Q&A

We sat down with Ben's Chili Bowl owner Virginia Ali and Ben's Chili Bowl official historian Bernard Demczuk to talk about the history of the Washington, DC, landmark. Opened in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali, Ben's Chili Bowl has been a hangout for civil rights activists, politicians, and celebrities for over 65 years. Recently, Bernard Demczuk published a book about Mrs. Ali and Ben's titled "Breaking Barriers with Chili."

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Author and actor George Takei talks about growing up in internment camps in the U.S. during World War II, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Mr. Takei and his family were four of the 120,000 Japanese Americans to be forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to military-run camps during the war on the orders of President Franklin Roosevelt. Mr. Takei has recently published a children's book about his experiences titled "My Lost Freedom."

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We sat down with two World War II veterans – former U.S. Navy gunnery officer Steven Ellis and former U.S. Army Air Force B-24 navigator Rolf Slen – to talk about their experiences during the war. Mr. Ellis, age 99, and Mr. Slen, age 100, both served in the Pacific Theater. Of the 16.4 million Americans who served in uniform in World War II, 119,550 were still alive as of 2023.

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In "The Lies of the Land," Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) history professor Steven Conn argues that the reality of rural America today is vastly different from the way it is often portrayed by politicians and the media. He says rural Americans have not been left behind or been overlooked and are just as connected to the forces of American modernity – militarization, industrialization, corporatization, and suburbanization – as people living in the rest of the country.

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Columnist and Fox News contributor Tammy Bruce, author of "Fear Itself," argues that progressive Democrats have weaponized fear to increase government control over American citizens. She also argues that the mainstream media helps stoke fear through its biased coverage of topics like COVID-19, climate change, and racism.

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Prior to becoming Donald Trump's VP pick or a U.S. Senator representing Ohio, J.D. Vance was a bestselling author. Over 1.6. million copies of his book "Hillbilly Elegy," a memoir about growing up in a poor, white family that has its roots in Appalachia, have sold to date. After the VP announcement, the book once again shot to the top of the Amazon bestsellers list. This week on Q&A, our 2016 interview with Mr. Vance about his book. He talks about his childhood, his family, his military service in Iraq with the U.S. Marine Corps, his education at Ohio State and Yale Law School, and more.

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In 2022, collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines tied for 5th place in the 200m freestyle final at the NCAA Women's Championships. The swimmer she tied with was transgender athlete Lia Thomas. Since then, Riley Gaines has become an outspoken critic of transgender women competing in women's sports and has even testified on the issue before Congress. In this week's Q&A, she talks about her swimming career, her stance on transgender athletes, and the backlash she has received after going public with her views, topics she covers in her new book "Swimming Against the Current."

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The Times of London U.S. editor David Charter, author of "Royal Audience," discusses the special relationship that Queen Elizabeth II had with the United States and U.S. presidents over her 70-year reign as Britain's Head of State. Queen Elizabeth, who became queen in 1952 and passed away in 2022, had met and had varying degrees of personal relationships with 13 of the 14 U.S. presidents during her reign going back to Harry Truman.

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New York Times opinion columnist Frank Bruni, author of "The Age of Grievance," argues that we are living in a cultural and political era defined by victimhood and perceived injustice. He discusses the causes of this development and offers ways to move past it.

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We sat down with Ben's Chili Bowl owner Virginia Ali and Ben's Chili Bowl official historian Bernard Demczuk to talk about the history of the Washington, DC, landmark. Opened in 1958 by Ben and Virginia Ali, Ben's Chili Bowl has been a hangout for civil rights activists, politicians, and celebrities for over 65 years. Recently, Bernard Demczuk published a book about Mrs. Ali and Ben's titled "Breaking Barriers with Chili."

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices