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BN+: Benn Steil, "The World That Wasn't" Feb 06, 2024

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Henry Wallace was President Franklin Roosevelt's vice president during his third term, 1941-1945. FDR then chose Harry Truman as vice president in his fourth and last term. In author Benn Steil's book "The World That Wasn't: Henry Wallace and the Fate of the American Century," he writes, "Wallace loved humankind but was mostly vexed or bored by humans…" Steil takes us through Wallace's life, from Iowa farm boy to presidential candidate on the Progressive ticket in 1948. Wallace preached the supremacy of human rights over property rights yet excused the absence of human rights in Russia.

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QA: Sebastian Thrun, AI Pioneer & Tech Entrepreneur Feb 05, 2024

Show notes

Tech entrepreneur Sebastian Thrun talks about his work in Silicon Valley and the future of artificial intelligence. Thrun, formerly a vice president at Google, is the founder or co-founder of Google X (R&D), Waymo (self-driving cars), Google Brain (AI), Kitty Hawk (flying vehicles), and Udacity (online learning).

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AW: Ijeoma Oluo, "Be a Revolution" Feb 03, 2024

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Writer Ijeoma Oluo looked at how everyday Americans are fighting oppression in our systems and institutions to bring about change in communities. She was interviewed by author and activist Soraya Chemaly.

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AB: Mary Beth Tinker on Book Bans & Free Speech Feb 02, 2024

Show notes

Free speech activist Mary Beth Tinker discussed Iowa's state law on "age-appropriate" books in public school libraries. About Books also reported on the latest publishing industry news and current non-fiction books.

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BN: H.W. Brands, "Founding Partisans" Jan 30, 2024

Show notes

Henry William Brands Jr. has written close to 40 books in the past 36 years. The Portland, Oregon, native is a professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin, the same school where he earned his PhD in 1985. His first American history book, written in 1988, was titled "Cold Warriors: Eisenhower's Generation and American Foreign Policy." The list of other books includes one on Lyndon Johnson, Benjamin Harrison, Woodrow Wilson, Andrew Jackson, U.S. Grant, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, and many others. We talked to Prof. Brands about these and his newest offering, "Founding Partisans," about Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson, and John Adams.

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QA: Betty Koed, "Scenes" Jan 29, 2024

Show notes

ALL NEW EPISODE!!!

Retired U.S. Senate Historian Betty Koed shares stories from her book "Scenes: People, Places and Events That Shaped the United States Senate." It's a collection of brief chronicles of Senate history that she presented to Senators during their Tuesday caucus lunches between 2009 and 2023.

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AW: Donald McNeil, "The Wisdom of Plagues - Lessons from 25 Years of Covering Pandemics" Jan 27, 2024

Show notes

Journalist Donald McNeil spoke about what he's learned from covering pandemics for 25 years for the New York Times. He was interviewed by Science Magazine senior correspondent Jon Cohen.

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BN: Ep 150 Nigel Hamilton, "FDR at War" Trilogy Jan 23, 2024

Show notes

When Nigel Hamilton was a student at Cambridge University in Great Britain, he stayed for a brief time with Winston and Lady Churchill at their home at Chartwell in Kent. He also spent hours talking about World War II with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. These experiences led to a life as an author about history. Nigel Hamilton first moved to the United States in 1988 and is now a U.S. citizen. He's based in the Boston area and his books include "JFK: Reckless Youth," two volumes on President Bill Clinton, and a trilogy on FDR as Commander in Chief during World War II from 1941 to 1945.

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AW: David Stockman, "Trump's War on Capitalism" Jan 20, 2024

Show notes

Reagan OMB director David Stockman argued that the economic policies of the Trump administration were a failure. He was interviewed by New York Times Federal Reserve & economy reporter Jeanna Smialek.

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AB: Brad Meltzer's Ordinary People Change the World Series Jan 18, 2024

Show notes

Author Brad Meltzer discussed the 10th anniversary of his children's series Ordinary People Change the World. About Books also reported on the latest publishing industry news and current non-fiction books.

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