Adam Kirsch on Imagining Earth without Humans
From climate change to the potential of artificial intelligence, there are plenty of reasons to doubt the viability of human life on Earth. Adam Kirsch, author of The Revolt Against Humanity: Imagining a Future Without Us, spoke with a diverse array of people who all agree on one thing: The
Van Jackson on America’s Paradoxical Role in Asia
American statesmen often argue that the U.S. role in Asia is indispensable to maintaining peace on the continent. Van Jackson, author of Pacific Power Paradox: American Statecraft and the Fate of the Asian Peace, counters that America has just as often been Asia’s arsonist as its savior. He
Anna Lembke on Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
Is pain necessary to appreciate the good in life? Has unfettered access to pleasurable stimuli–from drugs and alcohol to internet and streaming TV–dulled our ability to experience true pleasure? Dr. Anna Lembke uses neuroscience and narrative to explore these questions and more in her book Dopamine Nation: Finding
James E. Cronin on the Reinvention of the Liberal Democratic Order
From the Cold War and collapse of communism to the rise of globalization and recent financial crises, James E. Cronin, author of Fragile Victory: The Making and Unmaking of Liberal Order, posits that these events have caused a constant reinvention of a liberal order that once seemed unshakeable. Cronin joins
Shana Kushner Gadarian on Politics and the Pandemic
To mask or not to mask? U.S. citizens received different messaging about the degree of the Covid-19 threat and how to respond to it depending on who they were listening to. In the end, the different choices people made largely cleaved to partisan positions. In Pandemic Politics: The Deadly
Frank Dikötter on China’s Uneven Rise
The transformation of the Chinese economy over the last four decades is typically thought of as near-miraculous. Yet the facts and figures that make up that picture are those that have filtered down from the Chinese Communist Party. In China after Mao: The Rise of a Superpower, Frank Dikötter’s
Tom Dunkel on the Germans Sabotaging the Third Reich
A number of stories of individual acts of German resistance to the Nazis have come to light over the years. What is little known is that a network of individuals — from average civilians to those within the highest reaches of government and the military — coordinated efforts in a sustained attempt
Dan Akst on the WWII Pacifists Who Revolutionized Resistance
In War by Other Means: The Pacifists of the Greatest Generation Who Revolutionized Resistance, author Daniel Akst traces the founding of the American progressive movement back to when the United States was on the brink of war. Akst joins Richard Aldous to discuss how four unlikely real-life characters in the
