Story in the Public Square

Ep. 218 | Originally aired: November 18-19, 2017

Dystopian fiction has become increasingly popular in today’s culture with the rise of books brought to the big screen. For example, The Hunger Games and the recent Hulu series, The Handmaid’s Tale. Speculative fiction, from the most fantastic science fiction to the bleakest dystopias, shines a light on current issues and the reality we know in the here and now. Writer and lawyer, Christopher Brown uses narrative as a laboratory about governance, political violence, and even what it means to be American. His debut novel, Tropic of Kansas, depicts a fractured United States in the aftermath of another Civil War.

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Ep. 217 | Originally aired: November 11-12, 2017

This week’s guest on “Story in the Public Square,” Professor Esther Schor, puts Emma Lazarus’ famous poem on the Statue of Liberty, “The New Colossus,” into historic and contemporary context.

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Ep. 216 | Originally aired: November 4-5, 2017

Higher education in the United States is a nearly-$600 billion per year industry that some observers describe as unsustainable and on the verge of a fundamental crisis. Guest, Charles Dorn argues those stories are overblown and that colleges and universities can still serve the common good.

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Ep. 201 | Originally aired: July 8-9, 2017 

In the 1930s and early 1940s, prominent Americans publically endorsed a policy of “America First,” even if that meant turning a blind eye to the violence done in Europe by fascist political parties in Italy and, especially Germany. Christopher Vials argues that American fascism has roots that go back to the end of World War I—and is enjoying new dynamism today. 

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Ep. 206 | Originally aired: August 19-20, 2017

Storytelling is at the heart of political campaigns. Guest John Marttila has studied those stories as part of a four-decade career in American politics. Marttila talks about President Trump's campain, his ratings so far, and what might be coming for the Presidential electoin in 2020. 

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Ep. 205 | Originally aired: August 5-6, 2017

The national security community has warned us that Russia’s meddling in the 2016 presidential election is only a preview of what Russia might do in the 2018 and 2020 elections. Casey Michel argues that Russian intervention in American public life is even more serious, now, than even that dire prediction.

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Ep. 204 | Originally aired: July 29-30, 2017

Race in American life is still a very powerful force. Eve L. Ewing explores its potency in her scholarship and bears often personal witness to it in her art and in her poetry.

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Ep. 203 | Originally aired: July 22-23, 2017

In grade school, we learned about the 19th century competition between European great powers for control of Africa’s natural resources. Guest Michael Klare warns about a 21st century scramble for what’s left.

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Ep. 109 | Originally aired: March 11-12, 2017

For every new regulation his administration issues, President Trump has said two regulations have to be eliminated – but what about the ordinary Americans many of these regulations were designed to protect? Are we heading back to the days of predatory lenders? Hosts Jim Ludes and G. Wayne Miller sit down with Michael Corkery, a New York Times financial journalist, to try to make sense of the financial stories affecting Americans everywhere.

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Ep. 114 | Originally aired: April 22-23, 2017

According to the U.S. intelligence community, Russia intervened in America’s 2016 presidential campaign to benefit one candidate. As shocking as that revelation was, guest Alina Polyakova warns it’s all part of a broader pattern of Russian efforts directed against the West.

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