In June 28, 1969, in Greenwich Village, The New York City Police Department fueled by bigoted liquor licensing practices and an omnipresent backdrop of homophobia and transphobia, raided the Stonewall Inn, a neighborhood gay bar, in the middle of the night. The raid was met with a series of responses that would go down as … Continued
Letters and Politics
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.
Iran is saying that it has shot down a U.S. surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump is saying that Iran has committed a major mistake. This comes as some members of Congress have scored some recent victories in their attempt to rein in presidential war powers. And just moments ago, the Senate … Continued
For the first time in over a decade. Today, Congress held a hearing on reparations for slavery. We talk to Professor Daina Ramey Berry about the history of reparations. Professor Berry is the Oliver H. Radkey Regents Professor of History and associate dean of the Graduate School at the University of Texas at Austin. She is … Continued
The internet was designed to be a kind of free-speech paradise, but a lot of the material on it turned out to incite violence, spread untruth, and promote hate. Over the years, three American behemoths—Facebook, YouTube and Twitter—became the way most of the world experiences the internet, and therefore the conveyors of much of its … Continued
A conversation with political analyst Ryan Grim on how big money took over the Democratic party and the struggle against it. The last thirty years has seen the building of a movement, which first exploded into public view with the largely forgotten presidential run of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a campaign that came dangerously close … Continued
We are in conversation on the intellectual history of ideas in America and how they have been pass down and reuse. We explore the intellectual transformation America, from the Enlightenment, transcendentalism, and Social Darwinism to progressivism, conservatism, and postmodernism. Guest: Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen is the Merle Curti Associate Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison … Continued
Today we are in conversation about the life of English novelist Mary Shelley, who wrote the book Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. A book that is considered in part a Gothic novel and in part, a philosophical novel. We discuss Mary Shelley’s work and her relationship to her mother, the highly influential eighteenth century feminist, … Continued
Today we are in conversation with professor Gary Dorrien about the history of social democracy both in Europe and the United States. He discusses how the fallout from twenty years of neoliberal economic globalism has sparked a surge of interest in the old idea of democratic socialism -a democracy in which the people control the economy … Continued
A conversation with Kyle Harper about one of the most consequential chapters of human history: the fall of the Roman Empire. Central to this issue are question such as how does an empire fall? What was the role of climate change and pandemic diseases in the collapse of Rome’s power. Guest: Kyle Harper is a historian of the … Continued
We are in conversation with Lillian Faderman about her book The Gay Revolution. It begins in the 1950s, when law classified gays and lesbians as criminals, the psychiatric profession saw them as mentally ill, the churches saw them as sinners, and society victimized them with irrational hatred. Against this dark backdrop, a few brave people … Continued