our analysis is that while they may attempt to do it through regulatory action, the process of negotiated rulemaking in the Department of Education is sufficiently complex that it would probably stop them from doing it and so that probably means that they need legislation to change the Higher Education Act, which would be subject to a filibuster.So this is something that we will be watching to see if they try to do it administratively. It may not be possible. And we'll also be watching if they try to slip it into one of those reconciliation bills that are being proposed that would be able to go through without a filibuster.Jeff: So that's how the accreditation system might be weaponized. You and Sacks also identify Title VI enforcement by the Office of Civil Rights as a key area of concern. Maybe we can break this down into its component parts. What is the Office of Civil Rights and what's Title VI?Jeremy: Sure. So the Office of Civil Rights is an office within the Department of Education that ensures that educational institutions meet the requirements of the various civil rights laws. It covers Title VI funding, which is funding that is tied to financial aid for universities, and it makes sure that institutions that are receiving federal financial aid are following these civil rights protections. It is an office does good work and we have a good relationship with the office.We have some concerns about the way that the Biden administration has been investigating and enforcing agreements with universities around antisemitism. We expect things to get far worse in the new administration. We expect that any university that has any sort of protest or any faculty member who expresses pro-Palestinian views is going to be investigated and sanctioned by the Office of Civil Rights. We expect they're going to launch lawsuits. They're going to really go after universities. So it is an office that is going to be used in some really aggressive ways to restrict speech on campus.Jeff: In terms of restricting speech, you and Sachs are especially worried about the trend on the part of colleges and universities, not to mention states and the federal government, to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. Why is this so concerning to you both?Jeremy: So the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism is a very interesting document. It starts with a description that is quite thoughtful and then it gives a list of examples of things that could be forms of antisemitism or could accompany antisemitism, and that list includes things like singling out the state of Israel for special criticism that other states are not singled out for that do engage in the same actions or just you know criticizing Zionism, things like that. Which in the context of what that definition was designed for yes, sometimes when you see those statements, it's worth perking your ears up and asking, is this accompanying antisemitism or not?What the laws are doing, and this comes from a model bill that the Goldwater Institute wrote in 2016, and it's now being suffused into all these federal and state policies, is to take those examples of possible antisemitism and change it from possible to definite antisemitism. So anytime you criticize the state of Israel, it's antisemitism. And then writing that into law, saying that universities have to treat this as any instance of this broad definition of antisemitism as hate speech or as a form of harassment. The author of that definition, Kenneth Stern has repeatedly said that it is not designed to be used in that way. In fact, he said it's unconstitutional to use it in that way. And yet that's what we're seeing. So that's the concern. It's not that you shouldn't have a definition of anti Semitism, although I will say our statutes tend not to define particular types of hate speech because it's too subjective, right? This is the reason that we have definitions like severe, pervasive, and targeted for harassment. You're looking at a pattern of behavior because each individual case is protected by free expression.Jeff: I understand that the Office of Civil Rights is currently conducting dozens of Title VI investigations stemming from campus protests over the war in Gaza. There are widespread allegations of antisemitism, many of which are accompanied by competing charges of Islamophobia. How do you think we should make sense of this?Jeremy: These are complex situations. Lots of universities are getting them wrong. Some universities are being overly censorious, some not enforcing harassment protections. And it's right and proper for OCR to investigate these things. The problem is that they are not always coming up with the right findings. That they're not always protecting free expression, balancing free expression adequately with the need to protect students from harassment. We're seeing universities implement draconian time, place and manner restrictions on speech. So just the fact that OCR and the Congress are making all these threatening noises about restricting speech leads a lot of universities to do the censor's work for them.Amna: Jeremy mentioned one other thing the new Trump administration has made ramblings about, which is ramping up the endowment tax on the country's wealthiest institutions. Please see an informative Chronicle of Higher Education article by Philip Levine, linked in the show notes.What all these attacks or interventions, depending on your point of view, have in common, is that they seek to undermine the autonomy of colleges and universities. Here's Jeremy.Jeremy: University autonomy is not a principle that is very widely understood in the United States. It's much more common in Europe where there's an autonomy index and all sorts of things as a way of protecting academic freedom. But it's a vital component of academic freedom. We think about academic freedom in the U.S. primarily as being the freedom of an individual faculty member to speak their mind or to engage in their research or teaching. But, in reality, that freedom can only be protected so long as the people overseeing it, the university administration, are free from the ideological control of the government. The key here is ideological control. We aren't saying that the government doesn't have a budgetary responsibility to oversee the university, or that there isn't a role for the government in community relations, or student success, or access and completion, or any of these things. But when it comes to ideas, what ideas can be present on a campus, whether it's in the classroom, whether it's in a DEI office, anywhere on campus, that is not the government's business, and it cannot be the government's business, or ultimately everyone on campus is simply going to be currying favor with whatever political party is in charge.Amna: Jeremy, this has been wonderful and you've been so kind to give us so much time. Thank you.Jeff: Thank you. It's an absolute pleasure.Amna: That was our conversation with Jeremy Young of PEN America on what Trump 2.0 portends for higher education. As of yesterday, Trump's second term has officially begun. Keep your eyes peeled and ears tuned for what's to come next. If you liked what you heard today, be sure to help us spread the word about Banished, and don't forget to comment and rate this show.Once again, this is Banished, and I'm Amna Khalid, along with Jeff Snyder. Until next time. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit banished.substack.com/subscribe

Ussama Makdisi, May Ziadeh Chair in Palestinian and Arab Studies and professor of history at UC Berkeley, speaks with Danny about the American Historical Society's decision to veto the resolution opposing Israeli scholasticide in Gaza. Subscribe now for an ad-free experience and lots of extra content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American Historical Association Conference Passes Scholasticide Resolution https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/academic-freedom/2025/01/05/aha-convention-attendees-oppose-scholasticide-gaza #peoplearerevolting twitter.com/peoplerevolting Peoplearerevolting.com movingtrainradio.com

He was and has been criticized as a “mere burrower into archives”; as a dry man without any ideas; as a painter of miniatures rather than of broad portraits; as a conservative by liberals, and insufficiently dogmatic by conservatives; as motivated by the Lutheran religion of his forebears, but also as a scholar set against teleology and mysticism. This was Leopold von Ranke, born in 1795, dying in Berlin in 1886. Over his long life, he not only influenced the historical world by his writings, but by his students, and their students. Through his teaching and his examples, he altered not only the historical profession in Germany, but in the United States as well through the horde of Americans who passed through faculties of history whose members had been trained by Ranke, or by one of his students. He did  not invent the footnote or the insistence upon using primary sources, but arguably more than anyone else established them as part of the apparatus of history as a social science. With me to talk about Leopold von Ranke is Suzanne Marchand, Boyd Professor of European Intellectual History at Louisiana State University. This September, she was elected to the Presidency of the American Historical Association for 2026. This is her fourth appearance on Historically Thinking; she was last with us as part of our continuing series on intellectual humility and historical thinking.  

Ralph welcomes historian Douglas Brinkley (author of "The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House") as well as journalist and former Carter speechwriter James Fallows to reflect on the life and legacy of the late, great President Jimmy Carter.Douglas Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University, presidential historian for the New-York Historical Society, trustee of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. He has authored, co-authored, and edited more than three dozen books on American history, including Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening, Rosa Parks: A Life, and The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House.When [Jimmy Carter] came in in January of 1977, he said, “The Democratic Party is an albatross around my neck…” The Southern Democrats that voted for Carter in 1976 in the Senate because of, you know, “he's a fellow Southerner,” they abandoned him. They wanted nothing to do with him.Douglas BrinkleyRalph, I don't know if anyone's already told you this—there's a lot of Carter in yourself. You have a lot of similarities in my mind in the sense that you both work tirelessly, and are brilliant, and you learn the nuts and bolts of an issue and you lean into it, and both of you are known for your integrity and your honesty and your diligence and your duty. The question then becomes: Where did Carter fail? And it's about media and about power within the Democratic Party. Those two things Carter couldn't conquer.Douglas BrinkleyI've just written a column called “Jimmy Carter Was My Last President.” And by that I meant he was my last president—and I believe he was the last president for progressive civic groups as well—because he was the last president to actively open up the federal government to engagement and participation by long politically-excluded American activists. He did this actively. He took our calls. No president since has done that. He invited us to the White House to discuss issues. No president since has done that. And that's what I think has been missing in a lot of the coverage—he really believed in a democratic society.Ralph NaderJames Fallows is a contributing writer at the Atlantic and author of the newsletter Breaking the News. He began writing for the magazine in the mid-1970s, reporting from China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Europe, and across the United States and has written hundreds of articles for the publication since then. He's also worked as a public radio commentator, a news magazine editor, and for two years he was President Jimmy Carter's chief speechwriter. He is the author of twelve books, including Who Runs Congress (with Mark Green and David Zwick), The Water Lords, Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy, and Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America (with Deborah Fallows).Jimmy Carter, for better and worse, had zero national politics experience. That was part of what made him seem refreshing…But Carter, I think one of his limitations in office was that he didn't know what he didn't know, in various realms. This happens to all of us. That's why many outsiders struggle in their first term as president. And so I think yes, he felt as if he could be in command of many things. And I think if he had a second term, he would have been more effective—as Barack Obama was, and others have been.James FallowsI'm really grateful for the chance to talk with you, Ralph, at this moment. As we reflect on a president of the past and prepare for an administration of the future…There are people whose example lasts because they've been consistent over the decades. And I think you, Ralph, in the decades I've known you, that has been the case with you. I think it's the case of Jimmy Carter as well. For people who are consistent and true to themselves, there are times when fortune smiles in their favor and there's times when fortune works against them, but their lasting example endures and can inspire others.James FallowsNews 1/8/251. According to newly released CIA documents, the agency conducted extensive surveillance on Latino – specifically Mexican and Puerto Rican – political activity in the 1960s, ‘70s, and early ‘80s Axios reports. Among other revelations, these documents prove that the agency infiltrated student activist groups “making demands for Mexican American studies classes” – in direct contravention of the CIA's charter, which prohibits domestic activities. The push to disclose the reality of this spying campaign came from Congressmen Jimmy Gomez and Joaquin Castro, whose mother was monitored by the FBI for her Chicano-related activism. Unlike the CIA, the FBI has not released their records.2. Crusading independent journalists Ken Klippenstein and Daniel Boguslaw are out with a new Substack piece regarding Luigi Mangione. This piece, based on a leaked NYPD intelligence report “Warning of ‘a wide range of extremists' that ‘may view Mangione as a martyr,'” due to their “disdain for corporate greed.” These reporters go on to criticize the media for hiding this report from the public, as they have with other key documents in this case. “The report, produced by the NYPD's Intelligence & Counterterrorism Bureau …was blasted out to law enforcement and counterterror partners across the country. It was also leaked to select major media outlets which refused to permit the public to read the document…By withholding documents and unilaterally deciding which portions merit public disclosure, the media is playing god.”3. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finalized its rule to remove medical bills from credit reports. The bureau reports this rule will wipe $49 billion in medical bills from the credit reports of approximately 15 million Americans. Further, embedded within this rule is a critical provision barring creditors from access to certain medical information; in the past this has allowed these firms to demand borrowers use medical devices up to and including prosthetic limbs as collateral for loans and as assets the creditors could repossess.4. President Biden has blocked a buyout of US Steel by the Japanese firm Nippon Steel, per the Washington Post. His reasons for doing so remain murky. Many in Biden's inner circle argued against this course of action, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. And despite Biden framing this decision as a move to protect the union employees of US Steel, Nippon had promised to honor the United Steelworkers contract and many workers backed the deal. In fact, the only person Biden seemed to be in complete agreement with on this issue is incoming President Donald Trump.5. In September 2023, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson issued a groundbreaking proposal: a publicly owned grocery store. While such institutions do exist on a very small scale, the Chicago pilot project would have been the largest in the United States by a wide margin. Yet, when the city had the opportunity to apply for Illinois state funds to begin the process of establishing the project, they “passed” according to the Chicago Tribune. Even still, this measure is far sounder than the previous M.O. of Chicago mayors, who lavished public funds on private corporations like Whole Foods to establish or maintain stores in underserved portions of the city, only for those corporations to turn around and shutter those stores once money spigot ran dry.6. On January 5th, the American Historical Association held their annual meeting. Among other proposals, the association voted on a measure to condemn the “scholasticide” being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza. Tim Barker, a PhD candidate at Harvard, reports the AHA passed this measure by a margin of 428 to 88. Along with the condemnation, this measure includes a provision to “form a committee to assist in rebuilding Gaza's educational infrastructure.” The AHA now joins the ever-growing list of organizations slowly coming to grips with the scale of the devastation in Gaza.7. According to Bloomberg, AI data centers are causing potentially massive disruptions to the American power grid. The key problem here is that the huge amounts of power these data centers are gobbling up is resulting in “bad harmonics,” which distort the power that ends up flowing through household appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers. As the piece explains, this harmonic distortion can cause substantial damage to those appliances and even increase the likelihood of electrical fires and blackouts. This issue is a perfect illustration of how tech industry greed is impacting consumers, even those who have nothing to do with their business.8. The Department of Housing and Urban Development reports homelessness increased by over 18% in 2024, per AP. HUD attributes this spike to a dearth of affordable housing, as well as the proliferation of natural disasters. In total, HUD estimates around 770,000 Americans are homeless, though that does not include “those staying with friends or family because they do not have a place of their own.” More granular data is even more appalling; family homelessness, for example, grew by 40%. Homelessness grew by 12% in 2023.9. On January 7th, Public Citizen announced that they have launched a new tracker to “watchdog federal investigations and cases against alleged corporate criminals…that are at risk of being abandoned, weakened, or scaled back under the Trump administration.” This tracker includes 237 investigations, nearly one third of which involve companies with known ties with the Trump administration. These companies include Amazon, Apple, AT&T, Bank of America, Coinbase, Ford, Tesla, Goldman Sachs, Meta, OpenAI, SpaceX, Pfizer, Black & Decker, and Uber among many others. As Corporate Crime expert Rick Claypool, who compiled this tracker, writes, “Corporate crime enforcement fell during Trump's first term, even as his administration pursued ‘tough' policies against immigrants, protestors, and low-level offenders…It's likely Trump's second term will see a similar or worse dropoff in enforcement.”10. Finally, Senate Republicans are pushing for swift confirmation hearings to install Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence, per POLITICO. Yet, the renewed spotlight on Gabbard has brought to light her association with the Science of Identity Foundation, an alleged cult led by “guru” Chris Butler, per Newsweek. The New Yorker reports members of this cult are required to “lie face down when Butler enters a room and even sometimes eat his nail clippings or ‘spoonfuls' of the sand he walked on.”This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Linda Gradstein, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon   —Thinkin' Blinken— What are we to make of Antony Blinken's interview with the times, in which he said it was Hamas, not Prime Minister Netanyahu, who have scuttled the hostage negotiations until now? —Making an Offense of Defense— What are we to think about the Palestinian campaign to have low-level IDF soldiers arrested abroad for war crimes, as part of an effort to criminalize fighting in Israel's army? —The American Historical Association Censures Israel for “Scholasticide”— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: What is “scholasticide,” and why has the American Historical Association censured Israel for doing it? Plus, a kind word for Haredim and Jean Shepherd, with music by Bekka.

The Salem Witch Trials may well be the single most notorious and iconic event of America's colonial period. Every Halloween, Salem, Massachusetts, hosts untold thousands of tourists who revel in the city's occult history and reputation as America's haunted capital of spookiness. But as well-known as the Salem Witch Trials are, they remain a hotbed of historical inaccuracy and misconception. So what exactly happened? How did a sleepy, growing Massachusetts town become the epicenter of witch hysteria? Did everyone go insane, or were the Salem Witch Trials perfectly consistent with the worldview of Salem's citizens. To help us clear this up, Kelly and John asked University of Pennsylvania history professor Kathleen M. Brown for her insights. Brown is a historian of gender and race in early America and the Atlantic World. Educated at Wesleyan University and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, she is author of Good Wives, Nasty Wenches, and Anxious Patriarchs: Gender, Race, and Power in Colonial Virginia (Chapel Hill, 1996), which won the Dunning Prize of the American Historical Association. Her latest, Undoing Slavery: Bodies, Race, and Rights in the Age of Abolition, was published in 2023.  

Today, our guest is Dr. David Pace. David has dedicated his career to enhancing student engagement in the learning process, beginning his journey as an instructor in the History Department at Indiana University Bloomington in 1971. His teaching has earned him prestigious accolades, including the American Historical Association's Eugene Asher Distinguished Teaching Award and Indiana University's Frederic Bachman Lieber Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching. David's contributions extend beyond the classroom. Since the 1990s, he has been a pivotal figure in the scholarship of teaching and learning, serving as a Fellow in the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and as President of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in History for a decade. In 2019, he was honored as a Fellow in the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. David has authored several influential books and numerous articles and book chapters, contributing to esteemed publications worldwide. Alongside Joan Middendorf, he co-directed the Indiana University Freshman Learning Project, pioneering the Decoding the Disciplines approach to enhance college learning. Though officially retired, David continues to teach and offer workshops globally, sharing his expertise in decoding, history teaching, and the scholarship of teaching and learning. We are delighted to have Dr. Pace on the show to discuss the evolution of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, evaluating teaching, and the ethics of teaching.   Resources: David's Blog: https://decodingtheivorytower.net/   Decoding the Disciplines

Darren Dochuk's book Anointed With Oil: How Christianity and Crude Made Modern America has been out a couple of years. But I must confess that I discovered it only recently, and it has changed my perspective about a lot things I thought I knew about modern American Evangelicalism. As you will hear, he outlines how modern Protestantism split in the early 20th century into liberal and conservative factions. The liberal stream was made up mostly of the mainline protestant churches, and the conservative stream became what we know today is evangelicalism. However, what Dockuk adds to this conversation is an analysis of how both streams got funded -- by oil millionaires such as John D. Rockefeller on the left and J. Howard Pew and the Hunt Brothers on the right. He has caused me to believe that without these men and a very few others who funded their religious impulses, modern American religious life would look very different than it does today. Darren Dochuk is a professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, and his previous works include From Bible Belt to Sunbelt, a history of the rise of evangelical conservatism. That book won the John H. Dunning Prize from the American Historical Association. Darren Dochuk spoke to me from his office in South Bend, Indiana. I hope you'll join me again on Friday when I'm joined by Natasha Cowden for our discussion of the week's news. The producer for today's program is Jeff McIntosh. Until next time, may God bless you!  

The head of the American Historical Association, James Grossman, will speak at CWRU Thursday, Sept. 26 about the growing number of states, including Ohio, introducing legislation that limits teaching of the past.

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION“This may surprise many, but Christianity is growing around the world and is growing faster than the rate of population. From 2020 to the mid-point of 2024, the world's population is expected to grow from more than 7.84 billion people to more than 8.11 billion, a 0.87% growth trend. The number of Christians worldwide is expected to climb from more than 2.52 billion to 2.63 billion, a 1.08% growth.… The fastest-growing areas for Christianity are in the global south, particularly Asia and Africa. Asia is home to more than 415 million Christians and growing at a rate of 2.11%. Meanwhile, 734 million Christians live in Africa, where the faith is growing at a 2.64% rate.”~Summary of the “2024 Status of Global Christianity” report “It is evidence of His importance, of the effect that He has had upon history, …that no other life ever lived on this planet has evoked so huge a volume of literature among so many people and languages, and that, far from ebbing, the flood continues to mount…. Jesus is the most influential life ever lived….”~Kenneth S. Latourette (1884-1968), President of the American Historical Association “Jesus loves sinners. He only loves sinners. He has never turned anyone away who came to Him for forgiveness, and He died on the cross for sinners, not for respectable people.”~Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983), Nazi concentration camp survivor “The church is…made up of natural enemies…who love one another for Jesus' sake.”~D.A. Carson in his book Love in Hard Places “If I love God, I must love people. I don't have the choice to choose when.”~Jackie Hill Perry, poet, writer, and hip hop artist “When we are powerless to do a thing, it is a great joy that we can come and step inside the ability of Jesus.”~Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983), Dutch watchmaker, writer and speaker “…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”~Jesus to His disciples (Acts 1:8) SERMON PASSAGEMatthew 28:16-20 (ESV)Matthew 28 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Genesis 12 1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 2 Samuel 7 8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth…. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Isaiah 2 1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains,    and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,3 and many peoples shall come, and say:“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Matthew 1 1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Revelation 7 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 22 1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

At the DNC last week, the Warriors coach and former Bulls star Steve Kerr spoke of his excitement at his return to Chicago's United Center, the home of some his greatest basketball triumphs. According to the Columbia University historian Frank Andre Guridy, there's nothing coincidental about this convergence of American politics and sports. In his intriguing new book, THE STADIUM, Guridy reimagines America through the history of sports stadiums like Candlestick Park & Madison Square Gardens. It's a story of politics, protest and play in which these sports stadiums act as mirrors and prisms to all the most troubling and hopeful aspects of American history.Frank A. Guridy is Professor of History and African American and African Diaspora Studies and the Executive Director of the Eric H. Holder Initiative for Civil and Political Rights at Columbia University. He is an award-winning historian whose recent research has focused on sport history, urban history, and the history of American social movements. His latest book, The Sports Revolution: How Texas Changed the Culture of American Athletics (University of Texas Press, 2021) explored how Texas-based sports entrepreneurs and athletes from marginalized backgrounds transformed American sporting culture during the 1960s and 1970s, the highpoint of the Black Freedom and Second-Wave feminist movements. Guridy is also a leading scholar of the Black Freedom Movement in the United States and in other parts of the African Diaspora. His first book, Forging Diaspora: Afro-Cubans and African Americans in a World of Empire and Jim Crow (University of North Carolina Press, 2010), won the Elsa Goveia Book Prize from the Association of Caribbean Historians and the Wesley-Logan Book Prize, conferred by the American Historical Association. He is also the co-editor of Beyond el Barrio: Everyday Life in Latino/a America (NYU Press, 2010), with Gina Pérez and Adrian Burgos, Jr. His articles have appeared in Kalfou, Radical History Review, Caribbean Studies, Social Text, and Cuban Studies. His writing and commentary on sport, society, and politics have been published in Public Books, Columbia News, NBC News.com and the Washington Post. He has also appeared on a wide variety of podcasts, radio, and TV programs, including the Edge of Sports podcast by The Nation, Burn it All Down, End of Sport, Texas Public Radio, the Houston Chronicle's Sports Nation, Al Jazeera's “The Listening Post,” WNYC Public Radio, among others. His fellowships and awards include the Scholar in Residence Fellowship at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Ray A. Billington Professorship in American History at Occidental College and the Huntington Library. He is also an award-winning teacher, receiving the Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010, and the Mark Van Doren Award for Teaching at Columbia in 2019. Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Cheers to Professor Jackson's post Prohibition conversation with distinguished author Daniel Okrent! Dan is the the author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, winner of the American Historical Association's prize for the year's best book of American History when it was published in 2011. Last Call was a go-to book in the HTDS bibliography for episodes 157-160 as we researched and selected the stories to tell in these four podcast episodes we've just completed. Dan was also the first Public Editor of The New York Times, where he was charged with being the public's advocate for accurate and objective journalism by the paper. So Prof. Jackson couldn't resist the opportunity to get his perspective on the state of news reporting today which, as astute HTDS listeners know, is often called the first draft of history. Spoiler alert: they both agree one must be a critical thinker when it comes to the potential bias of the news media one consumes – helpful tool here from AdFontes. Dan Okrent is also author of The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America, and Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center, a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in history.  Before his tenure at the Times, Okrent spent 13 years at Time Inc., where he was successively editor of Life magazine; corporate editor of new media; and corporate editor-at-large. Earlier in his career, he worked extensively in book and magazine publishing in various editorial and executive positions. He has held fellowships at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard (where he was, in addition, the Edward R. Murrow Visiting Lecturer in 2009-2010). ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Beginning faculty often receive warnings that lead to antagonistic relationships with their students. In this episode, Cate Denial joins us to discuss how a pedagogy of kindness can build productive learning environments for all students. Cate is the Bright Distinguished Professor of American History and Director of the Bright Institute at Knox College. She is the winner of the American Historical Association's 2018 Eugene Asher Distinguished Teaching Award and sits on the board of Commonplace: A Journal of Early American Life. She is also the author of A Pedagogy of Kindness, one of the first publications in the new Oklahoma University Press series on teaching and learning, edited by Jim Lang and Michelle Miller. A transcript of this episode and show notes may be found at http://teaforteaching.com.

Historian Frederick Jackson Turner came to Chicago not for the World's Fair like thousands of other people, but for the annual conference of the American Historical Association. On this date in 1893, Turner put the finishing touches on his Frontier Thesis, a speech he would give to the conference the following evening. Turner argued that the settlement of the American frontier was the foundation of a uniquely American culture.

Part two of our episode on Francisco de Miranda covers his travels after he left North America following the American Revolution, and explores his involvement with the French revolution before he focused on independence for Latin American colonies. Research: "Francisco de Miranda." Historic World Leaders, edited by Anne Commire, Gale, 1994. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1616000176/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=7ecb650a. Accessed 5 June 2024. "Lessons from a liberal swashbuckler; Bello." The Economist, vol. 420, no. 8999, 23 July 2016, p. 28(US). Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A458950088/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=9bc28a69. Accessed 5 June 2024. “Unveiling Memories: Spain and the Hispanic Contribution to U.S. Independence.” https://www.unveilingmemories.com/ Alejandro E. Gómez, “The ‘Pardo Question'”, Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos [En ligne], Matériaux de séminaires, mis en ligne le 08 juin 2008, consulté le 11 juin 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/34503 Bolufer, Mónica. “A Latin American Casanova? Sex, Gender, Enlightenment and Revolution in the Life and Writings of Francisco de Miranda.” Gender & History, Vol.34 No.1 March 2022, pp. 22–41. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Francisco de Miranda". Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francisco-de-Miranda. Accessed 5 June 2024. Cook, Sue. “Francisco de Miranda - the Venezuelan revolutionary with a Yorkshire wife.” BBC Radio 4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/making_history/makhist10_prog6a.shtml Miller, Gary. "Miranda, Francisco de (1750–1816)." Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, edited by Jay Kinsbruner and Erick D. Langer, 2nd ed., vol. 4, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008, pp. 620-622. Gale In Context: World History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3078903669/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=cbbd0b6b. Accessed 5 June 2024. Navas, Claudia Isabel. “Francisco de Miranda and the United States.” Library of Congress Hispanic Division. 10/11/2017. https://loc.gov/item/2021690630 Racine, Karen. “Francisco de Miranda: A Transatlantic Life in the Age of Revolution.” Scholarly Resources Inc. 2003. Robertson, William Spence. “Francisco de Miranda and the revolutionizing of Spanish America.” Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the year 1907. Government Printing Office. 1908. Sutton, Mallory. “Treaty of Aranjuez (1779).” George Washington's Mount Vernon. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/treaty-of-aranjuez-1779/ Teaching History. “Spain in the American Revolution.” https://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/22894 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GUEST 1 OVERVIEW: Dick Russell, author of The Real RFK Jr.: Trials of a Truth Warrior, is an investigative journalist and the eclectic author of fifteen books, including three New York Times bestsellers co-authored with Jesse Ventura and Eye of the Whale, named a Best Book of the Year in 2001 by three major newspapers. His book The Man Who Knew Too Much, probing the forces behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, has been hailed as a “masterpiece of historical reconstruction.” The final two volumes of his biographical trilogy, The Life and Ideas of James Hillman, are being published in 2023. Russell is also the author of Black Genius and the American Experience and the memoir My Mysterious Son: A Life-Changing Passage Between Schizophrenia and Shamanism. He was a recipient of the citizen's Chevron Conservation Award for his environmental activism. Russell resides in Los Angeles. GUEST 2 OVERVIEW: Edward Berenson is a professor of history at NYU and NYU's Institute of French Studies. Berenson is a cultural historian specializing in the history of modern France and its empire, with additional interests in the history of Britain, the British Empire, and the United States. In 1999, Berenson received the American Historical Association's Eugene Asher Distinguished Teaching Award, having earlier won UCLA's Distinguished Teaching Award. In 2006, French President Jacques Chirac decorated him as Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite.

Francisco de Miranda participated in the struggle for independence in the United States, the French revolution and the emancipation of Latin America. Part one covers his early life and his connection to the American Revolution. Research: "Francisco de Miranda." Historic World Leaders, edited by Anne Commire, Gale, 1994. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1616000176/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=7ecb650a. Accessed 5 June 2024. "Lessons from a liberal swashbuckler; Bello." The Economist, vol. 420, no. 8999, 23 July 2016, p. 28(US). Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A458950088/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=9bc28a69. Accessed 5 June 2024. “Unveiling Memories: Spain and the Hispanic Contribution to U.S. Independence.” https://www.unveilingmemories.com/ Alejandro E. Gómez, “The ‘Pardo Question'”, Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos [En ligne], Matériaux de séminaires, mis en ligne le 08 juin 2008, consulté le 11 juin 2024. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/nuevomundo/34503 Bolufer, Mónica. “A Latin American Casanova? Sex, Gender, Enlightenment and Revolution in the Life and Writings of Francisco de Miranda.” Gender & History, Vol.34 No.1 March 2022, pp. 22–41. Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Francisco de Miranda". Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Mar. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francisco-de-Miranda. Accessed 5 June 2024. Cook, Sue. “Francisco de Miranda - the Venezuelan revolutionary with a Yorkshire wife.” BBC Radio 4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/making_history/makhist10_prog6a.shtml Miller, Gary. "Miranda, Francisco de (1750–1816)." Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture, edited by Jay Kinsbruner and Erick D. Langer, 2nd ed., vol. 4, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2008, pp. 620-622. Gale In Context: World History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3078903669/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=cbbd0b6b. Accessed 5 June 2024. Navas, Claudia Isabel. “Francisco de Miranda and the United States.” Library of Congress Hispanic Division. 10/11/2017. https://loc.gov/item/2021690630 Racine, Karen. “Francisco de Miranda: A Transatlantic Life in the Age of Revolution.” Scholarly Resources Inc. 2003. Robertson, William Spence. “Francisco de Miranda and the revolutionizing of Spanish America.” Annual Report of the American Historical Association for the year 1907. Government Printing Office. 1908. Sutton, Mallory. “Treaty of Aranjuez (1779).” George Washington's Mount Vernon. https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/treaty-of-aranjuez-1779/ Teaching History. “Spain in the American Revolution.” https://teachinghistory.org/history-content/ask-a-historian/22894 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.