Podcasts about german academic exchange service

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's June visit to Turkey marks the latest step in the ongoing rapprochement between the two countries. The move comes as Ankara seeks to expand its influence in the Caucasus, amid the waning power of regional rivals Iran and Russia. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's hosting of Pashinyan in Istanbul last month represents a notable diplomatic effort to normalise relations. Ankara had severed diplomatic ties and closed its border with Armenia in 1993 following the war between Armenia and Turkey's close ally, Azerbaijan, over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. However, Pashinyan's Istanbul visit is being hailed as groundbreaking. “I believe it was very significant for several reasons. It was the first bilateral diplomatic summit between the Turkish and Armenian leaders,” explains Richard Giragosian, Director of the Regional Studies Centre, a Yerevan-based think tank. Until now, interactions between the two leaders had been limited to multilateral engagements—such as Erdoğan's inauguration and meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. But Giragosian argues that the Istanbul meeting carries deeper significance. “This is the first bilateral invitation from Turkey to the Armenian leader. That reflects a second important development: Turkey is seeking to regain its options with Armenia,” observes Giragosian. Armenia looks to reopen border with Turkey as potential gateway to the West Zangezur corridor at centre One of the key issues discussed was the creation of a land bridge through Armenia to connect Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave, which borders Turkey. Known as the Zangezur Corridor, this project is a strategic priority for Ankara. It would not only link Turkey directly to its key ally and vital trade partner Azerbaijan, but also open a new route for Turkish goods to Central Asia. “It is especially important now from an economic standpoint,” notes international relations professor Hüseyin Bağcı of Ankara's Middle East Technical University. Pashinyan's visit is seen as part of a broader Turkish diplomatic push to secure regional support for the Zangezur Corridor. “This is why Prime Minister Pashinyan came to Turkey,” says Bağcı, who suggests Erdoğan is attempting to counter Iranian resistance. “The Zangezur Corridor should not be held hostage by Iranian opposition. It shouldn't be conditional on Iran's stance,” he adds. Iran, Armenia's powerful neighbour, strongly opposes the corridor. Currently, Turkish goods must transit through Iran to reach Central Asia—giving Tehran significant leverage. Iran has often restricted this trade during periods of diplomatic tension with Ankara. More critically, Tehran fears the proposed 40-kilometre corridor would cut off a vital route it uses to bypass international sanctions. Despite Turkish diplomatic efforts, Iran remains firmly opposed. “Nothing has changed in Tehran's position regarding the Zangezur Corridor. Iran is still against the project,” warns Prof Dr Zaur Gasimov of the German Academic Exchange Service. Growing military buildup in Azerbaijan and Armenia a concern for peace talks Gasimov notes, however, that recent geopolitical developments—particularly Israel's ongoing conflict with Iran—have shifted the regional balance in Ankara's favour. “As of July 2025, Iran's diplomatic, political, and military capabilities are far more constrained than they were just a few years ago, due to Israel-led and US-led operations,” says Gasimov. “In both military and political terms, Iran is now significantly limited.” Yet Azerbaijan's insistence that the Zangezur Corridor operate independently of Armenian control remains a major sticking point for Yerevan, says Giragosian. Still, he believes the broader aim of establishing a new trade route—combined with Turkey's willingness to reopen its border—offers the region both economic incentives and a path towards stability through mutual dependence. “The reopening of closed borders, and the creation of trade and transport links, reshapes strategic thinking. It makes any renewal of hostilities far more costly,” says Giragosian. “In this context, it lifts all boats. It's a win-win for everyone,” he continues. “And I do think the real sticking point now will be Russia's reaction, more than any resistance from Turkey, Armenia, or Azerbaijan.” Russia and Iran push back Initially, Moscow supported the Zangezur Corridor, particularly since Russian personnel were envisioned to administer it under the original proposals. But Gasimov notes that Russia's enthusiasm has cooled as it grows increasingly wary of Turkey's expanding influence in a region it still considers part of its traditional sphere. “Moscow is very concerned about Ankara–Yerevan relations. Turkey, after all, is a NATO member—even if Russia cooperates with it in several areas,” says Gasimov. France pushes for peace in the Caucasus amid heat over Iran detainees   Despite being heavily engaged in its war in Ukraine, Gasimov suggests Russia still has leverage in the South Caucasus “After three years of war and sweeping sanctions, Russia's capabilities in the region are diminished. But it continues to try to assert itself—by intimidating vulnerable regional economies and exploiting internal political instability, as it did in Armenia just two weeks ago,” says Gasimov. Last month, Armenian security forces arrested several opposition figures, claiming to have foiled a coup attempt. As Moscow remains bogged down in Ukraine, Yerevan may have only a limited window of opportunity to capitalise on Russia's distraction and weakness. “We do see a storm on the horizon,” warns Giragosian. “With an angry and vengeful Putin lashing out at Russia's neighbours, he's seeking to reassert Russian power and influence across the near abroad—from Central Asia to the South Caucasus.” Armenia reconsiders alliances Giragosian argues that such threats could be the catalyst for historic diplomatic realignments. “From an Armenian perspective, it's deeply ironic. For decades, Armenia feared Turkey and turned to Russia for protection. Now, Armenia is looking to Turkey for a greater role—and seeking to distance itself from the Russian orbit.” Pashinyan has made no secret of his intent to pivot Armenia away from Russia and towards Europe. But with neighbouring Georgia increasingly under Moscow's sway, and with Iran and Azerbaijan offering few viable alternatives, Turkey may now represent Armenia's best chance to achieve that strategic realignment.

Turkey has spent weeks walking a diplomatic tightrope, caught between its outrage over Israel's actions and its reluctance to cross the United States. A ceasefire deal brokered by President Donald Trump has given Ankara some breathing room – at least for now. “We welcome the news that an agreement has been reached on the establishment of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, which came late last night,” Erdogan said before departing for the NATO summit in The Hague. Israel's war on Iran had put Erdogan in a tricky spot – maintaining his hostility towards Israel without damaging his ties with Trump. On Saturday, Erdogan slammed Israel, calling it a “terrorist state”, while warning that the war on Iran threatened to plunge the region into chaos. The speech, delivered in Istanbul at a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, was just the latest in what has become an almost daily verbal assault on Israel. But the United States bombing of Iran just a few hours after Erdogan spoke drew little reaction from Ankara beyond a short statement expressing its “concern” over the attack. Turkey's rivalry with Iran shifts as US threats create unlikely common ground Words versus actions Erdogan's actions have also not always matched his rhetoric.The Turkish leader resisted opposition calls to close the US-operated NATO Kurecik radar base near the Iranian border. “Turkey is not interested once again in going into conflict with America because, if you close Kurecik, then it is a NATO issue, and Israel has close relations also with NATO,” said international relations professor Huseyin Bagci of Ankara's Middle East Technical University. The Kurecik radar station, Bagci said, is important to Israeli security. “Turkey signed the acceptance (agreement) that Israel should take information from Kurecik,” Bagci added. “There is no in an article in the case of war that Turkey would not provide the information. So, this is why Erdogan, based on this fact, is not undertaking any steps against Israel.” Earlier this month, Erdogan lobbied Baghdad not to follow Tehran's calls to intercept Israeli warplanes using Iraqi airspace to strike Iran. All moves that are likely to play well with Trump. Erdogan values what Trump has called a “great friendship”. The two leaders are expected to meet for the first time since Trump's re-election on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague, where Erdogan will likely be seeking an invitation to Washington. With Turkey and Iran long-time regional rivals, competing for influence from the Caucasus to Central Asia and the Middle East, Ankara also shares the West's concerns over Tehran's nuclear programme. “Turkey definitely doesn't want a nuclear-armed Iran, because that is going to trigger a proliferation process in the Middle East,” said Serhan Afacan, head of the Center for Iranian Studies, a research organisation in Ankara. Interim president Sharaa weighs up Ankara and Riyadh in power struggle for Syria Refugee fears and regional risks The United States bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities – which Washington claims has ended Tehran's atomic programme – drew no condemnation from Ankara. But the risk of a wider conflict has raised fears of growing instability and the possibility of a refugee wave into Turkey from Iran. Trump's surprise move to broker a ceasefire between Iran and Israel will come as a relief to Ankara, said regional expert Professor Zaur Gasimov of the German Academic Exchange Service in Istanbul. He warned the ceasefire came just as signs were emerging of a refugee exodus. “What we see now is already now is the mobility of people within Iran, leaving Tehran and other bigger cities, going to different directions, that is a challenge for the entire region. And maybe Turkey is a country that is about to observe a refugee influx coming from Iran by the border,” said Gasimov. He warned Ankara is likely not prepared for such an exodus. “That is a challenge. So, Turkey is currently observing the situation with great attention, and certain answers to this challenge is not ready yet,” said Gasimov. Azerbaijan and Turkey build bridges amid declining influence of Iran Economic toll Turkey, which borders Iraq and Syria, has struggled for decades with chaos on its southern frontier. It currently hosts as many as five million refugees and has paid a heavy economic price through the loss of valuable regional markets. Ankara will likely be eyeing the potential rewards of a weakened Tehran in the long-running competition for regional influence. “A weak Iran is good for Turkey always, but not a dead Iran,” said Bagci. “Iran is important for connectivity. They [Iran] have many neighbours like Turkey. They are close to Russia, Central Asian republics, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, you name it. And the destabilisation of the region is in nobody's interest. "That is why China and Russia are very careful in their statements, and everybody is trying now for a diplomatic solution.” How long Trump's brokered ceasefire will last remains to be seen. But for Ankara, the hope is that wider regional chaos has been avoided – and that it has managed, at least for now, to balance its competing interests.

Professor Joybrato Mukherjee is President of Justus Liebig University Giessen. Since the beginning of 2020, the Professor of English Linguistics has also held the office of President of the German Academic Exchange Service, or DAAD for short. In February, Professor Mukherjee was now visiting Australia, not least to give a new boost to student exchanges between Australia and Germany following the pandemic. During his visit to Sydney, he also took time out for SBS Radio and talked to Barbara Barkhausen. - Professor Joybrato Mukherjee ist Präsident der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen. Seit Anfang 2020 hat der Professor für Englische Sprachwissenschaft zudem das Amt des Präsidenten des Deutschen Akademischen Austauschdienstes, kurz DAAD, inne. Im Februar war Professor Mukherjee nun in Australien zu Gast, nicht zuletzt um dem Studierendenaustausch zwischen Australien und Deutschland nach der Pandemie wieder Auftrieb zu geben. Bei seinem Besuch in Sydney hat er sich auch für SBS Radio Zeit genommen und hat sich mit Barbara Barkhausen unterhalten.

In this episode Stefan Schmitz, Executive Director of the Crop Trust, gives comprehensive insights on the background, history and purpose of the Crop Trust. Learn how conserving seeds works and how it is ensured that the seeds are safe and secure. What is the difference between seed banks in general and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault? Why is the Global Seed Vault located in Svalbard and what is so extraordinary about it? Stefan Schmitz joined the Crop Trust as Executive Director in January 2020. He previously worked as Deputy Director-General and Commissioner for the “One World – No Hunger” Initiative at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). He also chaired the Steering Committee of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP). For more than 10 years, Stefan was leading the food security, agriculture and rural development work at BMZ. From 2007 until 2009 he worked as senior advisor to the Secretariat of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris. Before joining the BMZ in 2001, Stefan held various posts in the German federal administration in the fields of geographical information systems, regional planning and international cooperation on urban issues. He received scholarships of the McCloy Fellowship of the American Council on Germany and of the German Academic Exchange Service. After studying in Bonn and St. Andrews, he graduated from Bonn University in geography and mathematics and received a doctorate in geosciences from the Free University of Berlin in 2000. More information about the Crop Trust: https://www.croptrust.org/

Today's guest is environmental historian Tait Keller. Tait is an Associate Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN. He is also the former Director of Environmental Studies and Sciences at Rhodes. Tait received his BA in History from the University of Rochester and earned his MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University and his PhD in History from Georgetown as well. Tait's first book, Apostles of the Alps: Mountaineering and Nation Building in Germany and Austria, was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 2016. In 2018, he co-edited Environmental Histories of the First World War (Cambridge University Press) with Richard P. Tucker, J.R. McNeill, and Martin Schmid. That volume was awarded a Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award in 2019. Tait's second book, A Global Environmental History of the Great War, is under contract with Cambridge University Press. Tait's work has been supported by a plethora of prestigious grant organizations, including the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, the American Council of Learned Societies, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research, and the German Academic Exchange Service. Tait has given talks in Africa, India, Turkey, Germany, England, and other sites worldwide. Tait is a nationally certified instructor with Krav Maga Alliance (KMA). When he's not leading his department or writing the environmental history of conflict, he teaches at Endurance Krav Maga in Memphis. Journey, the Incredible Hulk, unexploded WW1 ordnance, management software for higher education (very exciting!), tattoos, and the love we have for our dogs - we cover a lot of ground in this episode. Join us for a delightful chat with Tait Keller! Shout-out to the Bar-B-Q Shop and Central BBQ in Midtown Memphis! Rec.: 10/21/2022

Hannah Klemm, the associate curator of modern and contemporary art, curates the museum's “Currents” and “New Media Series” exhibitions. Klemm previously was the Fisher Collection Graduate Curatorial Fellow at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where she has worked on the contemporary German art collection. She holds a doctorate from the University of Chicago, a master's degree in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art and a bachelor's degree in art history with honors from Sarah Lawrence College. Klemm has received several fellowships and awards, including a 10-month research fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service at Humboldt University in Berlin. About Currents 120: Jess T. Dugan -  Through February 20, 2022 St. Louis–based artist Jess T. Dugan is known for their color photographs that explore the power of identity, desire, and connection. In Currents 120: Jess T. Dugan, the museum presents a selection of 20 recent works—portraits, self-portraits, and still lifes—many of which were created specifically for this exhibition. Within a framework of queer and nonbinary experience and from an actively constructed sense of masculinity, Dugan's portraits examine intersections between individual identity and the search for intimate connection with others. About Art Along the Rivers: Through January 9, 2022 The exhibition includes a surprising range of objects that vary widely in medium, function, and the prominence of their makers. For example, it brings together Mississippian sculpture, Osage textiles, architectural drawings for iconic landmarks, musical instruments, German and Creole furniture, African American decorative arts, prize-winning paintings from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, and contemporary artists' responses to these historic objects. While at first these works might appear to have few connections, the exhibition arranges them by theme rather than by culture or chronology to establish dialogues around the region's geography, raw materials, and pressing social issues. About Oliver Lee Jackson: Through February 20, 2022 Oliver Lee Jackson is known for creating complex and layered images in which figurative elements—or what he calls “paint people”—emerge from abstract fields of vibrant color. Jackson's practice is informed by a deep understanding of global art history—from early modern European painting to African art. Yet his works do not aim to elevate a single message, narrative, or meaning. Rather, the works serve as an open invitation to slow and close looking, encouraging viewers to stake emotional claim on the paintings and not wait for instructions on what to see.

Today is a researchers' roundtable, with: Renu Singh, Jon Shaffer, and Lucia Vitale. Jon Shaffer is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Boston University. He is studying how global health NGOs resist dominant field pressures and develop alternative strategies in advancing state-protected universal health care access, social change, and human rights. Before starting graduate school, Jon was involved in the founding and served as the executive director of GlobeMed. He then served as the senior strategist for community organizing at Partners In Health, where he launched PIH Engage, a program that links trains activists around the country to fight for the right to health here and around the world. Most recently, Jon and colleagues launched R2H Action, a campaign to leverage the COVID-19 disaster to ensure that the human right to health and a safe environment is realized by everyone, everywhere.  Renu Singh, PhD is a Research Assistant Professor within the Division of Public Policy, a Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study Junior Fellow, and a Faculty Affiliate with the Institute for Emerging Market Studies at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). She is also a Scholar at the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law and a DAAD Research Ambassador for the German Academic Exchange Service. As a political scientist and microbiologist by training, Renu aims to bridge the worlds of science and policy through her research on comparative social policy, global health security and governance, and the political economy of health. Lucia Vitale is an interdisciplinary global health scholar who uses comparative political science methods, theories in sociology, and also geography to explore multi-scale effects of global health governance and primary healthcare access. While her research is geographically located along the border of the Dominican Republic with Haiti, non-state transnational decision making spaces are central to her work. After graduating with her B.A. in 2015, Vitale taught English in Comayagua, Honduras, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic (DR), and then worked as a contractor for USAID's Local Works program where she investigated access to documentation, and assessed the needs of cooperatives at the community level.

Helmut Walser Smith is a historian of modern Germany, with particular interests in the history of nation-building and nationalism, religious history, and the history of anti-Semitism. He is the author of 'German Nationalism and Religious Conflict, 1870-1914' (Princeton, 1995), and a number of edited collections, including 'The Oxford Handbook of Modern German History' (Oxford, 2011), 'Protestants, Catholics and Jews in Germany, 1800-1914' (Oxford, 2001), 'The Holocaust and Other Genocides: History, Representation, Ethics' (Nashville, 2002), and, with Werner Bergmann and Christhard Hoffmann, Exclusionary Violence: Antisemitic Riots in Modern German History (Ann Arbor, 2002). His book, The Butcher's Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town (New York, 2002), received the Fraenkel Prize in Contemporary History and was an L.A. Times Non-Fiction Book of the Year. It has also been translated into French, Dutch, Polish, and German, where it received an accolade as one of the three most innovative works of history published in 2002. Smith has also authored The Continuities of German History: Nation, Religion, and Race across the Long Nineteenth Century(Cambridge University Press, 2008), and is presently working on a book on German conceptions of nation before, during, and after nationalism. His research has been funded by the NEH, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Volkswagen Foundation, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. At Vanderbilt, he has served as Director of the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities and the Max Kade Center for European and German Studies. He teaches a wide variety of courses in European history and in historical methodology. In 1997, he received the Jeffrey Nordhaus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PARCMEDIAFollow Us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Vince_EmanueleFollow Us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1713FranklinSt/Follow Us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parcmedia/?... #PARCMedia is a news and media project founded by two USMC veterans, Sergio Kochergin & Vince Emanuele. They give a working-class take on issues surrounding politics, ecology, community organizing, war, culture, and philosophy.

What can the Weimar Republic teach us about how democracies fail? How could the same vibrancy that gave us cultural touchstones spawn Nazism? In his new book Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy (Princeton University Press, 2018), Eric D. Weitz challenges the belief that the fledgling democracy was doomed to fail. In an encompassing examination of the short-lived republic’s political, economic, intellectual, and cultural life, Eric skillfully weaves vivid stories into a overarching narrative. History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme, and Weimar Germany has much to say that echoes in the here and now. Eric D. Weitz is Distinguished Professor of History and the former Dean of Humanities and Arts at the City College of New York (CCNY). He has been the recipient of many fellowships and awards including the German Academic Exchange Service, the Guggenheim Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities. Weitz’s academic work and public engagement covers the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the genocide of the Herero and Nama. Ryan Stackhouse is a historian of Europe specializing in modern Germany and political policing under dictatorship. His research exploring Gestapo enforcement practices toward different social groups is nearing completion under the working title A Discriminating Terror. He also cohosts the Third Reich History Podcast and can be reached at john.ryan.stackhouse@gmail.com or @Staxomatix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can the Weimar Republic teach us about how democracies fail? How could the same vibrancy that gave us cultural touchstones spawn Nazism? In his new book Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy (Princeton University Press, 2018), Eric D. Weitz challenges the belief that the fledgling democracy was doomed to fail. In an encompassing examination of the short-lived republic’s political, economic, intellectual, and cultural life, Eric skillfully weaves vivid stories into a overarching narrative. History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme, and Weimar Germany has much to say that echoes in the here and now. Eric D. Weitz is Distinguished Professor of History and the former Dean of Humanities and Arts at the City College of New York (CCNY). He has been the recipient of many fellowships and awards including the German Academic Exchange Service, the Guggenheim Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities. Weitz’s academic work and public engagement covers the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the genocide of the Herero and Nama. Ryan Stackhouse is a historian of Europe specializing in modern Germany and political policing under dictatorship. His research exploring Gestapo enforcement practices toward different social groups is nearing completion under the working title A Discriminating Terror. He also cohosts the Third Reich History Podcast and can be reached at john.ryan.stackhouse@gmail.com or @Staxomatix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can the Weimar Republic teach us about how democracies fail? How could the same vibrancy that gave us cultural touchstones spawn Nazism? In his new book Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy (Princeton University Press, 2018), Eric D. Weitz challenges the belief that the fledgling democracy was doomed to fail. In an encompassing examination of the short-lived republic’s political, economic, intellectual, and cultural life, Eric skillfully weaves vivid stories into a overarching narrative. History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme, and Weimar Germany has much to say that echoes in the here and now. Eric D. Weitz is Distinguished Professor of History and the former Dean of Humanities and Arts at the City College of New York (CCNY). He has been the recipient of many fellowships and awards including the German Academic Exchange Service, the Guggenheim Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities. Weitz’s academic work and public engagement covers the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the genocide of the Herero and Nama. Ryan Stackhouse is a historian of Europe specializing in modern Germany and political policing under dictatorship. His research exploring Gestapo enforcement practices toward different social groups is nearing completion under the working title A Discriminating Terror. He also cohosts the Third Reich History Podcast and can be reached at john.ryan.stackhouse@gmail.com or @Staxomatix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can the Weimar Republic teach us about how democracies fail? How could the same vibrancy that gave us cultural touchstones spawn Nazism? In his new book Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy (Princeton University Press, 2018), Eric D. Weitz challenges the belief that the fledgling democracy was doomed to fail. In an encompassing examination of the short-lived republic’s political, economic, intellectual, and cultural life, Eric skillfully weaves vivid stories into a overarching narrative. History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme, and Weimar Germany has much to say that echoes in the here and now. Eric D. Weitz is Distinguished Professor of History and the former Dean of Humanities and Arts at the City College of New York (CCNY). He has been the recipient of many fellowships and awards including the German Academic Exchange Service, the Guggenheim Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities. Weitz’s academic work and public engagement covers the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the genocide of the Herero and Nama. Ryan Stackhouse is a historian of Europe specializing in modern Germany and political policing under dictatorship. His research exploring Gestapo enforcement practices toward different social groups is nearing completion under the working title A Discriminating Terror. He also cohosts the Third Reich History Podcast and can be reached at john.ryan.stackhouse@gmail.com or @Staxomatix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can the Weimar Republic teach us about how democracies fail? How could the same vibrancy that gave us cultural touchstones spawn Nazism? In his new book Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy (Princeton University Press, 2018), Eric D. Weitz challenges the belief that the fledgling democracy was doomed to fail. In an encompassing examination of the short-lived republic’s political, economic, intellectual, and cultural life, Eric skillfully weaves vivid stories into a overarching narrative. History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme, and Weimar Germany has much to say that echoes in the here and now. Eric D. Weitz is Distinguished Professor of History and the former Dean of Humanities and Arts at the City College of New York (CCNY). He has been the recipient of many fellowships and awards including the German Academic Exchange Service, the Guggenheim Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities. Weitz’s academic work and public engagement covers the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the genocide of the Herero and Nama. Ryan Stackhouse is a historian of Europe specializing in modern Germany and political policing under dictatorship. His research exploring Gestapo enforcement practices toward different social groups is nearing completion under the working title A Discriminating Terror. He also cohosts the Third Reich History Podcast and can be reached at john.ryan.stackhouse@gmail.com or @Staxomatix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What can the Weimar Republic teach us about how democracies fail? How could the same vibrancy that gave us cultural touchstones spawn Nazism? In his new book Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy (Princeton University Press, 2018), Eric D. Weitz challenges the belief that the fledgling democracy was doomed to fail. In an encompassing examination of the short-lived republic’s political, economic, intellectual, and cultural life, Eric skillfully weaves vivid stories into a overarching narrative. History does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme, and Weimar Germany has much to say that echoes in the here and now. Eric D. Weitz is Distinguished Professor of History and the former Dean of Humanities and Arts at the City College of New York (CCNY). He has been the recipient of many fellowships and awards including the German Academic Exchange Service, the Guggenheim Foundation, and National Endowment for the Humanities. Weitz’s academic work and public engagement covers the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and the genocide of the Herero and Nama. Ryan Stackhouse is a historian of Europe specializing in modern Germany and political policing under dictatorship. His research exploring Gestapo enforcement practices toward different social groups is nearing completion under the working title A Discriminating Terror. He also cohosts the Third Reich History Podcast and can be reached at john.ryan.stackhouse@gmail.com or @Staxomatix. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rundgren Radio with special guest Peter Ponzol who played soprano sax on Todd Rundgren's song, "The Last Ride" from the Todd album. The career of Peter Ponzol includes 30 years as an internationally known jazz and studio player. As a player, Peter has performed in most countries around the world, and has received not only a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Performance grant, but was also invited to Germany by the prestigious German Academic Exchange Service. He has given clinics and workshops worldwide and has taught in several universities Not content to only play and teach, he has spent the past 20 years in the design and manufacture of his own line of very successful high end saxophone products. Peter's experience and talents were also utilized as a consultant and designer by some of the world's oldest and most respected saxophone companies in Germany and France.