Best Anna Bower Podcasts (2025)

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Julie K. Brown: Hiding the Truth in the Epstein Files 47:01

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29m ago47:01

47:01

The DOJ is releasing random Epstein documents to distract the public, while also intentionally covering the faces of men in images. It's also pulling docs that reveal Trump's name. Epstein's victims think the government's messy release is all designed to protect their not publicly-known perpetrators. Meanwhile, more victims are coming forward to Ju…

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Sara Byala, "Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African" (Oxford UP, 2023) 1:07:39

24h ago1:07:39

1:07:39

Travel to virtually any African country and you are likely to find a Coca-Cola, often a cold one at that. Bottled asks how this carbonated drink became ubiquitous across the continent, and what this reveals about the realities of globalisation, development and capitalism. Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African (Oxford University Press, 2023) by Dr. …

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Bill Kristol: Trump Has Lost the Plot 48:29

14m ago48:29

48:29

After a campaign built on the promise that Trump was going to look out for his voters, he started his administration getting sidetracked by DOGE and Musk's phony ideas about saving money. After that petered out, he got distracted by his need to put his name all over the place. In the process, he's totally forgotten to help his people—or even fake t…

1
Jean Pfaelzer, "California, a Slave State" (Yale UP, 2023) 54:34

2d ago54:34

54:34

California owes its origins and sunny prosperity to slavery. Spanish invaders captured Indigenous people to build the chain of Catholic missions. Russian otter hunters shipped Alaska Natives--the first slaves transported into California--and launched a Pacific slave triangle to China. Plantation slaves were marched across the plains for the Gold Ru…

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Kathryn Cornell Dolan, "Breakfast Cereal: A Global History" (Reaktion Books, 2023) 1:07:58

6h ago1:07:58

1:07:58

Breakfast Cereal: A Global History (Reaktion, 2023) by Dr. Kathryn Dolan presents the long, distinguished and surprising history of breakfast cereal. Simple, healthy and comforting, breakfast cereals are a perennially popular way to start the day around the world. They have a long, distinguished and surprising history – around 10,000 years ago, wit…

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Stephanie Barczewski, "How the Country House Became English (Reaktion, 2023) 57:29

6h ago57:29

57:29

How the Country House Became English (Reaktion, 2023) by Dr. Stephanie Barczewski is an exploration of the evolution of the quintessentially English country house. Country houses have come to be regarded as quintessentially English, not only in terms of their architectural style but because they appear to embody national values of continuity and in…

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Kara Swisher: We're in an 'Eat the Rich' Moment 54:54

3d ago54:54

54:54

The year started with America's tech overlords kissing the ring at Trump's inauguration, and it's ending with the public fed up with the ostentatiously rich—and more distrustful of Silicon Valley than ever, particularly on AI. Plus, Kara's key role in the revelations about the relationship between RFK, Jr. and Olivia Nuzzi, Trump is giving away the…

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Robin F. Hansen, "Prison Born: Incarceration and Motherhood in the Colonial Shadow" (U Regina Press, 2024) 40:11

3d ago40:11

40:11

With rigorous scrutiny and deep care, Robin Hansen's Prison Born: Incarceration and Motherhood in the Colonial Shadow (U Regina Press, 2024) offers crucial insight into the intersections of ongoing colonial harms facing Indigenous mothers in Canada. Building from an unplanned call to Hansen from a pregnant, incarcerated Indigenous woman in 2016, Pr…

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Daniel Lopatin (‘Marty Supreme’) aka Oneohtrix Point Never 1:10:26

1h ago1:10:26

1:10:26

Electronic music pioneer Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never) joins SCORE to discuss his explosive new score to A24’s MARTY SUPREME, directed by Josh Safdie, as well as his background as a godfather of the late-2000s “Vaporwave” music genre and his ongoing record producing with singer-songwriter Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd).Daniel dives into his…

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Filip Kovacevic, "KGB Literati: Spy Fiction and State Security in the Soviet Union" (U Toronto Press, 2025) 51:57

4h ago51:57

51:57

KGB Literati: Spy Fiction and State Security in the Soviet Union (University of Toronto Press, 2025) offers a first-ever glimpse into the mysterious and long-ignored world and work of Soviet spies- and counterspies-turned-writers. Once out of active service, many former spies have turned to writing spy fiction. They drop the dagger and pick up the …

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Samuel Helfont, "The Iraq Wars: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford UP, 2025) 1:02:15

7d ago1:02:15

1:02:15

American wars in Iraq were a defining feature of global politics for almost thirty years. The Gulf War of 1991, the American invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the campaign against the Islamic State beginning in 2014 each had their own logic. Each occurrence was a distinct conflict; however they must not only be considered in isolation. The United State…

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Andrea Maraschi and Francesca Tasca, "Food, Heresies, and Magical Boundaries in the Middle Ages (Amsterdam UP, 2024) 51:22

1d ago51:22

51:22

In Food, Heresies, and Magical Boundaries in the Middle Ages (Amsterdam UP, 2024) by Dr. Andrea Maraschi & Dr. Francesca Tasca, readers will find stories about medieval heresies and “magic” from an unusual perspective: that of food studies. The time span ranges from Late Antiquity to the Late Middle Ages, while the geographical scope includes regio…

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Tom Nichols: The Buzz Has Worn Off 54:43

1d ago54:43

54:43

Six months ago, MAGA world was strutting around with their chests puffed out. But now, many of them are having a blue Christmas over the infighting, the economy, the DOJ's inability to deliver revenge, and Trump's cover-up of child sex traffickers—one of the key things they really cared about. All Trump can think to do is plaster his name on anothe…

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Tracey Norman and Mark Norman, "Devon's Forgotten Witches: 1860–1910" (The History Press, 2025) 57:41

8d ago57:41

57:41

Witchcraft and witches throughout history have long captured the imagination, yet hidden away in archives are records of long forgotten cases. Many of these are tragic, some are unusual – perhaps even inexplicable – but all are fascinating in their own right. Devon’s Forgotten Witches 1860–1910 (The History Press, 2025) by Mark Norman and Tracey No…

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Amy Bowers Cordalis, "The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family's Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life" (Little Brown, 2024) 1:02:51

8d ago1:02:51

1:02:51

For the members of a Northern California tribe, salmon are the lifeblood of the people—a vital source of food, income, and cultural identity. When a catastrophic fish kill devastates the river, Amy Bowers Cordalis is propelled into action, reigniting her family’s 170-year battle against the U.S. government. In a moving and engrossing blend of memoi…

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Amy Bowers Cordalis, "The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family's Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life" (Little Brown, 2024) 1:02:51

8d ago1:02:51

1:02:51

For the members of a Northern California tribe, salmon are the lifeblood of the people—a vital source of food, income, and cultural identity. When a catastrophic fish kill devastates the river, Amy Bowers Cordalis is propelled into action, reigniting her family’s 170-year battle against the U.S. government. In a moving and engrossing blend of memoi…

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Bill Kristol: This Is Trump's Cover-Up 1:02:06

3d ago1:02:06

1:02:06

On the Epstein matter, the current DOJ is not just putting its thumb on the scale for Trump. It's his defense team. Make no mistake: The top two officials at the Justice Department are executing Trump's wishes to cover-up the victims' statements and the details about Epstein's 2008 sweetheart deal. It's the president's cover-up, and the mainstream …

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Matthew Scobie and Anna Sturman, "The Economic Possibilities of Decolonisation" (Bridget Williams Books, 2024) 55:59

4d ago55:59

55:59

What do the economics of decolonisation mean for the future of Aotearoa? This question drives the work of Dr. Matthew Scobie and Dr. Anna Sturman as they explore the complex relationship between tangata whenua and capitalism in The Economic Possibilities of Decolonisation (Bridget Williams Books, 2024). By weaving together historical insights and c…

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Hilary Davidson, "A Guide to Regency Dress: from Corsets and Breeches to Bonnets and Muslins" (Yale UP 2025) 57:04

4d ago57:04

57:04

In A Guide to Regency Dress: from Corsets and Breeches to Bonnets and Muslins (Yale UP 2025), celebrated dress historian Dr. Hilary Davidson brings together nearly 20 years of research on Regency fashion in an illustrated guide for the first time. All the elements of the Regency wardrobe of both men and women—from coats, gowns and undergarments to …

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Matthew Scobie and Anna Sturman, "The Economic Possibilities of Decolonisation" (Bridget Williams Books, 2024) 55:59

3d ago55:59

55:59

What do the economics of decolonisation mean for the future of Aotearoa? This question drives the work of Dr. Matthew Scobie and Dr. Anna Sturman as they explore the complex relationship between tangata whenua and capitalism in The Economic Possibilities of Decolonisation (Bridget Williams Books, 2024). By weaving together historical insights and c…

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Judith Jesch, "The Saga of the Earls of Orkney" (Birlinn, 2025) 49:57

5d ago49:57

49:57

In The Saga of the Earls of Orkney (Birlinn, 2025), Professor Judith Jesch presents a fascinating history of the Earldom of Orkney, which was established in the Viking Age, records the adventures, feuds and battles of powerful Norsemen during its first three centuries. The medieval earls of Orkney owed allegiance to the kings of Norway but their in…

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Molly-Claire Gillett, "Irish Lacemaking: Art, Industry and Cultural Practice" (Bloomsbury, 2025) 1:04:13

5d ago1:04:13

1:04:13

Following the career of the Irish lace designer and inspector Emily Anderson (1856-1948), Irish Lacemaking: Art, Industry and Cultural Practice (Bloomsbury, 2025) by Dr. Molly-Claire Gillett traces a network of designers, makers, organizations and institutions involved in the late-19th and early-20th-century Irish lace industry and explores their c…

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David Frum: Trump and Epstein Were Best Friends 52:05

6d ago52:05

52:05

Of all the images of Trump, the only times he seemed to be authentically smiling in the presence of another person was when he was with Jeffrey Epstein. The two of them had the same interests, and other people in the 80s and 90s assumed they were best friends. Over in MAGA land, a proxy war has broken out among rightwing influencers—like Ben Shapir…

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Mayu Fujikawa, "Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanese Ambassadors in Early Modern Europe" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2025) 55:42

12d ago55:42

55:42

In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Japan sent its first diplomatic delegations to visit the popes and dignitaries of Europe. European artists portrayed these historic ambassadors—the Tenshō embassy (1582–90) and the Keichō embassy (1613–20)—in numerous oil paintings, frescoes, drawings, and prints. Envisioning Diplomacy: Japanes…

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Jennifer Ott, "Where the City Meets the Sound: The Story of Seattle's Waterfront" (HistoryLink, 2025) This 1:12:32

12d ago1:12:32

1:12:32

From canoes on the beach at Dzidzilalich to steamships and piers, Seattle's waterfront was the center of the city's economy and culture for generations. Its tumultuous history reflects a broader story of immigration, labor battles, and technological change. The 2001 Nisqually Earthquake brought fresh urgency and opportunity to remake this contested…

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Jennifer Ott, "Where the City Meets the Sound: The Story of Seattle's Waterfront" (HistoryLink, 2025) This 1:12:32

12d ago1:12:32

1:12:32

From canoes on the beach at Dzidzilalich to steamships and piers, Seattle's waterfront was the center of the city's economy and culture for generations. Its tumultuous history reflects a broader story of immigration, labor battles, and technological change. The 2001 Nisqually Earthquake brought fresh urgency and opportunity to remake this contested…

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Patrick Gaspard: A White House Screamathon 1:07:25

7d ago1:07:25

1:07:25

Trump's power of persuasion is failing him on the affordability issue. He even broke MAGA creed on live TV by calling on Americans to trust the word of foreign leaders—who supposedly claim the U.S. economy is golden—over the pain they're feeling at the supermarket and at the pump. Meanwhile, NYC's mayor-elect seems to be understand the zeitgeist: W…

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Shiben Banerji, "Lineages of the Global City: Occult Modernism and the Spiritualization of Democracy" (U Texas Press, 2025) 1:06:08

13d ago1:06:08

1:06:08

War, revolution, genocide, rebellion, slump. The economic and political turmoil of the early twentieth century seemed destined to rip asunder the ties that bound colonizers and the colonized to one another. The upheaval represented an opportunity, and not just to nationalists who imagined new homelands or to socialists who dreamed of international …

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Sharon Sliwinski, "An Alphabet for Dreamers: How to See the World with Eyes Closed" (MIT Press, 2025) 29:35

8d ago29:35

29:35

Borrowing from the traditional alphabet book genre for children, An Alphabet for Dreamers: How to See the World with Eyes Closed (MIT Press, 2025) by Dr. Sharon Sliwinski provides adult readers with a new grammar for dreams, or what neuroscientist Sidarta Ribeiro calls “oracles of the night.” In this book, Dr. Sliwinski restores dreaming to its pro…

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Amy Erdman Farrell, "Intrepid Girls: The Complicated History of the Girl Scouts of the USA" (UNC Press, 2025) 57:52

13d ago57:52

57:52

When eight-year-old Amy Erdman Farrell moved with her family to Akron, Ohio, in 1972, she found herself adrift in a sea of taunting boys and mean girls. Shy by nature, she dreaded her long, unhappy days at school. But a few years later, Farrell found an escape from bullying, the promise of sisterhood, a rising sense of confidence, adventure, and—be…

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Catherine Rampell and Michael Steinberger: Trump Wants to Cook the Books 1:04:59

8d ago1:04:59

1:04:59

POTUS is firing or censoring the statisticians who collect data on health and climate, as well as the kind of experts who could verify his lofty claims of an A++++ economy. And while Vance says that Trump is really turning things around, job losses are rising from his destructive tariff and immigration policies. Plus, the back story on Palantir and…

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Will Sommer: Conspiracy Theorists Are Behind the Wheel in the Republican Party 1:03:30

9d ago1:03:30

1:03:30

The people running the Republican grassroots are nativist populists, and it’s a space where opposition to Israel thrives, along with a heaping serving of antisemitism. Candace’s wild theories about the Charlie Kirk assassination has had a big impact among the young who get their news from TikTok and Instagram. And JD—who is the top-billed speaker a…

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David Nasaw, "The Wounded Generation: Coming Home After World War II" (Penguin, 2025) 55:22

15d ago55:22

55:22

In its duration, geographical reach, and ferocity, World War II was unprecedented, and the effects on those who fought it and their loved ones at home, immeasurable. The heroism of the men and women who won the war may be well documented, but we know too little about the pain and hardships the veterans endured upon their return home. As historian D…

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Hannah Frydman, "Between the Sheets: Sexuality, Classified Advertising, and the Moral Threat to Press Freedom in France" (Cornell UP, 2025) 45:53

15d ago45:53

45:53

Between the Sheets: Sexuality, Classified Advertising, and the Moral Threat to Press Freedom in France (Cornell UP, 2025) by Dr. Hannah Frydman reveals a space, hidden in plain sight in Third Republican Paris, where deviant sexualities and lives could be experimented with and financed, despite republican attempts at growing and norming the populati…

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Bill Kristol: A Weekend of Tragedy 55:08

10d ago55:08

55:08

From the shooting at Brown University, to the Oct. 7-style slaughter in Australia, and the shocking murder of Rob Reiner and his wife—it’s been one blow after another. But leave it to Trump to seize the moment to remind Americans what a disgusting human being he is. Meanwhile, social media algorithms keep pushing people to antisemitic content, and …

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Katrina Navickas, "Contested Commons: A History of Protest and Public Space in England" (Reaktion, 2025) 29:40

13d ago29:40

29:40

A radical history of England, Contested Commons: A History of Protest and Public Space in England (Reaktion, 2025) by Dr. Katrina Navickas is a gripping overview of increasingly restrictive policing and legislation against protest in public spaces. It tells the long history of contests over Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Cable Street and Kinder Scout…

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Mirya Holman, "The Hidden Face of Local Power: Appointed Boards and the Limits of Democracy" (Temple UP, 2025) 44:08

17d ago44:08

44:08

The Hidden Face of Local Power: Appointed Boards and the Limits of Democracy (Temple UP, 2025) by Dr. Mirya Holman explicates the purpose, role, and consequences of appointed boards in U.S. cities. Dr. Holman finds cities create strong boards that generate policy, consolidate power, and defend the interests of businesses and wealthy and white resid…

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Negar Mansouri and Daniel R. Quiroga-Villamarín eds., "Ways of Seeing International Organisations: New Perspectives for International Institutional Law" (Cambridge UP, 2025 46:53

18d ago46:53

46:53

For decades, the field of scholarship that studies the law and practice of international organisations -also known as 'international institutional law'- has been marked by an intellectual quietism. Most of the scholarship tends to focus narrowly on providing 'legal' answers to 'legal' questions. For that reason, perspectives rarely engage with the …

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Edward McPherson, "Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View" (Astra House, 2025) 38:21

18d ago38:21

38:21

Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View (Astra House, 2025) by Edward McPherson is an exploration of long-distance mapping, aerial photography, and top-down and far-ranging perspectives—from pre–Civil War America to our vexed modern times of drone warfare, hyper-surveillance at home and abroad, and quarantine and protest. Blending …

1
Alyssa Farah: Trump's Big L in Indiana 54:15

13d ago54:15

54:15

Despite death threats and harassment, Republicans in Indiana delivered the biggest political setback to Trump since officials in Georgia wouldn’t help him find 11,780 votes in 2020. Turns out, some conservatives at the state level still have enough principles to not gerrymander on demand. Meanwhile, antisemitism, white nationalism, and neo-Nazism a…

1
Kathryn Chelminski, "Governing Energy Transitions: A Study of Regime Complex Effectiveness on Geothermal Development in Indonesia and the Philippines" (Cambridge UP, 2025) 55:30

19d ago55:30

55:30

As the world moves with increasing urgency to mitigate climate change and catalyze energy transitions to net zero, understanding the governance mechanisms that will unlock barriers to energy transitions is of critical importance. Governing Energy Transitions: A Study of Regime Complex Effectiveness on Geothermal Development in Indonesia and the Phi…

1
Julian Schmid, "Marvel, DC and US Security: The Superhero Genre and Foreign Policy in the Twenty-first Century" (Edinburgh UP, 2025) 44:42

19d ago44:42

44:42

Marvel, DC and US Security: The Superhero Genre and Foreign Policy in the Twenty-first Century (Edinburgh UP, 2025) by Dr. Julian Schmid considers how the long-standing superhero genre has been reinvigorated in the twenty-first century as an interlocutor of security and surveillance discourses following the events of ‘9/11’. While superheroes have …

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David French: MAGA Is Bleeding Numbers 1:00:02

14d ago1:00:02

1:00:02

Republican disunity is being obscured by affection for Trump, but just below the surface, MAGA is being pulled apart at the seams. At the same time, the administration is busy committing war crimes while conducting an illegal, nonsensical war, and the FBI is investing progressive groups for their views. The state of free speech protections may be w…

1
Charlotte Macdonald, "Garrison World: Redcoat Soldiers in New Zealand and across the British Empire" (Bridget Williams Books, 2025) 1:12:08

20d ago1:12:08

1:12:08

The pivotal year of 1870 brought down the curtain on the redcoat garrison world at both the metropolitan and colonial ends of the empire . . . In fewer than forty years, less than a lifetime, Aotearoa had gone from being a Māori world in which rangatira dominated, to a colony in which the settler state was in control of the economy, politics and pe…

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René Esparza, "From Vice to Nice: Midwestern Politics and the Gentrification of AIDS" (UNC Press, 2025) 52:07

20d ago52:07

52:07

Shifting the focus of AIDS history away from the coasts to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, this impressive book uncovers how homonormative political strategies weaponized the AIDS crisis to fuel gentrification. During the height of the epidemic, white gay activists and politicians pursued social acceptance by assimilating to Midwestern…

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Charlotte Macdonald, "Garrison World: Redcoat Soldiers in New Zealand and across the British Empire" (Bridget Williams Books, 2025) 1:12:08

20d ago1:12:08

1:12:08

The pivotal year of 1870 brought down the curtain on the redcoat garrison world at both the metropolitan and colonial ends of the empire . . . In fewer than forty years, less than a lifetime, Aotearoa had gone from being a Māori world in which rangatira dominated, to a colony in which the settler state was in control of the economy, politics and pe…

1
Neera Tanden: America's 'Daddy' Is in a Rut 51:20

15d ago51:20

51:20

Big Boss Trump, who claims the power to run the whole government via executive order and pushes all our allies around, is a man suddenly with no agency when it comes to the economy. He says the high cost of living is a Democratic hoax, or in true Christmas spirit, he’s back to blaming parents for spoiling their daughters with too many dolls. And wh…

1
Montserrat Bonvehi Rosich and Seth Denizen, "Thinking Through Soil: Wastewater Agriculture in the Mezquital Valley" (Harvard UP, 2025) 1:01:53

21d ago1:01:53

1:01:53

To think through soil is to engage with some of the most critical issues of our time. In addition to its agricultural role in feeding eight billion people, soil has become the primary agent of carbon storage in global climate models, and it is crucial for biodiversity, flood control, and freshwater resources. Perhaps no other material is asked to d…

1
Rachel Jean-Baptiste, "Multiracial Identities in Colonial French Africa: Race, Childhood, and Citizenship" (Cambridge UP, 2023) 56:43

21d ago56:43

56:43

Despite increasingly hardened visions of racial difference in colonial governance in French Africa after World War I, interracial sexual relationships persisted, resulting in the births of thousands of children. These children, mostly born to African women and European men, sparked significant debate in French society about the status of multiracia…

1
Mark Hertling: Trump (Still) Hates Europe 50:40

16d ago50:40

50:40

Heaping scorn and disdain on Europe, Trump called its countries decaying and its leaders weak, but the U.S. likely needs Europe more than they need us. And while POTUS is whining that Zelensky won't consider his rigged deal with Putin, the corruption of Trump's negotiating team is off the charts, with Witkoff and Kushner trying to work a land deal …