Letters and Politics

Anti-Semitism and Its History

A conversation on antisemitism, it’s history and the most recent controversy concerning Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), one of the two Muslim women to have serve in Congress.  Last week in a series of tweets suggested that AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) use money in order to influence U.S. policy to defend Israel. Representative … Continued


Before the Civil War, colonization schemes and black laws threatened to deport former slaves born in the United States. We talk to Martha S. Jones about how African American remade national belonging through battles in legislatures, conventions, and courthouses and reclaim their right to citizenship. Guest: Martha S. Jones is the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor … Continued


A conversation with Vandana Shiva and Vijaya Nagarajan about climate change, women of the world, religious rituals, and how they all go together. Guest: Vijaya Nagarajan is an associate professor in the Department of Theology/Religious Studies and in the Program of Environmental Studies at the University of San Francisco. She is the author of the book Feeding a Thousand Souls: Women, … Continued


This weekend Senator Elizabeth Warren is expected to formally announce her candidacy for the democratic nomination for presidency. Today we are in conversation with Jacqueline Keeler about Warren’s controversies of her Native American heritage, the issue about tribal citizenship and the history behind all this. Guest: Jacqueline Keeler is a Diné/Ihanktonwan Dakota writer and contributor to … Continued


Today we talk in-depth about the latest on the US foreign affairs of the Trump administration, from withdrawing US troops from Syria, to the U.S. recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela, to the U.S. announcing plans to withdraw from a corner stone nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Guest: Stephen Kinzer is … Continued


A conversation about two legendary German philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger, and how their ideas have influenced today’s far right-wing ideologues such as Richard Spencer, Aleksandr Dugin, and Steve Bannon. Guest: Ronald Beiner is Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto and author of numerous books, including Political Philosophy: What It Is and Why It Matters and Civil Religion: … Continued