AUDIO LIBRARY

Film Forum: The Character Actor
Movie stars may get top billing in Hollywood, but sometimes it's the lesser-known actor who steals the scene. Gretchen Helfrich and guests discuss character actors in the movies.
Guests:
Pam Robertson Wojeck – Notre Dame University
Hank Sartin – University of Chicago
Allison McCracken – Temple University
rebroadcast

American Utopianism
Visions of utopia have long animated American social thought. Utopian movements have sought to transform life through religion, technology, even sexuality.
Guests:
Carl Guarneri – St. Mary’s College of California
Douglas Rossinow – Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis
Robert Abzug – University of Texas at Austin
rebroadcast

Politics of Motherhood
Motherhood is usually associated with the private and domestic realms of life. But motherhood can also be a powerful political tool. Gretchen Helfrich and guests examine how political movements use mothers and motherhood.
Guests:
Kathleen Blee – University of Pittsburgh
Annelise Orleck – Dartmouth College
Lisa Baldez – Washington University
rebroadcast

Cold War Literature
The culture of the Cold War is remembered as conservative, conformist, and bland. Gretchen Helfrich and guests explore whether the literature of the period bears this assessment out, or gives us a more complex picture of the Cold War.
Guests:
Deborah Nelson – University of Chicago
Morris Dickstein – City University of New York Graduate Center
Michael Davidson – University of San Diego California
rebroadcast

The Aesthetic of Beauty
In twentieth century art, philosophy, and fashion, something often went missing: beauty. Now, scholars and artists are once again embracing beauty. Is this the same ideal as before, or has beauty changed while away? Gretchen Helfrich and guests examine the renewal of interest in beauty.
Guests:
James Conant – University of Chicago
Wendy Steiner – University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia
Arthur Danto – Columbia University
rebroadcast

Friendship as a Social Structure
The bonds between friends are powerful, and like marriage or kinship, friendship is also a way to order and organize emotional ties. Gretchen Helfrich and guests explore friendship as a social structure.
Guests:
Sarah Cole – Columbia University
Michael Pakaluk – Associate Professor of philosophy at Clark University
rebroadcast

Who Owns History?
How we remember events of the past can shape our approach to today's issues. Gretchen Helfrich and guests examine how we make use of history in contemporary social and political debates.
Guests:
Dwight Pitcaithley – National Parks Service
David Glassberg – University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Eric Foner – Columbia University in New York
rebroadcast

Gossip
Who's up for the big promotion? How much money does your neighbor make? Gretchen Helfrich and guests examine what we learn, and what we accomplish, when we gossip.
Guests:
Emrys Westacott — Alfred University
Roger Abrahams — Author of numerous articles and books on folklore practice Donald Brenneis — University of California, Santa Cruz
rebroadcast

Language and Political Identity
Language can be fundamental to the way we identify who we are and what group we belong to. Gretchen Helfrich and guests discuss language and the making of political identity.
Guests:
Joseph Errington — Yale University
Asif Agha — University of Pennsylvania
Susan Gal — University of Chicago
rebroadcast

Tolerance
We like to think we are a tolerant society. But what does tolerance actually require us to do? Gretchen Helfrich and guests examine the meaning and practice of tolerance.
Guests:
David Strauss – University of Chicago
Michael Sandel – Harvard University
Janet Jakobsen – Barnard College
rebroadcast

Film Forum: Film Literacy
When we're watching a movie, how do we know a close-up shot conveys a different meaning than a slow-motion sequence? Gretchen Helfrich and guests discuss how we acquire film literacy.
Guests:
Priya Joshi — Washington University
Robert Philip Kolker — Georgia Institute of Technology
Jonathan Miller — Illinois Institute of Technology

Grief in the Public Sphere
From televised memorials to roadside shrines, grief often takes place in the public sphere. Gretchen Helfrich and guests discuss the relationship between grief and community.
Guests:
Robert Neimeyer — University of Memphis
Kristen Hass — University of Michigan
Gary Laderman — Emory University

Salem Witch Trials
The Salem Witch Trials have been invoked to denounce everyone from Northern abolitionists to McCarthy-era anti-Communists. Gretchen Helfrich and guests discuss why we continue to revisit the Salem Witch Trials.
Guests:
Mary Beth Norton — Cornell University
Gretchen Adams — Texas Tech University

Theatre in America
From Vaudeville to Broadway, theatre has played a central role in our society. Gretchen Helfrich and guests examine the role of theatre in American culture today.
Guests:
Allen Kuharski — Swarthmore College
Arnold Aronson — Columbia University
Bill Worthen — University of California, Berkeley

Human Machine Distinction
From artificial hearts to chess-playing computers, certain technologies complicate the line we draw between humans and machines. Gretchen Helfrich and guests discuss what makes humans distinct from machines.
Chris Hables Gray — University of Great Falls, Montana
Ellen Ullman — Author of Close to the Machine: Technophilia and Its Discontents
Susan Squier — Pennsylvania State University

Mating
Once upon a time courtship meant calling cards and church socials. Now it means emails and speed dating. Gretchen Helfrich and guests discuss how we find a mate.
Aaron Ahuvia — University of Michigan-Dearborn
Barbara Dafoe Whitehead — Rutgers University
Beth Bailey — University of New Mexico

Political History
What is history made of: great leaders and grand events, or ordinary people in everyday life? Gretchen Helfrich and guests examine the question: What kind of stories should history tell?
Alex Keyssar — Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Linda Kerber — University of Iowa
Lawrence Glickman — University of South Carolina

Judaism in America
On issues ranging from politics to education to religious practice, what does it mean to be Jewish in America?
Sander Gilman — University of Illinois at Chicago
Sam Heilman — Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York
Sam Freedman — Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

Defining the Middle Class
A majority of Americans identify themselves as middle class. Do they all share the same idea of what it means to be middle class?
Guests:
Robert Johnston — Yale University
Tom Dumm — Amherst College

Latin America and the Political Left
A number of Latin American countries have recently elected Left-leaning governments. What’s behind this trend?
Guests:
Philip Oxhorn — McGill University
Ken Roberts — University of New Mexico
Brodie Fischer — Northwestern University

Film Forum: Propaganda Films
From "Triumph of the Will" to "Casablanca" to "Top Gun", how do you know when you're watching a propaganda film?
guests:
Jeanine Basinger — Wesleyan University
Sabina Hake — University of Pittsburgh