The Civil Rights Act, first passed in 1964, is falsely connected with freedom. In reality, this law severely restricts individual liberty and replaces it with coercive government acts.
Today we discuss the legacies of the recently-deceased Robert Duvall and Jesse Jackson, AOC's blunders and Marco Rubio's triumph at the Munich Security Conference, and John recommends You've Got Mail.
From the Jacksonians to the Marxists, political theorists have understood that there is something unique about "small industry" between big business and propertyless workers.
Modern sport can seem awash with money, but it’s been claimed that the richest sportsperson of all is an ancient Roman Charioteer from the second century AD called Gaius Appuleius Diocles, with career winnings that stood at 35 million sesterces. One calculation has translated that into an astonishing $15 billion dollars today, and it’s a figure that’s stuck. But should we believe it?
Duncan Weldon talks to ancient historian Professor Mary Beard from the University of Cambridge to learn more about the big business of chariot racing, and how we should think about money and wealth in the economies of the past.
Presenter: Duncan Weldon
Producer: Nathan Gower
Series Producer: Tom Colls
Editor: Richard Vadon
Programme Coordinator: Brenda Brown
Sound Engineer: James Beard
Rock climbing is a great sport for thrill-seekers. In Gabriel Tallent’s Crux, main characters Dan and Tamma fit the bill perfectly. At just 17 years old, they bond over the side of a mountain where one miscalculated inch of movement could mean life or death. However, risk doesn’t disappear once they make it safely to flat ground. For Dan and Tamma, risk exists in growing up, and growing out of their physical and emotional comfort zones. In today’s episode, Tallent joins NPR’s Juana Summers to discuss his newest novel and how rock climbing can widen more than one type of human perspective.
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According to activists, Iran has killed over 7,000 people as part of a crackdown on protesters. Why did protests engulf Iran in the first place? A big contributor: Its flagging economy, which has been in a tailspin for years. It’s a tinderbox.
Amanda Holmes reads Ruth Stone’s “Curtains.” Have a suggestion for a poem by a (dead) writer? Email us: podcast@theamericanscholar.org. If we select your entry, you’ll win a copy of a poetry collection edited by David Lehman.
This episode was produced by Stephanie Bastek and features the song “Canvasback” by Chad Crouch.
Live from Sydney, Jon, Lovett, Tommy, and Dan discuss the lurid details of The Wall Street Journal exposé on Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski's eye-opening behavior at (and high above) the Department of Homeland Security. Then, they look at the latest with Republicans' efforts to steal the midterms, including Noem's promise to make sure "we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders," RFK Jr.'s new war on donuts, and Barack Obama's advice for Democrats on resolving their differences. Then, they stage their own debate about which Democratic presidential hopeful would be the strongest candidate, drawing names from the 2028 Sorting Hat.