Singer-songwriter Mike Mattison is an award-winning musician and founding member of Scrapomatic and Tedeschi Trucks Band. Ernest Suarez is the David M. O’Connell Professor of English at the Catholic University of America and the executive director of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers. They joined forces to create “Poetic Song Verse: Blues-Based Popular Music and Poetry,” a book that lovingly examines the relationship between blues-based music and poetry starting in the 1950s. This episode of Watching America is a must-listen for “music freaks” and literary lovers alike.

Did evolution prepare us for modern times? According to two evolutionary biologists, the modern world is out of sync with our ancient brains and bodies.

On this episode of Watching America, Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying discuss their new book, “A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century: Evolution and the Challenges of Modern Life.” Learn more: huntergatherersguide.com

Best-selling author Michael Shellenberger is a Time magazine “Hero of the Environment” and writes on environmental issues for various publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. He graduated from the Peace and Global Studies program at Earlham College.

In this episode of Watching America, we hear about his latest book, “San Fran-Sicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities.” It’s an analysis of homelessness, mental illness, and drug addiction in California’s tent cities. Host Dr. Alan Campbell also asks Shellenberger, who is a longtime progressive, about the subtitle of this work. Shellenberger’s other books include “Apocalypse Never,” “Break Through,” and “An Ecomodernist Manifesto.” Learn more at environmentalprogress.org

Phil Donahue (The Phil Donahue Show) and Marlo Thomas (That Girl) have been married for 40 years. They authored a book last year titled “What Makes a Marriage Last,” featuring their interviews with 40 couples. In this interview from August 2020, we hear details about some of their most revealing and tender conversations. Dr. Alan Campbell also talks to Phil and Marlo about interesting moments in their storied careers.

Engineering professor Leidy Klotz says human beings are wired to add, not subtract. In fact, he says we're twice as disappointed to lose something as we are happy to gain something of the same value. The human aversion to subtraction can result in inferior design, unmanageable amounts of regulations, and a chaotic personal life.

In this conversation with Dr. Alan Campbell, Klotz discusses his research and offers tips on how to wield the power of subtraction for the benefit of yourself and your community. leidyklotz.com

Truman Capote’s social life amongst the rich and famous is the latest topic examined by acclaimed biographer, Laurence Leamer. “Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era” looks at the author’s relationships with fabulously wealthy women, and why he betrayed them in the end.

Laurence Leamer is an award-winning journalist and author of multiple bestselling biographies, including the trilogy, “The Kennedy Women,” “The Kennedy Men,” and “Sons of Camelot.” He has been banned from the club by former president Donald Trump for writing “Mar-a-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump's Presidential Palace.”

Learn more at leamer.com

The Times says Niall Ferguson is the “most brilliant British historian of his generation.” He hails from Scotland precisely, and he’s now a U.S. citizen, just like Watching America’s host, Dr. Alan Campbell.

In this conversation between the two British Americans, we hear about Ferguson’s latest book, “Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe.” Ferguson claims that all disasters in some sense are man-made, and we’re not getting any better at managing them. In fact, bureaucratic inertia and general incompetence are making things worse.

The coronavirus pandemic is discussed alongside the nature of disaster itself, ranging from modern catastrophes in Haiti and Japan, stretching all the way back to Mt. Vesuvius.

Niall Ferguson is a senior fellow at Harvard and Stanford, a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, and founder and managing director of advisory firm, Greenmantle LLC. He is the author of 16 books. Learn more at niallferguson.com

Dr. Randall Bell is an economist and a sociologist who boasts the nickname “Master of Disaster.” He’s been a consultant for hundreds of catastrophes, include the biggest tragedies of our time: the World Trade Center attack, Sandy Hook, Hurricane Katrina, the Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test sites, the BP Oil spill, the OJ Simpson trial, the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, and “Heaven's Gate,” to name a few.

Bell has been featured in all major media outlets, and while you may be familiar with his work, you don’t want to miss this intimate conversation between Bell and Watching America host, Dr. Alan Campbell. They talk about Bell’s new book, “Post-Traumatic Thriving: The Art, Science, & Stories of Resilience,” which focuses on dealing with trauma and using it as a fuel for prosperity.

Learn more about this book and Dr. Bell at

https://www.coreiq.com/books

FAIR (Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism) is a new organization founded by people from diverse backgrounds—its advisory board includes left-leaning thinkers like Steven Pinker to right-leaning economists like Glenn Loury. Many on the board are harder to define ideologically, including the guests on this episode of Watching America.

Bion Bartning is the executive director of FAIR. He is half Mexican and Yaqui, half Jewish. He pulled his children from a private school in New York because he rejected its new ideology that he says missed the point of the Civil Rights Movement.

Daryl Davis, an R&B/Blues musician, is on FAIR’s board of advisors. Davis is perhaps most famous for his interviews with Ku Klux Klan members—and his conversion of them. Davis, who is black, authored “Klan-Destine Relationships” and was the subject of the PBS documentary “Accidental Courtesy.”

Enjoy this conversation about the “pro-human” approach to civil rights with Bartning and Davis. Find more about FAIR at https://www.fairforall.org

This is an intimate conversation with controversial radio talk show host and author, Larry Elder. We hear about his childhood, his relationship with his father, and his perspective on guns, race, and health care.

He’s said publicly on multiple occasions—including in this interview—that he would not run for office. Of course, we know that Elder is indeed running for office right now in California … which is what inspired us to dust off this conversation and have another listen.

Find out more about the "Sage from South Central" at larryelder.com