Exploring the Urgent Issues of Our World Through Poetry with Joshua Bennett

Poetry comes in many forms. Dr. Joshua Bennett explores the history of “spoken word” and its expansion of the contours of poetry and its ability to capture the urgent, social issues of the day. Bennett is the author of five award-winning books of poetry, criticism, and narrative nonfiction, includ…

Shafo Sahil and Matt Waters on The Bond of the Battlefield

Soldiers know what it means to keep the faith—a character trait valued in others given the grim realities of fighting on distant battlefields.  Shafo Sahil and Matt Waters know the bond borne of shared battlefield experience and can help us understand what recent Hollywood portrayals got right and …

Life Beyond Traumatic Brain Injury with Jamie MoCrazy

Anyone who has ever enjoyed watching sports will typically concede that part of the appeal is absolute wonder at the skill, drive, courage, and commitment it takes to perform at the highest levels.  Jamie MoCrazy embodied all of those attributes as an extreme skier until a traumatic brain injury en…

Examining America’s History Through Story with Ilyon Woo

It’s been said that the history of an era is written in the countless acts of individuals, doing their best to live their own lives.  Ilyon Woo shares the story of one married couple whose personal journey—literally and figuratively—charts the course of the United States in the dozen years before t…

Exploring Human Displacement as a Result of Climate Change with Jake Bittle

The pantheon of writers focused on climate change ranges from scientists and scholars to poets lamenting the loss of our environment. Jake Bittle documents the impact of climate on people, including the great migration of Americans caused by changes to the Earth’s environment. Bittle is an author …

Azar Nafisi on the Power of Literature in Our World Today

So much of our modern life is built upon simplifying the complex. We reduce social interactions to likes and follows on social media and dilute the “news” in our favorite echo chambers. But Azar Nafisi warns that life is not simple, and the complexity found in great literature is ultimately liberat…

Jessica Grose on the experiences of motherhood in America today

Motherhood is the stuff of childhood play and, often, adult anxieties. Jessica Grose unpacks the realities of motherhood in the United States today, the reasons for those anxieties, and the experience of mothers from various walks of life.    Grose is an established author and opinion writer at th…

Analyzing America’s ever-changing media landscape with Steve Scully

Three months ago, the GOP took control of the United States House of Representatives. Steve Scully cuts through the headlines and the talking points to help us understand what has changed in Washington since the end of 2022, and what has stayed the same.   Scully has worked as a political editor, …

Max Boot on the Threats to American Democracy

In the last two years, from the steps of the U.S. Capitol to the streets of Kiev, the fight for democracy has been joined. Max Boot reviews the struggle and the links between events overseas and the health of American democracy at home.   Named as one of the “world’s leading authorities on armed c…

Documenting America’s History with Slavery with Clint Smith

Slavery has been called America’s original sin, yet its depiction in American history and schools remains surprisingly controversial.  Clint Smith has travelled the country to document the ways in which that story is told, shining a light not just on who we were, but who we are. Clint Smith is a s…