Adapting to a Warmer Planet with Alice Hill

The planet is warming.  This isn’t conjecture and it isn’t political: it’s the overwhelming conclusion of climate scientists from all over the world.  Now, for a long time, the debate has been over whether and how we mitigate the threats posed by climate change.  But Alice C. Hill warns that debate…

The 2021 Story of the Year with Evelyn Farkas

2021 is the second year of the pandemic, and it began, almost immediately, with a violent insurrection at the United States Capitol.  Dr. Evelyn Farkas helps us put the big stories of the last 12 months in context even as we name the top story of 2021. Dr. Farkas has three decades of experience wo…

Examining the Expectations Placed on Women Through the Lens of Sport with Lindsey Crouse

The demands society places on women—the choices they make about their lives, their relationships, and their appearance—can be overwhelming.  Lindsay Crouse exposes those expectations to the bright light of day and forces all of us to consider our own roles in them. Crouse is a film producer and se…

America's Search for National Idenity with Colin Woodard

There are some who argue that the United States of America as a nation, should be defined by its civic identity. A federal Republic that’s found he promised equality under the law and Liberty to all of its people. But there’s a darker side to the American history too, one built on ethnonationalism …

The Winter of Peril with Robert Costa

Every president, every public servant in the United States, raises their hand and takes an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.  Robert Costa says the end of the Trump presidency saw an unprecedented threat to the Constitutional…

Shekhar Saxena on the Pandemic's Impact on Global Mental Health

Since early 2000, the world has become familiar with the impacts of COVID-19: isolation, mask-wearing, and, for far too many, disease and death.  Dr. Shekhar Saxena says there’s another impact we are just beginning to grapple with: the way the pandemic has affected global mental health. Saxena is …

The Politics of Today's Healthcare Issues with Robert Hackey and Todd Olszewski

Democrats and Republicans don’t agree on much—and, generally speaking, they don’t agree on health care policy.  But Robert Hackey and Todd Olszewski tell us that there is a rich history and potential for actual cooperation on policies intended to keep Americans healthy and the nation strong. Bob H…

Exploring Hidden Networks Below the Forests with Suzanne Simard

Forests have long been celebrated in literature as a repository or life and solitude.  But Dr. Suzanne Simard says they are also an important repository of wisdom—a wisdom passed from tree to tree as they communicate with one another. Dr. Simard is a Professor of Forest Ecology in the Department o…

Studying Classic Texts in the American Judicial System with Emily Allen-Hornblower and Nafeesah Goldsmith

The promise of a liberal arts education has always been the insight offered to us by classic texts about the human experience.  Emily Allen-Hornblower and Nafeesah Goldsmith tell us the appeal is not limited just to traditional students in classrooms, but also students learning in environments as c…

Investigating the Events of January 6, 2021 with Scott MacFarlane

On January 6, 2021, a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol seeking to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.  While our attention has been consumed with things like the pandemic, vaccines, and America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, Scott MacFarlane reminds us that the investigations into the event…