As California lifts longtime public health restrictions and life in parts of the United States begin returning to a semblance of pre-pandemic normalcy, it is important to recall the unfolding crises of the past 15 months. In this episode, UCLA Historian Peter Baldwin, author of the recent book Fighting the First Wave: Why the Coronavirus was Tackled So Differently Across the Globe, looks back on the past year and offers intriguing historical insight into why some countries were more effective at initially containing the coronavirus than others. He discusses the simultaneously global and local reach of the pandemic and analyzes the differences in political and cultural approaches to the pandemic across different countries around the world.

This special three-part episode of Then & Now features three experts in Middle East history and politics who examine multiple dimensions of the recent outbreak of violence in Israel and Palestine. Their incisive analysis provides listeners with a thorough overview of the historical context, political consequences, and potential impact on future peace in Israel-Palestine.

The first segment features Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, who examines the roots and consequences of the renewed hostilities between Israel and Hamas. The second segment features UCLA historian and Middle East expert James Gelvin, and focuses on a distinguishing feature of this round: violence between Israeli Jews and Arabs within the Green Line. The third segment features Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, who analyzes the political ramifications of this violence both in the region and in the United States.

UCLA undergraduate students Firyal Bawab and Mariam Aref Mahmoud and graduate student Phil Hoffman join Then & Now to discuss their forthcoming report on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. They track the historical effects of American “soft” or "non-military" foreign policy in the Middle East on regional governments and economies over time, including the consequences of neoliberalism in Egypt and Jordan. They also share their experiences conducting research with the Luskin Center for History and Policy.

On January 6, 2021, hundreds of far-right protestors, many of them wearing white nationalist clothing and insignia, stormed the U.S. Capitol building. On February 16, UCLA student Christian Secor was arrested for his participation in the riot. In response to these developments, the Luskin Center for History and Policy released a report on white nationalism at UCLA titled “From Student Politics Capitol Insurrection: The Intensification of Extremism at UCLA and Beyond,” as a follow-up to prior research on the history of white nationalism in Southern California. This week’s episode features two of the report's authors, UCLA undergraduates Brandon Broukhim and Talla Khelghati. Brandon and Talla discuss the political dynamics among students on campus, the difficulties of stemming hate speech while maintaining free speech, and their suggestions for universities grappling with frayed campus climates.

Henry Kissinger is arguably one of the most important and controversial contemporary figures in U.S. foreign policy. As a former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor during the Nixon and Ford Administrations, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and an accused war criminal, Kissinger is both revered and reviled. This week on Then & Now UCLA History Professor Kevin Kim interviews Vanderbilt University Professor Thomas Alan Schwartz on his recent book, Henry Kissinger and American Power: A Political Biography. They discuss Kissinger's contradictions, the lessons his diplomacy offers the Biden Administration, and the state of international relations today.

From his childhood in Essaouira, Morocco, to his adolescence involved in Marxist politics, to his time as a successful banker in Paris, to his advocacy for peace and cross cultural understanding as senior advisor to two Moroccan kings, André Azoulay has lived an extraordinary life. He joins Then & Now in conversation with LCHP Director David Myers and Professor Aomar Boum (UCLA Department of Anthropology), to discuss his personal path, the importance of cultural connection and identity, his perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and his hopes for the future of Morocco and the world.

Anti-Asian sentiment and violence has spiked dramatically over the last year. Most recently on March 16, a mass shooting in Atlanta, Georgia took the lives of eight people, six of whom were Asian women. UCLA Professors David Yoo and Karen Umemoto join this special episode of Then & Now to discuss this disturbing trend and situate it in the context of race and racism in American society. They discuss policies that have stigmatized and excluded Asian Americans, the development of the “AAPI” category, different forms of resistance against exclusion, and today's increasing mobilization and solidarity against anti-Asian hatred.

To learn more about how to combat Asian American hatred, please visit UCLA’s Translate COVID site here.

Months after the national election and despite numerous judicial decisions to the contrary, many Americans still believe the election was stolen from Donald Trump. In recent weeks various state legislatures have used the claim of voter fraud to propose new bills to change voting procedures, launching a new chapter in the long battle over the franchise in the United States. In this episode of "Then & Now," we discuss the history of voter suppression and the current state of play with election law expert, Professor Franita Tolson, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at the USC Gould School of Law and author of the forthcoming book In Congress We Trust: Enforcing Voting Rights From the Founding Fathers to the Jim Crow Era.

Higher education institutions in the United States can be seen as both bastions of liberalism and conservatism, as the realm of both radicals and establishmentarians. Eddie Cole, associate professor of higher education and organizational change at UCLA and author of The Campus Color Line: College Presidents and the Struggle for Black Freedom addresses this seeming contradiction. He discusses the dual nature of the university, as well as the role played by college presidents in moving their institutions forward and backward on issues such as race and free speech.  The conversation concludes with a reflection on the recently concluded Black History Month and the importance of history.

In 2019, Anthea M. Hartig made headlines when she became the first woman director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. Since then, she has been a fierce advocate for public history in the nation’s capital. Join us for this President's Day episode as we learn about how Hartig, a UCLA alumna, fell in love with history, developed a rich and challenging approach to the past, and sees history as a key to navigating the present.