Today we are joined by Heather Dichter, Associate Professor of Sports History and Sports Management at the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University. She is also the author of Bidding for the 68 Olympic Games: International Sport’s Cold War Battle with NATO (University of Massachusetts Press, 2021). In our conversation, we ... Show More
Today
Marek Kohn, "The Stories Old Towns Tell: A Journey Through Cities at the Heart of Europe" (Yale UP, 2023)
Historic quarters in cities and towns across the middle of Europe were devastated during the Second World War—some, like those of Warsaw and Frankfurt, had to be rebuilt almost completely. They are now centers of peace and civility that attract millions of tourists, but the stori ... Show More
59m 34s
Nov 20
Karen Auman, "The Good Forest: The Salzburgers, Success, and the Plan for Georgia" (U Georgia Press, 2024)
The Good Forest: The Salzburgers, Success, and the Plan for Georgia (U Georgia Press, 2024) explores some of Georgia’s earliest settlers, the Salzburgers.
Georgia, the last of Britain’s American mainland colonies, began with high aspirations to create a morally sound society ba ... Show More
50m 12s
Nov 9
Thomas Fleischman, "Communist Pigs: An Animal History of East Germany's Rise and Fall" (U Washington Press, 2020)
The pig played a fundamental role in the German Democratic Republic's attempts to create and sustain a modern, industrial food system built on communist principles. By the mid-1980s, East Germany produced more pork per capita than West Germany and the UK, while also suffering myr ... Show More
1 h
Jul 2021
The Fight for the First U.S. Olympics | A Tale of Two Cities | 1
<p>In the late 1800s, European fascination with the culture of ancient Greece, and a growing interest in physical education and fitness, led to the idea of resurrecting the Olympic Games of antiquity. A French nobleman named Pierre de Coubertin took up the cause, and under his le ... Show More
37m 36s
Jul 2021
The Fight for the First U.S. Olympics | Let the Games Begin | 2
<p>In 1904, St. Louis was thrust into the national spotlight, as it played host to both the World’s Fair and America’s first Olympic Games. After a bitter fight over which American city would host, Olympic founder Pierre De Coubertin had disavowed the St. Louis games entirely, pa ... Show More
35m 50s
Jun 2022
The US Boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and Puerto Rican Boxers Went Anyway
In a response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the US, along with more than 60 other countries, boycotted the Olympics. Yet three Puerto Rican boxers refused to allow politics to stand in their way of their athletic ambitions. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max welcome B ... Show More
41m 40s
Aug 2021
The Fight for the First U.S. Olympics | Passing the Torch | 4
<p>The 1904 St. Louis Olympics were marred by controversy and poorly organized events like the marathon. But at least they took place as scheduled. In 1916, after the outbreak of World War I, they were canceled entirely. A century later, in 2020, the Olympics faced another kind o ... Show More
38m 44s
Feb 2022
Apolo Ohno & Lisa Leslie: How to Be An Olympian
At their best, the Olympics symbolize our world’s potential for cooperation, honoring the common humanity that unites us across old divisions of gender, race, and geographical borders. With the 2022 Winter Olympics having drawn to a close, President Clinton sits down with two ico ... Show More
56m 10s