A conversation with historian Matthew Pratt Guterl about his new book, “Skinfolk: A Memoir” On a flight from Vietnam in April 1975 were three siblings, two boys and a girl, all fathered by different African American soldiers. Their mother, Mae, rightly believed that her children would not only be discriminated against because they were racially … More “Why Now?” Episode 16: The Sunlit Path of Racial Justice

A conversation with historian Christopher Elias about his book, “Gossip Men: J. Edgar Hoover, Joe McCarthy, Roy Cohn, and the Politics of Insinuation” An important theme of this episode is gossip about powerful men having erotic relationships with other men. I want to be clear that there is no new evidence that proves or disproves … More “Why Now?” Episode 15: Rumor Has It

A conversation with historians Kevin Kruse and Julian Zelizer about their new, best-selling essay collection, “Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past” Today, a radicalized Republican party insists that the actual, complex, and often violent American past is not only false but divisive, left-wing, anti-white propaganda. It is not … More Why Now? Episode 14: The Past Is Never Dead

A conversation with historian Matthew Connelly about his new book, “The Declassification Engine: What History Reveals About America’s Top Secrets” On this episode, my guest is here to help us parse the world of government secrecy—its history, practices, and dilemmas—and how the classification system undermines our democracy. Matthew Connelly is a professor of international and … More Why Now? Episode 13: If I Told You, I Would Have To Kill You

A conversation with historian Kathryn McGarr about American journalism, foreign policy, and her new book, “City of Newsmen: Public Lies and Professional Secrets in Cold War Washington”

A conversation with historian Kathryn McGarr about American journalism, foreign policy, and her new book, “City of Newsmen: Public Lies and Professional Secrets in Cold War Washington” Today, conservative critics condemn the so-called “liberal media” for being in cahoots with policymakers and politicians—but there was a time when that was a formal, accepted way of … More Why Now? Episode 12: All The News That’s Fit To Print

Content warning: Because this episode is about obituary writing, it contains discussions of death and self-harm. It may not be appropriate for everyone. As I confess in this episode, when I open the newspaper in the morning, I turn to the obituaries first. It’s not because I’m getting older, although I am. It isn’t because I’m … More Why Now? Episode 11: You Are Dead To Me

When President George W. Bush spoke the words “Madame Speaker” in his State of the Union address to the 110th Congress on January 23, 2007 he acknowledged one of the biggest changes in American political life since the 19th amendment to Constitution was ratified. Ten weeks earlier under the leadership of Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, … More Why Now? Episode 10: A Woman’s Place Is in the House