#8: Raymond J. Haberski Jr., Paul V. Murphy, and Natalia Mehlman-Petrzela

This episode is going to be just a bit different from the others. We’re going to play for you a series of short presentations by three historians--Raymond Haberski, Paul Murphy, and Natalia Mehlman Petrzela. These historians were on a panel at an April 16, 2016 summit, hosted by the Hauenstein Center, that entertained the possibility of common ground between progressives and conservatives, as we do. These three presentations were perfect for that summit—as well as for this podcast—because they took up certain relatively recent cultural debates that, in some cases, highlight the value of common ground between the left and right, but in others, reveal how such common ground might not always be possible or even valuable. For instance, in the first presentation, Raymond Haberski discusses what he calls America’s “civil religion of war,” and examines whether common ground between liberal and conservatives about war—particularly the Iraq War—is or has been all that valuable. Following that, Paul Murphy talks about key early 20th century American thinkers, together known as the New Humanists, who embodied the progressive/conservative split as we understand it today. Finally, Natalia Mehlman Petrzela talks about the culture wars, from the 60s to today, as they’ve played out in classrooms and at school board meetings across the nation.

The Hauenstein Center Collection