AUDIO BOOKS COMING SOON!
Russia's Road to Kyiv: A History of Russia and Ukraine
The New Machine Age: AI and the History of Labor and Social Anxiety
In Stalin's Shadow: The Origins of the Cold War, 1917 - 1953
- This series of 4 lectures is designed to provide historical context for events that are happening in Ukraine today. The focus will be on Russia and Ukraine’s historical relationship dating back to the Middle Ages, how it was transformed in Czarist times, and with special focus on the Soviet and post-Soviet era from 1917 to 2000. We will discuss key events such as the Mongol invasions, the Cossack Uprising of the 1768, the purges of the kulaks in the early 1930s, and Ukrainian independence in 1991 and what came after.
In Stalin's Shadow: The Origins of the Cold War, 1917 - 1953
The New Machine Age: AI and the History of Labor and Social Anxiety
In Stalin's Shadow: The Origins of the Cold War, 1917 - 1953
- There are many analysts who believe Russia and the West are engaged in a new version of the Cold War. In that light, this set of 4 lectures (As part of a larger series on the Cold War and out “History in the Making” series) looks back at the origins of the 20th century’s longest war, one that in scale and scope surpassed all previous wars in human history. Beginning with the West’s intervention in the Russian Revolution and through World War II and the immediate post-war era, we will explore such diverse topics as the Russian Civil War, the Berlin Air lift, the Marshall Plan, Russia’s development of the atomic bomb, and America’s evolving strategy of containment. Key figures will include Lenin, Stalin, Harry Truman, Joseph Kennan, Paul Nitze, Edward Teller, and Mao Tse-Tung.
The New Machine Age: AI and the History of Labor and Social Anxiety
The New Machine Age: AI and the History of Labor and Social Anxiety
The New Machine Age: AI and the History of Labor and Social Anxiety
- For generations, periods of extraordinary technological change have inspired both excitement and unease. New machines have promised prosperity, efficiency, and higher standards of living, but they have also raised profound questions: What happens to workers whose skills become obsolete? Will technology broadly enrich society or concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a few? Can governments and institutions adapt quickly enough to manage disruption? Today, with the rise of artificial intelligence, these questions have returned with striking force. This four-lecture course places today’s AI revolution within a broad historical framework. We will explore earlier periods of technological upheaval, from the Industrial Revolution to electricity, assembly lines, computers, and the digital age. We will also examine the inventors, thinkers, and business leaders who shaped these transformations, including James Watt, Henry Ford, John Maynard Keynes, and contemporary innovators helping drive AI development. Special attention will be given to the public policy questions emerging around artificial intelligence, including debates over job displacement, workplace surveillance, intellectual property, privacy, misinformation, education, and the ethics of autonomous systems. Along the way, we will confront a larger question that has echoed throughout history: are new technologies tools that liberate humanity from old burdens, or forces that create new inequalities and anxieties? This course connects historical perspective with one of the most consequential developments of our age.
Red Star Falling: The Collapse of the Soviet Union
From Gorbachev to Putin: The Fall and Rise of Russia, 1991 - 2020
The New Machine Age: AI and the History of Labor and Social Anxiety
- This exciting and timely set of 4 lectures examines the decline and eventual collapse of the Soviet Union. From the death of Stalin to the beginnings of Vladimir Putin's reign, we will explore figures such as Nakita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev with special focus on the singular premiership of Michael Gorbachev. We will also study the lives and aspirations of average Russians as they tried to balance revolutionary principles with their average needs and wants during the Cold War -- All within an economic and political system that was failing.
The Waves of the Dragon: The Rise of Modern China, 1949 - 2020
From Gorbachev to Putin: The Fall and Rise of Russia, 1991 - 2020
From Gorbachev to Putin: The Fall and Rise of Russia, 1991 - 2020
- This set of 4 lectures examines the historic reemergence of China as a great power since 1949. In the wake of a decades-long civil war, division, military weakness and a “century of humiliation,” the last 70 years has seen China pose the biggest challenge to the prevailing economic and geopolitical status quo. Whether as a hardline communist state or a modified free market behemoth, its progress has been extraordinary. These lectures will examine this dramatic change of fortunes from the ascent of Mao Zedong and China’s reopening to the west in the 1970s to the profound challenges China still faces in the early 21st century including terrible demographic trends, risky military policies, and daunting wealth disparities that threaten both its long-term prospects and even its short-term outlook as it strives to build the largest economy in the world.
From Gorbachev to Putin: The Fall and Rise of Russia, 1991 - 2020
From Gorbachev to Putin: The Fall and Rise of Russia, 1991 - 2020
From Gorbachev to Putin: The Fall and Rise of Russia, 1991 - 2020
- This set of 4 lectures examines the precipitous decline of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It examines the economic and political meltdown of the Yeltsin years – even as reformers sought to introduce western-style norms combined with unprecedented levels of social and economic openness. We will also explore the rise of Vladimir Putin and his reassertion of Russian power both at home and abroad, leading to fraught relations and a series of wars with neighboring states.
Breaking Points? Constitutional Crises in American History
Breaking Points? Constitutional Crises in American History
Breaking Points? Constitutional Crises in American History
- This series of 4 lectures is designed to provide historical context for events that are happening in Ukraine today. The focus will be on Russia and Ukraine’s historical relationship dating back to the Middle Ages, how it was transformed in Czarist times, and with special focus on the Soviet and post-Soviet era from 1917 to 2000. We will discuss key events such as the Mongol invasions, the Cossack Uprising of the 1768, the purges of the kulaks in the early 1930s, and Ukrainian independence in 1991 and what came after.
Heirs to Empire: A History of Modern Iran
America's Immigration Dilemma: Past and Present in Perspective
Asian Phoenix: The Stories of Modern North and South Korea
- This set of 5 lectures examines the history of Iran from the 19th to the 21st centuries with special focus on its gradual opening up to European influences, its battles with Britain and Russia particularly, and the internal struggles over how Iran (then Persia) was to modernize, whether to westernize, and yet still keep their independence and their Islamic faith. Pressures and instability only mount as the demand for oil rises in the 20th century and new powers such as the United States scramble domestic politics, leading to revolution, war and isolation.
Asian Phoenix: The Stories of Modern North and South Korea
America's Immigration Dilemma: Past and Present in Perspective
Asian Phoenix: The Stories of Modern North and South Korea
- This set of 4 lectures examines the recent history and development of one of the most dangerous places on the planet: Korea. Both North and South Korea have endured decades of colonization and war to emerge since 1950 as two exemplars of a modern state, one deeply capitalist and globalized, the other dystopically communist and closed off from the world. These lectures will explore their complicated and contradictory efforts at modernization from the Korean War to the present with special emphasis on the leaders, policies and types of societies that have come into being.
America's Immigration Dilemma: Past and Present in Perspective
America's Immigration Dilemma: Past and Present in Perspective
America's Immigration Dilemma: Past and Present in Perspective
- This set of four lectures will examine one of the most fraught topics in American politics today: immigration. Despite the US’s long history of acceptance and openness to foreign immigration, since 2000, concerns have spiked about the number and ethnicity of those being admitted. Throughout US history, immigration policy has evolved and reacted to often dramatic shifts in American society. In this set of lectures, particular attention will be given to immigration laws in the 1920s, Lyndon Johnson’s landmark Immigration Act of 1965, and recent developments in problems and policies along the US’s borders.
Women's Rights, Politics, and Power, 1850 - 2022
A Crisis in Democracy? Lessons from the Past and Present
America's Immigration Dilemma: Past and Present in Perspective
- This set of 5 lectures examines the history of the development of women’s civil and political rights in America from 1800 to the present. It will embrace a broad range of social, economic and political issues relating to differences in class, ethnicity and race and explore critical contemporary issues such as voting rights, limits within marriage, abortion, education, social expectations, economic dependence and empowerment, political leadership and workplace harassment. We will also examine the importance of figures such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Margaret Sanger, Betty Friedan and others.
Enter the Drone Age: Warfare in Transition
A Crisis in Democracy? Lessons from the Past and Present
A Crisis in Democracy? Lessons from the Past and Present
- This series of 4 lectures is designed to provide historical context for events that are happening in Ukraine today. The focus will be on Russia and Ukraine’s historical relationship dating back to the Middle Ages, how it was transformed in Czarist times, and with special focus on the Soviet and post-Soviet era from 1917 to 2000. We will discuss key events such as the Mongol invasions, the Cossack Uprising of the 1768, the purges of the kulaks in the early 1930s, and Ukrainian independence in 1991 and what came after.
A Crisis in Democracy? Lessons from the Past and Present
A Crisis in Democracy? Lessons from the Past and Present
A Crisis in Democracy? Lessons from the Past and Present
- This set of 4 lectures examines one of the central concerns of many Americans today: are we living through a crisis in our basic democratic system of government? We will be exploring this question through two historical cases and an examination of contemporary developments here in the 21st century. We will examine the origins of the world’s first democracy in Athens in the 5th century BCE and the reasons for its decline. We will then examine the rise and fall of the democratic government of Weimar Germany between 1918 and 1933. We will also give close attention to the rise of “illiberal democracy” since 1991 and how most democracies today are experiencing flirtations with authoritarianism, neofascism, and other severe challenges to essential checks and balances of a democratic state
A Power in the Making: India since Independence
The Modern Middle East Since 1945: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know Part II
The Israel - Palestinian Conflict: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know
- This set of 4 lectures examines the recent history of India, one of the world’s most important, dynamic, developing countries in the 21st century. Coming out of a bloody, decades-long struggle for independence in 1948, India has seen several generations of dramatic political and policy shifts as leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and others sought to navigate an ideological and geo-political middle ground in the Cold War. In the 1990s, India dramatically shifted gears towards an accelerated economic development program that has made it into a dominant regional player and critical actor in global affairs.
The Israel - Palestinian Conflict: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know
The Modern Middle East Since 1945: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know Part II
The Israel - Palestinian Conflict: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know
- This set of lectures will examine the history of Israel since it achieved independence in 1948 with special focus on its complicated, darkening relationship with Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere. We will also explore the role of Israel’s neighbors such as Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia and other key actors such as the United States and Russia. In addition, we will examine the importance of the Six Days War in 1967, the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the First Intifada from 1987 to 1993 and the worsening of relations since 2000 as both sides increasingly view the other as threats to their basic existence.
The Modern Middle East Since 1945: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know Part II
The Modern Middle East Since 1945: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know Part II
The Modern Middle East Since 1945: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know Part II
- This set of 4 lectures examines the recent history of the Middle East with special attention given to the region’s economic and political development from World War Two to the present. Special focus will be given to the national experiences of states such as Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq and Egypt among others. We will explore the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, ethnic conflict, clashes with western powers, as well as the special economic and demographic challenges peoples of the region have confronted. For those looking to deepen their understanding of current events today, this will act as an essential primer.
Persian Gulf Cold War: The Conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia
Dark Shadows at High Speeds: The Dramatic Changes in China Since 2000
The Modern Middle East Since 1945: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know Part II
- This series of four lectures explores one of the key tensions emerging in the Middle East today: the growing rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran – with the US and a number of other powers playing key roles. As the US has begun withdrawing from the Persian Gulf, who will take its place? The oil-rich Saudi kings and Iran’s theocratic republic are each preparing for war – even as many other countries in the region are impacted including Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Israel and others. Meanwhile, other great powers such as China worry about the eventual outcome. In these lectures, you will get a better sense of the geo-political shape of the Middle East going forward.
Dark Shadows at High Speeds: The Dramatic Changes in China Since 2000
Dark Shadows at High Speeds: The Dramatic Changes in China Since 2000
Dark Shadows at High Speeds: The Dramatic Changes in China Since 2000
- This set of four lectures explores what has happened in the last 25 years to China, a country seemingly destined to dominate the 21st century – and yet now increasingly proceeding under a cloud of economic, political, social, and foreign relations instability. Where is this great power going? How has this recent history reflected President Xi Jinping’s policies? How has US policy impacted China’s plans? Will uncertainty and decline make regional conflict more or less likely? We will be examining key areas of change such as demography, real estate development, raw materials and energy acquisition, and industrial flight from China – all in a domestic political world tightly controlled by one man.
Ring of Fire: The Emerging Crisis in the South China Sea.
Forgotten Continent: The Growing Crises in Latin America in the 21st Century
- This set of four lectures explores what has happened in the last 25 years to China, a country seemingly destined to dominate the 21st century – and yet now increasingly proceeding under a cloud of economic, political, social, and foreign relations instability. Where is this great power going? How has this recent history reflected President Xi Jinping’s policies? How has US policy impacted China’s plans? Will uncertainty and decline make regional conflict more or less likely? We will be examining key areas of change such as demography, real estate development, raw materials and energy acquisition, and industrial flight from China – all in a domestic political world tightly controlled by one man.
Forgotten Continent: The Growing Crises in Latin America in the 21st Century
Forgotten Continent: The Growing Crises in Latin America in the 21st Century
- This set of four lectures will explore a series of separate crises that have wracked Latin America in the 21st century, crises that have prompted unprecedented economic and political instability, leading to levels of crime, unrest and immigration that have shaken regional and US politics in the 2020s. Specifically, we will be examining Argentina, Venezuela, Honduras, and El Salvador. For each, we will explore recent patterns of history and economic development, with special emphasis placed on the unique tragic trajectories each followed in the post-Cold War era.
Rightward: The Transformation of the Republican Party, 1960-2000
- At critical moments in US history, our political parties go through dramatic (sometimes traumatic) transformations when tried and tested political ties and principles … shift! In the last half century, America has gone through one of these periods as the Republican Party has moved from a broad party made up of moderates and conservatives, religious and non-religious institutionalists, and foreign policy hawks committed to an international order anchored by the US. Since 2000, the party has shifted to a much more populist orientation linked to religious fundamentalism, Isolationism, and economic nationalism. The legacies of leaders of the past such as Nixon, Ford and Reagan have been pushed aside for a new generation of more angry, confrontational, emotional, identity-based politicians. In this course, we will examine WHY the party has changed and how technology, social change, the rise of new media, and several crises of legitimacy by established institutions have converged.
From Seoul to the Super: The Korean War and Other Hot Zones in the Early Cold War
Popular Uprisings and Mass Protests: Lessons of Success and Failure from Recent History
- This set of 4 lectures examines the origins and evolution of America’s so-called “forgotten war,” a conflict that involved Korea, America, China and the Soviet Union in ways that constantly threatened to tip the Cold War into a hot world war. We will also explore the development of Russia’s nuclear program and America’s development of the hydrogen bomb, the “Super” and the ways that each introduced whole new levels of uncertainty and instability into the first decade of the Cold War. We will examine figures such as Douglas MacArthur, Mao Tse-tung, Dean Acheson, Kim Il-sung, Edward Teller, and Joe McCarthy.
Popular Uprisings and Mass Protests: Lessons of Success and Failure from Recent History
Popular Uprisings and Mass Protests: Lessons of Success and Failure from Recent History
Popular Uprisings and Mass Protests: Lessons of Success and Failure from Recent History
- In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, the world has seen extraordinary levels of popular unrest. At times, it has served to block authoritarian regimes and at other times it has been in service to them or failed in its opposition. This set of four lectures will examine eight examples of mass protests in recent history – four that were largely successful and four that were not. The four successful examples will include: the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia (2010-2011); Tahrir Square in Egypt (2011); Poland’s anti-gov’t protests (2023); and the South Korean “Self-Coup” protests (2024). Failed examples include Tiananmen Square (China, 1989); the Russian Navalny protests (2011–2012, 2021); the Gezi Park Protests in Turkey (2013); and Iran’s Green Movement (2009). Each case provides powerful insight into the limits and possibilities of popular protest here in 2025.
Pitch, Punch and Throw: A History of Modern Sports in America, 1920-2020
Popular Uprisings and Mass Protests: Lessons of Success and Failure from Recent History
Popular Uprisings and Mass Protests: Lessons of Success and Failure from Recent History
- In 1920, the most popular sports in America were horse-racing, boxing and baseball. In 2020, the most popular sports are basketball and football on both the college and professional levels. What has happened in sports and in American History that US culture has changed so markedly? In this set of 4 lectures, we will examine the decline of the first three as reflective of broad social changes in the mid-20th century. In contrast, we will look at the rise (most notably of college sports) as a catalyst for much bigger changes in education, work, industry, media, and the evolution of global sports such as the Olympics.
What about Fascism? Lessons from the 20th Century
Front Lines: Looking at the Current Russo-Ukraine War
What about Fascism? Lessons from the 20th Century
- In recent years, concern has grown across the world about a resurgence in fascism. From countries as diverse as Hungary, Poland, Brazil, India, Turkey and the United States, fascist tropes, styles and ideological leanings have burst back into the public square. In this set of 4 lectures, we will examine four specific cases from the 20th century to better ground participants in how to look at what is happening now. We will look at Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, Francisco Franco’s Spain, and Vichy France. What was fascism? How is it relevant now?
The Coming Darkness: The Rise of the Third Reich
Front Lines: Looking at the Current Russo-Ukraine War
What about Fascism? Lessons from the 20th Century
- This set of 4 lectures explores the origins of the Nazi Party in the aftermath of World War One and how Adolph Hitler took control of Germany and created a totalitarian state dedicated to racial purity, regional dominance and deeply ingrained social control. We will examine diverse topics such as the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, the burning of the Reichstag, the night of the long knives, the creation of anti-Jewish legislation, Nazi art and architecture, the night of broken glass and many other topics. This series would be followed in June by a second set of lectures on "The Fall of the Third Reich." This is not a series that extensively covers World War II.
Front Lines: Looking at the Current Russo-Ukraine War
Front Lines: Looking at the Current Russo-Ukraine War
Front Lines: Looking at the Current Russo-Ukraine War
- This course explores the ongoing Russo-Ukraine War based on the revolutions it is ALREADY causing in the worlds of military technology, strategy, geo-politics, alliance systems, demographics, and the future of empires. We will give special focus to Ukraine’s military advances and the problems they pose for Russia, China, and the US. The war has also shaken the NATO alliance, China’s threat to Taiwan, Russia’s hold on former Soviet Republics, and called into question the US’s global leadership position. We don’t know yet who will win the war – but the world itself is already showing how different it will be. Come and see.
After Silent Spring: American Environmental History and Politics, 1950 - 2000
Dark Horse: US Elections Where Unknowns and Outsiders Won Nominations and the Presidency.
Dark Horse: US Elections Where Unknowns and Outsiders Won Nominations and the Presidency.
- This set of four lectures examines the modern revolution in environmental regulation in the US that began in the 1950s. We will be exploring the emergence of environmentalism in the 1960s and the regulatory revolution wrought by one of the most unlikely of reformers: Richard Nixon. During his brief tenure as president, the foundations of modern environmental regulation came into being including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Other figures such as Rachel Carson, William Ruckelshaus, Russell Train, James Watt and Al Gore play key roles. We will also explore the changing politics of environmentalism as partisan divisions and extreme rhetoric lead to a policy crisis in the 21st century.
Dark Horse: US Elections Where Unknowns and Outsiders Won Nominations and the Presidency.
Dark Horse: US Elections Where Unknowns and Outsiders Won Nominations and the Presidency.
Dark Horse: US Elections Where Unknowns and Outsiders Won Nominations and the Presidency.
- In this set of 4 lectures, we will examine 8 elections in US history where unknowns or outsiders disrupted the candidacies of party favorites and insiders. For 4 of these cases, the outsider went on to win the general election. In another 4, they did not – but still substantially altered the course of history, nonetheless. We will be exploring the unlikely candidacies of James Polk (1844), James Garfield (1880), George McGovern (1972) and Donald Trump (2016). We will also look at improbable candidacies of William Jennings Bryan (1896), John Davis (1924), Wendell Wilkie (1940), and Barry Goldwater (1964). Each case provides a unique set of lessons for political observers in the 21st century.
Authoritarianism 101: Lessons from the Recent Past and Present
Dark Horse: US Elections Where Unknowns and Outsiders Won Nominations and the Presidency.
Existence and Resistance: Average People Facing Challenging Times: Episodes from Recent History
- This set of four lectures examines the reemergence in the 21st century of authoritarianism not in “third world” or developing countries from the Cold War Era but in healthy democracies that lead the developed world or are highly advanced by most measures. Examples proliferate in western, central and eastern Europe and also include important powers such as Israel, Turkey, India, Brazil, South Korea and, most worrisome, the United States. In these lectures, we will explore in a range of different contexts why this has happened. What experiences in the developed world have led to this dramatic loss of faith in democracy and (under the surface) free trade and capitalism? Where is authoritarianism making the biggest inroads? How is it transforming the political cultures of states that were once the anchors of post-World War II global economic stability?
Existence and Resistance: Average People Facing Challenging Times: Episodes from Recent History
Existence and Resistance: Average People Facing Challenging Times: Episodes from Recent History
Existence and Resistance: Average People Facing Challenging Times: Episodes from Recent History
- This set of 4 lectures examines how average people have dealt with historically bad times in recent history. We will be looking at a variety of episodes from both US and European history. We will explore how average citizens coped with the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the Great Depression. In the European context, among others, we will focus on how average Germans resisted the Nazi regime during the 1930s and 1940s as well as how the French dealt with a divided politics and foreign occupation in the Vichy era during World War II.
Darker Angels: The History of Domestic Terrorism in America
Existence and Resistance: Average People Facing Challenging Times: Episodes from Recent History
From Open Door to ICE Immigration Policy, Economics and Power
- This set of lectures will explore America’s long history of and tolerance for domestic terrorist organizations. Beginning with John Brown’s raids and the post-civil war Ku Klux Klan to the assassins, anarchists, and bombers of the early 20th century, we will explore how their radical views linked with the society of their times. We will give special focus to the left-wing groups in the Vietnam era such as the Weather Underground and contemporary sources of violent extremism since 9/11, Columbine and Ruby Ridge with groups such as the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers and the rather inchoate movement referred to as “antifa.”
From Open Door to ICE Immigration Policy, Economics and Power
Existence and Resistance: Average People Facing Challenging Times: Episodes from Recent History
From Open Door to ICE Immigration Policy, Economics and Power
- In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, the foundation of modern America’s way of dealing with legal and illegal immigrants. It was touted as “Opening the door to the world.” Since then, illegal immigration has become a deeply controversial subject, prompting the breakup of families, the militarization of borders, the creation of detention centers, the targeting of immigrant neighborhoods and workplaces, and the vast expansion of agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This set of lectures will explore how and why this has happened since 1965 -- with special focus on legal, economic and demographic trends and impacts here in the 21st century.
From Jefferson to Jeffrey Epstein: Sex Scandal, Character and Politics in US History
From Jefferson to Jeffrey Epstein: Sex Scandal, Character and Politics in US History
From Jefferson to Jeffrey Epstein: Sex Scandal, Character and Politics in US History
- This set of four lectures will examine in a serious way how sex scandals have impacted the lives and political careers of many of America’s most famous presidents. We will also use the course to examine changing social and political values over time, focusing on the extent that public perception impacts politics but can also signal broader cultural changes as well. We will examine eight specific scandals involving Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Grover Cleveland, Warren Harding, FDR, JFK, Bill Clinton and (to the extent we can historically) Donald Trump with special emphasis in the last case of understanding the history and background of the current Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
A Reckoning in Berlin: The Fall of the Third Reich
From Jefferson to Jeffrey Epstein: Sex Scandal, Character and Politics in US History
From Jefferson to Jeffrey Epstein: Sex Scandal, Character and Politics in US History
- This set of 5 lectures tracks the fall of Hitler's Germany from 1939 to 1945 with its primary focus on Hitler's domestic political and foreign policy and military decisions. We will explore the development of the so-called "final solution to the Jewish question" and the creation of the German empire as a series of differently organized vassal states with an equally diverse network of camps involving foreign workers, POWs, Jews and many other so-called "asocials." We will also follow the course of World War II with special focus on the war in Russia and Hitler's vision of what ultimately he planned to do with "living space" in the east.
Staying Alive! The 1970s, Stagflation and the Decline of the US Working Class
From Jefferson to Jeffrey Epstein: Sex Scandal, Character and Politics in US History
Staying Alive! The 1970s, Stagflation and the Decline of the US Working Class
- From the 1940s through the 1960s, America had never known such a prolonged period of prosperity and economic world dominance. And then came the 1970s. High inflation and high unemployment combined in ways economists thought were impossible. What followed was ten years of profound economic uncertainty tied with social unrest, political instability and cultural upheaval. No group was more impacted than the American working class who saw their wages and bargaining power decline even as their futures looked increasingly bleak. In a time where many are predicting a return to “stagflation”, it is useful to consider what it all meant back at this critical time.
American Trade Policy: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know, 1800 - Present
American Trade Policy: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know, 1800 - Present
Staying Alive! The 1970s, Stagflation and the Decline of the US Working Class
- This set of 4 lectures will examine America’s trade regimes dating back to the earliest years of the republic. We will examine how issues of tariffs, economic subsidies, economic development strategies and free trade have evolved and changed in the 19th and 20th centuries. We will explore competing visions of figures such as Alexander Hamilton, Henry Clay, William McKinley, William H. Taft, Cordell Hull, George Marshall, William Brock and, in the 21st century, Robert Zoellick and Peter Navarro. We will also examine how the attitudes of average Americans have shaped trade policies over time.
Breaking Points? Constitutional Crises in American History
American Trade Policy: Fundamentals Everyone Should Know, 1800 - Present
Breaking Points? Constitutional Crises in American History
- This set of 4 lectures will examine a series of constitutional crises in US history – critical points in time where our constitutional system was sorely tested. For all of them, a constitutional system survived – but in each case its fundamentals and trajectory were altered, sometimes subtly, other times profoundly. Some examples we will explore include the presidential elections of 1800, 1860, 1876, 1932 and 2020, as well as the Nullification Crisis of 1832 and the Watergate scandal. In these and in other cases, a constitutional form of government survived – but in each case, crisis changed it and left critical issues unresolved, laying the seeds for later crises.