AUDIO LIBRARY

Islam and Democracy
A debate has surfaced over the viability of an Islamic democracy. To some, Islam is an obstacle to democratic rule – giving sovereignty to God, and not the people. But others argue that Islamic law and democratic practice go hand in hand. Where do the traditions of Islam and democracy meet?
Guests:
Mohammed Fadel — Attorney in private practice in New York City
Saba Mahmood — Faculty of the Divinity School at the University of Chicago
Radwan Masmoudi — President of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy in Washington, D.C.

Shakespeare and America
An English playwright just received a huge endorsement from the N.E.A. His plays will be produced in regional theatres across the United States. His name is William Shakespeare. From summer theatre festivals to Hollywood films, Americans love Shakespeare. How do we explain Shakespeare’s persistent appeal in American culture?
Guests:
Doug Lanier — Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire
Richard Burt — Faculty in the English Department at the University of Florida
Tom Cartelli — Professor of English at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania

Memory and History
Major historical events are described and analyzed by historians, and make their way into the public record. But survivors and witnesses also offer their own experiences of these events. What is the relationship between these two perspectives?
Guests:
Moishe Postone— Historian at the University of Chicago
Alison Landsberg — Historian and Film Studies professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia

The Weekend
The weekend is supposed to be a respite, a relief from the pressures of the workaday world. But the weekend is a relatively recent invention, and our weekend activities have changed considerably. Where do our ideas about the weekend come from?
Guests:
Alexis McCrossen — Historian at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas
Benjamin Hunnicutt — Historian at the University of Iowa

Identity and Property Ownership
Owning property can improve your economic status and living conditions. But property can also enhance your social standing in a community. What are the ideas people attach to property?
Guests:
William Schweiker — Professor of Theological Ethics in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago
Sandra Fullerton-Joireman — Political Scientist at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois

The State of American Cities
Americans moved back to urban areas in the 1990's, and cities, once again, became the economic and cultural centers of the country. However, growing fiscal problems suggest that cities face hard times ahead. What explains the changing fortunes of the American city?
Guests:
Saskia Sassen — Sociologist at the University of Chicago
Michael Pagano — Professor of Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago
David Perry — Director of the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Unemployment
Over the past two years, hundreds of thousands of jobs have been lost. Still, many believe our economy is moving towards recovery. If the economic significance has changed, what are the social implications of widespread unemployment?
Guests:
Alex Keyssar — Historian in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Michael Piore — Economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Public Opinion in the Middle East
The “Arab Street” has become shorthand for public opinion in the region, but the Arab public sphere is more complex than this term would suggest. How do political ideas develop and circulate in the Middle East?
Guests:
Charles Hirschkind — Anthropologist at the University of Madison, Wisconsin
Lisa Wedeen — Political scientist at the University of Chicago

African American Comedy Film
African American comedy films are often very successful at the box office. Yet the black comedy genre has a long and troubled history — can contemporary comedies escape the legacy of the minstrel show?
Jacqueline Stewart — Committee on Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago
Lanita Jacobs-Huey — Department of Anthropology and Program in American Studies and Ethnicity at USC
Bambi Haggins — Department of Film and Video Studies at the University of Michigan

Faith and Citizenship
Sally Gordon — Legal historian at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia
Paul Weithman — Writes on contemporary political philosophy and ethics at Notre Dame University
Sam Fleischacker — Political and moral philosopher at the University of Illinois at Chicago
rebroadcast

Sex and the Public Sphere
From prostitution to pornography, there’s a long history of policing sexuality. The Supreme Court just recently heard arguments on a Texas law prohibiting sodomy between same sex couples. What drives public concern over private sexual behavior?
Guests:
Tom Laqueur — Historian at the University of California, Berkeley
Nicola Beisel — Sociologist at Northwestern University
George Chauncey — Historian at the University of Chicago

Physical Illness and Culture
Diseases like polio, AIDS, and SARS, are biological events. But perceptions of an illness, and those afflicted by it, are rarely based on science alone. How does culture shape our understanding of physical illness and how we experience disease?
Guests:
Sander Gilman — Director of the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago
Emily Martin — Anthropologist at New York University

U.S. Foreign Policy after Iraq
Syria, North Korea, and Iran have all been mentioned as possible targets in an effort to contend with the spread of weapons of mass destruction. What are the security trade-offs entailed in launching “preventive” wars beyond Iraq?
Guests:
Tom Donnelly — Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute
Owen Cote — Director of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Monster
Every era has its monster. A serial killer like Jeffrey Dahmer may fit our contemporary ideas of the monster, but at other times it was Frankenstein or Medusa. Monsters have taken different forms and meant different things over time, but they’ve never gone away. What hold do monsters have on us?
Guests:
Lorraine Daston — Director of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin
Jeffrey Jerome Cohen — Faculty member in the Departments of English and Human Sciences at George Washington University

Tort Law Reform
Over the past century, personal injury litigation has expanded dramatically. Some claim that punitive damage awards have spiraled out of control, and that the system is being misused. Has tort law drifted from its original intent?
Guests:
Deborah Hensler — Legal Scholar at Stanford University
George Priest — Yale Law School

Patriotism and the Military
Many Americans opposed to the war in Iraq claim to support the American troops. Critics of these protestors suggest that anti-war sentiments are not just anti-military, but also unpatriotic. What is the relationship between attitudes toward the military and ideas of patriotism?
Guests:
Michael Desch — Director of the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky
Cecelia Lynch — Political Scientist at the University of California, Irvine

Culture of Luck
America is a country of hard work and self-discipline. Or at least that’s the story we tell about ourselves as individuals and about our country. But what about luck? From land speculation to lotteries, how has luck figured into the American experience?
Guests:
Ann Fabian — Cultural Historian at Rutgers University
Jackson Lears — Cultural historian at Rutgers University

War and Literature
Phyllis Lassner — Faculty member in Jewish Studies, Gender Studies, and the Writing Program at Northwestern University
David Espey — Teaches in the English Department at the University of Pennsylvania
Sarah Cole — Professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York
rebroadcast

The State of Queer Cinema
Gay filmmakers and actors have always been part of Hollywood. Yet the success of Far From Heaven and Talk to Her shows that films by gay directors can be popular at the local cineplex. What happens when queer cinema goes mainstream?
Guests:
Ron Gregg — Director of the Program in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago
Maria Pramaggiore — Director of the Film Studies Program at North Carolina State University

The Black Family
The Black Family gets invoked in debates about everything from drug policy to education. It’s become a focus where larger social anxieties about race, class and gender get worked out. What values and assumptions are embedded in our discussions of the Black Family?
Guests:
Angela James — Sociologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles
Micaela DiLeonardo — Anthropolgist at Northwestern University

Policing Democracy
Any plans for post-war reconstruction and democratization in Iraq will have to involve a police force. But policing in the aftermath of a conflict can be challenging. What does it take to re-structure a local police force and implement the rule of law?
Guests:
Clive Emsley — Director of the European Center for the Study of Policing, at the Open University in Milton Keynes, England
Robert Gellately — Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University in Wooster, Massachusetts
Michael Dark — Visiting Fellow in United Nation Studies at Yale University

Gauging Success in Iraq
The war in Iraq is proving more complicated than first imagined. The coalition still holds a great military advantage, but as more trouble is encountered on the battlefield, do long term goals in the region become harder to achieve?
Guests:
Daryl Press — Political Scientist at Dartmouth College
Richard Betts — Political Scientist at Columbia University
Chaim Kaufmann — Political scientist at Lehigh University