Podcasts about Illinois State University

Michael (Mick) Meilahn's body of work, which includes glass sculpture and large glass and multi-media installations, intertwines the artist's investigation into agriculture, crop production, genetic food modification, and the ancient history of corn. Primordial Shift, a quintessential example of Meilahn's later installations, consisted of 32 hand-blown glass ears of corn averaging 4-feet high, suspended on stalks of cord with leaves of cast bronze on a backdrop of video projected to create an illusion of gentle swaying in the breeze and surround-sound audio that included the chirping of birds and rustling of leaves.  Since 2022, Meilahn's Primordial Shift exhibition has been touring the U.S. with stops at Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass (Neenah, Wis.), The John P. McGovern Museum of Health & Medical Science (Houston, Texas), South Dakota Art Museum at South Dakota State University (Brookings, S.D.) and the Rochester Art Center (Rochester, Minn.) from June 1 through September 30, 2025. Primordial Shift is a work of art. But underlying Meilahn's aesthetic is an agnostic, if not ambivalent, philosophy concerning agronomy or the crop science and the application of that science by horticulturists to plant production for the enhancement and improvement of nature for human and animal life. In that sense, Primordial Shift, along with most of the artist's other installations, are not agents for or of change, but artworks that illuminate the pros and cons of genetic modification. States Meilahn: "With today's sophisticated technology and global positioning, a 24-row corn planter can plant 1,000 acres a day with laser accuracy, 35,000 plants per acre with placement exactly 6" apart, and 1 3⁄4" deep. The instant the seed hits the ground, germination begins. That germination is as primal as it gets. It's everywhere! Just look. The shift part is engineered; with results that are all so convenient. Is this shift good? You decide."  Meilahn (b. 1945) grew up on a family farm near Pickett, in Central Wisconsin. After graduating in 1964 from high school in Ripon where he excelled in art, he entered the University of Wisconsin-River Falls to study agriculture. He subsequently switched his major to art, after he realized agri-business was not his passion. At UW River Falls he took his first course in glass, and in 1966 he started blowing glass. At this time, Harvey Littleton was running the studio glass program at UW Madison, made famous by a slew of glass graduates, the most famous being Dale Chihuly. As an undergraduate, Meilahn spent a quarter abroad working with glass legend Erwin Eisch in Frauenau, Germany, on the Bavaria/Czech border, an area with a rich tradition of glass making. After graduation in 1971, he spent a year in Bolivia as an idealistic Peace Corp volunteer intent on helping people in South America by sharing knowledge he'd learned from farming. Subsequently, he enrolled at Illinois State University, Normal, where Joel Philip Myers had begun a glass program and earned his Masters degree in art.   Ultimately, Meilahn's roots drew him back to his family's farm in 1975 where he and his wife, Jane, raised their children, and where he alternately operated the family farm and the hot glass studio he built. In time, his passion for art and farming became one-in-the-same as a form of creative expression. Since 1996, when he turned 50 and began planting genetic seed, Meilahn's artwork has focused on genetic modification, which has symbiotically shaped his life and work, both as an artist and a farmer. His installations afford viewers the opportunity to view and contemplate the production of corn from the dual perspective of an artist who knows the subject from life. For the past 15 years or so, this convergence has been the basis for a number of important works. Meilahn served as the President of The Board of Directors of the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass in Neenah, Wisconsin. He has taught at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina and The Archie Bray Foundation in Montana. His work has been exhibited in the traveling museum exhibitions, Wisconsin's Glass Masters and Environmental Impact, produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C., the annual Smithsonian Craft Show, and at The Corning Museum of Glass, which has also featured the artist's work in its New Glass Review for over four decades. Meilahn says: "An ear of corn is the point of convergence for my dual careers in farming and art. Corn is not a typical subject in art. But for me, the lines, rows, numbers, higher prices, lower prices, color spectrums, mapping, information technology, air masses, and species have all combined to have unwittingly become a catalyst for my art."        

Learn more about Michael Wenderoth, Executive Coach: www.changwenderoth.comWhen it comes to taking the next big step in your career, some urge you to follow your passions – while others back a more bare-knuckled approach. But there's a third way, says Mary Olson-Menzel, author of the bestseller “What Lights You Up.” In this episode of 97% Effective, host Michael Wenderoth and Mary talk about the key factors that lead to a fulfilling and successful career, and Mary's 10-step pivot process that has helped thousands of her clients at MVP Executive Development. They debate passion, authenticity, networking – and discuss how to create opportunity during turbulent times. If you're struggling with taking the next big step in your career, this episode is for you.SHOW NOTES:Michael was deeply skeptical about Mary and her message, so why he invited her on the showMary's 10-step pivot program and what led her to write her book“The light is not woo-woo… it is all about what's driving you”Mary address the critique that “following your passion is terrible advice” (Newport, Galloway, Wenderoth)The ven diagram of Ikigai that puts passion in its proper placeCore elemants that drove Mary's career successThe role of curiosity when it comes to pivoting with purposeHow to make opportunities “fall into your lap”How to take advantage – and thrive – in chaotic timesIdentifying gaps: a practical and underused way to be helpful to others - and yourselfHow to overcome fear and stay in the driver's seat of your careerCan sharing your passion at work lead to you being exploited (offered lower pay)?How a “personal board of directors” can help you stay on track – and not get taken advantage ofNo one has a crystal ball, which is why you need to shake the bushes: Great questions to ask, before you join a companyDealing with setbacks: Having champions, mentors – and always a Plan BMary's take on authenticity: What it is, what it is notMary's take on why we still get so many terrible leadersQuiet confidence: How to make sure you and your accomplishments are heard and visible, without seeming like a bombastic, self-promoting jerk?Mary and Michael discuss “threading the line”: how to embrace things that are effective, but may initially feel uncomfortableTop tips on building connection in a remote, distributed worldMary's “Networking Power Hour”For younger professionals: Tips for networking with people 2-3 levels above youNetworking tips beyond the time consuming 1-1Success is personal and changes: How do you define it, and what lights you up? BIO AND LINKS: Mary Olsen-Menzel is the Founder and CEO of MVP Executive Development, and the author of the USA Today National Bestseller “What Lights You Up? Illuminate Your Path and Take the Next Big Step in Your Career.” She is a renowned expert in career and workplace success, with more than 30 years of leadership experience with global organizations across media, tech, healthcare, and sports. Mary earned her MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business and a Bachelor's degree in Communications and Public Relations from Illinois State University. Mary lives in West Chester, New York, with her husband and family. She is part of Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches, and a regular Guest Lecturer on career development, internships, and workplace success at the NYU School of Professional Studies.Mary on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-olson-menzel-mvpexec/“What Lights You Up?” Mary's bestselling book, and free workbook: www.maryolsonmenzel.comMVP Executive Development: www.mvpexec.comCal Newport's book, So Good They Can't Ignore You: https://calnewport.com/writing/Ikigai: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IkigaiResearch at Duke: How attribution of passion may legitimize the poor treatment of workers: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000190Michael's Award-Winning book, Get Promoted: What Your Really Missing at Work That's Holding You Back https://tinyurl.com/453txk74Watch this episode on video, the 97% Effective Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@97PercentEffectiveAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

New Guest Expert! On this week's Aftermath, Rebecca speaks with Dr. Lindsay Stallones Marshall about the Nez Percé Nation and the epic War of 1877 they found themselves wrapped up in. Dr. Marshall is an author and Assistant Professor of History at Illinois State University and details much of the gross negligence by the US Government and local settlers that led to this horrific war. Afterward, Patreon subscribers can revisit the board with Fact Checker Chris Smith and Producer Clayton Early to see how the verdict changes. Join our Patreon!Tell us who you think is to blame at http://thealarmistpodcast.comEmail us at thealarmistpodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Instagram @thealarmistpodcastSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/alarmist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's YOUR time to #EdUpIn this episode, President Series #418, powered by ⁠⁠⁠Ellucian⁠⁠⁠, & sponsored by the 2026 InsightsEDU Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, February 17-19,YOUR guest is Dr. Aondover Tarhule, President, Illinois State UniversityYOUR co-host is Brent Ramdin, CEO, EducationDynamicsYOUR host is ⁠⁠Elvin Freytes How does a Nigerian born climate scientist with uneducated parents become the 21st president of a university achieving record enrollment since 1991?What happens when a university uses analytics to discover they were losing students over $200 holds & raises retention by addressing the real top 3 reasons students leave?How does a president transform institutional agility by launching engineering, doubling nursing enrollment & creating data science programs based on student demand & workforce needs?Listen in to #EdUpThank YOU so much for tuning in. Join us on the next episode for YOUR time to EdUp!Connect with YOUR EdUp Team - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Elvin Freytes⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Dr. Joe Sallustio⁠⁠⁠⁠● Join YOUR EdUp community at The EdUp ExperienceWe make education YOUR business!P.S. Want to get early, ad-free access & exclusive leadership content to help support the show? Then ⁠​subscribe today​⁠ to lock in YOUR $5.99/m lifetime supporters rate! This offer ends December 31, 2025!

This time out we salute Craig Robinson, who might well have ended up as your high school music teacher had not the comedy bug bit him hard while in college at Illinois State University. Along with hitting the books, Craig also hit the boards at Second City and doing stand up, eventually moving to Los Angeles where he caught the eye of Jimmy Kimmel's show. As these things do, one thing led to another and Craig has carved out a fine career with guest shots in movies and on tv, a role in the hit sitcom The Office, and more. He also is a fine musician and maintains a couple of musical projects where the music is sweet soul and the comedy is sharp and a little risqué. With that combo we think Craig will be entertaining us for years to come. As always find extra clips below and thanks for sharing our shows! Want more Craig Robinson? Craig's comedy songs usually have a nice romantic intro, then turn a different direction for the payoff as in this clip from the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in 2008. https://youtu.be/I7BMAWwsMBs?si=CvLfOcPrLhD6ztrg Craig gained mass attention when he took on the role of warehouse foreman Darryl Philbin in The Office. Here are some of his best bits. https://youtu.be/XrHeFFYhd1A?si=jx5UMoY0pobFe2i4 Craig Robinson is a great musical comedian, sometimes with his own band "Nasty Delicious" and sometimes with fellow comic Jerry Minor as in this sensitive ballad. https://youtu.be/pS3WQ-tqntA?si=aEN_ICdKmur1fL2e

We continue our series of interviews with higher education leaders with Aondover Tarhule, president of Illinois State University in Normal.

Egyptian strongman Ashraf Mahrous recently pulled two ships totalling 1,150 tonnes with his teeth, setting his sights on the Guinness World Record. Inspired by this story, this week we're tackling the science of all things strong. First, we find out about new research that could keep our muscles strong as we age. Next up, we discover why graphene is so strong and how it could help improve data storage. We're then joined down the line by Dr Matt Caplan, an astrophysicist from Illinois State University, who tells us about his search for a weird substance called ‘nuclear pasta'. And no, you won't find it in your local Italian restaurant. Plus, find out how robo-exoskeletons can help you climb hills and why Ernest Shackleton's Endurance was weaker than expected. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Kai Kupferschmidt and Andrada Fiscutean Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Robbie Wojciechowski and Lucy Davies

00:08 — Andrew Hartman is Professor of History at Illinois State University, where he teaches courses in U.S. intellectual, cultural, and political history, as well as courses in the philosophy of history, historiography, and pedagogy. His latest book is “Karl Marx in America.” The post Karl Marx in America – Fund Drive Special appeared first on KPFA.

Chris Washington reads Jane Austen differently from how she is classically understood; rather than the doyen of the cisheteronormative marriage plot, Washington argues that Austen leverages the generic restraints of the novel and envisions a nonbinary future that traverses the two-sex model of gender that supposedly solidifies in the eighteenth century. Here, Washington discusses a politics built on plurality and possibility with Marquis Bey, Christopher Breu, and Alison Sperling.Chris Washington is associate professor of English at Francis Marion University. He is author of Nonbinary Jane Austen and editor of the Norton Critical Edition of Mary Shelley's The Last Man.Marquis Bey is professor of black studies and gender and sexuality and critical theory at Northwestern University. Bey is author of several books including Cistem Failure, Black Trans Feminism, and The Problem of the Negro as a Problem for Gender.Christopher Breu is author of several books including In Defense of Sex, Insistence of the Material, Hard-Boiled Masculinities, and coeditor of Noir Affect. Breu is professor of English at Illinois State University. Alison Sperling is assistant professor of literature, media, and culture at Florida State University, and a visiting fellow at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry Berlin.REFERENCES:Derrida's Of GrammatologyFoucaultTrans Femme Futures / Nat Raha and Mijke van der DriftThe Anthropocene Unconscious / Mark Bould; Alison Sperling review in Los Angeles Review of BooksThe Matrix filmBlack on Both Sides / C. Riley SnortonFred MotenJudith ButlerWe Are All Nonbinary (essay) / Kadji AminEdward SaidHistories of the Transgender Child / Jules Gill-PetersonS. Pearl Brilmyer / “The Ontology of the Couple” issue of GLQA Mercy / Toni MorrisonSojourner TruthNonbinary Jane Austen is available in the Forerunners series from University of Minnesota Press. An open-access edition is available at manifold.umn.edu. Thank you for listening.

rWotD Episode 3067: 1947 Illinois State Normal Redbirds football team Welcome to random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia's vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Friday, 26 September 2025, is 1947 Illinois State Normal Redbirds football team.The 1947 Illinois State Normal Redbirds football team represented Illinois State Normal University—now known as Illinois State University—as a member of the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) during the 1947 college football season. The team was led by third-year head coach Edwin Struck and played its home games at McCormick Field. The Redbirds finished the season with a 4–3–2 overall record and a 1–1–2 record in conference play, placing third in the IIAC.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:49 UTC on Friday, 26 September 2025.For the full current version of the article, see 1947 Illinois State Normal Redbirds football team on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Bluesky at @wikioftheday.com.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm standard Joanna.

Send us a textDr. Amanda Zeine never planned to join the military — but her path led her from ROTC to becoming a pediatrician and Army flight surgeon, serving two deployments overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq. After sustaining a traumatic brain injury, Amanda faced the devastating reality that she could no longer practice medicine.In this powerful conversation, she opens up about the struggles of losing her identity, rebuilding her life, and finding purpose in unexpected ways. Today, she's the author of Hot Mess to Wellness and the middle grade series The Cul-de-sac Kids, creating stories that fill a gap for military children.Join us as Amanda shares her journey of resilience, reinvention, and the courage to keep moving forward when life doesn't go as planned.Amanda's Bio:Dr. Zeine was born and raised in a small town in Central Illinois. As a child, she dreamed of becoming a doctor and, after high school, attended Illinois State University while participating in the ROTC program. She graduated in 2002 with a B.S. in science. After graduating as a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine in 2007, she attended her pediatric residency with the United States Army at Tripler Army Medical Center. While in residency, she was blessed with a beautiful daughter. After graduation, she was moved to Ft. Campbell, KY, and has practiced as a pediatrician and Army flight surgeon. While serving as a flight surgeon, she was deployed twice. In December 2018, Dr. Zeine sustained a traumatic brain injury. After an eleven-year career as a physician, she lost her identity when she could no longer practice effectively as a physician. It was then that she wrote her first book Hot Mess to Wellness. Being a pediatrician in the Army, she noted a lack of books for older military brats. She is hoping her new series The Cul-de-sac Kids will fill that void.Connect with Amanda:WebsiteFacebookInstagramBook InstagramLinkedInSubstackOrder Amanda's Books: Hot Mess to Welness - Order HereChloe the "Military Brat" (Cul-de-sac Kids) - Order HereComming Soon: Stronger Together (Cul-de-sac Kidss)Stay in the loop with the new Different Ability® product I'll be launching!Sign Up Here!Shop new products here!Places you can reach me at:Website:https://kateyfortun.com/https://kateyfortun.com/podcastInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/kateyfortun/https://www.instagram.com/differentabilitypodcast/

 Jelani Day was a student at Illinois State University in 2021, who mysteriously went missing. His remains were found later in the Illinois River. Four years after this incident, his mother joins the program to remember Jelani and discuss how the family has turned pain into purpose. The 21st Show is Illinois' statewide weekday public radio talk show, connecting Illinois and bringing you the news, culture, and stories that matter to the 21st state. Have thoughts on the show or one of our episodes, or want to share an idea for something we should talk about? Send us an email: talk@21stshow.org. If you'd like to have your say as we're planning conversations, join our texting group! Just send the word "TALK" to (217) 803-0730. Subscribe to our podcast and hear our latest conversations. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6PT6pb0 Find past segments, links to our social media and more at our website: 21stshow.org.

What's up with kids these days? Meet Drew Cotton and Andrew Larson. Mr. Larson is fresh into the retirement scene but together, the two men served as professors at Black Hawk College in Galva, Illinois. They've seen it all. And they confidently say, we're in good hands. *** Show notes and Links *** Subscribe to AgEmerge here: https://www.youtube.com/c/AgSolutionsNetwork Watch another outstanding educator, Dr. Dwayne Beck, here: https://youtu.be/1JlTPcoKB0M Ag Solutions Network Socials: https://www.agsolutionsnetwork.com/agemergepodcast https://www.facebook.com/ASN.farm https://www.linkedin.com/company/agsolutionsnetwork https://twitter.com/POWER2GRO https://www.instagram.com/agsolutionsnetwork/ Ag Solutions Network website: https://www.agsolutionsnetwork.com/ Got questions you want answered? Send them our way and we'll do our best to research and find answers. Know someone you think would be great on the AgEmerge stage or podcast? Send your questions or suggestions to contactus@asn.farm we'd love to hear from you. *** Show notes and Links *** Monte Bottens hosts interns and classes from Black Hawk multiple times throughout the year. The three guys talk all about the unique learning approach Black Hawk provides and the depth of experience students have under their belts by graduation. Drew Cotton is the Co-Department Chair for the Agriculture Department at Black Hawk College. He focuses on agribusiness education. Prior to Black Hawk, Mr. Cotton studied Animal Sciences at the University of Florida and completed undergrad at Kansas State University. Mr. Cotton leads the Agribusiness Club and coaches the Agricultural Business and Horse Judging teams. With his peers and students, Mr. Cotton has coached and guided wins with the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Judging Conference Sweepstakes Awards. Andrew Larson: We thank Mr. Larson for his military service, prior to becoming an instructor. He recently retired after teaching at Black Hawk College for 27 years. He earned a Master's of Science in Nutrient Management and Crop Production from the University of Illinois in 1998 after completing his undergrad from the Illinois State University in Environmental Sciences and Protection in 1994. While at Black Hawk, Mr. Larson served as a full-time instructor in the agriculture department of Black Hawk College. He taught production, marketing and management of agriculture curriculums. He's secured places of employment for over 500 graduates in the agriculture industry. And provided leadership to place and supervise over 100 internships. Mr. Larson managed a 25-acre college agronomy lab, coached college soil and crop judging teams, and also served as Advisor for the Trap Shooting Club. He was the lead Investigator for Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grant that supported a four-acre sustainable agriculture research plot and conducted numerous field trials annually in the agronomy lab. He designed subsurface drainage system in the agronomy lab to implement nutrient management study; facilitated installation of a bio-reactor.

Dr. David Kopsell, Professor of Horticulture at Illinois State University highlights The Vertical Farm at ISU.The legacy of late Madison County farmer Gene Daiber and his gift to the IAA Foundation.   

Planet Poet-Words in Space – NEW PODCAST!  LISTEN to my WIOX show (originally aired July l, 2025) featuring two poets of the West:  Tim Hunt and Gerald Wagoner.  Tim and Gerald will read from their work and discuss their journeys in poetry. Visit: Sharon Israel, Tim Hunt, Gerald Wagoner, Broadstone Books Tim Hunt is the author of six collections of poetry, most recently Western Where (Broadstone Books). Recognitions include the Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award for his 2018 collection Ticket Stubs & Liner Notes, six Pushcart Prize Nominations, and the Chester H. Jones National Poetry Award for “Lake County Diamond” from his first collection Fault Lines (The Backwaters Press). His critical work includes two studies of Jack Kerouac (Kerouac's Crooked Road: Development of a Fiction and The Textuality of Soulwork: Kerouac's Quest for Spontaneous Prose) and The Collected Poetry of Robinson Jeffers. Originally from the hill country of northern California, he was educated at Cornell University and concluded his teaching career at Illinois State University where he was University Professor of English. He and his wife, Susan, live in Normal, Illinois. Gerald Wagoner is the author of When Nothing Wild Remains, (Broadstone Books,September 2023), and A Month of Someday, (Indolent Books, March 2023) . Gerald's childhood was divided between Eastern Oregon and Montana where he was raised under the doctrine of benign neglect. With a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Montana, Gerald pursued the art of sculpture, and left the Northwest to study with Richard Stankiewicz. In 1982, after earning an MFA in sculpture, Gerald moved to Brooklyn, NY In New York Gerald exhibited regularly, then taught Art and English for the NYC Department of Education until 2017, at which time he choose to pursue the art of poetry. Selected Publications: Beltway Quarterly, BigCityLit, Blue Mountain Review, Cathexis Northwest Press, Night Heron Barks, Ocotillo Review, Right Hand Pointing, Misfits, Maryland Literary Review, Burningword, The Umbrella Factory, Bangalore Review. Praise for Tim Hunt and Gerald Wagoner  Tim Hunt's elegy for a vanished America, Western Where, takes us on an evocative road trip where we discover the last picture show, a played-out silver mine, a hand-me-down fiddle, silver-screen cowboys, and more. His wistful word paintings leave us yearning.—Holly George-Warren, author of Janis: Her Life and Music & Public Cowboy #1: The Life and Times of Gene AutryGerald Wagoner is a poet of uncanny particulars: “The child, as man, remembers the tang and texture of warm / summer apricots picked from / a tree that was never there.” The poems in When Nothing Wild Remains are “on speaking terms with the wind,” rich in imagery of a rural America he knows intimately....Wagoner's graphic poetry is cinematic and sobering in its frank depictions of what's missing, the wildness of a remembered past as seen in the light of an ongoing present.—Elaine Sexton, author of Drive

Episode 105: Immigration Guest: Abbi BensonBingham's special guest, Abbi Benson, attended Central Catholic and Normal Community High Schools, Illinois State University, and is in her first semester of law school at Lewis and Clark, in Portland, Oregon. Abbi's anticipated area of law practice is immigration. An immigrant herself, Benson and Bingham have a conversation about immigration. They discuss the following: The PhilippinesSingaporeBloomington/NormalCentral Catholic/Normal Community High SchoolIllinois State UniversityPortland OregonAbbi's academic pathProcess of applying for law schoolImmigration definedEllis IslandAbbi's motivation to practice lawHer favorite constitutional rightState of our immigration systemThe most important part of the justice system in this dispensationWhat she'd like to see the Trump administration accomplishYou can listen to the JFA Podcast Show wherever you get your podcast or by clicking on one of the links below.https://dlbspodcast.buzzsprout.com    https://blog.feedspot.com/social_justice_podcasts/    https://peculiarbooks.org   Also if you are interested in exercise and being healthy check out the Top 20 Triathlon Podcasts.https://blog.feedspot.com/triathlon_podcasts/Email Address: dewhitt.bingham@peculiarbooks.org

We're checking in with an Illinois State University professor who specializes in the cultural history of chocolate. Quite a treat for sweet tooths!

Guest: Andrew Hartman is professor of history at Illinois State University. He is the author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars, Education and the Cold War: The Battle for the American School, and his latest, Karl Marx in America. The post Karl Marx in America appeared first on KPFA.

Today our guest is Kelli Brabson the MTSS Coordinator at Mossville Grade School. We talk to Kelli about what it means to invest in students intentionally, proactively, and with heart. Drawing from over two decades of experience as a teacher, principal, and now MTSS leader, Kelli shares practical strategies for building community, fostering accountability, and equipping students with the skills they need to thrive. From postcard welcomes to classroom compacts, picture books to I-statements, Kelli reminds us that consistency, community, and competency go hand in hand. Her powerful message: we're all making an investment—so the question is, where are we putting it?   Learn More About CharacterStrong:  Access FREE MTSS Curriculum Samples Request a Quote Today! Learn more about CharacterStrong Implementation Support Visit the CharacterStrong Website Kelli Brabson grew up in the small town of Chillicothe, Illinois. Although she enjoyed school and generally earned good grades, academic success didn't come easily—she had to work hard to achieve it. Encouraging teachers played a significant role in her journey, and their influence, both positive and challenging, helped shape her decision to pursue a career in education. After briefly considering nursing, Kelli realized it wasn't the right path and found her calling in a Children's Literature class at Illinois Central College. From that moment on, she knew teaching was what she was meant to do. She went on to earn her degree in Elementary Education from Illinois State University in 2003. In 2006, she completed her first master's degree in Teaching and Leadership from Saint Xavier University, followed by a General Administration degree from the American College of Education in 2011. Throughout her career, Kelli has served in a variety of roles, including first grade teacher, third grade teacher, Junior High Principal, and now, MTSS Coordinator. Kelli has been married to her husband, Nick, for nearly 20 years. They have two sons: Dylan, 18, and Cooper, 13. Their family life is filled with sports—baseball, football, basketball, lacrosse, and even a little wrestling. Dylan will be heading to Florida Atlantic University in the fall to study Exercise Science, while Cooper is entering 8th grade and eagerly looking ahead to high school. Go Panthers!  

During our Friday reporter roundtable, we're talking about stories making headlines in Bloomington-Normal, including how Illinois State University is planning to directly pay its athletes and a major settlement involving the McLean County Jail. 

Coach Ashleen Bracey is more than just the head coach of UIC Women's Basketball—she's a visionary building a legacy. After an impressive career playing for Illinois State University and professionally, she transitioned to coaching, where she's reshaping the University of Illinois Chicago program. In her fourth season at the helm, Coach Bracey has already secured a postseason victory in the WNIT and helped her team win over 50 games.Her journey started as a standout player, including playing alongside NBA star Iman Shumpert in high school. But it was her transition to coaching that has made her a force in the basketball world. In this episode, Coach Bracey shares her story, her coaching philosophy, and how she's building a competitive and supportive program at UIC, despite challenges like NIL deals and the transfer portal.Coach Bracey's approach to coaching is a blueprint for success that emphasizes growth, preparation, and building a championship-winning culture. Don't miss this inspiring conversation with one of the brightest minds in women's basketball.

Illinois State University associate professor of agribusiness Dr. Iuliia Tetteh and ISU agriculture student Patrick Collins discuss their experience at the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA) 2025 Student Case Competition last month in Brazil.  United Soybean Board's Susan Watkins talks domestic demand.  Dan Haynes of the Menard County Farm Bureau Young Leaders highlights this weekend's Sweetcorn Showdown at the Menard County Fair.  

Join host Ismail Shahid for a special edition recorded live at the 2025 ALA Conference in Philadelphia. In this episode, we explore the energy, stories, and voices from the heart of America's largest library gathering. From passionate librarians to community leaders and authors, “Philly Stories” is a celebration of literacy, learning, and the people who make it all possible. Tune in for conversations that inspire, inform, and remind us why libraries still matter. The short talk we heard was from Dr Jamison the new appointed president of literacy Nation. Dr. Jamison is….. Librarianship at Illinois State University. Professor Jamison has more than 17 years of experience working in education and libraries. She speaks internationally on library inclusivity, intellectual freedom, and the interplay of race, power, and privilege in children's books. Her research involves examining equity issues in library services and the role that libraries play in either perpetuating or mitigating systems of inequity. She received her Master of Teaching from Concordia University and her Master of Library Science and Ph.D. in Information Studies from Dominican University School of Library and Information Science in River Forest, Illinois. She is currently the immediate past chair for ALA's Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Roundtable, which promotes multiculturalism in librarianship, and a library ambassador for Lee and Low Books. #podcastforthepeople1 #podcast #changeyourmindsetchangeyourlife #librarian

Karl Marx in America (University of Chicago Press, 2025), by Andrew Hartman To read Karl Marx is to contemplate a world created by capitalism. People have long viewed the United States as the quintessential anti-Marxist nation, but Marx's ideas have inspired a wide range of people to formulate a more precise sense of the stakes of the American project. Historians have highlighted the imprint made on the United States by Enlightenment thinkers such as Adam Smith, John Locke, and Thomas Paine, but Marx is rarely considered alongside these figures. Yet his ideas are the most relevant today because of capitalism's centrality to American life.In  historian Andrew Hartman argues that even though Karl Marx never visited America, the country has been infused, shaped, and transformed by him. Since the beginning of the Civil War, Marx has been a specter in the American machine. During the Gilded Age, socialists read Marx as an antidote to the unchecked power of corporations. In the Great Depression, communists turned to Marx in hopes of transcending the destructive capitalist economy. The young activists of the 1960s were inspired by Marx as they gathered to protest an overseas war. Marx's influence today is evident, too, as Americans have become increasingly attuned to issues of inequality, labor, and power.After decades of being pushed to the far-left corner of intellectual thought, Marx's ideologies have crossed over into the mainstream and are more alive than ever. Working-class consciousness is on the rise, and, as Marx argued, the future of a capitalist society rests in the hands of the people who work at the point of production. A valuable resource for anyone interested in Marx's influence on American political discourse, Karl Marx in America is a thought-provoking account of the past, present, and future of his philosophies in American society. Andrew Hartman is professor of history at Illinois State University. He is the author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars, published by the University of Chicago Press, and Education and the Cold War: The Battle for the American School. He is also the coeditor of American Labyrinth: Intellectual History for Complicated Times. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/a48266/videos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Karl Marx in America (University of Chicago Press, 2025), by Andrew Hartman To read Karl Marx is to contemplate a world created by capitalism. People have long viewed the United States as the quintessential anti-Marxist nation, but Marx's ideas have inspired a wide range of people to formulate a more precise sense of the stakes of the American project. Historians have highlighted the imprint made on the United States by Enlightenment thinkers such as Adam Smith, John Locke, and Thomas Paine, but Marx is rarely considered alongside these figures. Yet his ideas are the most relevant today because of capitalism's centrality to American life.In  historian Andrew Hartman argues that even though Karl Marx never visited America, the country has been infused, shaped, and transformed by him. Since the beginning of the Civil War, Marx has been a specter in the American machine. During the Gilded Age, socialists read Marx as an antidote to the unchecked power of corporations. In the Great Depression, communists turned to Marx in hopes of transcending the destructive capitalist economy. The young activists of the 1960s were inspired by Marx as they gathered to protest an overseas war. Marx's influence today is evident, too, as Americans have become increasingly attuned to issues of inequality, labor, and power.After decades of being pushed to the far-left corner of intellectual thought, Marx's ideologies have crossed over into the mainstream and are more alive than ever. Working-class consciousness is on the rise, and, as Marx argued, the future of a capitalist society rests in the hands of the people who work at the point of production. A valuable resource for anyone interested in Marx's influence on American political discourse, Karl Marx in America is a thought-provoking account of the past, present, and future of his philosophies in American society. Andrew Hartman is professor of history at Illinois State University. He is the author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars, published by the University of Chicago Press, and Education and the Cold War: The Battle for the American School. He is also the coeditor of American Labyrinth: Intellectual History for Complicated Times. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/a48266/videos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Karl Marx in America (University of Chicago Press, 2025), by Andrew Hartman To read Karl Marx is to contemplate a world created by capitalism. People have long viewed the United States as the quintessential anti-Marxist nation, but Marx's ideas have inspired a wide range of people to formulate a more precise sense of the stakes of the American project. Historians have highlighted the imprint made on the United States by Enlightenment thinkers such as Adam Smith, John Locke, and Thomas Paine, but Marx is rarely considered alongside these figures. Yet his ideas are the most relevant today because of capitalism's centrality to American life.In  historian Andrew Hartman argues that even though Karl Marx never visited America, the country has been infused, shaped, and transformed by him. Since the beginning of the Civil War, Marx has been a specter in the American machine. During the Gilded Age, socialists read Marx as an antidote to the unchecked power of corporations. In the Great Depression, communists turned to Marx in hopes of transcending the destructive capitalist economy. The young activists of the 1960s were inspired by Marx as they gathered to protest an overseas war. Marx's influence today is evident, too, as Americans have become increasingly attuned to issues of inequality, labor, and power.After decades of being pushed to the far-left corner of intellectual thought, Marx's ideologies have crossed over into the mainstream and are more alive than ever. Working-class consciousness is on the rise, and, as Marx argued, the future of a capitalist society rests in the hands of the people who work at the point of production. A valuable resource for anyone interested in Marx's influence on American political discourse, Karl Marx in America is a thought-provoking account of the past, present, and future of his philosophies in American society. Andrew Hartman is professor of history at Illinois State University. He is the author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars, published by the University of Chicago Press, and Education and the Cold War: The Battle for the American School. He is also the coeditor of American Labyrinth: Intellectual History for Complicated Times. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/a48266/videos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/european-studies

Karl Marx in America (University of Chicago Press, 2025), by Andrew Hartman To read Karl Marx is to contemplate a world created by capitalism. People have long viewed the United States as the quintessential anti-Marxist nation, but Marx's ideas have inspired a wide range of people to formulate a more precise sense of the stakes of the American project. Historians have highlighted the imprint made on the United States by Enlightenment thinkers such as Adam Smith, John Locke, and Thomas Paine, but Marx is rarely considered alongside these figures. Yet his ideas are the most relevant today because of capitalism's centrality to American life.In  historian Andrew Hartman argues that even though Karl Marx never visited America, the country has been infused, shaped, and transformed by him. Since the beginning of the Civil War, Marx has been a specter in the American machine. During the Gilded Age, socialists read Marx as an antidote to the unchecked power of corporations. In the Great Depression, communists turned to Marx in hopes of transcending the destructive capitalist economy. The young activists of the 1960s were inspired by Marx as they gathered to protest an overseas war. Marx's influence today is evident, too, as Americans have become increasingly attuned to issues of inequality, labor, and power.After decades of being pushed to the far-left corner of intellectual thought, Marx's ideologies have crossed over into the mainstream and are more alive than ever. Working-class consciousness is on the rise, and, as Marx argued, the future of a capitalist society rests in the hands of the people who work at the point of production. A valuable resource for anyone interested in Marx's influence on American political discourse, Karl Marx in America is a thought-provoking account of the past, present, and future of his philosophies in American society. Andrew Hartman is professor of history at Illinois State University. He is the author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars, published by the University of Chicago Press, and Education and the Cold War: The Battle for the American School. He is also the coeditor of American Labyrinth: Intellectual History for Complicated Times. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/a48266/videos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/economics

Karl Marx in America (University of Chicago Press, 2025), by Andrew Hartman To read Karl Marx is to contemplate a world created by capitalism. People have long viewed the United States as the quintessential anti-Marxist nation, but Marx's ideas have inspired a wide range of people to formulate a more precise sense of the stakes of the American project. Historians have highlighted the imprint made on the United States by Enlightenment thinkers such as Adam Smith, John Locke, and Thomas Paine, but Marx is rarely considered alongside these figures. Yet his ideas are the most relevant today because of capitalism's centrality to American life.In  historian Andrew Hartman argues that even though Karl Marx never visited America, the country has been infused, shaped, and transformed by him. Since the beginning of the Civil War, Marx has been a specter in the American machine. During the Gilded Age, socialists read Marx as an antidote to the unchecked power of corporations. In the Great Depression, communists turned to Marx in hopes of transcending the destructive capitalist economy. The young activists of the 1960s were inspired by Marx as they gathered to protest an overseas war. Marx's influence today is evident, too, as Americans have become increasingly attuned to issues of inequality, labor, and power.After decades of being pushed to the far-left corner of intellectual thought, Marx's ideologies have crossed over into the mainstream and are more alive than ever. Working-class consciousness is on the rise, and, as Marx argued, the future of a capitalist society rests in the hands of the people who work at the point of production. A valuable resource for anyone interested in Marx's influence on American political discourse, Karl Marx in America is a thought-provoking account of the past, present, and future of his philosophies in American society. Andrew Hartman is professor of history at Illinois State University. He is the author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars, published by the University of Chicago Press, and Education and the Cold War: The Battle for the American School. He is also the coeditor of American Labyrinth: Intellectual History for Complicated Times. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/a48266/videos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Money Tales, our guest is Mike Shannon. Picture this: On a Friday night, you're 22 years old, standing in front of 8 million viewers on Shark Tank, shaking hands with Mark Cuban after closing a deal for your startup. The next morning? You're back in the Chicago Bulls locker room, folding towels and doing laundry like nothing happened. This is the extraordinary double life that our guest Mike Shannon lived while building his first company. By day, he was pitching investors and building a start-up. By night, he was mopping floors during Bulls games and running errands for NBA superstars. It's a story that perfectly captures the wild contradictions of entrepreneurship—where dreams and reality collide in the most unexpected ways. Mike Shannon is the CEO and co-founder of Impruve, an AI-native operating system built for financial advisors. Before launching Impruve, he co-founded Packback, an AIpowered education platform used by millions of students and recognized by TIME as a Top EdTech Company and by Fast Company as one of the 10 Most Innovative Companies.  Over 12 years, he scaled the business from scrappy startup to $20M ARR and a $50M+ acquisition. Earlier in his career, Mike appeared on Shark Tank and secured a deal with Mark Cuban. His entrepreneurial journey began—uniquely—while living a double life as an NBA ball boy and evolved through years navigating the highs and lows of startup life. Those stories are captured in his upcoming book, Sweaty Equity: A Ball Boy, a Billionaire, and the Bonkers Startup Tale You've Never Heard. Mike holds a B.S. in Finance from Illinois State University and sits on the board of directors for Future Founders, a nonprofit supporting thousands of aspiring young entrepreneurs nationwide. He lives in Chicago with his wife and two young boys.

The United States and the Origins of World War II in Europe (Taylor & Francis, 2025), spans 1914–1939 to provide a concise interpretation of the role the United States played in the origins of the Second World War. It synthesizes recent scholarship about interwar international politics while also presenting an original interpretation of the sources of American policy. The book shows how the drive for international reform, beginning with Woodrow Wilson, reflected both America's unusual power and its fears about maintaining its domestic freedoms in a world dominated by arms races and the threat of war. The American desire to reform or to escape from the existing international system reshaped Europe's balance of power from 1914 to 1929, leaving it precarious and unlikely to produce lasting stability. America's power continued to loom globally in the 1930s, as first its isolationism and, after 1938, its open hostility toward Germany and Japan influenced the policies of the West and of Hitler. The coda at the end of the volume analyzes how the United States affected the strategic choices made by Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and Japan from 1939 to 1941 that globalized the conflict. This book will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students in history and political science, especially courses focused on World War II and the history of U.S. foreign relations. Guest: Ross A. Kennedy (he/him), is a Professor of History and Chair at Illinois State University. He is the author of The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America's Strategy for Peace and Security (2009) as well as numerous other publications on the First World War. Host: Jenna Pittman (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Duke University. She studies modern European history, political economy, and Germany from 1945-1990. Scholars@Duke: https://scholars.duke.edu/pers... Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jennapittman 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 United States and the Origins of World War II in Europe (Taylor & Francis, 2025), spans 1914–1939 to provide a concise interpretation of the role the United States played in the origins of the Second World War. It synthesizes recent scholarship about interwar international politics while also presenting an original interpretation of the sources of American policy. The book shows how the drive for international reform, beginning with Woodrow Wilson, reflected both America's unusual power and its fears about maintaining its domestic freedoms in a world dominated by arms races and the threat of war. The American desire to reform or to escape from the existing international system reshaped Europe's balance of power from 1914 to 1929, leaving it precarious and unlikely to produce lasting stability. America's power continued to loom globally in the 1930s, as first its isolationism and, after 1938, its open hostility toward Germany and Japan influenced the policies of the West and of Hitler. The coda at the end of the volume analyzes how the United States affected the strategic choices made by Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and Japan from 1939 to 1941 that globalized the conflict. This book will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students in history and political science, especially courses focused on World War II and the history of U.S. foreign relations. Guest: Ross A. Kennedy (he/him), is a Professor of History and Chair at Illinois State University. He is the author of The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America's Strategy for Peace and Security (2009) as well as numerous other publications on the First World War. Host: Jenna Pittman (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Duke University. She studies modern European history, political economy, and Germany from 1945-1990. Scholars@Duke: https://scholars.duke.edu/pers... Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jennapittman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/world-affairs

The United States and the Origins of World War II in Europe (Taylor & Francis, 2025), spans 1914–1939 to provide a concise interpretation of the role the United States played in the origins of the Second World War. It synthesizes recent scholarship about interwar international politics while also presenting an original interpretation of the sources of American policy. The book shows how the drive for international reform, beginning with Woodrow Wilson, reflected both America's unusual power and its fears about maintaining its domestic freedoms in a world dominated by arms races and the threat of war. The American desire to reform or to escape from the existing international system reshaped Europe's balance of power from 1914 to 1929, leaving it precarious and unlikely to produce lasting stability. America's power continued to loom globally in the 1930s, as first its isolationism and, after 1938, its open hostility toward Germany and Japan influenced the policies of the West and of Hitler. The coda at the end of the volume analyzes how the United States affected the strategic choices made by Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and Japan from 1939 to 1941 that globalized the conflict. This book will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students in history and political science, especially courses focused on World War II and the history of U.S. foreign relations. Guest: Ross A. Kennedy (he/him), is a Professor of History and Chair at Illinois State University. He is the author of The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America's Strategy for Peace and Security (2009) as well as numerous other publications on the First World War. Host: Jenna Pittman (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Duke University. She studies modern European history, political economy, and Germany from 1945-1990. Scholars@Duke: https://scholars.duke.edu/pers... Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jennapittman 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 United States and the Origins of World War II in Europe (Taylor & Francis, 2025), spans 1914–1939 to provide a concise interpretation of the role the United States played in the origins of the Second World War. It synthesizes recent scholarship about interwar international politics while also presenting an original interpretation of the sources of American policy. The book shows how the drive for international reform, beginning with Woodrow Wilson, reflected both America's unusual power and its fears about maintaining its domestic freedoms in a world dominated by arms races and the threat of war. The American desire to reform or to escape from the existing international system reshaped Europe's balance of power from 1914 to 1929, leaving it precarious and unlikely to produce lasting stability. America's power continued to loom globally in the 1930s, as first its isolationism and, after 1938, its open hostility toward Germany and Japan influenced the policies of the West and of Hitler. The coda at the end of the volume analyzes how the United States affected the strategic choices made by Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and Japan from 1939 to 1941 that globalized the conflict. This book will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students in history and political science, especially courses focused on World War II and the history of U.S. foreign relations. Guest: Ross A. Kennedy (he/him), is a Professor of History and Chair at Illinois State University. He is the author of The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America's Strategy for Peace and Security (2009) as well as numerous other publications on the First World War. Host: Jenna Pittman (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Duke University. She studies modern European history, political economy, and Germany from 1945-1990. Scholars@Duke: https://scholars.duke.edu/pers... Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jennapittman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

The United States and the Origins of World War II in Europe (Taylor & Francis, 2025), spans 1914–1939 to provide a concise interpretation of the role the United States played in the origins of the Second World War. It synthesizes recent scholarship about interwar international politics while also presenting an original interpretation of the sources of American policy. The book shows how the drive for international reform, beginning with Woodrow Wilson, reflected both America's unusual power and its fears about maintaining its domestic freedoms in a world dominated by arms races and the threat of war. The American desire to reform or to escape from the existing international system reshaped Europe's balance of power from 1914 to 1929, leaving it precarious and unlikely to produce lasting stability. America's power continued to loom globally in the 1930s, as first its isolationism and, after 1938, its open hostility toward Germany and Japan influenced the policies of the West and of Hitler. The coda at the end of the volume analyzes how the United States affected the strategic choices made by Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and Japan from 1939 to 1941 that globalized the conflict. This book will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students in history and political science, especially courses focused on World War II and the history of U.S. foreign relations. Guest: Ross A. Kennedy (he/him), is a Professor of History and Chair at Illinois State University. He is the author of The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America's Strategy for Peace and Security (2009) as well as numerous other publications on the First World War. Host: Jenna Pittman (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Duke University. She studies modern European history, political economy, and Germany from 1945-1990. Scholars@Duke: https://scholars.duke.edu/pers... Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jennapittman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United States and the Origins of World War II in Europe (Taylor & Francis, 2025), spans 1914–1939 to provide a concise interpretation of the role the United States played in the origins of the Second World War. It synthesizes recent scholarship about interwar international politics while also presenting an original interpretation of the sources of American policy. The book shows how the drive for international reform, beginning with Woodrow Wilson, reflected both America's unusual power and its fears about maintaining its domestic freedoms in a world dominated by arms races and the threat of war. The American desire to reform or to escape from the existing international system reshaped Europe's balance of power from 1914 to 1929, leaving it precarious and unlikely to produce lasting stability. America's power continued to loom globally in the 1930s, as first its isolationism and, after 1938, its open hostility toward Germany and Japan influenced the policies of the West and of Hitler. The coda at the end of the volume analyzes how the United States affected the strategic choices made by Great Britain, Nazi Germany, and Japan from 1939 to 1941 that globalized the conflict. This book will appeal to undergraduate and graduate students in history and political science, especially courses focused on World War II and the history of U.S. foreign relations. Guest: Ross A. Kennedy (he/him), is a Professor of History and Chair at Illinois State University. He is the author of The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America's Strategy for Peace and Security (2009) as well as numerous other publications on the First World War. Host: Jenna Pittman (she/her), a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Duke University. She studies modern European history, political economy, and Germany from 1945-1990. Scholars@Duke: https://scholars.duke.edu/pers... Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jennapittman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guest: Andrew Hartman is professor of history at Illinois State University. He is the author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars, Education and the Cold War: The Battle for the American School, and his latest, Karl Marx in America.   The post Karl Marx's Influence in the US appeared first on KPFA.

Karl Marx in America (University of Chicago Press, 2025), by Andrew Hartman To read Karl Marx is to contemplate a world created by capitalism. People have long viewed the United States as the quintessential anti-Marxist nation, but Marx's ideas have inspired a wide range of people to formulate a more precise sense of the stakes of the American project. Historians have highlighted the imprint made on the United States by Enlightenment thinkers such as Adam Smith, John Locke, and Thomas Paine, but Marx is rarely considered alongside these figures. Yet his ideas are the most relevant today because of capitalism's centrality to American life.In  historian Andrew Hartman argues that even though Karl Marx never visited America, the country has been infused, shaped, and transformed by him. Since the beginning of the Civil War, Marx has been a specter in the American machine. During the Gilded Age, socialists read Marx as an antidote to the unchecked power of corporations. In the Great Depression, communists turned to Marx in hopes of transcending the destructive capitalist economy. The young activists of the 1960s were inspired by Marx as they gathered to protest an overseas war. Marx's influence today is evident, too, as Americans have become increasingly attuned to issues of inequality, labor, and power.After decades of being pushed to the far-left corner of intellectual thought, Marx's ideologies have crossed over into the mainstream and are more alive than ever. Working-class consciousness is on the rise, and, as Marx argued, the future of a capitalist society rests in the hands of the people who work at the point of production. A valuable resource for anyone interested in Marx's influence on American political discourse, Karl Marx in America is a thought-provoking account of the past, present, and future of his philosophies in American society. Andrew Hartman is professor of history at Illinois State University. He is the author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars, published by the University of Chicago Press, and Education and the Cold War: The Battle for the American School. He is also the coeditor of American Labyrinth: Intellectual History for Complicated Times. Morteza Hajizadeh is a Ph.D. graduate in English from the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research interests are Cultural Studies; Critical Theory; Environmental History; Medieval (Intellectual) History; Gothic Studies; 18th and 19th Century British Literature. YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/a48266/videos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/critical-theory

On this episode of the #BuildingBN podcast, CEO Patrick Hoban talks with Harriett Steinbach, Director, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at Illinois State University.Host:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patrick Hoban: CEO, Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Guest:Harriett Steinbach: Director, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at Illinois State UniversityWebsites: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.bnbiz.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Illinois State UniversityTakeaways:Harriett has been at ISU since 2002, with a focus on community engagement.She transitioned to the Office of Research to lead innovation and partnerships.The Bloomington Normal Innovation Hub aims to connect higher education institutions for economic benefit.Applied research is crucial for solving community issues and fostering innovation.The hub aims to establish a business incubator that supports local entrepreneurs.Community input is vital for effective strategic planning.The hub will not duplicate existing services but strengthen connections.Harriett emphasizes the importance of organic connections in entrepreneurship.The goal is to launch programming by mid-2026, even without a physical space.Creating a physical space will enhance opportunities for collaboration and innovation opportunities. Strategic planning is essential for economic development.An overarching ecosystem for entrepreneurship is needed.Infrastructure gaps can hinder business growth.Showcasing local attractions can help retain talent.Economic development reflects community investment.Funding is a significant challenge for entrepreneurs.Collaboration is key to filling gaps in support.A diverse economy is crucial for long-term stability.Building an innovation corridor can enhance regional growth.Engaging with local investors can boost startup funding.

Today we welcome quilt artist Barbara Ann McCraw. Actually…we welcome her back as we met Barbara in person and interviewed her at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah at her exhibit Life Stories during Quilt Week in 2024. While our conversation was a component of a compilation of stories…we felt that she had so much more to share, hence she joins us today. Barbara grew up on the south side of Chicago and later attended Illinois State University where she earned a degree in English. In 1986 she earned a degree in medical technology and worked at Texas Woman's Univrsity, University of North Texas and UT Southwestern Medical center where  she became pathology supervisor until her retirement in 2000. Barbara's quilts have won numerous awards and many now make their home in private collections. They have been featured in multiple publications and featured in a documentary and a CBS television human interest story.In 2012 Barbara was invited to teach in Tanzania, Africa and two years later she returned there to participate in a quilt honoring Nelson Mandella. Barbara gives large credit for her success to her husband Erine who has helped her both personally and professionally throughout her quilting career. Barbara and Ernie make their home in Texas. (2:20) Barbara talks about how she learned to sew and who was her influence. A very loud, rambunctious family had a large part in this! (4:55) Learn about Barbara's mother and more about her influence on Barbara's sewing, leading with courage and unconditional love. (6:35) Barbara's career started out using her English. A pregnancy changed course for her. She always wanted to wear a lab coat…and wanted to be a doctor and learned that medical technology was really her thing. So off she went to become a pathologist/medical technologist.  (10:03) So how did Barbara decide to learn to quilt? A move to Texas and missing her mom led the way. Learn about her interactions with the Newcomers Club in Carolton, TX and how this influenced her path(11:50) What was her first quilt? Learn that here.(12:35) The Family Reunion Quilt is one of her finest. She shares the story of this wonderful creation…and the dream that started it all. Her family history story is quite amazing. (18:10) Barbara talks openly about living through many race-based issues. She addresses this through her Loving Quilt. Hear this story and the impact this creation has had. She talks about her husband Ernie, their marriage and how Mildred and Richard Loving had an impact on them. (23:39) Learn more about Ernie McCraw, his influence on Barbara's career and the secret to their 45-year marriage.  (28:52) Learn about Barbara's  trips to Tanzania and her work on the Nelson Mandela quilt. (34:12) In 1995 Barbara became involved in Aids Services of North Texas. Because of this, she joined a sewing group that was working on the Names Project…creating quilt blocks made for families of those who passed from Aids. Learn why these quilts were 3'x6'. (38:05) How has quilting influenced her life and why is it so special to her? Belonging is the foundation of all of this. (39:45) What's next for Barbara and what's her dream? Well, there's this special quilt she's working on…! (41:40) It there any question I didn't ask? (42:45) What's the best way to reach Barbara? www.quiltasart.com.  Be sure to subscribe to, review and rate this podcast on your favorite platform…and visit our website sewandsopodcast.com for more information about today's and all of our Guests.

Jim Jones is the co-creator of the new In The Know podcast music and has been the Executive Director of the Katie School of Insurance & Financial Services at Illinois State University since 2001. The Katie School supports over 500 students majoring in Risk Management and Insurance (RMI), actuarial science, and other majors, who are interested in careers in insurance. Jones works with ISU faculty, staff, administration, and industry executives in helping to develop talent for industry and educate students at the velocity of change. He holds an MBA in International Business from Saint Louis University, a BSBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Missouri Trulaske College of Business, and CPCU, AIC, ARM, and AIS. In this episode of In the Know, Chris Hampshire and Jim discuss microinsurance in developing countries, the next generation of talent, what Gen Z is looking for in a career, and tactics for successfully addressing the talent gap in the insurance industry.   Key Takeaways Jim's current role in the insurance industry focuses on the next generation of risk management professionals. As the Director of Claims Education, Jim taught 20,000 students each year. Jim's research in creating inclusive insurance in developing countries. In The Know's new theme song was written while Jim was in Kathmandu. Expanding the reach of microinsurance to underserved populations. A portrait of today's recently graduated insurance professional. Tactics for addressing the talent gap in the insurance industry. Characteristics of companies that successfully hire recent graduates. Jim's stand-apart advice to his early career self.   In the Know podcast theme music written and performed by James Jones, CPCU, and Kole Shuda of the band If-Then.   To learn more about the CPCU Society, its membership and educational offerings, tools, and programs, please visit CPCUSociety.org.   Follow the CPCU Society on social media: X (Twitter): @CPCUSociety Facebook: @CPCUSociety                 LinkedIn: @The Institutes CPCU Society Instagram: @the_cpcu_society  

Sometimes, The Beautiful Game never quite lets us go! Joining Jen Siess this Soccer Mom Sunday was St. Louis soccer star, Annie Wayland. Like a lot of girls growing up in soccer “back in the day”, Annie's start was wherever she could find competitive play (lucky those boys' teams figured out she could find the back of the net and stopped hiding her on defense). Dad was her first coach and moved her onto a more competitive scene with JB Marine Soccer Club - where she was around so many top players in the area. In her time playing at Illinois State University, she smashed just about every record or achievement she could. And, this Hall of Famer has given back to the game ever since, coaching high school soccer for over 20 years now. Listen in for stories of Annie's start, how her parents' support kept her lifted the entire way, and her perspectives on what the game CAN and SHOULD give to our youth players. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stephanie Trenchard's multi-disciplinary creative process includes painting and poetry along with cast glass. With a focus on biographical stories of how women artists have navigated careers and partnerships, motherhood and making a living while still focusing on their creative practice, the work also discusses the price the art has to pay in this grand juggling act. The artist prioritizes the actual experience of the work, making and seeing it, over the classification of genre or ownership of an idea.  Says Trenchard: “I create my own visual vocabulary in storytelling. Using these totems, I tell stories about the artistic experience and the ensuing personal relationships usually based on true stories of artists from history. The subject of these narratives is often revealed in the title of the piece, but it is not necessary that the viewer be familiar with the subject in order to understand the concept because the metaphors are universal to the human condition.” Her work also involves using art as a way to communicate local activism as seen in her project About Sturgeon Bay. Born in Champaign, Illinois, in 1962, Trenchard earned her BFA in painting from Illinois State University in 1984. Subsequently, she and glass artist husband Jeremy Popelka relocated to San Francisco, California, where Trenchard designed textile patterns, licensed and sold under a private label. Upon returning to Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin in 1997, the couple built a hot shop and gallery that they share to this day. They assist each other with work as well as teaching projects, such as their recent classes in Thailand. As she assisted Popelka, Trenchard began to see glass casting as a means of translating textile patterns and other imagery to glass. The discovery of Paradise Paints allowed her to combine painting skills with glass art in the development of her award-winning body of work. Trenchard has developed a unique method of creating art using glass combined with paint. She first creates fully realized figures or objects in clear glass, which are then painted with high-fire enamels that are mixed and blended just as with oil or acrylic paints. Next, these three-dimensional objects or figures are submerged into molten glass encased in cubes and rectangles of clear sand cast glass. Each cube or rectangle is created so that they can be fitted tightly next to one another or on top, making a totem like structure. Coldworking is required to achieve the perfect fit. She states: “I have been following my own interests and curiosities concerning how these women have navigated their careers and artistic practices. I represent these ideas in glass through the details that speak to me, particularly the ephemera of material culture, furniture and clothing that encapsulate their era and class. I also rely on posture and facial expression to reveal the nature of the subject as I intuit it.” In addition to teaching in her studio, Trenchard has taught workshops at Pratt Fine Art Center, University of Wisconsin, The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass, The Bergstrom Mahler Museum of Glass and others. She was a lecturer at the Glass Art Society Conference, Murano, Italy, and established the first hot glass school in Southeast Asia, at Bangkok Glass, Thailand. Recent exhibitions include: Beyond Giving, Inspiring Change, Singapore Art Week, Singapore; Matriarchs of Mastery, Habatat Gallery, Detroit, Michigan; A Creative Place, Trout Museum, Wisconsin; and Beyond the Ceiling – Women of Studio Glass, Sarasota, Florida, Habatat Invitational, Michigan. Awards include Trenchard's 2025 Featured Poet award, presented by After Hours Journal, Chicago; 2023, 2024 Prize Winner at Habatat International Exhibition; and the 2020 AACG Wisconsin Artist Series at Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass. Says Trenchard: “Telling stories is what cultures do to understand the history and identities of the people. The small details in my work open up a conversation about the personal experiences of women in the arts as interpreted through history.”  

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dr Katrin Paehler, Professor of modern European history at Illinois State University.First, a journalist describes how he accompanied Hitler through the embers of the Reichstag fire in 1933.Then, the harrowing recollections of a doctor who saved survivors of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.Next, a woman describes how she was caught between her job and her clan during the UN's disastrous Somalia mission in the 1990s.A Liberian woman explains how she helped end the country's civil war.Finally, how Germany's 'death zone' became a natural paradise.Contributors:Sefton Delmer - British journalist at the Reichstag fire. Dr David Tuggle - surgeon at the Oklahoma City bombing. Halima Ismail Ibrahim - former UN worker in Somalia. Leymah Gbowee - Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace. Professor Kai Frobel - co-founder of Germany's 'Green Belt'.(Photo: Reichstag building on fire. Credit: Corbis via Getty Images)

Read the Jacobin article about the situation at Illinois State here: https://jacobin.com/.../illinois-state-university-faculty...   Elite institutions of higher education tend to grab most headlines. But non-elite public colleges have dealt with relentless austerity for decades — which is why Illinois State University faculty just voted to authorize a strike.   Get Tickets for the live podcast in San Francisco, "Is Trump the End of, The End of History" here: https://www.universe.com/.../is-trump-the-end-of-history...   Check out our new bi-weekly series, "The Crisis Papers" here: https://www.patreon.com/bitterlakepresents/shop   Thank you guys again for taking the time to check this out. We appreciate each and everyone of you. If you have the means, and you feel so inclined, BECOME A PATRON! We're creating patron only programing, you'll get bonus content from many of the episodes, and you get MERCH!   Become a patron now https://www.patreon.com/join/BitterLakePresents?   Please also like, subscribe, and follow us on these platforms as well, (specially YouTube!)   THANKS Y'ALL   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG9WtLyoP9QU8sxuIfxk3egFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thisisrevolutionpodcast/Twitter: @TIRShowOaklandInstagram: @thisisrevolutionoakland   Read Jason Myles in Sublation Magazine https://www.sublationmag.com/writers/jason-myles   Read Jason Myles in Damage Magazine https://damagemag.com/2023/11/07/the-man-who-sold-the-world/

Creativity through the lens of a holistic thinker and author"Creativity is the openness to new ideas"Anne Riley, born in Richland, Washington, is the eleventh of twelve children and grew up in Naperville, Illinois. She graduated from Illinois State University in 1981 with a degree in Accounting, earning the prestigious Bone Scholar award. She earned an MBA from Portland State University. For many years, she balanced family life with a career in various industries, including technology, teaching, and finance, before retiring in 2011. Influenced by Michael Rothschild's Bionomics, Riley developed a theory known as the Ideasphere, exploring the parallels between human and ecological systems. Her theory is articulated in her novel DINA: Nature's Case for Democracy and the non-fiction book The Human Idea, Earth's Newest Ecosystem. Riley's writing, characterized by humor and depth, aims to engage and improve the lives of her readers.Social Media:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-riley-mba-656b0125a/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/anne-riley.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheHumanIdeasphereWebsite: https://www.thehumanidea.com/Send us a text

self-described loner, Joel Philip Myers developed his skills in relative isolation from the Studio Glass movement. With works inspired by a vast array of topics ranging from his deep love of the Danish countryside to Dr. Zharkov, the artist avoided elaborate sculpture in favor of substantial vessels that are simple yet powerful. States Myers: “In 1964, on the occasion of an exhibition titled Designed for Production: The Craftsman's Approach, I wrote in an essay in Craft Horizons magazine: ‘My approach to glass, as it is to clay, is to allow the material an expression of its own. Press the material to the utmost, and it will suggest ideas and creative avenues to the responsive artist.' The statement was sincere and enthusiastic, but decidedly naïf. I never thought when I wrote it that it would be the one statement of mine that would continue to be repeatedly quoted, throughout my 46- year-long career, as my defining philosophy. I have no defining philosophy. I am a visual artist, not a philosopher. Thoughts and ideas and opinions do not constitute a philosophy, and my thoughts and ideas and opinions have evolved and matured and changed in the time that has passed since 1964.” He continues: “As an artist I like to think of myself as a visitor in a maze, trying to find a solution to a dizzying puzzle. As in a maze, I have, through blunders and exploration, arrived at solutions, and embraced the manifold possibilities that the material offers: plasticity, transparency, opacity, translucency. I am sensitive to the wonders of the visual world and inspired by the forms and colors of the natural world. My training as a designer has enabled me to understand and exploit organization and structure, adding a rational perspective to my intuitive, emotional self.” Myers earned his degree in advertising design from Parsons School of Design in 1954. He studied in Copenhagen, Denmark, before earning a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in the early 1960s. In 1963, he was hired as design director at Blenko Glass Company in Milton, West Virginia. Captivated by the drama of this thriving glass factory, he learned glassblowing through observation and practice.  In 1970, Myers established the nascent glass department at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, where he served as Distinguished Professor of Art for 30 years until he retired from teaching in 1997. He is an Honorary Lifetime Member, 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner and past President of the Glass Art Society, a Fellow of the American Crafts Council, and the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. His work is represented in prominent museum collections around the world, including The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY; The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C; The Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague; Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Japan; Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Palais du Louvre, Paris, France; and Musee de Design et d'Arts Appliques Contemporains, Lausanne, Switzerland, amongst others. Of his sculpture, Myers states: “My work is concerned with drawing, painting, playing with color and imagery on glass. I work with simple forms and concentrate on the surface enrichment. I prefer the spherical, three-dimensional surface to a flat one, because as I paint and draw on the glass, the glass form receives the drawing, adapts to its shape, distorts and expands it as it clothes and envelops itself in my drawing. I feel a communication with the material, and a reciprocation from my subconscious, as I continually search for new insights into my unknown self.” Enjoy this enlightening conversation with Myers, who at 91 has a near photographic memory of the events and developments that spurred the Studio Glass movement forward in its early days, as well as the ideas and processes of his personal work in glass – some of the most successful and collected of its day.  

Meet Jack Anstey, we covered his journey from "the Outback" in Alice Springs, Australia, to the US for college at Illinois State University—where he initially struggled to find his footing before becoming an All-American and enjoying the best years of his life.After graduating in 2021, Jack signed his pro contract with Under Armour, moved to Flagstaff, and enjoys training with Mission Run Dark Sky Distance.His running achievements include:-2x Australian record holder for the 1000m and road mile-A mile personal best of 3:51.51-A 1500m personal best of 3:35.37-He's been to multiple world championships representing Australia and finished top-10 in 2023-NCAA Division 1 first team All American while at Illinois StateI TRULY enjoyed our conversation. Go give Jack a follow and I hope you enjoy the listen!If you enjoy the episode, it would mean the world to me if you would rate the podcast or write a review and share feedback wherever you get your podcast groove on.Connect With Jack:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackansteyConnect With Ron:Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ronrunsnycPodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runchats_with_ronrunsnycFacebook: https://fb.me/runchatsWebsite: https://ronrunsnyc.com----Produced by: David Margittai | In Post MediaWebsite: https://www.inpostmedia.comEmail: david@inpostmedia.comSocial: https://www.instagram.com/_margittai© 2025 Ron Romano

We discuss the influence of Karl Marx in American politics and the continued relevance of Marxism today.   Andrew's civic action toolkit recommendations are:  Form a reading group to change your collective political consciousness Read something challenging at an intellectual, political, or philosophical level   Andrew Hartman is professor of history at Illinois State University and the author of several books, including A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars. His upcoming book is Karl Marx in America.     Let's connect! Follow Future Hindsight on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/futurehindsightpod/   Discover new ways to #BetheSpark:  https://www.futurehindsight.com/spark    Follow Mila on X:  https://x.com/milaatmos    Follow Andrew on X:  https://x.com/HartmanAndrew    Sponsor:  Thank you to Shopify! Sign up for a $1/month trial at shopify.com/hopeful.   Early episodes for Patreon supporters: https://patreon.com/futurehindsight  Credits:  Host: Mila Atmos  Guests: Andrew Hartman Executive Producer: Mila Atmos Producer: Zack Travis