Smarty Pants From The American Scholar

For decades, artists have been using horror to speak to our deepest societal fears, from the wilderness (werewolves) to the unknown (aliens). With zombies, that fear is infection: the outbreak of some terrible epidemic that sweeps the world, rendering us all into the drooling, flesh-eating monster next door. But as Dahlia Schweitzer shows in her new book, Going Viral, zombies are part of a much older lineage—dating back to Haitian slavery. Recently, these stories have arisen as commentary on the Ebola and AIDS epidemics, as well as terrorism, and in many cases, fact and fiction seem unfortunately to blur. Why have these outbreak narratives infected the public conversation? And how have they affected the way we see the world?Episode page: https://theamericanscholar.org/zombies-oh-my/Go beyond the episode:Dahlia Schweitzer’s Going Viral: Zombies, Viruses, and the End of the WorldCheck out this chart of the three film cycles of outbreak narrativesWant to be comforted after all that terror? Here’s

Giorgio Vasari has been variously called the father of art history, the inventor of artistic biography, and the author of “the Bible of the Italian Renaissance”—a little book called The Lives of the Artists. It’s a touchstone for scholars looking to get a peek at life in Michelangelo’s day, and quite fun, too, depending on whose wildly embellished life you’re reading. Ingrid Rowland joins us on the podcast to tell the story of the man behind the men of the Renaissance that we know so well—and, of course, to gossip a bit about Florentine egos, and even a few naughty monkeys.Visit the episode page for a slideshow of Vasari’s work.Go beyond the episode:Ingrid Rowland and Noah Charney’s The Collector of Lives: Girogio Vasari and the Invention of ArtExplore the National Gallery of Art’s collection of Vasari’s works on paper and panelTake a hilarious video tour of the Palazzo Vecchio—which Vasari altered and lined with his own paintings—with “Giorgio Vasari” (played by an actor far more attracti

If you're a creature of the 21st century, odds are you've stumbled upon the nascent DIY movement. From baking our bread to stitching our own clothes to raising back yard chickens and growing our own vegetables—even restoring our own furniture—the past few decades have seen a resurgence in our appreciation for crafts, right down to craft beer. But have you ever thatched your own roof with grasses that you grew in your own back yard? Or spent hours researching the secret behind making the best kind of haystack? Alexander Langlands has, and in his new book, Craeft, he takes DIY to a whole new level. Part how-to, part memoir, the book gets at what it means to make things with your own hands, and how this experience connects us both to the past and to our present sense of place.Episode page: https://theamericanscholar.org/reclaiming-craftiness/Go beyond the episode:Alexander Langlands’s Craeft: An Inquiry into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional CraftsOld meets new in this Pinterest board&nb

Phil Klay joins us on the podcast to talk about his essay, “Tales of War and Redemption,” in our Winter issue. It’s an essay that starts on a humorous note, describing the horrible, ridiculously gory deaths of the Christian saints in The Big Book of Martyrs—a comic book for kids. And then he reminds you that he’s been in war, and he’s seen horrible deaths, and horrible suffering. What follows is a beautiful, moving look at suffering, not as sacrifice or cynical constant, but as a reminder of its inverse: joy, of a life lived, or one snuffed out.Visit the episode page for Phil Klay’s recommendations of writers to read after listening.Go beyond the episode:Phil Klay’s “Tales of War and Redemption”Photos from his own deployment, released while he was a public affairs officer serving in IraqWant more joy? Read Christian Wiman’s essay, “Still Wilderness,” a meditation on a feeling (and poetry, and faith, and …)Tune in every two weeks to catch in

School choice. A portfolio of options. Charters. Vouchers. Virtual classrooms. This is the vocabulary of the 21st-century American education system—and having more of these private options is exactly what policymakers, like Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, would like to see. But where did the idea of "public charter schools" come from? And what kind of impact does siphoning money away from the public education system have on the students who remain in that system—or the ones who are taking virtual geometry classes in their kitchens? Noliwe Rooks tackles these questions in her new book, Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education—and unearths a dark history that stretches all the way back to Reconstruction and the very first charter schools: the “segregation academies” set up by white supremacists in the American South.Go beyond the episode:Noliwe Rooks’s Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public EducationRead the “A Nation at

So much of the story we hear about China today is an economic one—how over the past few decades, it has risen from poverty and ruin to become a global economic powerhouse. But there’s a story beneath the surface, of the artistic avant-garde that resisted rule from above and inspired generations of ordinary Chinese citizens to seek freedom of expression. From their countryside re-education posts to the abandoned warehouses of Beijing and the short-lived Democracy Wall, Chinese artists flourished at the edge of acceptability—until the entire edifice came crashing down with the Tiananmen Square massacre. Madeleine O’Dea’s new book, The Phoenix Years, follows the lives of nine contemporary Chinese artists to tell the story of how art shaped a nation.Visit the episode page for portraits and archival images of the artists and their work.Go beyond the episode:Madeleine O’Dea’s The Phoenix Years: Art, Resistance, and the Making of Modern ChinaPeruse the exhibition catalogue for the seminal 19

The Roman Empire's reputation precedes it: a wingspan that stretched from Syria to Spain, and from the Nile to Scotland's doorstep. Centuries of unbroken rule, a unified commonwealth, and at one point nearly a quarter of the world's population. And then, it all came tumbling down. Why Rome fell has been a favored subject of armchair theorizing pretty much since the empire started teetering—and now, one historian has a bold new idea. Kyle Harper joins us on the podcast to explore how climate change and disease might have played a key role in the fall of an entire civilization.Go beyond the episode:Kyle Harper’s The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an EmpireRead an excerpt from the book on how the Huns laid waste to the Eternal CityHow we can learn from Rome’s experience with epidemics to contend with emerging diseases todayPandemics should scare you: here’s how tropical diseases are on the rise in our own back yardTune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the

This week, Anthony Brandt and David Eagleman talk about the science (and practice) of creating new things. We share a lot with the other sentient beings on this planet—love, hunger, death, joy, family, jealousy, rage. There's one thing, though, we do that other species, for whatever reason, do not: we innovate. We create. And we do so in a symbiotic way with other humans, building and improving on one another's ideas until suddenly we've all got a supercomputer in our back pockets. So what's at the heart of human creativity? Where does it come from, how does it work, and how can we get better at harnessing our own ingenuity?Visit the episode page for a slideshow of images from the book demonstrating bending, breaking, and blending.Go beyond the episode:The Runaway Species by Anthony Brandt and David EaglemanWant to learn more about your gray matter? Watch David Eagleman’s PBS series The BrainListen to Maternity, an oratorio for soprano and orchestra, the authors’ first collaborationTu

This week, we talk to Cullen Murphy, the son of cartoonist John Cullen Murphy, about growing up during the funnies’ midcentury heyday. Cartoon County is part memoir, part history of the giants of the comics world, who drew Superman, Beetle Bailey, Hägar the Horrible, The Wizard of Id … and a bevy of strips and gags read by millions of Americans. Visit the episode page for a slideshow of images from the book, including sketches, comic strips, and Polaroids from Cullen Murphy’s collection.Go beyond the episode:Cartoon County by Cullen MurphyRead the strips online: Prince Valiant, Hägar the Horrible, Beetle Bailey …Learn more about Fairfield County in Cullen’s essay in Vanity FairTune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. • Subscri

This week on the podcast, we’re talking about sublimated desires—and the repressed kind, too. William Deresiewicz expands on an essay he wrote for us about being a man in Jane Austen’s world—and how her novels are about so much more than Colin Firth-as-Mr. Darcy. And Hallie Lieberman explains how the history of sex toys—and the laws banning them—can illuminate America’s complicated relationship with sexuality. • Go beyond the episode: William Deresiewicz’s essay, “A Jane Austen Kind of Guy” • Read an essay on the dark underbelly of Mansfield Park’s grand estates and country balls from Mikita Brottman • Further proof of how everyone wants to be Mrs. Darcy from our Daily Scholar alum, Paula Marantz Cohen • Hallie Lieberman’s Buzz: A Stimulating History of the Sex Toy • Anthony Comstock and his obscenity laws play a big role on another podcast episode, “Out of the Closet and Into the Courts” • Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the livelie

A measly three percent of books published in the United States are works in translation—so this week, we’re shining a spotlight on two books from dramatically different places. Naivo’s Beyond the Rice Fields is the first Malagasy novel ever translated into English; he and his translator, Allison Charette, talk with us about love stories and origin stories. And Tenzin Dickie, editor of Old Demons, New Deities—the first English anthology of Tibetan fiction—joins us on the show to talk about life in exile, the rain in Dharamsala, and the best momos in Queens (Little Tibet, in Jackson Heights, in case you're wondering). • Episode Page: https://theamericanscholar.org/the-three-percent/ • Go beyond the episode: Read an excerpt from Beyond the Rice Fields by Naivo, translated by Allison Charette • Watch the book trailer for Old Demons, New Deities, narrated by editor Tenzin Dickie • Check out the University of Rochester’s Three Perc

Our Halloween special covers two subjects perfect for your next macabre dinner party: how the witch gained her powers, and the myriad alternatives to a casket. Caitlin Doughty, the Internet’s favorite mortician, tells us about her world travels in search of the holy grail of corpse interaction—along with a few other stories that illuminate our changing relationship with the afterlife. And Ronald Hutton, medieval historian and witch expert, goes into the history of fear surrounding one of the oldest scapegoats in the world. • Episode page: https://theamericanscholar.org/witches-never-die/ • Go beyond the episode: Caitlin Doughty’s From Here to Eternity • Ronald Hutton’s The Witch • Ask a Mortician all about coffin birth, ghost marriage, and the iconic corpses of the world on Caitlin’s YouTube channel • Read more about the Order of the Good Death, an organization of funeral professionals working to change attitudes about death • Virtually visit the high-tech Ruriden Columbarium in Tokyo

Family drama, circa 1930: Yuri Slezkine tells the saga of the House of Government, a communal residence where top Soviet officials and their families lived, loved, died, and disappeared in the years after the Russian Revolution; Caroline Moorehead introduces American audiences to the story of the Rossellis, the family at the forefront of the fight against Mussolini’s fascism. • Episode Page: https://theamericanscholar.org/back-in-the-ussr/ • Go beyond the episode: • Yuri Slezkine’s House of Government • Watch Neighbors of the Kremlin, a documentary about the House on the Embankment • Caroline Moorehead’s A Bold and Dangerous Family • Read poetry by Carlo Rosselli’s daughter, Amelia (named after his mother), whose work has only recently been translated • Explore the Fondazione Rosselli archives online • Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progre

This week, we look at how we have irrevocably shaped the planet through consumption: of fossil fuels, exotic foods, cups of tea. Erika Rappaport talks about how the drive for empire was spurred on by lust for a certain caffeinated plant, which fueled countless wars and colonial expansion. And Alexandra Kleeman and Jen Monroe throw a dinner party for the future, imagining what food will taste like in 30 years’ time. • Episode page: https://theamericanscholar.org/once-and-future-food/ • Go beyond the episode:  • Erika Rappaport’s A Thirst for Empire: How Tea Shaped the Modern World  • Bon Appétit explains how to brew the perfect cup of tea  • Check out Bad Taste, Jen Monroe’s experimental food project  • Read “Choking Victim,” a short story by Alexandra Kleeman  • Explore the unusual artistic encounters of The Bellwether, which put on The Next Menu, and Jordan Kisner’s essay on the massive aspen grove threatened by climate change • Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices

What power do words have, and how do their meanings change across centuries—and continents? We talk to Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, about how moving from Britain to Baltimore changed his work; Jennifer Choi unearths the cruel etymology behind an innocuous blue birthmark; and Max Décharné draws a map of the vulgar tongue. • Episode page: https://theamericanscholar.org/rhapsodies-in-blue/ • Go beyond the episode:  • “My Mongolian Spot,” Jennifer Choi’s essay on having a blue behind  • Four poems by Andrew Motion, including “Surveillance,” which he read on the podcast  • Listen to more poets read their work on the Poetry Archive, founded by Andrew Motion during his time as Poet Laureate  • Max Décharné’s Vulgar Tongues: An Alternative History of the English Language  • Our back to school required reading list  • Don’t forget to send us an email at podcast@theamericanscholar.org if you want us to mail you swag! • Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveli

This week is for the ladies: we'll be talking about women's roles in two pretty different fields—science and religion—and how women have worked their way in from the fringes of both. Angela Saini unravels the pervasive idea that science is free from bias, and talks about how prejudice against women comes out in studies as well as in the academy; Adrian Shirk spotlights the American women who have shaped modern religion, both inside and outside the lines. • Episode Page: https://theamericanscholar.org/scientists-and-saints/ • Go beyond the episode: • Angela Saini’s Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story • “Women Are Dying Because Doctors Treat Us Like Men” by Kayla Webley Adler in Marie Claire • Read an excerpt from Cathy O’Neil’s Weapons of Math Destruction about the biases built into Big Data • Adrian Shirk’s And Your Daughters Shall Prophecy: Stories from the Byways of American Women and Religion • Watch the trailer for American Mystic, Alex Mar’s d

We hit the seven seas and the five gyres in our wettest podcast episode yet: Laura Sook Duncombe talks about the female swashbucklers forgotten by history—including a pirate who gave birth in the middle of a sea battle—and Marcus Eriksen talks about sailing the ocean blue in a raft made of plastic bottles. • Go beyond the episode: • Laura Sook Duncombe’s Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas • Read more about Cheng I Sao, the world’s most successful pirate, or catch Anne Bonny and Mary Read on the television show Black Sails • Listen to our podcast segment on the history of eclipse in preparation for the upcoming total solar eclipse—including why the ancient Babylonians always marked the occasion with a king-swapping ritual and human sacrifice • Learn more about Marcus Eriksen’s journey on the Junk Raft • Read more about how much plastic we produce and where it goes, how 100 companies are responsible for 71% of greenhouse gas emissions • And dry off with our

Melanie Kiechle introduces us to the 19th-century world of smell detectives, where the nose reigned supreme and cities mapped their stench patterns;  Sam Kean tells how gases can have a profound effect on us—from knocking us out to making us laugh, and even causing the French Revolution. Plus, top off our exploration into the sensory world of invisible forces with an excerpt from a new book on all the light we cannot see. Go beyond the episode: Melanie Kiechle’s Smell Detectives: An Olfactory History of Nineteenth-Century Urban America Sam Kean’s Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us Check out a modern-day smell map of the City of Light (and Odor), from graphic designer Kate McClean Live in Pittsburgh? Download Smell PGH, the app that tracks pollution odors (read more here) Read more about the volcanic eruption that led to the French Revolution Flip through the scanned pages of Humprhy Davy’s book on his laughing gas experiments, which could use a funnier title: Researches

Psychologist Alexander Todorov tells us how we’ve got it all wrong on the science of first impressions—and warns of physiognomy’s dangerous return—while Elizabeth Wilson gives us a glimpse into the secret, sexy history of tennis, just in time for the Wimbledon finals. Go beyond the episode: Alexander Todorov’s Face Value: The Irresistible Influence of First Impressions  Explore the Social Perception Lab at Princeton, where you can watch videos of how our visual stereotypes map onto faces Watch how bias shapes photographic portraits in this experiment from Canon Australia Elizabeth Wilson’s Love Game: A History of Tennis from Victorian Pastime to Global Phenomenon And, of course: live updates from Wimbledon Tune in every two weeks to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Subscribe: iTunes • Feed

Meet the experimental archaeologist and the master brewer who are resurrecting beverages of the past. Dr. Patrick McGovern, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, and Sam Calagione, the founder of Dogfish Head Brewery, discuss what it takes to turn millennia-old booze samples at the bottom of a jug into mead fit for a king; our editors give us a sneak peek at their favorite fictional food scenes; and we honor Brian Doyle, who died last month. Go beyond the episode: Read “Joyas Voladoras,” Brian Doyle’s ode to the capacity of the heart Explore Dr. Pat’s work on the intoxicating science of alcohol Watch Patrick McGovern and Sam Calagione work on a recipe for a new ancient...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.