Q&A

Author and actor George Takei talks about growing up in internment camps in the U.S. during World War II, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Mr. Takei and his family were four of the 120,000 Japanese Americans to be forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to military-run camps during the war on the orders of President Franklin Roosevelt. Mr. Takei has recently published a children's book about his experiences titled "My Lost Freedom." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We sat down with two World War II veterans – former U.S. Navy gunnery officer Steve Ellis and former U.S. Army Air Force B-24 navigator Rolf Slen – to talk about their experiences during the war. Mr. Ellis, age 99, and Mr. Slen, age 100, both served in the Pacific Theater. Of the 16.4 million Americans who served in uniform in World War II, 119,550 were still alive as of 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This Memorial Day weekend, retired U.S. Senate Historian Betty Koed shares stories from her book "Scenes: People, Places and Events That Shaped the United States Senate." It's a collection of brief chronicles of Senate history that she presented to Senators during their Tuesday caucus lunches between 2009 and 2023. Some of the stories told include the influence and power of Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, the story of the first female senator, and when Mark Twain worked as a Senate staffer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author and president emeritus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Freeman Hrabowski talks about the role of college presidents, the handling of campus protests over the war in Gaza, and political involvement in higher education. His new book "The Resilient University" looks at how UMBC dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic and the racial unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd by police in the summer of 2020. Freeman Hrabowski served as president of UMBC from 1992-2022. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ilyon Woo, our guest this week, was recently awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Biography for her book "Master Slave Husband Wife." The book recounts the harrowing journey of self-emancipation made by married slaves William and Ellen Craft in 1848. Disguised as a wealthy disabled white man with his servant, the Crafts left Georgia, avoiding slave traders, law enforcement, and even friends to gain their freedom. This program originally aired in February 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former congressman Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) talks about Americans who have struggled with mental illness and the stigma and silence that he says still surrounds it. He shares the stories of the people profiled in his book, "Profiles in Mental Health Courage," including himself and members of his own family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Half Jewish and a member of the Hitler Youth who saw Adolf Hitler in person, Jochen "Jack" Wurfl, author of "My Two Lives," talks about surviving in Nazi Germany and his later life and success in the United States. To hide their identities after the Nazis took over in 1933, Mr. Wurfl and his brother were baptized Catholic and later joined the Hitler Youth. His Catholic father, deemed a political enemy by the state, was sent to a concentration camp in Austria, while his Jewish mother was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz, where she perished. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Filmmakers Zachary Treitz and Christian Hansen discuss their 4-part Netflix docuseries "American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders," about the events surrounding the death of freelance journalist Danny Casolaro (cas-uh-LARE-oh) in 1991. At the time of his death, officially ruled a suicide, Mr. Casolaro was working on a story about a series of crimes – including drug running, money laundering, and murder – that he argued were connected to a cabal of ex-government officials associated with the Reagan administration and the CIA. He referred to this group as "the Octopus." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In "The Lies of the Land," Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) history professor Steven Conn argues that the reality of rural America today is vastly different from the way it is often portrayed by politicians and the media. He says rural Americans have not been left behind or been overlooked and are just as connected to the forces of American modernity – militarization, industrialization, corporatization, and suburbanization – as people living in the rest of the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Times of London U.S. editor David Charter, author of "Royal Audience," discusses the special relationship that Queen Elizabeth II had with the United States and U.S. presidents over her 70-year reign as Britain's Head of State. Queen Elizabeth, who became queen in 1952 and passed away in 2022, had met and had varying degrees of personal relationships with 13 of the 14 U.S. presidents during her reign going back to Harry Truman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest this week is Dr. Uché Blackstock. She and her twin sister, Oni, are graduates of Harvard Medical School, as was their mother, Dr. Dale Gloria Blackstock. In fact, they were the first Black mother-daughter graduates of Harvard Medical School. Dr Blackstock's book, "Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons With Racism in Medicine," looks at some of the issues she sees facing Black doctors and patients today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic and New York Times columnist Carlos Lozada, author of "The Washington Book," talks about the insights he gleaned from reading the memoirs, political biographies, and official reports written by politicians and government officials in Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Columnist Rob Henderson talks about growing up as a troubled child in the U.S. foster care system, the hurdles he overcame to become successful, and what he learned about class divisions in America as a result. By age 8, after 5 years in the system, Mr. Henderson had lived in 9 different foster homes and attended 6 different schools. He eventually went on to join the military and obtain higher degrees in psychology from Yale and Cambridge universities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hollywood biographer Scott Eyman discusses his book "Charlie Chaplin vs. America," about the silent film star's fallout with the U.S. government during the Red Scare. Once a beloved actor and filmmaker, Charlie Chaplin became a target of right-wing politicians and the FBI after World War II because of his liberal political views and sexual interests. He was exiled from the U.S. in 1952 and didn't return until 1972. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Times White House correspondent Katie Rogers discusses her book "American Woman," about the modern evolution of First Ladies of the United States. She talks about the impact and contributions of First Ladies of both parties going back to Hillary Clinton and their changing roles in the 21st century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patti Davis discusses her book "Dear Mom and Dad," a memoir written as a letter to her late parents, Ronald and Nancy Reagan. She talks about being in the spotlight after her father entered politics in the 1960s, her complicated relationship with her mother, her views on the Reagan administration's handling of illegal drugs and the AIDS epidemic, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"For every young kid that makes a mistake, they can look at Don Scott and say, 'I'll never give up. I can still be what I want to be in America.'" That was former Republican governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia speaking about our guest this week, the state's newly elected Democratic speaker of the House of Delegates. Don Scott talks about the hurdles he overcame, including spending almost eight years in prison, to become Virginia's first Black speaker in 405 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Charles Scribner III, author of "Scribners: Five Generations in Publishing," talks about his family's history at the famous publishing house that was founded by his great-great-grandfather in 1846. He also shares stories about some of the authors published by Scribner over the decades, including Edith Wharton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Winston Churchill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tech entrepreneur Sebastian Thrun talks about his work in Silicon Valley and the future of artificial intelligence. Thrun, formerly a vice president at Google, is the founder or co-founder of Google X (R&D), Waymo (self-driving cars), Google Brain (AI), Kitty Hawk (flying vehicles), and Udacity (online learning). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

ALL NEW EPISODE!!! Retired U.S. Senate Historian Betty Koed shares stories from her book "Scenes: People, Places and Events That Shaped the United States Senate." It's a collection of brief chronicles of Senate history that she presented to Senators during their Tuesday caucus lunches between 2009 and 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are unveiling a brand new Q&A podcast in two weeks, with a new host and all new guests but with the same goal of allowing you to hear from intriguing people who are shaping today's events. But this week, here’s an episode from our After Words podcast from October 2023 with Martin Baron, former executive editor of the Washington Post, on his book Collision of Power. He's interviewed by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik. Q&A debuts with new episodes on January 28th, 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian Cassandra Good talks about the lives and complicated legacies of George Washington's heirs. George and Martha Washington never had children together, but they raised Martha's children, and later grandchildren, as their own. Together they made up America's first "first family." This program originally aired in June 2023. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist and historian Craig Fehrman analyzes American presidents through the lens of the books they've written. This program originally aired in February of 2020. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week a conversation with the new host of Q&A, Peter Slen. We discuss the mission of the program, what to expect, and the best parts of hosting a one-hour conversation with interesting individuals. All new episodes of Q&A begin on January 28th, 2024. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prosperity gospel scholar, Kate Bowler, discusses her memoir, "Everything Happens for a Reason," in which she reflects on being diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and the age of 35. This program originally aired in February of 2018. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Susannah Cahalan discusses her book "The Great Pretender," about a 1973 experiment, led by Stanford psychologist David Rosenhan, that was conducted to test the legitimacy of psychiatric hospitals in America. For the experiment, Prof. Rosenhan and seven other healthy individuals checked themselves into mental asylums claiming that they were experiencing hallucinations. Once inside, they acted normally and told doctors that the hallucinations had subsided, but they weren't allowed to leave until they admitted to having a mental illness and agreeing to take antipsychotic drugs to treat their conditions. Susannah Cahalan talks about the experiment and the impact that the resulting study – "On Being Sane in Insane Places" – had on the psychiatric profession. This program originally aired in November of 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Musician and author, Daryl Davis, who, for over 30 years, has befriended members of the Ku Klux Klan to try to understand their hatred and to convince them that they are wrong. He is the author of "Klan-destine Relationships" and was featured in the documentary "Accidental Courtesy." This program originally aired in November of 2017. Make your donation at: c-span.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Erik Larson talked about the life of William E. Dodd, who became America's first ambassador to Adolf Hitler's Germany in Berlin during 1933. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jesse Holland talked about his book, The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gerald Blaine and Clint Hill, two former Secret Service agents, spoke about the day that President Kennedy was assassinated. They also talked about the assassination’s conspiracy theories and their lives after retirement from the Secret Service.. Gerald Blaine is author of the new book, “The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence.” Clint Hill wrote the prologue for the book as well as cooperating in interviews for the book’s content. Gerald Blaine worked for the Secret Service from 1959 to 1964. Blaine worked for several businesses after his time as an agent. Clint Hill was in the U.S. Army for three years before working for the Secret Service from 1958 to 1975. Mr. Hill was the Secret Service agent who jumped onto the trunk of the motorcade seconds after Kennedy was shot. Both men are currently retired. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rosemary Stevens talked about her book, A Time of Scandal: Charles R. Forbes, Warren G. Harding, and the Making of the Veterans Bureau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professors Randy Barnett and Evan Bernick talked about their book, The Original Meaning of the 14th Amendment. They argued that the 14th Amendment, which gave the federal judiciary and Congress new powers over the states, has been misinterpreted by conservative and liberal judges alike since its adoption in 1868. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Tom Cronin talked about his book, Imagining a Great Republic, a survey of American novels that have helped tell the story of the American political experiment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Papez talked about the influence of Chief Justice John Roberts and other high-profile chief justices on the direction of the Supreme Court as well as American life. Ms. Papez is a litigator and partner in the firm of Gibson Dunn who previously clerked for Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and served as deputy assistant attorney general during the George W. Bush administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Amy Zegart tracked the history of American espionage from George Washington’s Revolutionary War spies to today’s digital world. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with intelligence officials, she gave an inside look into the world of spies and spy-craft. The Hoover Institution at Stanford University in California hosted this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin McCarthy earned a place in the history books this week as the first Speaker of the House to be voted out of office. Just 9 months into his term, Speaker McCarthy was challenged by a "motion to vacate" offered by Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz. McCarthy lost by 6 votes; with all Democrats voting against him. Kevin McCarthy, a California republican, was the 55th Speaker of the House. Second in line to the presidency, the Speaker is the political and parliamentary leader of the House of Representatives, and the de facto leader of the Majority. As Republicans mull their choice for a new Speaker, we look back to a Q&A episode from February of 2018 on the historical power and influence of the House Speaker of. Our guest is Michael Green, author of The Speaker of the House: A study of Leadership. You'll learn about the role of the Speaker and the tenures of Henry Clay, Joe Cannon, Newt Gingrich and Nancy Pelosi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a dip into the Q&A archives, an interview from 2017 with former federal prosecutor and George Washington University Law School professor Randall Eliason. He talked about the 2017 trial of Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and other prominent political corruption cases including Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, Sen Ted Stevens and Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Colleen Sheehan, Arizona State University Professor, discusses the early life and times of the Federalist's three authors. She explains how their lives challenged their writing and thinking. Plus, their lasting legacy today. In September 1787, the newly drafted Constitution of the United States was sent to the states for ratification. Responding to initial public criticism of the document, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay - under the collective pseudonym "Publius" - wrote a series of 85 essays to promote the ratification of the Constitution. The essays were first published in several New York newspapers and were later combined into a book titled The Federalist. Today, the original essays are commonly referred to as The Federalist Papers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Georgetown University law professor Cliff Sloan, author of "The Court at War," talks about the civil rights and civil liberties cases taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court during World War Two and the influence that FDR had on the justices, the vast majority of whom he appointed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian Richard Striner talks about his book "Ike in Love and War," about the personal life and career of Dwight D. Eisenhower, covering everything from his upbringing and military service to his two-terms as president of the United States. Mr. Striner also talks about the three women Eisenhower fell in love with over his lifetime: Gladys Harding, Mamie Doud (later Mamie Eisenhower), and Kay Summersby, a Brit who served as Eisenhower's driver during World War Two. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Presidential historian and author Richard Norton Smith discusses his biography of President Gerald Ford titled "An Ordinary Man." He talks about Ford's personal life, anti-establishment politics, and post-presidential years. He also talks about the efforts made by President Ford to heal the country following the Watergate scandal and his controversial decision to pardon Richard Nixon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge discusses her book "Generations," about the differences between the six generations – The Silents, Baby Boomers, Gen. X, Millennials, Gen. Y and "The Polars" – currently living in the United States. She argues that technological advances shape generations more than anything else and talks about the impact this will have on the country in the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest is Shahan Mufti's, who's new book, American Caliph, recounts an event that's been lost to history-- the March 9th, 1977 Hanafi Muslim siege in Washington, D.C. That day, three buildings in Washington, D.C. were seized by 12 Hanafi Movement gunmen and were held for two days. The group took 149 hostages, killed a young radio reporter named Maurice Williams, and shot then-councilman and future Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry. Mr. Mufti describes the background of the group's leader, Hamas Abdul Khaalis, the blood feud between him and the Nation of Islam, a movie about the prophet Muhammed that fueled the hostage-taking, and the tense negotiations that ultimately ended the siege. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By advancing his judicial philosophies of "originalism" and "textualism," Antonin Scalia became one of the 20th century's most influential justices. This week, James Rosen talks about Book One of his two-part biography of Antonin Scalia, titled "Scalia: Rise to Greatness, 1936-1986," Rosen who is Newsmax's Chief White House Correspondent examines Justice Scalia's life prior to the Supreme Court. We talk about Nino Scalia's early years, the importance of his Catholic faith, his first years as a corporate lawyer, his teaching career at the University of Chicago and UVA, his time in government during the Nixon and Ford administrations, and his appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, you'll meet Ilyon Woo, author of a new bestseller-- "Master Slave, Husband Wife." She recounts the harrowing journey of self-emancipation made by two enslaved Georgians--William and Ellen Craft -- in 1848. Disguised as a wealthy disabled white man traveling with his enslaved servant, the Crafts left Georgia via public conveyances, avoiding slave traders, law enforcement, and curious fellow passengers in their successful effort to gain freedom. Becoming popular speakers on the lecture circuit, they found themselves hunted by slavecatchers after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A year before Arkansas' Little Rock Central High School was desegregated, 12 Black students in Clinton, Tennessee, enrolled, by court mandate, in Clinton High School's 1956 Fall semester. Historian Rachel Louise Martin, author of "A Most Tolerant Little Town," talks about the experiences of the students who desegregated the first school in the south following Brown v. Board of Education and the violent reaction by the extremist White Citizens Council and others in town who championed a segregated America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Axios chief financial correspondent Felix Salmon, author of "The Phoenix Economy," talks about the long-term social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He argues that while the pandemic was devastating, many of the outcomes that have resulted from it have been surprisingly positive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian and Politico contributing writer Joshua Zeitz, author of "Lincoln's God," talks about the impact of faith on America's 16th president. Zeitz contends that as a young man, Abraham Lincoln was skeptical of organized religion but later, as president, came to embrace the power of evangelical Protestantism, both personally and politically. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guardian newspaper editorial writer and former China correspondent Tania Branigan, author of "Red Memory," talks about China's Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), during which millions of Chinese were killed and tens of millions were persecuted by the Chinese government for being enemies of the state. In the book, Ms. Branigan profiles several people who were targeted during this period and discusses the lasting impact of the Cultural Revolution in China today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This July 4th weekend, University of Michigan musicology and American culture professor Mark Clague discusses his book, "O Say Can You Hear?," about the history and cultural impact of the Star-Spangled Banner. He talks about how the 1814 poem written by Francis Scott Key became the U.S. national anthem, its widespread use today at sporting events, and renditions of the song performed by Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston, Roseanne Barr, and others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices