10:00 AM Pacific Time: Monday - Thursday
Letters & Politics seeks to explore the history behind today’s major global and national news stories. Hosted by Mitch Jeserich.
Today our host Mitch Jeserich speaks with Eric Toder, co-director of Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute, about the history and the potential developments in American tax policy. We delve into the history of American tax reform and discuss the ways in which Trump is seeking to modify the existing tax code. Mr. Toder is … Continued
Today, our host Mitch Jeserich is in conversation with Pamela Haag, author of the book The Gunning of America: Business and the Making of American Gun Culture. In light of yet another mass shooting this past week in Sutherland Springs, Texas, we discuss the history of American gun culture and how it has grown not only … Continued
Today, our host Mitch Jeserich is in conversation with Madeleine O’Dea about her new book The Phoenix Years: Art, Resistance and the Making of Modern China, which discusses the history of China since the death of Mao in 1976 in terms of the political and artistic movements that reinforced one another. O’Dea is a veteran journalist who has … Continued
On today’s show, our host Mitch Jeserich speaks with Kurt Wagner, Senior Editor of Recode, who specializes in business and tech-related stories, about the relationship between the Russian government and American social media in terms of the 2016 election. We then discuss the recent Manhattan terror attack with Karen J. Greenberg, Director of the Center on National Security … Continued
On today’s show, Mitch Jeserich is in conversation with Harry Franqui-Rivera, Associate Professor of History at Bloomfield College and author of the book Soldiers of the Nation: Military Service and Modern Puerto Rico, 1868-1952. After an economic crisis and a devastating hurricane, the island is struggling to recover. To understand the whole situation, we are … Continued
Today Mitch Jeserich is in conversation with Jeremy Stahl and Ryan Grim about the latest Robert Mueller indictments news. Jeremy Stahl is a senior editor for Slate, he wrote yesterday the article “The Potential Bombshell Hidden in the Mueller Indictments”. Ryan Grim is The Intercept’s Washington D.C. bureau chief. Then we are talking with historian Robert … Continued
Today, our host Mitch Jeserich is in conversation with John Nichols about the recent revelations about Russian interference in 2016 American presidential election. This Monday afternoon, Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort pled not guilty to money laundering, but the evidence is strong. John Nichols writes about politics for The Nation as its national-affairs correspondent … Continued
Today Letters And Politics Host, Mitch Jeserich, spoke with Philip Jenkins, author of Crucible of Faith: The Ancient Revolution That Made Our Modern Religious World. The book delves into the tumultuous period from 250 to 50 BCE and dissects the cultural and political chaos that provoked the factionalization of Jewish faith and trace how certain core ideas … Continued
On today’s show, Christina Aanestad, filing in for Mitch Jeserich, talks with Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno about the impacts of mass criminalization and criminal justice reform under Trump. Maria McFarland Sánchez-Moreno is the Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance. Then, Christina Aanestad is in conversation with Michael Tanglis, Senior Researcher at Public Citizen’s Congress … Continued
Today our host Olive Sand, filling in for Mitch Jeserich, interviews Stephen Hinshaw, chair of UCBerkeley’s psychology department, about his book The Triple Bind: Saving Our Teenage Girls from Today’s Pressures and Conflicting Expectations, written in collaboration with Rachel Kranz. It was written in 2009 but has lost nothing of its accuracy in the intervening years. Its … Continued
