Chicago Amplified

Bomb Power: The Modern Presidency and the National Security State

In Bomb Power, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills reveals how the atomic bomb transformed the United States down to its deepest constitutional roots.

Recorded on 1.27.2010

Lincoln and Native America from the Black Hawk War to the Presidency

How does understanding Lincoln's treatment of and policy toward Native peoples help us reconsider Lincoln's legacy?

Recorded on 12.19.2009

Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation

Professor Allen Guelzo, author of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and winner of the Lincoln Prize, talks about why Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation.

Recorded on 12.12.2009

Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly: The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First Lady and a Former Slave

Jennifer Fleischner tells the fascinating story of the relationship between First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckly, a seamstress and former slave.

Recorded on 12.5.2009

New Book Symposium Part 2: Lawrence Glickman's Response

Lawrence Glickman responds to a debate about his recently published book Buying Power: A History of Consumer Activism in America.

Recorded on 11.14.2009

New Book Symposium Part 1: Consumers—The Unknown Social Movement

Seminar participants debate a recently published book, Lawrence Glickman's Buying Power: A History of Consumer Activism in America.

Recorded on 11.14.2009

Banned Books Read-Out

This annual event kicked off Banned Books Week. Excerpts of the top ten most challenged books from the past year were read from, with many authors participating.

Recorded on 9.26.2009

Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story

Scholars discuss the historical and literary significance of the Federal Writers’ Project under the Works Progress Administration during the New Deal.

Recorded on 9.12.2009

Chicago Visionaries: From Burnham To Today And Beyond

Chicago today is as much on the brink of progress as the Chicago of 100 years ago. Listen in as some of our city's most innovative thinkers discuss how to keep Chicago vibrant in the 21st century.

Recorded on 8.4.2009

Bughouse Square Debates 2009

Listen in as Chicagoans exercise their first-amendment rights and relive the days of soapbox oratory and public debates that immortalized Washington Square Park.

Recorded on 7.25.2009

Never a City So Real

Meet author and social critic Alex Kotlowitz as he talks about his latest book about Chicago, Never a City So Real. It is a tour of the people of Chicago, and the city’s heart.

Recorded on 7.25.2009

Dillinger's Wild Ride: The Year That Made America's Public Enemy Number One

What is the power of his story? Who was John Dillinger? Gorn illuminates the significance of Dillinger's fame and legacy, arguing that he represented an American fascination with primitive freedom against social convention.

Recorded on 7.7.2009

Make Big Plans: Curators' Talk and Gallery Walk for "Daniel Burnham in the Philippines"

The co-curators of "Make Big Plans: Daniel Burnham's Vision of an American Metropolis" discussed the pleasures and challenges of placing Burnham and Bennett's "Plan of Chicago" in historical perspective.

Recorded on 6.27.2009

Rule 53: Capturing Hippies, Spies, Politicians and Murderers in an American Courtroom

Andy Austin is a veteran Chicago courtroom artist for ABC News. She's written a memoir detailing the court room drama and nuances of criminal character that only an artist could capture.

Recorded on 5.13.2009

Meet the Author: Robert Clifton Weaver and the American City

Robert Clifton Weaver was one of the most influential civil rights advocates of the twentieth century.

Recorded on 4.28.2009