May 24, 2019

Andrew, Ray, and Daniel discuss Game of Thrones and Avengers: End Game. Did GoT decline as in the last few seasons? And what message do we take from Thanos and his attempt to dramatically reduce the population in the universe? 

Mar 4, 2019

Historian Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen joins the show to talk about her new book, The Ideas that Made America. Other topics in the conversation include epistemic humility, the methods of intellectual history, as well as the influences that have shaped Jennifer, Ray, and...

Feb 15, 2019

Andrew and Ray reflect on the work of Eric Hobsbawm, a Marxist historian. For this episode we looked at the following material:'Eric Hobsbawm's dangerous reputation,' 'Eric Hobsbawm: a conversation,' 'Man of the extreme century' (interview), 'Indomitable' (review). See also Michael Ignatieff's interview with EH

Feb 1, 2019

Historian Daniel Bessner joins Andrew and Ray for a discussion of American foreign policy. What would a leftist foreign policy look like? Bessner suggests the ways we might introduce a form of humanitarian intervention without imperial ambitions. See his book Democracy in Exile, and the following essays for more about...

Jan 18, 2019

In this episode, Ray explains the intellectual appeal of Reinhold Niebuhr. Andrew remains skeptical. For this episode we read Ray's "A Theology of Limits" (Reviews in American History December 2012), the epilogue in David Hollinger's After Cloven Tongues of Fire, chapter 13 from Niebuhr's The Irony of American...