From the ghetto's creation in 1516 until its dissolution at the end of the 18th century, Jews in Venice were confined to a district enclosed by canals, patrolled by guards and locked at night. Yet its residents were essential players in Venetian life, and in practice the ghetto saw far more traffic through its gates than its founders intended. Erin Maglaque ... Show More
Today
What Next in Iran?
In a press conference on 9 March, Donald Trump described the war against Iran as ‘very complete, pretty much’. Earlier that day, his secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, told ABC that the ongoing strikes were ‘just the beginning’. In this episode, Adam Shatz is joined by Robert Malley ... Show More
58m 33s
Mar 4
Caravaggio’s Bodies
In the 1590s, Caravaggio was one of ‘the swaggering, violent young men who terrorised Romans’, Erin Maglaque wrote recently in the LRB, and he ‘made his name by painting this violent, chaotic world’. On this episode, Erin joins Thomas Jones to discuss the ways that Caravaggio rep ... Show More
43m 56s
Feb 25
On Politics: The Rearmament Consensus
‘We must build our hard power because that is the currency of the age,’ Keir Starmer declared to the Munich Security Conference earlier this month. It’s a sentiment shared across Europe, where leaders have cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the rise of Chinese power and US insta ... Show More
1h 5m
Dec 2020
Anna Hájková, "The Last Ghetto: An Everyday History of Theresienstadt" (Oxford UP, 2020)
Anna Hájková's new book The Last Ghetto: An Everyday History of Theresienstadt (Oxford UP, 2020) is the first in-depth analytical history of a prisoner society during the Holocaust. Terezín (Theresienstadt in German) was operated by the Nazis between November 1941 and May 1945 as ... Show More
56m 40s
Feb 2022
Slum Tourists: When Wealthy People Toured Chinatown ‘For Fun’
<p>It’s true — back in the day, wealthy residents of cities from London to Chicago would pay for tours of disadvantaged communities, the same way that you might take your friends to a zoo today. The communities responded, staging events meant to give the upper class an ersatz sen ... Show More
44m 58s
Nov 2021
Pourquoi les casinos se trouvent-ils souvent au bord de l'eau ?
<p>Toutes les villes, tant s'en faut, ne peuvent pas se prévaloir d'un casino sur leur territoire. On les trouve surtout dans des cités installées au bord de l'eau, qu'il s'agisse de la mer ou d'un lac. Comment expliquer cette répartition inégale des casinos sur le territoire fra ... Show More
2m 6s
Oct 2021
Selects: Why is Venice so wet?
<p>Venice, Italy has a problem. It's sinking, and the water around it is rising. Thankfully, some engineers are working hard on the MOSE project - huge gates that keep high tide from happening. Learn all about Venice in this classic episode.</p><p> </p> Learn more about your ad-c ... Show More
34m 37s
Mar 2021
Levittown: Where the Good Life Begins
In this episode from WNYC's La Brega, Alana Casanova-Burgess traces back the story of the boom and bust of the Puerto Rican Levittown. For many Americans, Levittown is the prototypical suburb, founded on the idea of bringing Americans into a middle-class lifestyle after WWII. But ... Show More
44m 28s
