The Hauenstein Center Collection

Today we hear from Jeremy Young, an historian at Dixie State University and the author of The Age of Charisma: Leaders, Followers, and Emotions in American Society, 1870 - 1940. In this episode, Jeremy describe the role that charismatic leadership and emotional appeal have played, and continue to play, in American politics.

In today's episode, Gleaves Whitney, director of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, discusses President Trump's first month in office.

This week, we hear from Noura Erakat, a human rights attorney and co-founding editor of Jadaliyya, an online magazine produced by the Arab Studies Institute. Noura discusses her work in international law and refugee law, as well as on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We also get her take on President Trump’s demand for “extreme vetting” of refugees, as well whether his Middle East policy signific...

This is the second installment of our two-part interview with James Panero, executive editor of the New Criterion. In this episode, we hear a bit more about the history of the journal, how it fit into the culture wars of the 80s and 90s, and what critics and editors like Victor Navasky of the Nation and Jed Perl of the New Republic have thought about it.

In today's episode, we hear from James Panero, executive editor of The New Criterion, about contemporary museum culture and art in the age of Trump.

In this episode, we hear from Emma Green, staff writer and editor at The Atlantic about religion in American politics, as well as about the election of Donald Trump and its potential effects on religious relations. We recorded our conversation a few days before President Trump made his executive order on immigration; however, Emma’s remarks provide some context for that decision and its potential...

In this episode, we hear from Caitlin Zaloom, co-founder and co-editor of Public Books, an online journal of diverse intellectual debate and one of the few forums, online or in print, dedicated to bringing cutting-edge scholarly thinking and criticism to a wide, public audience. Judith Butler on Public Books: "It is a rare and precious thing to discover such a compelling space for the written word...

In this episode, we hear from Jonny Thakker, co-founder and co-editor of THE POINT, a magazine of philosophical writing and humanistic thinking whose vision is, in the words of its editors, a society where the examined life is not an abstract ideal but an everyday practice. Leon Wieseltier on THE POINT: it is "intellectually serious, independent, far-reaching, spirited and elegant—a stirring act o...

This week, we have something special: a look-back on some of our favorite episodes from our inaugural year as a podcast, the very eventful 2016. Our selections for this retrospective aren’t random, however. Given the great political significance of 2016, we’re going to focus today on some episodes that shed light on the presidential election. What happened to the Republican and Democratic Parties...

Today we hear from Rita Felski, William R Kenan Jr. Professor of English at the University of Virginia and the 2016 Niels Bohr Professor of English at the University of Southern Denmark. In our conversation, Felski discusses her recent book, The Limits of Critique, in which she examines, and is often critical of, the ways many scholars write about literature.

This week, we hear from Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale University and the author of The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of our Era. Amar discusses the origins and importance of the Constitution: when it was written, why it was written, why he calls it the “political equivalent of the Big Bang.” Amar also talks about the important constitutional debates ragin...

Today we hear from Sarah Leonard, senior editor at The Nation and co-editor of The Future We Want: Radical Ideas for the New Century. Leonard provides her take on this year’s election. She also describes, and weighs in on, a variety of the debates that are going on among Democrats and on the left in the wake of Trump’s victory.

In this episode, we hear from Mark Carnes, Professor of History at Barnard College and the creator of “Reacting to the Past,” a new style of teaching in college classrooms that immerses students in the events and debates that shaped the past. This pedagogical method aims not just to help students learn about the past, but to deepen their capacity for historical, political, and cultural empathy.

Today, we hear from Gleaves Whitney, director of the Hauenstein Center at Grand Valley State University and producer of this podcast. Gleaves discusses the results of the presidential election, and considers what a Trump presidency might mean, what it could look like, and how the Democratic and Republican parties will both have to change significantly to adjust to the new political and cultural la...

Today, we hear from Professor Hendershot about her recent book on William F Buckley’s famous political talk show Firing Line, which ran from 1966 through 1999 and thus chronicled the massive political and cultural changes in America from the 60s onward. The book is called Open to Debate: How William F Buckley Put Liberal America on the Firing Line, and we talk about it. We also discuss the effect...

In this episode we hear from Martha Jones, professor of history and of Afroamerican and African studies at the university of Michigan, as well as director of the Michigan Law Program in Race, Law, and History. Professor Jones discusses a book she recently co-edited, Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women. We also explore the significance of that work in light of the current political situat...

In this episode, Bhaskar Sunkara, founding editor and publisher of Jacobin Magazine, talks about the short history of his publication and how it has thus far tried to differentiate itself from other magazines of liberal-left opinion. He also discusses the current election and explores the possible reasons for, and implications of, the rise of Sanders on the left and Trump on the right. Finally, Su...

Most Americas seem to agree that our country is facing a kind of political and ideological realignment. This state of affairs has conservatives and progressives looking to the future, but also to the past—to the thinkers and activists both left and right who shaped their respective traditions. An important question to ask is whether we can, or should, resurrect the ideas of the past and apply them...

In the 1950s, American conservatives felt like they were on the ropes: faced with a liberal consensus at home and radical ideologies abroad, conservatives were fractured, broken, and, they thought, largely voiceless. According to historian Bradley J. Birzer, it took the publication of one book, Russell Kirk’s The Conservative Mind, to help change the tide. Hailed by political thinkers and writers...

Andrew Hartman, author of A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars, joined us on October 6, 2016 to discuss the major political shifts of the 60s, the culture wars of the 80s, and the related political and cultural collisions today. We talk about debates over race, gender, religion, economics, and higher education. We also consider what the candidacies of Trump and Clinton migh...

In this October 5, 2016 interview with Matthew Continetti, editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon, Mr. Continetti offers perspective on conservative journalism and commentary. He also provides us his take on the current election and describes what he thinks a Clinton presidency or a Trump presidency might mean for the nation.

Today we hear an interview from February, 2016 with H.W. Brands about the life and legacy of Ronald Reagan. We also discuss Brands’ early takes on the 2016 presidential race, and discuss how he has managed to author so many award-winning books, and still find time, on the side, to write an entire history of the US, in haikus, on Twitter.

In this special episode of the Common Ground podcast, we’ll play for you a dialogue held at Grand Valley State University on September 8th, 2016, between two internationally renowned interfaith leaders: Abdullah Antepli, imam and Chief Representative of Muslim Affairs at Duke University, and Donniel Hartman, orthodox rabbi, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and author of Putti...

In today’s episode we hear a September 6, 2016 interview with Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, assistant professor of History at the New School, podcast host, wellness expert, and the author of Classroom Wars: Language, Sex, and the Making of Modern Political Culture. Natalia talks about debates over education in America, and how they can shed light on our country’s shifting political landscape from the...

Today’s episode features an August, 2016 interview with Jonathan White, an internationally recognized terrorism and criminal justice expert and the executive director of the Homeland Defense Initiative at Grand Valley State University. Dr. White discusses the recent terrorist attacks in Nice and Orlando, as well as what he thinks most Americans don’t understand about the nature of modern terrorism...