Whether watching the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, reading two different news sites, or merely glancing at any given Twitter feed, one might think that Americans across the country live in alternate universes. As the 2020 election approaches, political polarization has reached a boiling point. Dr. Carolyn Lukensmeyer, a nationally renowned expert in deliberative democracy and Executive Director Emerita of the National Institute for Civil Discourse, joins Then & Now producer Maia Ferdman to discuss this phenomenon. She describes the historical development of hyper-partisanship in the U.S., describes the opportunities that innovative political engagement offers, and suggests ways of healing the seemingly intractable divides in our country in order to chart a collective path forward. Watch her latest project, documentary Divided We Fall, at this link.

As the United States continues to experience a national reckoning with its long history of racial inequality, so too a debate has taken hold in the Jewish community about where and whether Jews of Color fit into the communal mainstream. This episode features Devin Naar, Isaac Alhadeff Professor of Sephardic Studies at the University of Washington, who sheds light on this question through the lens of Sephardic Jewish history. He challenges the imposed racial categorization of Jews in the United States, discusses the erasure and exclusion of Sephardic and Mizrahi identity in mainstream Jewish institutions, and proposes a historical reclamation of Sephardic identity and a radical reimagining of community spaces.

As we near the start of the 2020-21 academic year at UCLA, Then & Now will be moving to a biweekly schedule. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and to sign up for our emails, to hear about all the great work coming out of the Luskin Center for History and Policy.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which granted and protects women’s right to vote. As we mark this centennial during an election year, UCLA Historian Ellen Dubois, one of the preeminent scholars of the movement for women’s suffrage and author of “Suffrage: Women’s Long Battle for the Vote" (2020), joins us to reflect on the Amendment's legacy.  She discusses the tactics suffragists used to advocate for the vote, the political opposition they faced, and the role of race and Black women in the movement. Prof. Dubois also shares her thoughts on the present moment, the possibility of the first female Vice President, and the fundamental importance of the right to vote in a democracy.

The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution prevents the government from inflicting "cruel and unusual punishment” on those accused or convicted of a crime. Yet California’s prisons have been overcrowded, rife with violence, and lacking basic healthcare provisions for decades. In the era of COVID-19, this context translates to an infection and death rate well above that of the general population. Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced the early release of thousands of prisoners from custody to mitigate this pandemic, and yet this decision is rife with hurdles of its own.

How did we get here? Professor Sharon Dolovich, Director of the UCLA Law COVID-19 Behind Bars Data Project and the UCLA Law Prison Law & Policy Program, joins Maia Ferdman in conversation about the history of California’s carceral system, its human and economic toll, and the role of the law in its development over time.

In the wake of the unprecedented election of President Donald Trump, and now punctuated by the COVID-19 pandemic and summer of protests, many scholars and public figures have argued that the U.S. is descending into autocracy. Following the recent violent intervention of federal law enforcement officers in Portland, concerns about the state of America’s democracy have grown.

Samuel Moyn, historian and Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence at Yale University, and Vera Eidelman, staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, join Then & Now to explore the utility of historical analogies, President Trump’s role in the trajectory of American history, and the state of American democracy today.

What are the roots of mass deportation and incarceration, and what do the two have to do with each other? How can studying these histories allow us to confront and dismantle the racist structures at the center of today’s national conversation? Professor Kelly Lytle Hernández — UCLA historian, activist, author, and recent recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Prize — shares her insights on these vital questions on this week’s episode of Then & Now. She discusses the foundational role of white supremacy and settler colonialism in the establishment of policing and immigration enforcement in the United States. She then discusses the historical arc of activism against these systems, outlining the need for divestment from policing, investment in Black life, and redress for historical injustice.

On June 15, the Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects Gay and Transgender individuals from workplace discrimination. ACLU National Legal Director David Cole, who spearheaded the victorious lawsuit, joins Then & Now to discuss this surprise ruling, how the ACLU and its allies framed the argument, what the decision's legal implications are for today, and how the Supreme Court’s approach to discrimination has evolved over time.

The seemingly intractable Israel-Palestine conflict may well be moving into a new phase, one in which the long-dominant two-state solution is no longer viable or desirable to the parties involved.  How did this occur?  And what would replace it? 

Peter Beinart, noted journalist and editor-at-large of Jewish Currents magazine, recently published two pieces in the Jewish Currents and The New York Times about abandoning his own faith in the long-sought two-state solution.  Beinart now proposes a vision of equality for all in a single state. He joins Then & Now in conversation with LCHP Director and UCLA professor of Jewish history David Myers to discuss his shift in perspective and the role of history in his present-day analysis

The conversation revisits the definition and historical foundations of Zionism, the role of the Holocaust in Jewish approaches to Israel, and the related dynamics of other geopolitical conflicts. Ultimately, Beinart complicates the lines between utopianism and realism, challenging listeners to approach a longstanding conflict with new perspective.

What is work? Who is a worker? How have women been perceived and treated as workers?  Who is deemed “deserving” of benefits, welfare, and pensions, and who gets excluded?  Answers to these questions have enormous implications on the the structure of society and policy and how we live our lives. 

Professor Eileen Boris, Hull Professor and Distinguished Professor of Feminist Studies and Professor of History, Black Studies, and Global Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, joins Katherine Marino on Then & Now to discuss the development of the woman worker throughout history, the role of the International Labor Organization in this development, and the division of household labor during the COVID-19 pandemic.