Chicago Humanities Tapes

Margaret Atwood is joined in conversation with author Elif Batuman to unfold the story of her life, linking seminal moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape, from the cruel year that spawned Cat's Eye to the Orwellian 1980s Berlin where she wrote The Handmaid's Tale. As we travel with her along the course of her life, more and more is revealed about her writing, the connections between real life and art, and the workings of one of our greatest imaginations.

Podcast Credits:

Live event programmed by Michael Green Live event produced by Nikki Konomos Live event stage managed by Kait Samuels Live event produced and mixed by Jeff Kolar Production assistance by Rebecca Dose Podcast edited and mixed by Katherine Kermgard Voiceover by Anthony Fleming III Transcription assistance by Micquela Washington

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Acclaimed author Ron Chernow, of Hamilton fame, is one of the most renowned voices in history and politics. Recipient of the 2015 National Humanities Medal, Chernow has dedicated his life to telling the stories of some of the most notable figures in history. Chernow joins The Interview Show host Mark Bazer to discuss his newest work, Mark Twain, a nuanced portrait of "the father of American literature." Drawing on thousands of letters and hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, Chernow captures the exuberant genius whose career reflected the country's westward expansion, industrialization and foreign wars, and became the white author of his generation who grappled most fully with the legacy of slavery. Hear from Chernow as he sheds light on the life of Mark Twain — from his start as a brash journalist to his days as the most notable political pundit in the U.S.

[Podcast Credits]

Live event programmed by Mark Bazer

Live event produced by Jesse Swanson

Live event stage managed by Rebecca Dose

Live event produced and mixed by Dan Glomski

Production assistance by Aaron Stephenson / Micquela Washington

Podcast edited and mixed by Katherine Kermgard

Voiceover by Anthony Fleming III

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Actor, comedian, writer, and producer Ed Helms joins us in conversation with podcast host and producer Greta Johnsen to discuss his new book SNAFU, which brings you an absurdly entertaining look at history's greatest screwups. Helms steps in as unofficial history teacher diving into each decade's craziest SNAFUs like planting nukes on the moon to training felines as CIA spies to weaponizing the weather.

SHOW NOTES:

Read the podcast transcript

CW: Mature language and subject matter

Photo: Ed Helms (right) and Greta Johnsen (left) on stage at First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in May 2025.

Live event programmed by Michael Green Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Kait Samuels Live event produced and mixed by Dan Glomski Production assistance by Carl Herzog / Hope Mignini Podcast edited and mixed by Katherine Kermgard Voiceover by Anthony Fleming III

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Beloved novelist, poet, and educator Ocean Vuong joins his friend and colleague Adrian Matejka, editor of Poetry magazine, for a hilarious, heartbreaking, and affirming conversation about the power of the sentence.

SHOW NOTES:

Read the podcast transcript.

CW: Discussion of drug addiction

PHOTO: Ocean Vuong and Adrian Matejka on stage at the Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in May 2025.

Read:

Ocean Vuong, The Emperor of Gladness

Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Poetry Magazine

Explore:

Ben Lerner

Yusef Komunyakaa

Sharon Olds

Djuna Barnes, Knightwood

Lyn Hejinian

Bernadette Mayer

Bhanu Kapil

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's, Dictée

Lady Murasaki, The Tale of Genji

Phillis Wheatley

Jupiter Hammon

Harriet Jacobs

Annie Dillard

César Vallejo

André Breton, Manifestoes of Surrealism

Aimé Césaire, Notebook of a Return to My Native Land

Federico García Lorca

Gabriel García Márquez

Édouard Glissant

Frantz Fanon

Claude McKay

John Keats

Walt Whitman

Emily Dickinson

Kevin Young

Jeff Van Gundy

Live event programmed by Michael Green

Live event produced by Jesse Swanson

Live event stage managed by Danny Fender

Live event produced and mixed by Nick Broste

Production assistance by River Williams and Logan Venezia

Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal

Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn

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Originator of the role Aaron Burr in the Broadway smash hit Hamiliton, Leslie Odom, Jr. reflects on his Tony and Grammy Award-winning, Oscar and Emmy Award-nominated career. With a loving eye toward his own creative practice and collaborative spirit, he gabs with NBC's Matthew Rodrigues on self-care, fame, and might just bring us a little Christmas in June by the end.

SHOW NOTES:

Read the podcast transcript.

PHOTO: Matthew Rodrigues and Leslie Odom, Jr. on stage at Francis W. Parker School at the Chicago Humanities 2025 Spring Festival.

Read:

Leslie Odom, Jr., Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning

Watch:

One Night in Miami... trailer

Leslie Odom Jr. Sings A Change is Gonna Come

Purlie Victorious PBS Great Performances

Explore:

https://www.instagram.com/rodriguesmatt/

Live event programmed by Kaity O'Reilly

Live event produced by Jesse Swanson

Live event stage managed by Sophia Fishkin

Live event produced and mixed by Jeff Kolar

Production assistance by Hope Mignini, Rach Granillo, Bucky Emmerling, and Cody Kressman

Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal

Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn

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Our goal at Chicago Humanities Tapes is to help you get closer to the answers to life's biggest questions with the brightest minds the world offers. And we'll get those answers eventually according to philosopher Agnes Callard, though it might take another 10,000 years of humanity. So, how do we live our lives knowing we'll never know the answers to life's biggest questions such as: is there a God? What makes a good parent? Should I have gone into academia? Her and University of Chicago constitutional law professor William Baude think the answer is in the Socratic method – asking questions without the goal of persuasion, being ok without getting answers, and living a life examined. This spirited conversation also touches on confirmation bias, the challenges of making new friends as an adult, and how to pause and ask yourself those big philosophical questions… without being driven to madness.

SHOW NOTES

Read the podcast transcript.

CW: Mentions of suicide.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988 lifeline.org.

PHOTO: Agnes Callard and William Baude.

Read:

Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life, Agnes Callard

Listen:

Minds Almost Meeting podcast

Live event programmed by Michael Green

Live event produced by Jesse Swanson

Live event stage managed by Rebecca Dose, Juju Laurie, Aryn Henderson

Live event produced and mixed by Jeff Kolar, Ryn Hardiman, Nick Broste

Production assistance by River Williams and Logan Venezia

Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal

Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn

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Bestselling authors and popular podcasters Ezra Klein (The New York Times) and Derek Thompson (The Atlantic) are interested in societal abundance – how do we get closer to equality when it seems like we're getting farther from having enough resources for everyone? Joined by historian and science fiction writer Ada Palmer, these three brilliant minds joyfully dig into everything from futurism to Shakespeare, encouraging listeners to combat daily despair with progressive action.

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SHOW NOTES

Watch the full program here.

Read the podcast transcript.

PHOTO: Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson, and Ada Palmer on stage at the UIC Dorin Forum at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in 2025.

Read:

Abundance, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

Why We're Polarized, Ezra Klein

Inventing the Renaissance: The Myth of a Golden Age, Ada Palmer

Listen:

The Ezra Klein Show

Plain English with Derek Thompson

Explore:

adapalmer.com

Kathleen Belew, "the early adopter effect"

Jay Van Bavel on how internet warps communication and language

Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman on technology

J. Storrs Hall on futurism

Fix the News newsletter

Live event programmed by Mark Bazer

Live event produced by Jesse Swanson

Live event stage managed by Sophia Fishkin

Live event produced and mixed by Joe Darnaby

Production assistance by River Williams

Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal

Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn

Help shape the future of the podcast! Let us know what you think by taking the short survey.

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Join fine art painters turned sign designers turned book publishers Andrew and Kelsey McClellan of Heavy Pages Press on a lovingly nerdy investigation through the signs of Chicago's small businesses of yesteryear. A chance encounter with a perfectly preserved "ghost sign" by the Beverly Design Co. from the 1930s led them to uncover previously lost sign design sketches. They sit down with podcast host Alisa Rosenthal to discuss their book The Golden Era of Sign Design: The Rediscovered Sketches of Beverly Sign Co., what it was like to interview tough talking old timer painters, and their hope for how access to this rediscovered material will usher in the next generation of great designers.

Tickets to Heavy Pages Press with Tanner Woodford, founder and executive director of the Design Museum of Chicago, on Saturday, May 10, 2025 from 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm CT at Co-Prosperity available here.

Explore the rest of the Bridgeport Day 2025 events here.

SHOW NOTES:

Read the podcast transcript.

PHOTO: Kelsey and Andrew McClellan and Alisa Rosenthal chat over Zoom.

Read:

The Golden Era of Sign Design: The Rediscovered Sketches of Beverly Sign Co., Heavy Pages Press

Explore:

Heart & Bone Signs

"The Chicago Look" Edition Field Notes

The Monadnock Building

Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal

Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn

Additional assistance provided by Lauren Pacheco

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In support of Chicago-based klezmer band Upshtat Zingerai bringing Yiddish tunes and dancing to the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival, the creative partners behind the Jewish Museum of Chicago sat down with podcast host Alisa Rosenthal to preview the upcoming event. They chat artistic process, visions for having a future physical space, and how the museum project was started to fill a void in the Chicago arts scene as a hub for Jewish artists and community members.

Explore the rest of the Lakeview Day 2025 events here.

Subscribe to the podcast • Let us know what you think by taking the short survey

SHOW NOTES:

Read the podcast transcript.

PHOTO: Maya Kosover, Gabriel Chalfin-Piney-González, and Alisa Rosenthal talk over Zoom.

Learn more about the Jewish Museum of Chicago

Follow @jewishmuseumchicago on Instagram

Follow @upshtatzingerai on Instagram

Episode photo of Grace Gittelman, a Jewish Museum of Chicago 2024 Artist Fellow. Photo by Ricardo E. Adame.

Edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal

Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn

Additional assistance from Kaity O'Reilly

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Bronzeville native and preeminent Black pop artist Hebru Brantley joins visual artist and MacArthur Fellow Amanda Williams for a life-affirming conversation that spans the power of unbridled creativity, his inviting marketing strategy, and naturally, a little bit of Chicago vs. LA discourse. This program was recorded live at the Illinois Institute of Technology in May 2024.

Subscribe to the podcast • Let us know what you think by taking the short survey

SHOW NOTES:

Watch the full conversation here.

Read the podcast transcript.

PHOTO: Amanda Williams and Hebru Brantley at the Illinois Institute of Technology at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in 2024.

Read:

Hebru Brantley, Hebru Brantley

Explore:

Find Hebru Brantley murals near you

Amanda Williams, Color(ed) Theory

Nevermore Park

Live event programmed by Lauren Pacheco

Live event produced by Jesse Swanson

Live event stage managed by Kyle Anderson

Live event produced and mixed by Jeff Kolar

Production assistance by Christopher Moore and Cody Kressmann

Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal

Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn

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Explore upcoming events.

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