The Last Archive

Legends are made at the Olympics and this summer shows across the Pushkin network are bringing their unique takes to Olympic stories. This special episode includes excerpts from a few: a Cautionary Tale about underestimating female marathoners, a Jesse Owens story from Revisionist History’s series on Hitler’s Olympics, and—from What’s Your Problem—the new technology that’s helping Olympic athletes get stronger.

Check out other show feeds as well, the Happiness Lab and A Slight Change of Plans are also going to the Games.

Sylvia Blemker of Springbok Analytics on What’s Your Problem

The Women Who Broke the Marathon Taboo on Cautionary Tales

Hitler’s Olympics from Revisionist History

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Jill Lepore returns to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education with a special episode of The Last Archive. She and Ben Naddaff-Hafrey explore the amazing new AI-powered recreation of the Brown v. Board cases over at the Oyez project. Then, Kenneth W. Mack, the Lawrence D. Biele Professor of Law at Harvard University, stops by to discuss the enduring significance of the case.

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Today, we’re ending our Deadline mini-series with an essay about one of our favorite TV shows: Dr. Who. Afterwards, Jill and Ben talk about the greatness of genre fiction and Jill’s love-hate relationship with postmodernism.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this special series of essays from The Deadline. You can purchase the full collection at https://www.pushkin.fm/audiobooks/the-deadline-essays. 

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This episode features an essay from Jill Lepore’s ‘The Deadline.’

Why are there so many stories about the end of the world these days? Jill’s essay “No, We Cannot,” elaborates a political theory of dystopian fiction. And then, after the essay, Jill and Ben talk about the use and misuse of the genre.

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This episode features an essay from Jill Lepore’s ‘The Deadline.’

Today on the show, Jill and Ben travel back in time to the disrupt-or-die 2010s to revisit Jill’s essay about the gospel of disruption. And afterwards, they talk about the consequences and challenges taking on controversial subjects, Ben’s time as a media disruptor, and Jill’s time as a temp worker.

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This episode features an essay from Jill Lepore’s ‘The Deadline.’

Why do we insist on misreading ‘Frankenstein?’ Hardly a day goes by without someone comparing some new technology to Frankenstein’s monster. But there’s a much richer set of lessons to draw from Mary Shelley’s book.

Today on the show, Jill reads her essay “It’s Still Alive.” And then afterwards, Jill and Ben talk about the meaning of the story, the biography of its author, and how what you read shapes who you are.

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This episode features an essay from Jill Lepore’s ‘The Deadline.’

Jill reads her essay on the tangled history of Barbie. And then, after, Ben and Jill talk about how the film fits in with the core concerns of the essay — the tangled web of intellectual property, IP theft, and the relationship between corporations and feminism.

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In our first installment of essays from The Deadline, we’re bringing you ‘The Ice Man,’ a story about the history of cryogenic freezing, and the perils of being unable to let go. 

After the essay, Jill and Ben talk about where the essay began and the moral challenges of writing about a living person. 

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Last year, Jill Lepore published a book called The Deadline. It’s a compilation of years worth of beautiful essays Jill has written on everything from the history of cryogenics to the Silicon Valley gospel of disruption. For the next six weeks, we’re going to be bringing you one of those essays each week. And then, at the end of each essay, Ben Naddaff-Hafrey will interview Jill about her craft and the themes of her essays. 

Remember when DVDs had special features? This would be the best of the special features.

You can purchase the full collection at: https://www.pushkin.fm/audiobooks/the-deadline-essays

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We’re bringing you an episode of Decoder Ring from our friends at Slate. This episode dives into a strange historical urban legend: Did Peter Falk of Columbo fame really help quell a Romanian communist revolt during the Cold War? Host Willa Paskin investigates.

Listen to “The Curious Case of Columbo’s Message to Romania Part 2” on Decoder Ring’s feed and follow to never miss an episode: https://slate.com/podcasts/decoder-ring.

This podcast was written by Willa Paskin, who produces Decoder Ring with Katie Shepherd. This episode was edited by Joel Meyer. Derek John is Slate’s executive producer of narrative podcasts. Merritt Jacob is senior technical director.

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