All upcoming News, Politics, & Media programs

The COVID-19 pandemic won't be our last, says biological anthropologist Sabrina Sholts of the National Museum of Natural History, because what makes us vulnerable to pandemics also makes us human. Drawing on her new book, The Human Disease: How We Create Pandemics, from Our Bodies to Our Beliefs, Sholts travels through history and around the globe to examine how and why such pandemics and many other infectious disease events are an inescapable threat of our own making.

Are you feeling like it’s impossible to repair our ailing democracy and the mechanisms that power it? Math holds the key to creating an infrastructure that benefits everyone, says math professor Ismar Volić. Presenting mathematical thinking as an objective, nonpartisan framework, Volic explains why the current voting system stifles political diversity and the Electoral College must be rethought—and suggests what can work better.

Accompany former National Geographic executive vice president and chief science officer Terry Garcia and nature and cultural photographer Chris Rainier, a National Geographic Explorer, on a journey with some of the world’s most renowned explorers, scientists, astronauts, visionaries, thinkers, and authors as they discuss their insights about what motivates them, what is left to explore, and why we should care. Following the presentation, Garcia and Rainier are joined by deep-sea explorer and founder and president of the Ocean Discovery League Katy Croff Bell for a short conversation on the future of exploration.

A shared understanding of history is a core part of national identity. However, in countries as disparate as Russia, China, Turkey, Germany, and the United States, leaders are increasingly trying to control how historical narratives are shaped, taught, and even discussed. Historian Hope M. Harrison of George Washington University explores how and why certain versions of history are being used by world leaders to support contemporary policies—and why all citizens should develop the skills to critically view the political uses of history.

Barbara Walters was a force from the time TV was exploding on the American scene in the 1960s to its waning dominance in a new world of streaming services and social media. Drawing from her new biography of Walters, Susan Page, Washington bureau chief of USA Today, examines the woman behind the legacy—one whose personal demons fueled an ambition that broke all the rules and finally gave women a permanent place on the air.

The post-World War II trials of Nazi officials and Japanese leaders set new standards for war crimes and crimes against humanity, leading to the creation of the International Criminal Court. Judge Evan Wallach, a leading expert on war crimes and the law of war, explores the history of these tribunals, their impact on the world, and how trial rules from 1946 have echoes in current events.

Looking at the shared pasts of literature and computer science, former Microsoft engineer and professor of comparative literature Dennis Yi Tenen provides a context for recent developments in artificial intelligence. Rather than a magical genie capable of self-directed thought or action, Yi Tenen draws on labor history, technology, and philosophy to examine why he views AI as a reflection of the long-standing cooperation between authors and engineers.

With the 2024 presidential race in full swing, many Americans are troubled by the caustic nature of today's campaigns. The reality is vitriol has been at play from the beginning of the Republic. A journalist specializing in presidential coverage, veteran White House correspondent and author Ken Walsh explores the history of poison politics in America and highlights the figures that helped shape the modern landscape.

Robots have enabled us to explore dark ocean depths and the surface of Mars. Though robots can mimic a great deal, they cannot replicate care says pioneering roboticist and computer scientist Daniela Rus: They lack heart. She offers a reframed perspective on the way we think about intelligent machines and weighs the moral and ethical consequences of their role in society.

In 1932, a significant year in American history, the country was experiencing economic upheaval, natural disaster, bubbling political radicalism, and a rise of dangerous forces ushering in a new era of global conflict. Amid this turmoil loomed a choice in the presidential election between two men with very different visions of America: Republican Herbert Hoover and New York Democratic Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Former Los Angeles Times staff writer Scott Martelle places that presidential campaign in the context of the significant issues of the day.