Whose Century Is It?: Ideas, trends & twists shaping the world in the 21st century

Latest Episodes:

Trust, Faith & Trump Nov 18, 2016

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Trust and faith help any relationship, including the relationship between citizens and their government. What happens when trust is at a record low, and faith seems to be in mutually incompatible beliefs in a polarized society? Garry Wills, professor emeritus at Northwestern University, and an author of many books on faith and on politics, reflects on how the challenges of democracy and faith, and how America might seek a better path.

How do US elections stack up? Nov 03, 2016

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What could America learn from emerging democracies around the globe? More than you might think. David Carroll, who heads the Carter Center's Democracy Program and has worked for decades helping to monitor elections and strengthen democracies worldwide, weighs in.

Borders and belonging Oct 21, 2016

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Few issues hit more of an emotional chord, or an emotional nerve than those around borders and belonging, immigration and identity. Bringing it home in this third of a three-episode series on these issues, host Mary Kay Magistad visits the lands of her ancestors — Ireland and Germany — and explores the ways in which they are wrestling with these issues — and have wrestled with them in the past.

Rule Britannia Oct 06, 2016

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Britain long ruled the waves, and many of its citizens have now voted for it to control its own borders, and make its own decisions, free of EU control. Is this about sovereignty, or identity, or something else entirely? It's complicated, and often not in the ways you'd expect.

Who are 'we'? Sep 22, 2016

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People have been moving around, and borders have been shifting around, for as long as there have been people. Who gets to say who belongs, and who doesn't? Chandran Kukathas, who heads the London School of Economics' department of government, argues that a free society should tolerate difference, and (relatively) open borders, and quit fearing Muslims as a group.

Propaganda primer for post-War on Terror America Sep 09, 2016

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Emotional events are opportunities for people in power with an agenda, and Nina Khrushcheva, great-granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, now a US citizen and New School professor who teaches propaganda, says the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks was such a time. She talks here about what Americans need to know about propaganda, at home as well as abroad, and about her own experience, growing up in the Soviet Union.

Fab Labs, Fab Cities, & an Indian dream of becoming an Internet of Things hub Aug 25, 2016

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Aiming to help everyone make almost anything, Fab Labs have opened around the world, and Fab Cities are taking the movement big-scale. Featuring Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT's Center of Bits and Atoms, talking about the movement he started, and a visit to Kochi, formerly Cochin, a former ancient Indian trading port turned aspiring Internet of Things hub, and the first state or region to sign on to the Fab Cities movement.

Maker Movement meets China Aug 09, 2016

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The Maker Movement started to reconnect Americans with the creativity and joy that comes from making things with your hands, after years of outsourcing manufacturing jobs. It's now been embraced by dozens of countries, including China. And in China, factory of the world for decades, what does the Maker Movement mean? Depends whether you're a Maker, or a government official — and therein lies the rub.

Conspiracy theories, China & the real John Birch Jul 28, 2016

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Conspiracy theories thrive amidst distrust — distrust of power, distrust of the "other," distrust of the unknown. They can limit what's possible, and create conflict when none is necessary. One story, about a young Baptist missionary-turned-US military intelligence officer in China during World War II, killed in action, spun conspiracy theories into anti-Communist activism and suspicion. Terry Lautz, author of "John Birch, A Life," talks conspiracies, China-US mutual perceptions, and the myths and realities in the brief life of the real John Birch.

The precarious American Dream Jul 11, 2016

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Living the "American Dream" is getting harder, as prices rise faster than average wages, and work itself shifts toward a gig economy. How and why did this happen, and how might things change from here? Economic historian Louis Hyman, an associate professor at Cornell University, and author of "Borrow: The American Way of Debt," and "Debtor Nation: The History of America in Red Ink," talks about the emerging gig economy and what it might mean for America's future.