Host Jonathan Judaken speaks with Stephen V. Ash, author of A Massacre in Memphis: The Race Riot that Shook the Nation One Year After the Civil War. The Memphis Massacre took place 150 years ago this May.

Mel Chin on his Varied "Conceptual Art" Projects about History, Violence, Public Heath, and More

Feb 11th, 2016

Artist Mel Chin discusses his many projects, and helps to define conceptual art, a term with which many people feel they don't necessarily connect. In the catalog to the show, Rematch, a retrospective on his work, Miranda Lash writes, "Mel Chin

Ethan Katz on The Burdens of Brotherhood: Jews and Muslims from North Africa to France

Jan 21st, 2016

Tracing the past 100 years of interaction between Jews and Muslims in France, today the largest populations of these groups living outside of Israel, this book could not be more timely given the terror attacks in France this past year, first at

Dave Eggers and Valentino Achak Deng on What is the What

Dec 28th, 2015

In November, Dave Eggers and Valentino Achak Deng held public discussions of the 2015 Memphis Reads selection What is the What, a novel Eggers published in 2006 with the subtitle, The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng. The book was a finali

Mike Davis on Planet of Slums

Oct 1st, 2015

Mike Davis helps explain how we might change the one billion people live in fetid conditions, including 80% of those urbanites in the underdeveloped world, according to the United Nations. Davis also discusses how mega-spectacles that we lov

Sven Beckert on The Empire of Cotton: A Global History

Sep 10th, 2015

The heart of Sven Beckert's new book, The Empire of Cotton is about how the history of cotton illuminates the history of capitalism and by extension the modern world. Beckert writes, "European trade in cotton textiles tied together Asia, the Am

Devra Lehmann on Spinoza: The Outcast Thinker

Aug 15th, 2015

Devra Lehmann's award-winning book, Spinoza: The Outcast Thinker, is aimed at young-adults, but provides insight on the life of this somewhat-less-known philosopher that a person of any age can enjoy and learn from.

Lisa Moses Leff on The Archive Thief: The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust

Jul 21st, 2015

Lisa Moses Leff on The Archive Thief: The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust. Seventy years after the Holocaust, we are still sorting through the wreckage wrought by the Nazi plunder of not only museums and art

James Gelvin on The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know

May 22nd, 2015

Professor James Gelvin joins host Jonathan Judaken to discuss the Arab Uprisings, democratization in the Middle-East and Northern Africa, ISIS, al-Qaeda, terrorism, and America's role imposing neo-liberal economic policies in the Middle East th

Preston Lauterbach on "the South's First Black Millionaire," Robert Church

Mar 12th, 2015

Following the Civil War, Memphis emerged a center of black progress, optimism, and cultural ferment, after a period of turmoil. Preston Lauterbach joins host Jonathan Judaken for an in-depth discussion in advance of the launch of Lauterbach's l

Brian Greene: Professor, Author, and Theoretical Physicist on Mathematics, Science, String Theory, Einstein, and More

Feb 26th, 2015

Through a remarkable series of theoretical and observational breakthroughs, science has given a sharp insight into the universe's earliest moments and future. Author, professor, and theoretical physicist Dr. Brian Greene joins host Dr. Jonathan

Nell Irvin Painter on the History of White People

Feb 11th, 2015

Nell Irvin Painter, author of The History of White People, and host Jonathan Judaken talk about race and whiteness, discussing how many ethnic groups now regarded as white were once excluded from mainstream American society as non-white.

Scott Samuelson discuss his new book, The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone

Jan 12th, 2015

Dr. Scott Samuelson writes, "Wisdom isn't a doctrine: it's a style." Host Jonathan Judaken and Samuelson discuss his new book, The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone.

James Le Sueur on Algeria as an Example of Major Global Shifts in the Middle-East

Nov 6th, 2014

A conversation with author James Le Sueur -- Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Algeria has been on the front lines of the major global shifts playing out in the Arab world, in Africa and beyond. After democratic elections appeared cert

Michael Roth on Why Liberal Education Matters

Oct 16th, 2014

Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University, makes his case for what he terms "pragmatic liberal learning," and why a liberal university education matters today in America.

Interview with Melvin Urofsky on Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis

Sep 4th, 2014

Host Jonathan Judaken talks with distinguished professor Melvin Urofsky, author or editor of more than fifty books and over one hundred articles and the longtime editor of the Journal of Supreme Court History. Among his many and wide-ranging pu

Interview with Alice Conklin on Anthropology, Ethnology, and Race

Jul 24th, 2014

Host Jonathan Judaken and author Alice Conklin discuss the thorny relationship between science, society, and empire at the high water mark of French imperialism and European fascism, as well as this neglected chapter in the international histor

Interview with Rami Khouri on the Causes and Consequences of the Arab Uprising

Jun 19th, 2014

Rami Khouri talks about the consequences of the Arab uprisings starting in Tunisia: were they a flash phenomenon, or the beginning of fundamental changes in the Middle East?

Judith Butler on the Israeli - Palestinian Conflictt, Anti-Semitism, and Cohabitation

Apr 4th, 2014

Internationally renowned philosopher Judith Butler discusses the concept of binationalism in the context of the Israel/Palestine conflict, considering its different legacies in Jewish and Palestinian political struggles.

Maud Mandel on Muslims and Jews in France

Mar 20th, 2014

France today has the largest Jewish and Muslim populations living side by side outside of Israel. In her new book Muslims and Jews in France: History of Conflict, Maud Mandel, Director of the program in Judaic Studies at Brown University wants

Ta-Nehisi Coates on A Deeper Black: Race in America

Feb 20th, 2014

Ta-Nehisi Coates, national correspondent at The Atlantic, joins host Jonathan Judaken for a discussion on his upbringing, his influences, politics, and race in America.

Aram Goudsouzian on Race, Politics, and the James Meredith March Against Fear

Jan 23rd, 2014

University of Memphis Chair of History and author Aram Goudsouzian talks about the James Meredith March against Fear in June 1966, showing how it really was a crossroads in the Civil Rights Movement.

Darrin McMahon on the History of Genius

Nov 7th, 2013

Host Jonathan Judaken speaks with Dr. Darrin McMahon about his new book, Diving Fury: A History of Genius, discussing the link between "genius" in the ancient world to our modern celebration of birthdays through the festum geniale: the annual r

Robert Darnton on the Digital Public Library of America and the Future of the Printed Word

Oct 3rd, 2013

Robert Darnton, author of books, articles, and Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor and Director of the University Library at Harvard. Darnton joins host Jonathan Judaken to discuss the future of libraries, the printed press, and his projec

Author Leora Batnitzky On How Judaism Became A Religion

Sep 26th, 2013

From her first book about the Jewish philosopher Franz Rosenzweig, Leora Batnitzky has been heralded as a rising star in contemporary Jewish thought and the philosophy of religion. Batnitzky is currently a professor of Jewish studies, as well a