Dreyfus: A Very Modern Affair is an October 7th story, but one that begins not in 2023, but in October of 1894 with the arrest of French military officer Alfred Dreyfus, who also happened to be a Jew. The implications of his framing, arrest, incarceration and the fallout of his eventual exoneration reverberate today. Over this five-episode series, we examine how these events unfolded, and how they connect to the antisemitism that exists today.
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When Malcolm Gladwell released The Tipping Point in 2000, the book became a huge bestseller–and Gladwell became a star. Nearly a quarter-century later, the journalist and podcaster revisits that work. Revenge of the Tipping Point employs Gladwell's familiar methods, using storytelling to examine the spread of negative social behavior by pharmaceutical companies, bank robbers and Medicare fraudsters. In today's episode, the author sits down with NPR's Steve Inskeep to discuss why Gladwell's view of society has darkened over time and what the author thinks of his harshest critics.
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South Korean author Han Kang is this year's recipient of the Nobel Prize in literature, making her the first Korean writer to win the award. In its citation, the Swedish Academy commended Han "for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life." Both of these themes are present in the author's 2007 novel, The Vegetarian, which tells the story of a young woman who decides to give up meat. In today's episode, we revisit a 2016 interview between Han and NPR's Linda Wertheimer, which took place around the time of The Vegetarian's publication in English. In the interview, they discussed gender politics, how women cope with trauma, and Han's "long-lasting question about human violence."
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From 1899 to 1900, China underwent a widespread and violent uprising. The revolt, a reaction against China’s exploitation by foreign powers, was decades in the making.
In response to the revolt, a group of eight nations joined together to put down the rebellion and ultimately subjected China to yet another humiliating treaty.
The rebellion wasn’t successful, but it laid the groundwork for the seismic changes that would shape the country during the 20th century.
Learn more about the Boxer Rebellion and how it influenced China on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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In late 1944, the Allies were on a roll, and Germany was on the ropes. Some Allies, considering how fast they were advancing, thought the war might be over by Christmas.
However, Hitler had a plan. He would engage in one last desperate battle, which he thought would turn the tide of the war in the West and possibly wipe out the Allies completely.
The result was one of the largest battles of the Second World War and the German military's ultimate failure.
Learn more about the Battle of the Bulge and how it shaped the course of WWII on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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For centuries, sailors told tales of gigantic waves that they encountered at sea, and for centuries, scientists didn’t believe them.
However, over time, evidence began to pile up, which suggested that the legends of these freak waves were, in fact, true.
These waves are rare, still not well understood, and terrifying to ships and sailors because there is almost no way to detect or predict where or when they will occur.
Learn more about rogue waves, how they were discovered, and how they occur on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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Cindy Hohl, the current president of the American Library Association, says the political temperature surrounding book bans has remained at a boiling point. Over the last year of her tenure, Hohl has witnessed librarians exit the profession due to increased stress, ridicule and public pressure to remove certain titles from their libraries–particularly those related to race and LGBTQ+ identity. Although these battles are particularly pronounced in hot spots like Florida and Texas, they're being fought in communities all over the country. In today's episode, NPR's Andrew Limbong speaks with Hohl about what librarians can and can't do to push back against this cycle of censorship and what it's like to lead through times of crisis.
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