Why does it feel like everything is more divided and exhausting than it used to be? Philosopher Agnes Callard has a surprisingly simple answer: the unicontext. It's her term for what happens when billions of people are all forced to inhabit the same global conversation through the internet and social media.
In this episode, Derek talks with Callard about ho ... Show More
Jul 17
Why 'The Odyssey' Is the West’s Greatest Story
Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' is finally here, but how exactly has a 3,000-year-old story endured long enough to become the foundation of Western storytelling? Derek is joined by Karen Ní Mheallaigh, chair of Classics at Johns Hopkins University, to explore the mysterious ori ... Show More
1h 3m
Jul 3
MEGAPOD: The Most Overrated American Who Ever Lived
To celebrate America's 250th birthday, Derek is joined for a history draft by three of the country's leading historians: Beverly Gage, H.W. (Bill) Brands, and Richard White. The goal isn't to revisit the familiar stories everyone learned in school. It's to uncover the people, eve ... Show More
1h 9m
Jul 2021
July 4, 2021: Independence from the virus; partisan media in a Biden-induced slump; is Tucker Carlson the new Alex Jones?
Plus... Running out of words to describe the climate crisis; a reporter's notebook from Kabul; will Bill Cosby speak out, and will anyone listen? Dr. Jonathan Reiner, Oliver Darcy, Sara Fischer, David Sanger, Jennifer Epstein, Anna Coren, Emily Atkin and David Wallace-Wells join ... Show More
40m 58s
Sep 2021
September 19, 2021: 'Lie, rinse, and repeat' is GOP media's specialty; new revelations from 'Peril;' will Facebook Files revelations spur any real change?
Plus... why the phrase 'do your own research' is hurting America's Covid response; the rise of 'digital detectives' during missing persons cases; did the media overreact to 'Justice for J6' rally? Rep. Adam Smith, Mary Trump, Renee DiResta and Yael Eisenstat, Evan Osnos, and Davi ... Show More
44m 15s
Feb 2021
February 21, 2021: How fact-checking is changing in a post-Trump world; why hysterical headlines hurt the Covid vaccine rollout; will countries link arms and make Facebook pay for news?
Plus... Power and water disasters in Texas are shining a light on local news; out-of-context headlines are clouding Covid-19 vaccine news; how Ted Cruz's trip to Cancun was exposed by Twitter sleuths; and more. Emily Ramshaw, Bill Carter, Carol Leonnig, Daniel Dale, Angie Drobnic ... Show More
41m 45s