Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Fred Litwin to discuss his book Oliver Stone's Film-Flam: The Demagogue of Dealey Plaza. They chat about what Oliver Stone has been up to on the JFK assassination conspiracy beat since his blockbuster 1991 film. They also chat about how much we should trust the Warren Commission report, what happened with Kennedy’s autopsy, the chain of custody of the bullet found at Parkland Hospital, and how the unsuccessful prosecution of Clay Shaw for Kennedy’s murder by New Orleans DA Jim Garrison was little more than homophobic persecution.  Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Oliver-Stones-Film-Flam-Demagogue-Dealey/dp/0994863063

Oliver Stone's Film-Flam: The Demagogue of Dealey Plaza (Guest: Fred Litwin)

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Heartland’s Tim Benson is once again joined by friend of the podcast H.W. Brands, the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, to discuss his new book, Founding Partisans: Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, Adams and the Brawling Birth of American Politics. They chat about how, while the Framers viewed political parties a fatal threat to republican virtues, parties emerged even before the ink on the Constitution was dry. They then discuss all things Federalist vs. Antifederalist/Republican, how contentious the political battles between them were, but yet how, despite all this, peaceful transfers of power continued.  Get the book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/713058/founding-partisans-by-h-w-brands/ Show Notes: 
Wall Street Journal: Adam Rowe – “‘Founding Partisans’ and ‘A Republic of Scoundrels’: Opportunists and Patriots”
https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/founding-partisans-and-a-republic-of-scoundrels-opportunists-and-patriots-b61dbf2f Washington Post: C.W. Goodyear – “American political discord is as old as America itself”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/12/06/founding-partisans-political-book-review/

Ill Literacy, Episode 140: Founding Partisans (Guest: H.W. Brands)

The Heartland Institute's Tim Benson is joined by Ian Buruma, Paul W. Williams Professor of Human Rights and Journalism at Bard College, to discuss his new book, The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War II. They chat about the backstory behind the three subjects of the book—Felix Kersten, Yoshiko Kawashima, and Friedrich Weinreb—and why all three have been vilified and mythologized. They also discuss the three subjects’ varying levels of culpability for the crimes committed by the people and regimes they served. Get the book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/659322/the-collaborators-by-ian-buruma/

 Show Notes: 

 The Guardian: Matthew Reisz – “The Collaborators by Ian Buruma review – intriguing study of the frenemy within” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/12/the-collaborators-three-stories-of-deception-survival-world-war-ii-by-ian-buruma-review-intriguing-study-of-the-frenemy-within

 New York Times: Lesley M.M. Blume – “Amoral Traitors? War Heroes? Survivors? Depends Whom You Ask.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/11/books/review/the-collaborators-ian-buruma.html

 The Times: Ben McIntyre – “The Collaborators by Ian Buruma review — three stories of deception and survival in the Second World War” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-collaborators-by-ian-buruma-review-jljr2msmd

 Times Literary Supplement: Josh Ireland – “Unholy compromises” https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/the-collaborators-ian-buruma-book-review-josh-ireland/

 Wall Street Journal: Diane Cole – “‘The Collaborators’ Review: They Dealt With the Devil” https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-collaborators-book-review-world-war-ii-history-they-dealt-with-the-devil-8a1cad6b

 Washington Post: Scott Martelle – “For three liars during WWII, deception proves to be both good and evil” https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/05/03/world-war-ii-collaborators-book/



Ill Literacy, Episode 140: The Collaborators (Guest: Ian Buruma)

In Episode 139 of Ill Literacy, Tim Benson talks with Ronald C. White, author ofOn Great Fields: The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.  Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by return guest Ronald C. White, senior fellow at the Trinity Forum, to discuss his new book, On Great Fields: The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. They chat about Chamberlain’s early days in Maine, his studying to become a minister, and a how a childhood stutterer ended up being fluent in nine languages. They also discuss his Civil War heroism, his turn as governor of Maine, and how he made a civilian life of meaning after having experienced the extreme highs and lows of war. Get the book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/566059/on-great-fields-by-ronald-c-white/

 Show Notes: 

 C-SPAN: On Great Fields (VIDEO) https://www.c-span.org/video/?531806-2/on-great-fields

 HistoryNet: Dave Kindy – “This Son of Maine Was Much More Than a Civil War Hero” https://www.historynet.com/interview-on-great-fields-chamberlain/

 Wall Street Journal: Randall Fuller – “‘On Great Fields’: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Professor and Hero” https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/on-great-fields-joshua-lawrence-chamberlain-professor-and-hero-af8c509c

 Outro music: Aswad, Warrior Charge, War Ina Babylon: An Island Reggae Anthology, 2009

Ill Literacy, Episode 139: On Great Fields (Guest: Ronald C. White)

Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Joanne Paul, Senior Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Sussex, to discuss her new book, The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England. They chat about who were the Dudleys, how they gained prominence, then lost it all, then gained prominence once again, and then finally lost it all again. They also discuss how the family’s fortunes seemed to mirror those of their Tudor benefactors, why the Dudley men would want to play such a dangerous game, and how the Dudley women kept the family together when family fortunes had fallen.  Get the book here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-House-of-Dudley/Joanne-Paul/9781639366125

 Show Notes: 

 Literary Review: Mathew Lyons – “They courted trouble” https://literaryreview.co.uk/they-courted-trouble

 The Spectator: Elizabeth Goldring – “The machinations of the Dudleys make Game of Thrones look tame” https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-machinations-of-the-dudleys-make-game-of-thrones-look-tame/

 The Telegraph: Noel Malcolm – “How the Dudleys played Tudor snakes and ladders – and lost spectacularly” https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/dudleys-played-tudor-snakes-ladders-lost-spectacularly/

 The Times: Gerard DeRoot – “The House of Dudley by Joanne Paul review — how to get ahead (or lose your head) in Tudor England” https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-house-of-dudley-by-joanne-paul-review-jg3rvf0zs

 Wall Street Journal: Catherine Ostler – “‘The House of Dudley’ Review: Tudor Game of Thrones” https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-house-of-dudley-review-playing-the-tudor-game-of-thrones-8d74f2a6

The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England (Guest: Joanne Paul)

Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Laurie Winer, founding editor of the Los Angeles Review of Books, to discuss her new book, Oscar Hammerstein II and the Invention of the Musical. They chat about why Winer believes Hammerstein more than anyone else invented the musical. They also discuss his relationship with collaborators Jerome Kern and Richard Rodgers and how Hammerstein’s optimistic humor, openness to strangers, and rejection of bitterness contributed to a vision that orchestrated a collective reimagining of America.  Get the book here: https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300223798/oscar-hammerstein-ii-and-the-invention-of-the-musical/ Show Notes:  Los Angeles Review of Books: Tim Riley – “A Poet of the Anticipation of Joy: On Laurie Winer’s ‘Oscar Hammerstein II and the Invention of the Musical’”
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-poet-of-the-anticipation-of-joy-on-laurie-winers-oscar-hammerstein-ii-and-the-invention-of-the-musical/ New York Times: Brad Leithauser – “A Cockeyed Optimist: Oscar Hammerstein Was No Stephen Sondheim”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/08/books/review/oscar-hammerstein-ii-and-the-invention-of-the-musical-laurie-winer.html

Oliver Stone's Film-Flam: The Demagogue of Dealey Plaza (Guest: Fred Litwin)

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