All upcoming News, Politics, & Media programs

Not everyone is aware that the health care system scoops up our most intimate medical secrets to sell commercially to companies that have nothing to do with our treatment or billing. Adam Tanner, author of Our Bodies, Our Data: How Companies Make Billions Selling Our Medical Records, examines how this lucrative international business extends to doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and insurers—and even labs that test blood and conduct other deeply revealing tests. He offers insights into how we can best balance the promise big data offers to advance medicine and improve lives while preserving the rights and interests of every patient.

For millennia, predicting the future was the province of priests, prophets, astrologers, and seers. Then, in the 20th century, futurologists emerged, arguing that data and design could make such forecasting a certainty. Historian Glenn Adamson offers insight into how the world was transformed by such forecasts of the future—whether in the imagining of new cities, the projection of novel technologies, or the pervasive anticipation of economic and political risks.

From World War II through the Cold War, Winston Churchill and Dwight D. Eisenhower maintained a friendship unlike any other in history, an alliance and camaraderie that defeated Nazism and kept communism at bay. Although occasionally testy, their connection remained close until Churchill’s death. Historian Mitchell Yockelson discusses the personal story of these heads of state and their lasting influence on the world.

As he confronted the most violent and challenging war ever waged on American soil, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation freeing the 3.5 million enslaved Americans without whom the South could neither feed nor fund their armed insurrection—ultimately dooming the rebellion led by Jefferson Davis. Historian and author Nigel Hamilton discusses how two Americans faced off as the fate of the nation hung in the balance and how Lincoln came to embrace emancipation as the last best chance to save the Union.

Presidential speechwriters provide a unique lens through which to view the nation’s chief executives. Learning about how presidents prepared their speeches and who helped them can reveal much about their views of the job. Author Robert Schlesinger explores the evolving role that presidential speechwriters have played over the last century and by extension how presidents have approached the bully pulpit.

In 2023, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour became the highest-grossing tour of all time, with revenue exceeding $1 billion. While Swift clearly benefits the most, the tour also gave a financial boost to host cities around the world and a wide range of industries. Economist Kara Reynolds explores the unique economic issues associated with Swift and her impact on the music industry.

As part of the most visible household in the nation, china used in the White House offers a comprehensive overview of the changing styles, tastes, and modes of entertaining across almost 250 years of American history. Philadelphia Museum of Art curator David Barquist explores the history of the porcelain tableware chosen by American presidents and their families for public and private dining. He also looks at the changes over time in the ceramics available to Americans. (World Art History Certificate elective, 1/2 credit)