American Purpose's Bookstack
The books and ideas podcast from American Purpose.
About the show
Weekly conversations with authors of new and recent books.
Host Richard Aldous is a historian and professor at Bard College, New York, and the author of several books, including Schlesinger: The Imperial Historian; Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship; The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli.
For more about American Purpose, visit www.americanpurpose.com.
Episodes
-
Episode 35: Peter Hartcher on Australia's China Challenge
August 2nd, 2021 | 36 mins 49 secs
australia, books, china, history, politics
Australia is the world’s test case for how a democratic country’s dependence on China can be turned against it. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter Hartcher joins Richard Aldous to discuss exactly how this has happened in his new book, Red Zone: China’s Challenge and Australia’s Future.
-
Episode 34: Firmin DeBrabander on the Internet's Threat to Privacy
July 23rd, 2021 | 26 mins 15 secs
america, books, history, internet, politics
Is there any hope for safeguarding privacy in the age of the internet? Firmin DeBrabander, professor of philosophy at Maryland Institute College of Art, joins Richard Aldous to discuss his book Life After Privacy: Reclaiming Democracy in a Surveillance Society.
-
Episode 33: Shawna Kay Rodenberg on Growing Up in Kentucky
July 16th, 2021 | 29 mins 53 secs
america, books, history, politics
This week, author Shawna Kay Rodenberg joins host Richard Aldous to discuss her moving new book, Kin: A Memoir, about family, forgiveness, and growing up in Eastern Kentucky.
-
Episode 32: Gillian Tett's Anthropological Lens
July 9th, 2021 | 21 mins 19 secs
america, books, history, politics
Financial journalist and anthropology PhD Gillian Tett joins host Richard Aldous to discuss how we can use an anthropological lens to cope with an increasingly kaleidoscopic reality.
-
Episode 31: Timothy Brennan on Edward Said
June 25th, 2021 | 34 mins 15 secs
america, books, history, palestine, politics
Larger-than-life figures like Edward Said often become prisoners of their own legacy. Author Timothy Brennan, a student of Said’s, joins host Richard Aldous to discuss his fascinating new biography, Places of Mind: A Life of Edward Said, a book that tries to tease out the contradictions and complications that shaped one of the most influential public intellectuals of the 20th century.
-
Episode 30: Tevi Troy Looks at 70 Years of White House Intrigue
June 18th, 2021 | 31 mins 14 secs
america, books, history, politics
With news getting comparatively less bizarre as 2021 rolls on, presidential historian and former White House aide Tevi Troy joins host Richard Aldous to talk about the history of White House intrigue as described in his recent book, Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump.
-
Episode 29: Michael Dobbs on Nixon's Fatal Flaws
June 11th, 2021 | 30 mins 21 secs
america, books, history, politics
Richard Nixon, an almost Shakespearean character, loomed over 20th century American history in ways that prefigure Trump. Author Michael Dobbs joins host Richard Aldous to discuss this deeply flawed individual, and his new book King Richard: Nixon and Watergate, an American Tragedy.
-
Episode 28: Susan Eisenhower on How Ike Led
June 4th, 2021 | 29 mins 49 secs
america, books, history, politics
President Dwight D. Eisenhower was an exemplary strategic thinker. Author and policy strategist Susan Eisenhower, who happens to be one of Ike’s four grandchildren, joins host Richard Aldous to talk about her new book How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions.
-
Episode 27: Sean McMeekin's New Take on World War II
May 21st, 2021 | 33 mins 29 secs
america, books, europe, history, politics, russia, stalin
Historian Sean McMeekin joins host Richard Aldous to discuss all this, as well as his new book, Stalin’s War.
-
Episode 26: Olivette Otele on the history of African Europeans
May 16th, 2021 | 30 mins 7 secs
africa, books, europe, history, politics
Olivette Otele, Professor of History of Slavery and Memory of enslavement at the University of Bristol, joins host Richard Aldous to talk about her new book, African Europeans: An Untold History.
-
Episode 25: Vernon Bogdanor on Britain's wavering connections to Europe
May 7th, 2021 | 38 mins 49 secs
books, britian, eu, europe, history, politics
Our guest Vernon Bogdanor, professor of government at Kings College, joins host Richard Aldous to talk about his new book, Britain and Europe in a Troubled World.
-
Episode 24: Stephen Walker on the First Journey Into Space
April 30th, 2021 | 39 mins 22 secs
books, history, politics, russia, space, ussr
As the space race heats up once again, author Stephen Walker joins our host Richard Aldous to discuss his remarkable new book Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey Into Space.
-
Episode 23: Lawrence J. Haas on the Kennedys' Approach to the World
April 16th, 2021 | 34 mins 8 secs
america, books, history, politics
Lawrence J. Haas joins host Richard Aldous to talk about his new book, The Kennedys in the World: How Jack, Bobby, and Ted Remade America’s Empire.
-
Episode 22: Cristina Groeger on Education and Economic Disparity
April 9th, 2021 | 37 mins 3 secs
books, boston, education, history, politics
This week, Cristina Groeger joins Richard Aldous to talk about her new book, The Education Trap: Schools and the Remaking of Inequality in Boston, and discusses how education came to be seen as a panacea even as it paved the way for deepening inequality.
-
Episode 21: Paula Marantz Cohen on Shakespeare and Empathy
April 2nd, 2021 | 30 mins 5 secs
books, history, politics
In a time of division, difference, and cancel culture, what can we learn from Shakespeare (who himself has been caught in the crossfire of today’s culture wars)?
-
Episode 20: Roya Hakakian's Immigrant Guide to America
March 26th, 2021 | 38 mins 16 secs
america, books, congress, politics, us
Roya Hakakian joins host Richard Aldous to talk about her new book A Beginner’s Guide to America.