Lectures in History

Alfred McCoy, historian and scholar of Southeast Asia, examines the hidden intelligence war behind Vietnam. He explores communist infiltration, the CIA-backed coup against Ngo Dinh Diem, Tet and the Phoenix Program, and the secret war in Laos. The discussion also covers Hmong militias, Air America, opium trafficking, electronic warfare, and Vietnam’s lasting impact on U.S. strategy.

Edward Blum, a San Diego State history professor specializing in constitutional development, race, religion, and political power, explores how early state constitutions shaped the federal model. Topics include property and religious qualifications, age requirements for office, British influences, the Constitutional Convention’s debates, limits of founding-era evidence, and modern questions about age ceilings, term limits, and political eligibility.

Fannie Bialek, an assistant professor of religion and politics at Washington University in St. Louis, explores the thinkers behind early American political thought. She compares Hobbes’s fearful state of nature with Locke’s vision of freedom and equality, examines consent, sovereignty, and natural rights, and traces how assumptions about human nature shaped the Constitution and still frame debates over political freedom today.

Heather Penney, a retired Air National Guard F-16 pilot and national security specialist, recalls scrambling from Andrews Air Force Base on September 11, 2001. She describes the confusion, bureaucratic delays, rushed preparations, and daunting possibility of confronting hijacked Flight 93. She also revisits the Pentagon’s evacuation, weeks of combat air patrols, and the courage she witnessed in the aftermath.

Tazeen Ali, an assistant professor studying Islam, American religious history, and politics, explores Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an and its place in America’s founding debates. She examines religious liberty versus toleration, the Virginia Statute, Muslim citizenship, the Barbary Wars, enslaved African Muslims, and the Supreme Court’s depiction of Muhammad. Jefferson’s ideals and contradictions reveal an unfinished promise of equal belonging.

Christina Zanfagna, a Santa Clara University music professor who studies race and popular music, leads a lively lecture on how soul, funk, disco and hip-hop intertwine with racial politics. She traces hip-hop’s diasporic roots, James Brown’s funk innovations, P-Funk’s Afrofuturism, disco’s origins in Black queer clubs, and how these styles shaped sound, image, and collective struggle.

Michael Beschloss, a bestselling presidential historian known for his work on presidential archives, joins to trace Revolutionary War roots, the Civil War, and 20th-century turning points. He recounts archival discoveries, presidential tapes, founding-era institutions, and ideas to reform the presidency. Short, anecdote-filled reflections on Lincoln, Washington, Eisenhower, and how historians judge leaders over time.

Kathleen Duvall, a UNC history professor specializing in early American and Native American history, explores the international dimensions of the American Revolution. She traces European rivalries, Native diplomacy, and shifting imperial borders. Short, vivid accounts cover French and Spanish involvement, Native strategies, frontier wars, and how global politics reshaped North America.

ashington University hosted a series of lectures called "1776: Then and Now." This lecture examined the reasons behind the Declaration of Independence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices