History Talk

In October 2018, Brazil elected far-right ideologue Jair Bolsonaro to the presidency. Bolsonaro, a retired military officer often called the "Trump of the Tropics," campaigned on a platform that mixed anti-corruption with open nostalgia for the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985. On this month's History Talk podcast, your new hosts Eric Michael Rhodes and Lauren Henry speak with two experts — Jennifer Eaglin and Pedro Cantisano — about the rise of Bolsonaro, his place in the longer history of Brazilian politics, and what his success means for the future of the world's fourth-largest democracy.

For more Origins coverage of Brazil, check out A Postcard from Brazil: The Old Struggle for a Better Future, Top Ten Origins: Brazil's Presidential Elections, and South America’s ‘Sleeping Giant’ Wakes: Brazil’s 2010 Election

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Posted November 2018

Existential fears of “losing” what is seen as “Western Civilization” have animated many within what is considered the alt-right. However, the valorization of “western civilization” is often rooted in romanticized notions of ancient Greece and Rome, which alt-right groups have appropriated and promoted in recent propaganda. Why and how do nationalists in Europe and the U.S. draw contemporary connections to ancient Greece and Rome? What are the consequences of this for our understandings of the ancient era? And what should scholars in the Classics and History do about it? On this episode of History Talk, hosts Jessica Viñas-Nelson and Brenna Miller speak with three classists to discuss the alt-right’s appropriation of classical history: Denise Eileen McCoskey, Donna Zuckerberg, and Curtis Dozier.

For more on this topic, see:

Denise Eileen McCoskey - "Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts: How Neo-Nazis and Ancient Greeks Met in Charlottesville"

Curtis Dozier - Pharos: Doing Justice to the Classics and The Mirror of Antiquity Podcast

Donna Zuckerberg - How to Be a Good Classicist Under a Bad Emperor

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Posted September 2018

In the last year, tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, a false nuclear missile alert in Hawaii, and debates over the Iran nuclear deal have renewed public attention to the development of nuclear weapons and armament and the potential for war. But from the Cold War, to the Cuban Missile Crisis, to Chinese nuclear tests in the 1960s, the U.S. and the world have frequently faced these fears, and attempted to place particular countries’ access to nuclear weapons technology under international control. So how concerned should we be about nuclear weapons and who has them? How did the U.S. become so central in efforts to control them? And how can past attempts to limit nuclear proliferation inform how we address these questions today? On this episode of History Talk, hosts Brenna Miller and Jessica Viñas-Nelson speak with experts Christopher Gelpi, Dakota Rudesill, and Matt Ambrose to discuss the history of nuclear armament and control.

For more on this topic, see:

Johnathan Hunt - "Learning to Love the Nuclear Pariah: From China to North Korea"

Dakota Rudesill - "MIRVs Matter: Banning Hydra-Headed Missiles in a New START II Treaty," Stanford Journal of International Law Vol. 54, 2018

Matt Ambrose - The Control Agenda: A History of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, Cornell University Press, 2018

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Posted June 2018

This year, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice—the nation’s first memorial to the over 4,000 African American victims of lynching—opened in Montgomery, Alabama. The opening of the memorial, however, coincides with a recent intensification in debates over Confederate monuments. How do these two trends in commemorating our nation’s past relate to one anther? What messages do these differing monuments send? And what’s at stake in the battle over them? On this episode of History Talk, hosts Jessica Viñas-Nelson and Brenna Miller speak with Professors Hasan Jeffries, Sarah E. Gardner, and Steven Conn to discuss the controversies surrounding monuments and memory in America and how we reconcile the history behind them.

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Posted May 2018

The Trump administration has taken a hardline on immigration. News from the U.S. border that asylum seekers are being turned away, that parents are being separated from their children, and the termination of Temporary Protected Status for 57,000 Hondurans currently living in the U.S. has drawn widespread public attention. But why are people fleeing? What is life like in their home countries? And what role does the U.S. play in creating the conditions that spur migration? On this episode of History Talk, we zero in on Honduras, as hosts Brenna Miller and Jessica Viñas-Nelson speak with two experts, Professors Dana Frank and Katherine Borland, to learn why so many Hondurans are seeking refuge in the U.S., the political, economic, and social challenges faced by people living in Honduras, and the dynamics of migration and U.S. foreign policy at the heart of today's debates.

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Posted April 2018

Recent mass shootings have turned American attention to the nation’s mental health system, its perceived failings, and it's potential to stem the tide of mass violence. However, Americans have a long history of pointing to mental illness as a panacea for solving social problems and an equally lengthy history of criticizing the treatment of those considered mentally ill. On this episode of History Talk, hosts Jessica Viñas-Nelson and Brenna Miller speak with two experts, Dr. Susan Lawrence and Zeb Larson, to discuss the history of mental health in the U.S. and the realities of providing meaningful care.

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Posted March 2018

In the last year, college campuses have seen growing currents of activism around issues ranging from free speech and controversial speakers, to sexual assault and campus-corporate partnerships. But how does political engagement on campuses today compare to the history of American campus activism, particularly in the 1960s? What sparks campus protests? How do they grow? And what can they achieve? On this episode of History Talk, hosts Brenna Miller and Jessica Vinas-Nelson talk to two guests—Bill Shkurti and David Steigerwald—to learn what the history of campus protests can teach campus activists, administrators, and communities today.

For more on OSU campus protests in the 1960s, check out Bill Shkurti's book, The Ohio State University in the Sixties: The Unraveling of the Old Order.

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Posted February 2018

From Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood tapes to the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, sexual harassment and sexual violence seem to have suddenly burst into the news cycle. Nearly every day, new allegations against powerful men emerge as more women come forward. But, while many are heralding the rise of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements as an opportunity for change, many of those who are raising awareness about these issues today have protested them in the past. So what’s different now? And how does contemporary activism fit into the longer history of awareness? On this episode of History Talk, hosts Jessica Viñas-Nelson and Brenna Miller invite three experts—Professors Treva Lindsey, Kimberly Hamlin, and Martha Chamallas—to discuss the social and legal histories of sexual assault and harassment in the US, past movements to fight it, and how the conversations going on today fit into the broader story of gender and sexual equality.

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Posted January 2018

This month marks the 100-year anniversary of U.S. entry into World War I. But, as the world commemorates the centennial of the war, U.S. events have been few and far between. Why is the war remembered so differently in Europe versus the United States, and what legacies might we be forgetting? In this episode of History Talk, we speak to three experts—Jennifer Siegel, Aaron Retish, and Julie Powell—about the war that shaped the course of the 20th century. Join us to learn why World War I is remembered so differently in combatant countries, what the war's most important geopolitical and human impacts were, and how its legacies continue to affect us today.

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Posted December 2017

In 2016, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the National Anthem to raise awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement. When President Donald Trump weighed in by condemning such actions, the focus dramatically expanded to questions of free speech, patriotism, and respecting the flag. While many lament the entrance of politics into their Sunday football, we speak with three historians and sports fans—Hasan Jeffries, Robert Bennett, and Marc Horger— to discuss the long history of sports protests, why they are so controversial, and the historical issues at the heart of today's conversation. Listen in, as we learn how sports have never been immune from politics or protest.

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Posted November 2017