Q&A

During discussions over the reunification of Germany in 1990, U.S. Secretary of State James Baker told Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not expand eastward. "Not one inch," Baker assured Gorbachev. In the lead-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin used those words to suggest that the U.S. and NATO were not interested in peace and could not be trusted. Mary Sarotte, professor of history at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and author of "Not One Inch," talks about the 1990 comment and the impact that NATO expansion since then has had on U.S.-Russia relations.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

April 15th, 2022, marks the 75th anniversary of the day that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. Since 2004, April 15th has been known in the baseball world as "Jackie Robinson Day," in honor of the Brooklyn Dodgers player. We talked with Kostya Kennedy, former senior writer for Sports Illustrated, about Jackie Robinson's life and career. In his new book "True," Mr. Kennedy writes about four significant years in Robinson's life: 1946, when he started in the minor leagues; 1949, when he was named National League MVP; 1956, his final year playing baseball; and 1972, the year of his untimely death.      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his will, Benjamin Franklin left 1000 pounds sterling each to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia. The money was to be loaned out, in small increments and at low-interest rates, to tradesmen who wanted to start their own businesses. Franklin estimated that even with a small rate of return, the trust fund would grow over the years and both cities would end up with large windfalls by the end of the twentieth century. University of Pittsburgh professor Michael Meyer, author of "Benjamin Franklin's Last Bet," discusses Franklin's micro-lending scheme and assesses its legacy.        Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is confirmed by the Senate, we will have the most diverse Supreme Court in U.S. history. University of Tennessee law professor Benjamin Barton, author of "The Credentialed Court," argues that while this is true on the surface, a closer look suggests that there is a "radical similarity" among the justices – especially when considering their educational and career paths after graduating high school. He has spent the past 12 years studying the backgrounds of Supreme Court justices throughout history and says that the justices today come from more elite circles and have much narrower experiences than their predecessors did, leading to a kind of group-think that is often overlooked when examining the court.           Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The title of the book "The Year That Broke America" refers to the year 2000, when an immigration crisis captured the headlines, Donald Trump ran for president, and Al Qaeda operatives arrived in the U.S. to learn to fly. Author Andrew Rice, a contributing editor at New York magazine, discusses the events of that year, which started with the fear of a global computer meltdown and ended with a fight over one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Law professor Renee Knake Jefferson, co-author of “Shortlisted” discusses the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court and talks about some of the women who were considered for the court in the past, but were passed over.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speechwriter and consultant Dana Rubin discusses her Speaking While Female Speech Bank, an online archive of speeches made by women throughout history that she says have been unjustly overlooked or forgotten. She talks about the archive and speeches by Queen Elizabeth II, Barbara Jordan, Phyllis Schlafly and others.      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hundreds of thousands of children and teenagers were active participants in the Civil Rights Movement. They took part in boycotts, strikes, marches, and demonstrations and faced many of the same risks as their adult counterparts. Professor of history emeritus V. P. Franklin, author of "The Young Crusaders," joins us to talk about the stories of these sometimes overlooked contributors to social justice in the United States.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On almost all presidential rankings lists, you will find Warren Harding's name at or near the bottom. On C-SPAN's 2021 survey of presidential historians, he was 37 out of 44. Historian Ryan Walters argues that while Harding had his faults, his accomplishments – including bringing the country back to normalcy after WWI and setting out an economic plan that led to the Roaring Twenties – are often overlooked when assessing his presidency. In his book "The Jazz Age President," Mr. Walters lays out his case for why President Harding should rank higher.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since the summer of 2020, roughly 214 public monuments have been taken down across the United States, either through official processes or by force. Erin Thompson, professor of art crime at the City University of New York and the author of "Smashing Statues," talks about the history of American monuments, the motivations for putting them up, and the current debates over which ones should be taken down.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices