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Letters & Politics seeks to explore the history behind today’s major global and national news stories. Hosted by Mitch Jeserich.
A conversation on eighteenth-century philosopher Denis Diderot and the battle over his encyclopedia which was considered to be full of subversive stuff. Diderot challenged virtually all of his century’s accepted truths, from the sanctity of monarchy, to the racial justification of the slave trade, to the norms of human sexuality. He is considered a prophetic philosopher … Continued
The government shutdown is today in its 26th day. The longest shutdown in US history and it will likely go longer. Shutdown the government is a tactic that has been used to obtain a political end in times and places since ancient Greece. Today we talk explore the question of what does it mean for a … Continued
The Senate Judiciary Committee began the confirmation hearing for William Barr to become the next Attorney General. Today we are in conversation about the historic role of an attorney general and the long standing controversial issue over executive power. Guest: Peter M. Shane is the Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law … Continued
The British parliament is scheduled to vote on a withdrawal agreement with the European Union as the UK is trying to leave the EU by March 29th of this year. A political crisis has been set up in London as well as in Europe over this vote and what could happen afterwards. Professor Desmond Dinan … Continued
Mike Pence’s drive for power, perhaps inspired by his belief that God might have big plans for him, explains why he shocked his allies by lending Christian credibility to a scandal-plagued candidate like Trump. We are in conversation with author Michael D’Antonio about the history of Mike Pence and his role in the Trump administration. … Continued
We talk to Legal scholar Alan Hirsch about historical lessons and how the Constitution provides context during times of political uncertainty and crisis. We dive into two presidential impeachments in U.S. history. The first one on Andrew Johnson in 1868, and the second on Bill Clinton in the late 1990’s. Guest: Alan Hirsch is the chair … Continued
We talk to Professor Thomas E. Mann about the history of the government shutdowns including the current one. Professor Mann explains the politics and the implications of the shutdowns. Guest: Thomas E. Mann is Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution and Resident Scholar at the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley.
When Franklin Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover in the 1932 election, they represented not only different political parties but vastly different approaches to the question of the day: How could the nation recover from the Great Depression? Professor Eric Rauchway join us to talk about the months before the hundred days, FDR and Hoover battled over … Continued
Congress has never been so divided than it is now but there’s a long history of fierce division in Capitol Hill. Today we talk about the decades leading to the civil war. Guest: Joanne B. Freeman, is a professor of history and American studies at Yale University, is a leading authority on early national politics and … Continued
The common notions of the beginning of civilizations is that it was remarkably better than a nomadic hunter and gather type of existence. Anthropologist James C. Scott argues that early cities an cities throughout the history were so miserable that these early states went to war in order to capture slaves to keep the cities … Continued
