The History-Politics Podcast: Putting the Past to Work

In this week’s episode of then & now , we present a recording of a recent panel discussion focusing on L.A. wildfires past, present, and future. This program is part of the “Why History Matters” series presented by the UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin Department of History—a series dedicated to the belief that historical knowledge is an indispensable, and often missing, ingredient in public debate....

In this week’s episode of then & now , we are joined by John Mikhail, Carroll Professor of Jurisprudence at Georgetown University Law Center, for a deep dive into the controversial theory of the unitary executive. Rooted in the Constitution’s Vesting Clause, this theory asserts that the president holds centralized control over the executive branch. While the theory has longstanding roots in co...

This week’s episode of then & now is part of an occasional series exploring the past, present, and future of U.S. foreign policy and the U.S.-led international order. Guest host Dr. Ben Zdencanovic is joined by Bruce Schulman, Professor of History at Boston University, to discuss the Trump administration’s selective use of history, especially its nods to the McKinley era’s embrace of tariffs a...

This week’s episode of then & now is part of a series co-sponsored by the L.A. History Collaborative, in which we explore the impact of the catastrophic wildfires that affected Los Angeles in early 2025. We are joined by Amy Green, Principal of Silverlake Conservation and one of Los Angeles’ most seasoned historical conservators. She discusses her efforts to preserve intricately crafted tiles...

In this week’s episode of then & now , we present a recording of a recent event co-sponsored by the Wende Museum and the Luskin Center for History and Policy. This event launched the Meyer and Renee Luskin Public History Program at the Wende Museum, a series made possible through the extraordinary generosity of Meyer and Renee Luskin, with a thought-provoking conversation on the role of histor...

This week’s episode of then & now is part of a series co-sponsored by the L.A. History Collaborative, in which we examine the effects of the devastating Los Angeles Wildfires in early 2025. Dr. Daisy Ocampo Diaz joins LCHP Assistant Director Dr. Rose Campbell to discuss the Fowler Museum’s exhibition Fire Kinship: Southern California Native Ecology and Art , one of the exhibitions associated w...

This week’s episode of then & now is part of a series examining the effects of one of the most powerful and destructive natural disasters in U.S. history: the Los Angeles Wildfires. Co-sponsored by the L.A. History Collaborative— a new consortium of cultural institutions and historians committed to using the tools of history to assist in the reconstruction of the lives and stories of those dee...

This week’s episode of then & now is part of an occasional series exploring the past, present, and future of U.S. foreign policy and the U.S.-led international order with guest host Dr. Ben Zdencanovic. Joined by Dr. Stephen Wertheim, Senior Fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, we critically examine the far-reaching implications for U.S....

In this week’s episode of then & now , we are joined by Dr. Isaac Stanley-Becker, a reporter on intelligence and national security issues for The Washington Post , to examine the rise and partial fall of the Schengen Zone amid ongoing and polarizing debates regarding immigration policy. Through the lens of his dual expertise as a journalist and a historian, Isaac explores the origins and histo...

This week’s episode of then & now is the first in a series examining one of the most powerful and destructive natural disasters in U.S. history, the Los Angeles wildfires. Joined by Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University Stephen Pyne, one of the country’s leading thinkers about fire, we discuss the history of urban fire to understand what is unfolding in Los Angeles—where lives, commun...

**Content Warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual and domestic violence. In this week’s episode of then & now , guest host Professor Jared McBride is joined by Dr. Joy Neumeyer to discuss her recent book, A Survivor’s Education . In the book, as well as this episode, Joy interweaves her own experiences of domestic abuse and the bureaucracy surrounding Title IX with Soviet and Russi...

**Content Warning: This episode includes discussion of sexual and domestic violence.   In this week’s episode of then & now , LCHP Assistant Director Dr. Rose Campbell is joined by Dr. Shannon Speed to discuss systemic violence against Indigenous women. According to a 2016 study, Indigenous women are 10 times more likely to be kidnapped or murdered than almost any other population group in the...

In this week’s episode of then & now , UCLA undergraduates Stephanie Zager, Michaela Esposito, and Ella Kitt join us to discuss the results of their LCHP report on the evolution of the Fairfax District in Los Angeles. The three researchers chronicle the district's rise and decline against the backdrop of the inevitable ebbs and flows of urban change. Influenced by migration patterns, econ...

This week’s episode of then & now is the second in a series exploring the historical backdrop to and consequences of the 2024 election. Joining us are Raphael Sonenshein, a nationally recognized expert on racial and ethnic politics in California and Los Angeles, and Zev Yaroslavsky, one of Los Angeles's best-known public officials. This episode begins by continuing the discussion of histo...

In this week’s episode of then & now , we explore the 2024 presidential election and try to understand the enduring impact of a political realignment that began with Donald Trump’s rise in 2016. Joining us is Professor Lynn Vavreck, a UCLA professor and leading expert on U.S. elections. Professor Vavreck explores how Trump’s victories in 2016 and 2024 reflect a seismic shift in American politi...

In this week’s episode of then & now , we present a recording of a recent event hosted by the UCLA History Department, "Why History Matters: Reproductive Rights and Justice." This event brought together experts to explore the far-reaching effects of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022. Hosted by Kevin Terraciano, the conversation delves into the his...

In this week’s episode of then & now , we delve into the complex history of reproductive justice in El Paso, Texas, a key city along the U.S.-Mexico border that has shaped broader conversations around race, health, and community care. Guest interviewer Professor Elizabeth O’Brien speaks with Professor Lina-Maria Murillo, a leading scholar in reproductive justice whose research focuses on gende...

The topic of reproductive healthcare and access to abortion has emerged as a pivotal point in the weeks and months leading up to the 2024 presidential election in the U.S. In this week's episode of then & now , our guest interviewer Professor Elizabeth O’Brien speaks with Professor Cassia Roth, a historian of Society, Environment, and Health Equity at the University of California, Riversi...

 Welcome back to then & now!  To kick off our 5th season, we are joined by Professor Amir Alexander, a historian of mathematics in UCLA’s Luskin Department of History.  His latest book, Liberty’s Grid , examines how Founding Father Thomas Jefferson transformed early America into a mathematical landscape. Jefferson’s vision of an empty, gridded space was intended to create a framework for peopl...

In this week's episode of then & now we explore a landmark moment in Mexican politics: the election of Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo as the country's first female president at the beginning of June 2024. Environmental scientist Sheinbaum secured a decisive victory, succeeding the current president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Joining us is Leila Miller, a seasoned former correspondent for...

2023 marked the hottest year recorded in human history, with predictions indicating a worsening global trend. In early June 2024, southern California experienced an extreme heat dome, with temperatures rising into the triple digits. Currently, heat alerts affect over 16 million people across California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. This escalating situation is not confined to the United...

Recent campus protests have focused new attention on university investment policies.  The call for greater transparency and divestment from Israel has led to questions about the growth and composition of large university endowments, including that of the University of California (UC).  How did the UC system achieve its robust financial position? One answer lies in its deep-rooted connection to lan...

In this episode of then & now , we present the recording of an event held at UCLA on May 13, 2024. This event, sponsored by the UCLA History Department, featured a conversation between UCLA Professors David Myers and James Gelvin about the history and context of the Israel-Hamas war and the situation in Gaza. The brutal attack on Israeli citizens by Hamas on October 7th, 2023, shocked the worl...

As the war in Gaza rages on, discussions surrounding free speech and the right to protest have surged across the United States, particularly on college campuses. When a pro-Palestine encampment at Columbia University was raided by police, leading to dozens of arrests in late April 2024, university students around the country set up their own protests and encampments, urging for an end to the war a...

Gun violence has become deeply ingrained in the historical fabric of the United States, intertwined with the principles outlined in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which grants individuals the right to keep and bear arms. This amendment is frequently invoked in debates surrounding the implementation of stricter gun control measures. In this week's episode, then & now presen...