All upcoming News, Politics, & Media programs

During the early years of the Great Depression, Americans experienced economic decline on a scale that was without precedent in the nation’s history. Historian Edward O’Donnell explores the causes and impact of this era in an examination of the key aspects of President Roosevelt’s New Deal, including the philosophical and political ideas behind it.

How did room-sized computers and dial-up connections evolve into tools that can write, analyze, and even create? Information science educator Nancy Friedland focuses on the key moments in history that shaped today’s digital world and how these developments changed the way people communicate, access knowledge, and navigate daily life.

The adoption of the U.S. Constitution and the start of the French Revolution—events that occurred in remarkable chronological parallel—were for much of the last two centuries seen as contrasting, but equally indisputable, pillars of modernity. Historian David Andress examines their shared, complex interaction with the continued growth of the British Empire and how far the political turning-points of this moment also hinged on shifts in technology, trade, and exploitation that had a global reach.

In an increasingly data-driven world anyone can fall victim to mind control, says historian of science Rebecca Lemov, who examines how brainwashing techniques once reserved for warfare and cults are now woven into the fabric of everyday life. She traces mind control from procedures used against American POWs in North Korea to the “soft” brainwashing of today’s social media.

The name John Hay may not be a familiar one, but his impact on American history is profound. He moved from being a confidant of Abraham Lincoln to Secretary of State under William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt to negotiator of the treaties that granted the United States exclusive rights to build the Panama Canal. Historian Ralph Nurnberger examines the remarkable life and legacy of a key architect of American power whose diplomatic vision propelled the nation onto the world stage.

Scholars contend that the Haitian Revolution remains the only successful large-scale revolt in which enslaved people won their freedom, overthrew the existing colonial government, and established an independent state. Historian Alexander Mikaberidze traces the rebellion from its beginnings during the French Revolution to its culmination in 1804, which reshaped ideas about race, freedom, and sovereignty across the Atlantic world.

Abraham Lincoln is typically ranked as the nation’s foremost president. He possessed extraordinary leadership skills that he used to win the Civil War and preserve the nation. While most leaders may display a unique style, there is even more to learn from Lincoln. Marking the 217th anniversary of his birth, Lincoln scholar and author Louis P. Masur proposes that studying this remarkable president can offer insights into becoming better leaders.

Curator Patricia LaBounty of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum explores how U.S. presidents used trains to connect with communities from the 1830s to the 1940s. Beginning with Lincoln, railroads were vital for travel, campaigning, and even funeral processions. Presidential policies promoted nationwide rail access, with train cars carrying everything from coal to cantaloupe—and sometimes commanders-in-chief.

Few books are so often quoted as Democracy in America, French writer Alexis de Tocqueville’s seminal assessment of both the American experiment and the implications of burgeoning conditions of social equality for the future of democracy. Georgetown University professor Joseph Hartman examines Tocqueville’s impressions of 19th-century America and considers what he means for us today.

On Aug. 6 and 9 of 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, during World War II. These acts continue to stand as defining moments in history. Historian Hiroshi Kitamura examines the factors leading President Harry S. Truman to take this action during what turned out to be the final month of the war.