AUDIO LIBRARY

The Meaning of Craft
Bill Brown — Faculty, English Department, University of Chicago
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich — Historian, Harvard University
From knitting to embroidery and woodworking, handicrafts are wildly popular. What does this trend tell us about our relation
to consumption?
Originally broadcast March 13, 2003

Film Forum: Movies and Maternity
Alexandra Keller — Assistant Professor of Film Studies, Smith College
Elaine Roth — Assistant Professor of Film Studies, Indiana University South Bend
In the Kill Bill films,the main protagonist is both deadly assassin and a mother. This isn’t the usual Hollywood image of maternity; In melodramas like Mildred Pierce or Stella Dallas, mothers are sacrificial, passive, and silent. We know there are genres of movies; are there genres of movie moms?
Film scholars Alexandra Keller and Elaine Roth join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Keller is the author of Re-Imagining the Frontier: American Westerns since the Reagan Administration. Roth is co-editor of the book Hollywood Motherhood.

The Catholic Church and American Politics
Michael Budde — Professor of Political Science, DePaul University
John McGreevy — Professor of History, University of Notre Dame
The U.S. Catholic Church seems to be moving toward more active opposition to societal trends and public policies that run counter to the tenets of Catholicism. How is the Catholic Church positioning itself in American politics?
Historian John McGreevy and political scientist Michael Budde join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. McGreevy is the author of Catholicism and American Freedom: A History. Budde is co-editor of The Church as Counterculture.

Walt Disney and American Culture
Janet Wasko — Professor, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon
Mike Budd — Professor, Department of Communication, Florida Atlantic University
The Walt Disney Company is the epitome of family entertainment in the U.S. and around the world. But it's been plagued by troubles both internal and external. As Disney struggles with its future, what's happening to its place in American culture?
Communication scholars Janet Wasko and Mike Budd join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Wasko is co-editor of Dazzled by Disney? The Global Disney Audiences Project. She's also author of Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy. Budd is working on co-editing Rethinking Disney: Private Control, Public Dimensions.

Discrimination and the Law
Ruth Colker — Professor of Law, Ohio State University
Jill Hasday — Professor, University of Chicago Law School
When it comes to combatting discrimination, all groups are not created equal. These disparities underscore long-term debates over what discrimination is and how best to remedy it. How does the law contend with discrimination?
Legal scholars Ruth Colker and Jill Hasday join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Colker is the author of Hybrids: Bisexuals, Multiracials, and Other Misfits Under American Law . Hasday has written extensively on antidiscrimination law.

Crime and Policing
Claire Bond Potter — Author
Christopher Wilson — Author
Much of the work cops do puts them in the midst of the criminal world. Police use informants and run undercover operations. How do these forms of policing affect our ideas about crime?
Authors Claire Bond Potter and Christopher Wilson join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Potter is author of War on Crime: Bandits, G-Men, and the Politics of Mass Culture. Wilson is author of Cop Knowledge: Police Power and Cultural Narrative in Twentieth Century America.

The History of Alternative Medicine
Robert Johnston — Historian, University of Illinois-Chicago
Naomi Rogers — Historian of Medicine, Yale University
From hydropathy in the nineteenth century to present day dietary supplements, alternative medicine in the United States has been a focus for both political and medical debate. Host Gretchen Helfrich and guests discuss the history of alternative medicine in America. Johnston is the editor of The Politics of Healing: Histories of Alternative Medicine in 20th Century North America. Rogers is the author of An Alternative Path: The Making and Remaking of Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital of Philadelphia. She is currently at work on a study of radical health movement in the 1960s.

Hygiene
Timothy Burke — Historian at Swarthmore College
Nayan Shah — Historian at the University of California, San Diego
If our rules about cleanliness don’t match our practices, why are we so interested in hygiene?
originally aired September 29, 2003

The State of the American Economy
Erik Hurst — Professor, University of Chicago
Michael Miller — Chair of Economics Department, Depaul University School of Commerce
Economists reading the tea leaves have been seeing a rosy future, but many Americans feel like it’s getting harder to make ends meet. How should we think about these conflicting economic signals? Economists Erik Hurst and Michael Miller join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Hurst researches macroeconomics and household financial behavior at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. Miller is a macroeconomist who works on business conditions and consumer behavior.

The Civilian Contractor in Iraq
Deborah Avant — Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University
Michael Desch — Associate Director, Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, University of Kentucky
Recent events in Iraq have involved civilian contractors rather than soldiers. Many military and security duties have been privatized over the past few years, putting civilians increasingly at the center of operations. How does the presence of these civilian contractors shape our understanding of the situation in Iraq? Political Scientists Deborah Avant and Michael Desch join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Avant is the author of The Market for Force: Private Security and Political Change. Desch is the author of Civilian Control of the Military: The Changing Security Environment.

The Road to Brown v. Board of Education
Cary Fraser — Professor of History and African-American Studies, Penn State University
Mark Tushnet — Professor of Law, Georgetown University
In hindsight, the outcome of Brown seems inevitable. But the decision was the result of a complex convergence of social, political, and legal events. How did we get to Brown?
Historian Cary Fraser and legal scholar Mark Tushnet join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Fraser has written extensively on American diplomatic history. Tushnet is the author of The NAACP’s Legal Strategy Against Segregated Education 1925-1950.

Film Forum—Science Movies
Eric Drown — Visiting Professor of American Studies, George Washington University
Scott Curtis — Professor of Radio-Television-Film, Northwestern University
Some new films are delving into contemporary issues within science. Godsend is a dystopic vision of human cloning. The forthcoming The Day After Tomorrow depicts a world devastated by the effects of global warming. When movies turn to scientific scenarios what are they telling us about science?
Film Studies scholar Scott Curtis and American Studies scholar Eric Drown join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Curtis is working on the books Managing Modernity: Art, Science, and Early Cinema in Germany and Tangible as Tissue: Science, Medicine, and the Moving Image. Drown is working on the book Invention Culture: Reading Popular Science and Science Fiction in Modernist America.

Photography and War
Christine Bell — Professor of Art History, Northwestern University
Martha Sandweiss — Professor of History, Amherst College
Photographs have encapsulated many of America's military conflicts. And photos have both reinforced and complicated public attitudes toward these engagements. How do photographs shape our understanding of war?
American studies scholar Martha Sandweiss and art historian Christine Bell join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Sandweiss is author of Print the Legend: Photography and the American West. Bell is working on a book that explores the art of sentiment in fighting the Civil War.

Walt Whitman
Jay Grossman — Professor of English, Northwestern University
Michael Warner — Professor of English, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
Whitman's poetry is celebrated as an expression of American individualism. But it's also read as a record of Whitman's religious convictions. How does his poetry traverse the ground of religion and secularism in America?
Literary scholars Jay Grossman and Michael Warner join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Grossman is the author of Reconstituting the American Renaissance: Emerson, Whitman, and the Politics of Representation. Warner is the author of Publics and Counter-Publics and the editor of the Penguin Classics edition of The Portable Walt Whitman.

Latino Politics
Luis Fraga — Political Scientist, Stanford University
Rodolfo de la Garza — Political Scientist, Columbia University
From rival immigration proposals to Spanish-language commercials, Hispanic voters are very much at the center of the 2004 presidential campaign. Where does the Hispanic voting bloc fit in the American electorate?
Political scientists Rodolfo de la Garza and Luis Fraga join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Garza is co-editor of the book, Awash in the Mainstream: Latinos and the 1996 Elections. Fraga is a visiting fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. He's working on a study titled, “Gender and Ethnicity: The Political Incorporation of Latino and Latina Legislators.”

The Contemporary Archive
Antoinette Burton — Historian, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Roy Rosenzweig — Director, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University
The Internet has transformed archives, enabling them to contain a seemingly infinite body of information. But archivists have always dealt with the question of what to save and what to toss. Does the digital age change that?
Historians Roy Rosenzweig and Antoinette Burton join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Rosenzweig works on a number of different digital history projects, including the website History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web. He's also author of the article, "Scarcity or Abundance?: Preserving the Past in a Digital Era." Burton is author of the book, Dwelling in the Archive: Women Writing House, Home, and History in Late Colonial India.

Alternative Religions in America
Lorne Dawson — Sociologist, University of Waterloo
Thomas Tweed — Historian, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
America has always been fertile ground for new forms of religious expression, but in recent decades, alternative religionshave grown more visible—and perhaps more accepted. What explains the rise of new religious movements?
Historian Thomas Tweed and sociologist Lorne Dawson join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Tweed is author of the book, The American Encounter with Buddhism, 1844-1912: Victorian Culture and the Limits of Dissent. Dawson is author of the book, Comprehending Cults: The Sociology of New Religious Movements.

European Integration
Jeffrey Anderson — Director, Center for German and European Studies, Georgetown University
Milada Vachudova — Political Scientist, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Ten nations, most of them former Eastern Bloc countries, have joined the European Union, bringing very different political and economic experiences to the E.U. How does this affect the process of European integration?
Political scientists Milada Vachudova and Jeffrey Anderson join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Vachudova is working on the book, Europe Undivided: Democracy, Leverage, and Integration after Communism. Anderson is author of the book, German Unification and the Union of Europe: The Domestic Politics of Integration Policy.

Einstein as Icon
Arthur Fine — Philosopher of Science, University of Washington, Seattle
Peter Galison — Historian of Science, Harvard University
Albert Einstein is an instantly recognizable figure—a symbol of the modern scientist. And he continues to capture the imagination of both scientists and the general public. What does Albert Einstein represent?
Philosopher of science Arthur Fine and historian of science Peter Galison join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Fine is author of the book, The Shaky Game: Einstein, Realism, and the Quantum Theory. Galison is author of the book, Einstein’s Clocks, Poincare’s Maps: Empires of Time.

States and Cities vs. the National Government
Timothy Conlan — Political Scientist, George Mason University
Keith Whittington — Political Scientist, Princeton University
A growing number of states and cities are opposing federal policies on the grounds that they cost too much to states, intrude into local affairs, or infringe upon civil liberties. What do these responses reveal about American federalism?
Political scientists Timothy Conlan and Keith Whittington join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Conlan is author of the book, From New Federalism to Devolution: Twenty-Five Years of Intergovernmental Reform. Whittington is author of the book, Constitutional Construction: Divided Powers and Constitutional Meaning.

Supreme Court Update
Dennis Hutchinson — Senior Lecturer, Law School, University of Chicago
Tom Merrill — Faculty Member, School of Law, Columbia University
The U.S. supreme court has heard arguments in a number of cases that raise questions about the uses of executive power by the Bush administration, a sensitive issue in an election year. What is at stake in these cases before the supreme court?
Our usual supreme court guides Tom Merrill and Dennis Hutchinson join host Gretchen Helfrich for the discussion. Hutchinson is author of the book, The Forgotten Memoir of John Knox: A Year in the Life of a Supreme Court Clerk in FDR’s Washington.