Current Affairs

Grave New World: A Q&A with Stephen D. King

To mark the publication of Stephen D. King’s Grave New World: The End of Globalization, The Return of History, we chatted with Stephen about the implications of globalization, and what the return of history means for the western economy and nation states. 1. The subtitle of Grave New World is “The End of

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Ep. 28 – The Life and Politics of William F. Buckley

Alvin Felzenberg shares stories about William F. Buckley, from his early family life to the formation of the modern conservative movement.

Notions of Common Law in Medieval Islam

Mohammad Fadel— The great western scholar of Islamic law, the late Joseph Schacht, famously characterized Islamic law as a “jurist’s law,” by which he meant to draw scholarly attention to the central role that scholars of the law—the fuqahāʾ (s. faqīh)—played in the formulation of Islamic law in contrast to

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Confronting American Genocide on the California Coast

Benjamin Madley— As the sun rose on July 7, 1846, four U.S. warships rode at anchor in Monterey Bay. Ashore, the Mexican tricolor cracked over the adobe walls and red-tiled roofs of California’s capitol for the last time. At 7:30 a.m., Commodore John Sloat sent Captain William Mervine ashore “to

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Can Presidents Be Prosecuted?

Brian Kalt— President Trump has been nothing if not unconventional. Time and again, he has upended traditions and institutions, blowing past those who say, “You can’t do that!” and replying, “I just did!” But in the process of upsetting so many apple carts, he is also teeing up an object lesson in

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Ep. 27 – America’s Role on the Global Stage

What should US foreign policy look like in the age of globalism? Foreign policy expert Thomas Wright discusses the threats and opportunities facing the US from places like Europe and East Asia and offers guidance on crafting a foreign policy that addresses these modern challenges. This episode was recorded on

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How to Hook Your Audience: The Rule of Three

David Crystal— If there’s one thing that seems to promote eloquent language more than anything else, that is found repeatedly in the speech of any orator I’ve ever listened to, that appears in every language I’ve ever studied, it’s the “rule of three.” Eloquence is infectious. You notice a clever

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Dorothy Day for the Twenty-First Century

Joseph Kip Kosek— Dorothy Day (1897–1980) was deeply shaped by the economic and political upheavals of the 1930s and 1940s. Early in her career, she worked as a journalist in New York City, participating in the radical political and cultural experiments centered in Greenwich Village. Then, in 1926, the year

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Ep. 26 – Illustrated Print Culture in the 19th Century

Professor Patricia Mainardi discusses the earliest days of comics along with other exciting developments in the illustrated press in 19th-century France and England.

Shining a Spotlight on Jewish Lives

To celebrate the launch of the new Jewish Lives series website, you can get 25% off purchases of books in the series and enter for a chance to win all 35 books. The Jewish Lives series is a major series of interpretative biography designed to illuminate the imprint of Jewish figures upon

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