Watching America

Seth David Radwell was puzzled when he noticed his colleagues were increasingly less inclined to discuss topics of national interest. “How are we,” he says, “as a democratic republic, going to forge solutions if we can’t even discuss the problem?” Radwell says the way to reignite robust public discussion is to embrace enlightenment values--objectivity, science, and tolerance. Radwell’s deeply rese...

T.K. Thorne served on the police force in Birmingham, Alabama for more than two decades before retiring as a precinct captain. After that, she began the career she’d dreamt of since childhood as an award-winning author. Her latest book, “Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham’s Civil Rights Days,” peels back the veil of history to reveal little-known or nev...

Jemel McWilliams is the creative force behind performances you've likely seen-- John Legend, Janelle Mona, Alicia Keys, Lizzo, MAGIC! and The Walls Group have worked under his direction. His artistic vision has manifested on the multiple platforms, including the Oscars, Grammy's, Coachella, BET Awards, NBC's "The Voice," and numerous music videos. McWilliams is a dancer, choreographer, and an all-...

On this episode of Watching America, we hear from a former secret service agent who studied abnormal and forensic psychology. Mary Beth Wilkas Janke discusses her memoir, “The Protector: A Woman's Journey from the Secret Service to Guarding VIPs and Working in Some of the World's Most Dangerous Places.” Janke shares details of her harrowing adventures around the world along with some tips on how t...

Dr. Stephen Meyer has dedicated his life to the philosophy of science in an attempt to answer some of the most pressing questions in the universe. In this episode of Watching America, Meyer talks about his book, “Return of the God Hypothesis.” While intellectuals in the 19th century began insisting that science and religion were in a never-ending war, Meyer details three modern scientific discover...

The legacy and the promise of John F. Kennedy, Jr. has always been a subject of controversy speculation in American culture. Now a scholar and friend of Kennedy comes forward with an important book to help unravel the mystery. In AMERICA'S RELUCTANT PRINCE: THE LIFE OF JOHN F. KENNEDY JR., Steven M. Gillon draws on his scholarship and his personal experience to bring us a portrait of a could-be le...

Several years ago, Donna Francart started volunteering for a community crisis response team. She became aware of her innate compassion in dealing with difficult situations, which ultimately led her to a new line of work as a Deputy Coroner. Francart shares her experiences, documented through years of journaling, in her memoir, “I’ve Seen Dead People: Diary of a Deputy Coroner.” In this episode of...

This episode is not appropriate for all listeners. Award-winning photographer Mark Laita has used his skills for clients such as Adidas, Apple and Mercedes-Benz, and his photography has been exhibited worldwide. But he might be doing the most important work of his life right now on Skid Row in Los Angeles. A few years ago, Laita started taking photographs of people living on the street, drug-addic...

You may know actor Greg Ellis from his role as “Lieutenant Commander Groves” in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Perhaps you’d recognize him as “Chief Engineer Olsen” from J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. Or maybe you remember him from The Titanic, Forsaken, and countless television roles. In this episode of Watching America, we don’t talk about the roles Ellis has played; instead, we hear about a real-l...

We first met with Ayaan Hirsi Ali last year about her work as an advocate for freedom of speech and the rights of Muslim women, as well as her conviction to the values of Western liberalism. Ali was born and raised in Somalia, became a Dutch citizen (and representative) as a young adult, and now is a citizen of the U.S. In this episode, she talks about her new book, “Prey: Immigration, Islam, and...

In her latest book, “First Platoon: A Story of Modern War in the Age of Identity Dominance,” award-winning author Annie Jacobsen documents how the U.S. Department of Defense has built the world’s most powerful biometrics database. It has the power to identify, monitor, catalogue, and police people all over the world. The San Francisco City Book Review calls Jacobsen’s book “grade A journalism.” If...

It started with one haircut. “One evening in the spring of 2015, I was on my way to a friend’s house after work. I didn’t make it. I walked past a man who was homeless at the time. I would often stop to speak with him … but this time was different … I remembered that I had my tools in my backpack and asked if he’d like his hair cut. In the hour that followed, he told me his story. The next time we...

Do you hear voices … inside your head? Well, we all do. The secret, according to Dr. Ethan Kross, is to manage the way we talk to ourselves. In this episode of Watching America, Kross discusses the research behind his bestselling book, “Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It.” Kross is an experimental psychologist, neuroscientist, and founder of the Emotion & Self Co...

Dr. Alan Campbell continues his conversation about the British royal family with “Watching America” senior producer, Gina Gambony. We pick up from the last episode regarding the approach of the end of an era following the death of Prince Philip and the exit of Harry and Meghan from “the Firm.” In this episode, we also hear from Roberta Fiorito from the podcast “Royally Obsessed.” She has special i...

The British royalty have been in the American news lately—Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and the death of Prince Philip. Then again, the royals always seem to make the news in the United States, even if only in the gossip columns. Our host, Dr. Alan Campbell, isn’t the first to say that many Americans are obsessed with royalty—but he believes we don’t know enough about them. In this episode of Watch...

In this episode of Watching America, Dr. Alan Campbell talks with Neil Farber, MD about his new book, “Serendipity: Utilizing Everyday Unexpected Events to Improve Your Life.” The word “serendipity” implies accidental good luck. But doctor and researcher Neil Farber says it happens more than we think, and we can harness its power. Farber has spent decades teaching, researching, and practicing inte...

Michele Bailey has a long history in business. She is the CEO of “The Blazing Group” and “My Big Idea,” where she helps businesses build their vision and brands, create strategy-first cultures, and focus on the personal and professional growth of entrepreneurs and employees. Bailey talks with host Alan Campbell about her new book, “The Currency of Gratitude: Placing Gratitude at the Center of Your...

Sometimes inspiration comes like a bolt from the blue. On this edition of Watching America, we hear the story of “acquired savant” Tony Cicoria, who became musically inspired after being struck by lightning. His story was was brought to public attention in the book, “Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain,” by Oliver Sacks. We hear another inspirational musical tale from brothers James and Rob...

In this episode of Watching America, Dr. Alan Campbell talks with Michael Patrick Smith, a musician, playwright, and author of The Good Hand: A Memoir of Work, Brotherhood, and Transformation in an American Boomtown. Kirkus reviews calls Smith’s debut “a white-hot, fiercely argued case for working rural people in the face of their economically brutal lives.” After working countless “in-between” jo...

“If we can re-humanize the people with whom we disagree, that takes us a good bit of the way to being able to engage with them outside of this realm of moral purity and moral pollution.” What is “moral pollution”? On this episode of Watching America, we learn what it is and how it creates divisions between people that are difficult to bridge. Pamela Paresky, Ph. D., is a Visiting Senior Research A...

Author Mark Harris took on the daunting task of writing a biography of Mike Nichols, the larger-than-life theatre and film actor, comedian, producer, and director. Harris worked on the book for several years, and the product, “Mike Nichols: A Life,” has been lauded as “meticulous,” “engrossing,” and “superbly written” by reviewers. The book, released in February 2021, was an instant New York Times...

Jason D. Hill is an author, poet and professor of philosophy. He’s earned multiple degrees and has a most interesting background. Originally from Jamaica, Hill immigrated to the United States when he was 20 years old. His academic specialties include ethics and political philosophy, and he is a shameless fan of the United States. On this episode of Watching America, Hill discusses his book, “We Ha...

Annie Jacobsen is a prolific, award-winning author. Her latest work is FIRST PLATOON: A STORY OF MODERN WAR IN THE AGE OF IDENTITY DOMINANCE. In it, Jacobsen reveals the connection between young US Army men in Afghanistan and the Department of Defense’s quest to create the most powerful biometrics database in the world. You won’t want to miss this conversation. “…all of this calls into question ou...

What if someone told you that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs was actually just the beginning -- a proverbial sail to a massive ship of self-actualization? And what if the way to realize your best self is to transcend your “self” altogether? On this episode of Watching America, host Dr. Alan Campbell explores these ideas more with cognitive scientist, Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman. They discuss Kaufman’s jo...

The woman who changed Batman forever -- Catwoman. In the late 1960’s, Julie Newmar captured the world’s attention as the series’ first femme fatale. Her credits on stage, television and film are too numerous to list, but they span multiple decades—most recently, she revised her iconic role as Catwoman in the animated feature “Batman Vs. Two-Face” in 2017. This was 50 years after the role premiered...