Holiday Best-Of: Work of Robert Moses; School Culture Wars; Why Loneliness

Dec 27, 2024

Guest

Jonathan Zimmerman

Guest

Errol Louis, a political anchor and NY Magazine columnist, discusses Robert Moses' controversial legacy in NYC and the impact of his urban planning on marginalized communities. Mitchell Moss and Rachel Weinberger debate innovative remedies for the harmful effects of Moses' expressways. Jonathan Zimmerman dives into the history of school culture wars, from the Scopes trial to current issues like critical race theory. Lastly, the conversation touches on rising loneliness in America, exploring social connection strategies in today's tech-centric world.

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Episode notes

Intro

00:00 • 2min

The Controversial Legacy of Robert Moses

02:27 • 19min

Robert Moses: Legacy of Exclusion

21:09 • 11min

The Complex Legacy of Robert Moses

32:22 • 25min

Revamping Urban Infrastructure

57:16 • 10min

The Legacy of the Scopes Trial: Education and Cultural Conflicts

01:07:05 • 5min

Challenging Narratives: Minority Voices in American History

01:11:58 • 7min

Cultural Wars in Education: A Historical Perspective

01:18:56 • 16min

The Changing Landscape of Friendship and Connection in America

01:35:25 • 14min

For this extended holiday, enjoy some of our favorite recent conversations:

For the centennial series "100 Years of 100 Things," Errol Louis, political anchor of Spectrum NY1 News, host of Inside City Hall and The Big Deal with Errol Louis, New York Magazine columnist and host of the podcast You Decide, talks about the past 100 years of the influence of Robert Moses on the New York area, which also coincides with the 50th anniversary of Robert Caro's exhaustive biography of Moses, The Power Broker
Mitchell Moss, professor of urban policy and planning at New York University's Wagner School, and Rachel Weinberger, Peter W. Herman chair for transportation at Regional Plan Association, talk about the ideas and proposals on how to undo the most harmful parts of Robert Moses' legacy, especially the expressways that have divided and polluted neighborhoods.
In another installment in the centennial series, Jonathan Zimmerman, professor of history of education at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of several books, including Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools (University of Chicago Press, September 2022), traces the history of the so-called "culture wars" in public education, from the Scopes trial, to religion in schools, sex ed and the controversies of today over critical race theory, masks during COVID and more.
Olga Khazan, staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World (Hachette Go, 2020) and the forthcoming Me, But Better: The Science and Promise of Personality Change (S&S/Simon Element, 2025), talks about a study suggesting the current "loneliness epidemic" isn't because of a lack of friends, but a lack of time to spend with them.

These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity; the original web versions are available here:

100 Years of 100 Things: Robert Moses (September 18, 2024)

Undoing Robert Moses' Legacy (September 20, 2024)

100 Years of 100 Things: School Culture Wars (September 23, 2024)

Why Loneliness Isn't About Numbers (September 12, 2024)