Rear Vision — How History Shaped Today

The English language is dotted with expressions that betray a distrust of time – we talk of “racing against time” or we express a frustration that “time is not on our side”. In this episode of Rear Vision, we look at the history of time as a concept. Why time from the Industrial Revolution onwards became wedded to ideas of progress and productivity. And how at both a personal and societal level time became a means of constraint as much as organisation.

Guests:

Dr Adrian Bardon – Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University 

Dr Emily Thomas – Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy, Durham University

Dr Iwan Rhys Morus – Professor of History and Welsh History, Aberystwyth University

Judith Shulevitz – American journalist, editor and culture critic

Dr David Henkin – Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley

Tom Greene – Atlanta-based syndicated columnist and podcaster

Depending on who you talk to the American Israel Lobby is either one of the most powerful forces in US politics or an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.

In this Rear Vision we explore the history and ask if the Israel Lobby exist? And if it does what impact it may have had on US politics and US foreign policy in the Middle East.

Once again communities in Central Africa are plagued by Ebola and the current outbreak shows no sign of being brought under control any time soon. What have medical researchers and practitioners learnt about the nature of the virus over its fifty-year history and just as importantly, how it’s spread? Given its deadly nature, why isn’t there more concern about the possibility of global transmission?

Guests:

Dr Holly Seale – Professor of Social Science, School of Population Health, University of New South Wales 

Dr Seth Judson - Assistant Professor-in-Residence, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California Los Angelos

Dr Paul Griffin – Professor of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Queensland

Drug trafficking across the Pacific. Why is it increasing and can it be stopped?

Separatist sentiments are stirring in the Canadian province of Alberta. Voters will soon cast their ballots in a referendum on whether to begin moves to formally separate from the rest of the nation. We look at the history of separatism in Canada and at the pernicious impact of foreign interference.

Guests:

Marcus Kolga - Director of DisinfoWatch. Senior fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute 

Robert Currie – King’s Counsel. Professor of Law, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

Randy Boissonnault - former Member of the Canadian Parliament for Edmonton Centre

Dr Ryan Griffiths – Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University

How a Cold War listening post in outback Australia has become a  nerve centre of U.S. surveillance

Our understanding of the past has always been contentious and ripe for argumentation. 

How we think and write about historic events changes as new sources of information are found, and fresh details emerge about people and events. 

In this episode, as part of ABC Radio National’s Top 100 Australian Books, we hear from three leading Australian authors about the history of Australian history. 

Guests:

Dr Anna Clark – Professor of History, University of Technology Sydney

Dr Tim Rowse – Emeritus Professor, Western Sydney University

Dr Michelle Arrow – Professor of Modern History, Macquarie University, Immediate Past President of the Australian Historical Association

Today the Red Sea’s crucial choke-point at the Bab el-Mandeb is becoming as infamous as the Strait of Hormuz.

Dictators and autocrats deride human rights as a “western concept” – think Vladamir Putin and Xi Jinping, among others. They reject the narrative that a global concern for individual freedoms has steadily grown since the end of WWII. What if they’re correct? At least partially so. What if international support for the ideal of universal human rights was never really as strong as it seemed? Could a reassessment of the history of human rights help us explain current threats to personal freedoms across the globe?

Guests:

Dr Alison Brysk – Distinguished Professor of Global Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Dr Samuel Moyn – Professor of Law and History, Yale University

Dr Barbara Keys – Professor of US History, Durham University

Dr Jenna Reinbold – Associate Professor of Religion, Colgate University

This year has seen an uncharacteristic flurry of meetings and engagement between North Korea, China and Russia.

Is a North Asia bromance blossoming or are we seeing a calculated collaboration?