Why do some presidential sexual relations become major scandals while others don't even make the news? 🚩In this interview: ►Are presidential love affairs different than sexual relations? ►What defines a scandal? The nature of the act or the politics of the moment? ►JFK's sexual relations►FDR's love affairs►Cleveland's sex scandals and great love story ►Clinton's sexual relations►Jackson's scandals - heartbreak & Cabinet's shutdown ►Washington's great love ►Epstein's sex scandal vs. others ►Character is King! 🚩About My 183rd Guest Scholars:Dr. Robert Watson is a Distinguished Professor of American History & Avron Fogelman Research Professor at Lynn University, and also the Director of Project Civitas, an initiative to promote civility both on campus and in the community in politics and all other aspects. He has published 200 scholarly articles and over 45 books, including "Affairs of State: The Untold History of Presidential Love, Sex and Scandal", which we discuss in this interview. Dr. Watson's forthcoming book is "Declaration: The Story of American Independence", in which he revisits America's Founding - just in time for our nation's 250th anniversary in 2026. You have likely watched Dr. Watson talk about history on TV, for example on CNN, MSNBC on The Daily Show. In addition, Dr. Watson has worked with or lectured for some of our nation's most preeminent historic sites, such as the Truman Presidential Library, Ford Presidential Museum, US Military Academy at West Point, the National Archives, the Smithsonian Institution, the Pentagon, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Society of the Cincinnati, Gettysburg National Battlefield, National Civil War Museum, Mount Rushmore, US Capitol Historical Society and the White House Historical Association. 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: 🚩Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
As Pres. Trump and Pres. Putin meet in Alaska to negotiate a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, I speak with scholars of Russia and ask them these questions: ►Who is Putin? ►What event had the biggest impact on his worldview? ►Is he an ideological man? ►Does he love Russia?►Is he a risktaker? ►Does he fear that Russians will revolt against him? ►Does he want to be remembered in history as Putin the Great? Actually, that would be Vladimir the Great. 🚩About My Guest Scholars:Dr. Kathryn Stoner. I interviewed her in March 2022, shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and while the Covid-19 pandemic was a threat. She was then a scholar at Stanford University and had published an important book, Russia Resurrected: Its Power and Purpose in a New Global Order. Here is our full interview. Dr. Mark Steinberg. I interviewed him in April 2022, when there was talk of overthrowing Putin. Dr. Steinberg is professor emeritus at the Department of History of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has published extensively about Russia, including Voices of Revolution, 1917; The Russian Revolution, 1905-1921; and also Russian Utopia. Here is our full interview. 🚩My Recommendations: ►S2E8: Wars in Ukraine, Dr. David R. Stone ►S2E5: Ukraine's National Identity, Dr. Catherine Wanner►S5E39: Crimea and Crimean Tatars, Dr. Greta Uehling Image Attribution:Vladimir Putin, July 14, 2025. By Kremlin.ru, CC BY 4.0. Image cropped on its sides to Zoom in on Mr. Putin. 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: 🚩Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
Ed Koch. Donald Trump. Rudy Giuliani. Al Sharpton. Spike Lee. And more. They were the tabloid gods of New York at a pivotal time in the City's modern history - a time when several issues erupted into crises that caused chaos in NYC and made national headlines. And we discuss them in this interview because many of those issues persist to this day, and continue to polarize NYC's population and politics. 🚩Support My ProgramIn this interview: ►"Gods" of New York►1986-90: pivotal years in NYC's history►How Wall Street and real estate development took over ►NYC's 1980s crisis of house affordability - a reckoning now►How did homelessness blow up into a major crisis in NYC? ►Who was "Billie Boggs" and why did Pres. Reagan talk about her with the Soviets? ►What tactics did Donald Trump deploy to get rid of his tenants? ►Killing of Black New Yorkers by an all-white NYPD ►Murderous racial tensions between White and Black New Yorkers ►Black community's mistrust of the criminal justice system ►In 1985, NYC became a non-white city ►NYC's crisis of identity ►A city for billionaires? 🚩About My 196th Guest Scholar:Mr. Johnathan Mahler is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine and his journalism has received numerous awards. He is the author of: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning" - a bestselling book and was adapted as an ESPN mini-series, "The Challenge" - a New York Times Notable Book, and "The Gods of New York: Egotists, Idealists, Opportunists, and the Birth of the Modern City: 1986-1990", which we discuss in this interview. 🚩My Recommendation: ►S3E47, Prof. Maria Foscarinis: America's history of homelessness 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting!
Venezuela was once a liberal democracy with close geopolitical relations with the United States. So what happened? This is the story of Venezuela's devolution from democracy to dictatorship, and from cooperation with America to coups and open conflict. 🚩Support My ProgramIn this interview: ►How did the Cold War affect US-Venezuela relations?►How Venezuela's liberal democracy ended►Irony of US-Venezuela anti-Cuba cooperation ►How Venezuela's pluralistic society became polarized ►Selling oil to your enemy ►Venezuela's path to China►U.S. warned Chavez about coup►Chavez's viciousness & belligerence toward America►What is Competitive Authoritarianism? ►Chavez the Robin Hood►How Chavez's coalition changed ►Consequences of Chavez expelling the DEA►Pres. Trump's bounties for Maduro's capture ►Four sectors that dictators need to survive 🚩About My 195th Guest Scholar:Dr. Javier Corrales is Chair of Amherst College Political Science Department. His many books about Venezuela are listed on his academic homepage. In addition to his books, Dr. Corrales has published extensively, including his recent paper "Intentional polarization: How policy extremism and ideological overuse promote democratic backsliding".Watch this interview: 🎞️ https://youtu.be/aJKtFsijPt4🚩My Recommendations: ►S5E8, Dr. Michael J. LaRosa: Colombia ►S5E25, Dr. Jose Miguel Cruz: El Slavador ►S4E12, Dr. Carmen Martínez Novo: Ecuador 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting!
Exceptions to & exapnsions of Freedom of Speech. 🚩Support My ProgramIn this interview: ►Was the First Amendment really the first? ►Why does the First Amendment only mention Congress? ►Did our Founders believe the President has no power to restrict freedom of speech? ►To our Founders and their British counterparts, was freedom of press more consequential than freedom of speech? ►In the First Amendment, is the word "THE" controversial? ►Does Pres. Trump's Executive Order to prosecute flag burning violate the First Amendment? ►Was the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel's show a 1st amendment violation? ►Do states extend freedom of speech protection to private employees? ►When and how did the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment, get applied to states? ►What is Selective Incorporation of the Bill of Rights? ►Can a federal employee be fired for their political affiliation? ►Why is Pres. Trump relitigating the Supreme Court 1960's "Sullivan" case? 🚩About My 194th Guest Scholar:Prof. Eugene Volokh is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is Emeritus professor of law at UCLA, where he taught First Amendment law among other subjects. And before UCLA, he clerked at the US Supreme Court for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Prof. Volokh is the author of "The First Amendment and Related Statutes" 8th Ed., and he hosts Free Speech Unmuted – a video podcast series sponsored by the Hoover Institution.Watch this interview: 🎞️ https://youtu.be/MJLtinvs03o🚩My Recommendations: ►S3E16, Dr. Aimee Edmondson: Sullivan Case, Defamation Suits & Journalism ►S5E35, Dr. Robert Thompson: Late-Night TV Show Hosts & History ► S5E30, Dr. Lindsay P. Cohn: National Guard & Civil-Military Relations - From Whiskey Rebellion To Los AngelesCommittee on First Amendment, relaunched by Jane Fonda on Oct. 1, 2025. 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting!
On-again off again. Hot and cold. That's how I would describe more than 75 years of America's relationship with India. It's a story that seesaws between extremely close cooperation and virtually full ruptures and severe sanctions. And the goal of this interview is to learn from history how Pres. Trump's 50% tariffs may impact our relations with India now! 🚩Support My Program🚩In this interview: ►How Stalin viewed India after its independence from Britain ►How Khruschev changed USSR-India relations in the 1950s ►America's ambiguity about Kashmir►Nonalignment is "immoral"!►Who is India nonaligned against!►Ultimate irony of India's nonalignment policy►U.S. supports India in the 1960s►Consequences of India's criticism of the Vietnam War►U.S. forsakes India in the 1970s►Indira Gandhi's masterstroke with the Soviets►Clinton's India sanctions►Obama & Biden's warmer relations with India►Pres. Trump & PM Modi - from close friendship to strained relationship ►Will India buckle under Pres. Trump's tariffs? ►Do tariffs push India toward China and Russia? ►India's nonalignment compared to issue-based alignment and multi-alignment🚩About My 190th Guest Scholars:Dr. Šumit Ganguly is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution - Stanford University, where he is also the Director of the Huntington Program on Strengthening US-India Relations. He has published extensively, including the following books: "The Troubling State of India's Democracy","The Sino-Indian Rivalry ","Conflict Unending: India-Pakistan Tensions since 1947", and "The Oxford Handbook of Indian Politics".🚩My Recommendations: ►S5E35, Dr. Thompson: Late Night Show History ►S5E27, Dr. Kanjwal: Kashmir History►S5E24, Dr. Irwin: U.S. Tariffs History 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
U.S. interventions in Brazilian politics since the 19th century & Bolsonaro's 27-year prison term. 🚩Support My Program🚩In this interview: ►How do Brazilians perceive the U.S.? ►Do Brazilians watch American TV shows? Do they listen to our music? ►Brazilians to Americans: why don't you know more about us!►A Tropical Version of the U.S.? ►Brazilians' "weird" relationship with the Amazon: fear, nationalism and exploitation. ►Amazon river as international water? ►1822 - US recognizes Brazil's independence ►1889 - US saves Brazil's republic? ►1891 - United States of Brazil►1964 - US supports Brazil's military coup►Interest without intervention ►How FDR & his New Deal changed US-Brazil relations: good neighbor policy ►Brazil's role in WWII: supporting America►Brazil feels betrayed by America after WWII ►Operation Pan America: Pres. Eisenhower ►Pres. Trump & former Pres. Bolsonaro (Trump of the Tropics)📽️Watch this interview on YouTube🚩About My 188th Guest Scholars:Dr. Rafael Ioris is a professor of Latin American History and Politics at the University of Denver. He specializes in Brazilian history, politics, foreign policy as well as Brazil-US relations. Dr. Ioris grew up in Brazil, attended college there and later received his doctorate in Latin American History in the United States. He is the recipient of many prestigious research funds… including the Andrew Mellon Foundation, the French Foreign Ministry, the National Research Council of Brazil… and he has been a visiting Professor at premier universities… including the University of Sao Paulo, Sorbonne University, in Paris, and the University of International Business and Economics, in Beijing. 🚩My Recommendation: ►S3E5 🎧: https://bit.ly/HbN-S3E5-BrazilModernHistoryThis is an interview with Dr. Marshall Eakin, a professor of history at Vanderbilt University. 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
New York Fashion Week is here. But what is fashion? And what is American fashion? 🚩Support My Program🚩In this interview: ►What can be considered unfashionable? ►In the old days, did kings and queens set fashion trends? ►Do you have a fashion group? ►Did you say you don't think about clothes? If yes, then you do! ►Is fashion aspirational? ►Ralph Lauren ►Fashion during the Industrial Revolution ►How is American fashion different than French fashion? ►Is fashion art? ►Can we point to an early expression of American fashion? ►How has social media affected the fashion industry? ►Does New York Fashion Week reflect fashion trends or set fashion trends? ►What is the House of Worth? ►What are the 4 reasons that Adel, HbN host, is interested in fashion history? 🚩About My 188th Guest Scholars:Prof. Nancy Deihl is Chair of the Department of Art and Art Professions at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University (NYU). She is a historian of fashion specializing in the period from the mid-19th century to the present and concentrating on the American fashion industry. She is particularly interested in connections between fashion and art practices. Before NYU, Prof. Deihl taught at the Fashion Institute of Technology.She has published widely on fashion, including the following two books: she has co-authored "The History of Modern Fashion", and is the editor of "The Hidden History of American Fashion: Rediscovering 20th-century Women Designers". 🚩Other Interviews: ►S5E45: Jane Austen 250►S5E40: Putin and the War in Ukraine ►S5E30: National Guard in U.S. Cities 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
How do presidents pay for White House renovations, furnishings and other expenses? Pres. Trump will be building a big beautiful ballroom for the White House. And you will note from this interview, the need for additional space in the executive mansion is not at all new. Many presidents have asked for it. 🚩Support My Program🚩In this interview: ►Who manages the White House? ►Who funds White House maintenance and projects? ►Why did some presidents sell White House furniture, furnishing & tableware? ►Why does the White House have eclectic styles? ►What was Mary Todd Lincoln's for future First Ladies? ►What was Jacqueline Kennedy's contributions to the White House? ►Which president embarked on the biggest 20th century renovation and why? ►How was White House security in the old days? ►Why was the Oval Office moved? ►How did TR and FDR change the White House? ►Does the White House have hidden passages? ►What are some major White House changes that Congress rejected? ►What are some unpopular White House changed that we have come to love? 🚩About My 187th Guest Scholars:Dr. Matthew Costello was named the Chief Education Officer of the White House Historical Association, where he is Chair in White House History and Director of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History. 🚩Other Interviews: ►S5E41: Presidential Love Affairs, Sexual Relations & Scandals. ►S3E49: America's First Ladies►S4E8: America's Conspiracy Theories 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
Bath, England, is celebrating Jane Austen - 250 years of her life and legacy. 🚩Support My ProgramDo any of these titles sound familiar to you? ►"Pride and Prejudice"►"Sense and Sensibility"►"Persuasion" ►"Emma"►"Mansfield Park"►"Sanditon"If so, you definitely want to hear this interview - the stories and history of Jane Austen's life and legacy. 🚩About My 186th Guest Scholars:Prof. Kathryn Sutherland of St. Anne's College, University of Oxford, is the Patron of Jane Austen's House Museum in Chawton, a member of the Advisory Board for the British Library's 'Discovering Literature' project and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Oxford Edition of Charles Dickens. She has published extensively, including the following books that we discuss in this interview: "Jane Austen in 41 Objects""Jane Austen: Writer in the World""Why Modern Manuscripts Matter"🚩Celebrating Jane Austen: Here is the website for Bath's Jane Austen Festival 2025. 🚩Relevant Interview: S2E31: my 2022 interview with Dr. Mehrkens about monarchy and middle class🚩History Behind This Week's News: ►S3E8: China's military history ►S5E33: Presidential sex and love scandals ►S5E30: U.S. National Guards ►S3E9: U.S. antitrust history 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
Public broadcast federal funding has been completely cut. Our federal government will no longer fund public broadcasting. Pres. Trump has ordered the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to cease any funding to PBS or NPR. In addition, he signed Congressional bill that clawed back already approved CPB funding. 🚩Support My Program🚩In this interview: ►What defines public broadcasting? ►Radio's evolution from a public to commercial medium►Educational broadcasting or public broadcasting? ►Nonprofit vs. noncommercial►How is public broadcasting funded? ►How is Sputnik relevant to public broadcast? ►Why the South liked public broadcast►NAACP and public broadcast ►How did the Carnegie Corp. impact public broadcast? ►Why don't conservatives like public broadcast? ►Pres. Johnson, Nixon and Reagan and public broadcast 🚩About My 185th Guest Scholars:Dr. Allison Perlman is a professor of film and media studies in the School of Humanities at University of California, Irvine. Her research interests include history of broadcasting, American social movements, media law and policy, media activism, popular memory. Her publications include the following books: Flow TV: Television in the Age of Convergent Media, and Public Interests: Media Advocacy and Struggles Over US Television, a book that we discuss in this interview. It's also the winner of the Outstanding Book Award by the International Communication Association. 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
Japan's history of public health, imperial rise and nationalism. And also, story of a Japanese company's commercial invasion of America. 🚩In this interview: ►What does it mean to be modern? ►Japan's 'modernization' - 1860s to 1910s. ►4 requirements for modernization of Japanese toilets ►disease prevention, e.g., cholera in Japan ►Japan - the rise of a 'clean' empire ►Is Japan's history of cleanliness true? ►Black Gold: Japan's centuries-old "night soil system" ►Gen. Douglas MacArthur's toilet ►squat vs. sit down toilets - Japan in the 1980s ►cleanliness and Japan's nationalism 🚩New York Times: "The Rise of the Japanese Toilet"🚩About My 184th Guest Scholars:Dr. Kerry Shannon of California State University, Dominguez Hills, is a historian of modern East Asia, and his broader research and teaching interests include the intellectual and social history of public health. His forthcoming book, which we discuss in this interview, is tentatively titled "Going to the Bathroom for the Nation: a History of the Modern Japanese Toilet".🚩My Recommendation: S5E11: Japan's modern history - from pacificism to realism, story of how Japan works. 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: 🚩Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
As Pres. Trump & Putin meet in Alaska, without Pres. Zelensky, to discuss a peace deal in the Russian-Ukrainian War, it is not at all certain that any land will in fact be swapped for peace, as suggested by Pres. Trump. But one thing is for certain - that Pres. Putin will not, ever, swap Crimea for any land in Ukraine. In this episode, my guest and I discuss the history of Crimea and the Crimean Tatars. 🚩About My 182nd Guest Scholar:Dr. Greta Lynn Uehling is a cultural anthropologist who works at the intersection of Indigenous and Eastern European Studies. She is a Teaching Professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she teaches for the Program in International and Comparative Studies and is Associate Faculty of the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. Her books include the following: Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom - a book that we discuss in this episode, Everyday War: The Conflict over Don-bas, Ukraine, and Beyond Memory: The Deportation and Return of the Crimean Tatars.🚩Other Related Interviews: ►S2E9: Who Is Putin? Dr. Kathryn Stoner►S2E8: Wars in Ukraine, Dr. David R. Stone ►S2E5: Ukraine's National Identity, Dr. Catherine Wanner🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: 🚩Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
Tower of London to Alligator Alcatraz: how constitutionalism came to America and became Americanized. 🚩In this interview: ►What is due process? Is it a legal right or privilege? ►How are procedural and substantive due process different? ►Is due process in the Constitution? ►Do immigrants have due process rights? ►Is due process essentially about fear? ►What is Magna Carta? ►Does due process come from Magna Carta? ►Magna Carta was not a compact between government and the people. So how does it set the stage for democracy? ►How did we Americanize constitutionalism? ►What is the 3rd part of the Declaration of Independence and why is it important? ►What is habeas corpus? Does it relate to due process? ►How are our systems of checks and balances related to due process? 🚩About My Guest Scholar:Dr. David Schultz is a Distinguished University Professor in the Departments of Political Science, Environmental Studies, and Legal Studies at Hamline University. He is also an adjunct professor of Law at the University of Minnesota and at the University of St. Thomas. He is a four-time Fulbright scholar who has taught extensively in Europe and Asia, and the winner of the Leslie A. Whittington national award for excellence in public affairs teaching. Dr. Schultz is the author of more than 200 articles and 45 book on various aspects of American politics, election law, and the media and politics. When I first interviewed Dr. Schultz, he was my guest # 69. Since then, I've interviewed 181 scholars in more than 200 interviews. 🚩My Other Interviews with Dr. Schultz: ►S4E17: Your Age, Sex & Vote - Stunning Survey Findings►S4E1: Hypermasculine Trumpism & Politainment►S2E39: Polarization of America's Politics🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: 🚩Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
Is America undermining the rules-based international order? Are we jeopardizing the stability and predictability of the very system that we built for the world? 🚩In this interview: ►What is national security? ►What is America's "special relationship" with Britain? ►In 1916, why did Britain worry about Pres. Wilson's foreign policy? ►Did FDR bring about the end of British Empire? ►How has America benefited from this "special relationship"? ►When did America recognize it has the power and capacity to change the world in its own image? ►What does it mean that "no hegemonic power has had as much voluntary assistance as America"? ►Why does NATO delineate the geographic area to which its commitment applies? ►What event compelled the militarization of NATO? ►What is the rules-based international order? ►How has securing world order and functioning systems been so cost effective for America? ►Can a country remain powerful without political liberalization? ►Is America a rogue superpower now? ►Can America remain powerful and dynamic without our allies? 🚩About My 180th Guest Scholar:Dr. Kori Schake is a senior fellow and the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Prior to this, she was the deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. In addition, she has had a distinguished career in government, working at the US State Department, the US Department of Defense, and the National Security Council at the White House. Dr. Schake has published extensively, including the following books►“America vs the West: Can the Liberal World Order Be Preserved?”►“Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony” ►“State of Disrepair: Fixing the Culture and Practices of the State Department” and ►“Managing American Hegemony: Essays on Power in a Time of Dominance” ►“Warriors & Citizens: American Views of Our Military”, which she co-edited along with former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. 🚩Related Interview: S5E24: America's Tariffs - A History of Politics & Foreign Policy, Dr. Douglas A. Irwin ( Dartmouth College)🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: 🚩Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
Most Americans hardly knew about autism in the 1980s and '90s. Then, as if suddenly, autism became big news in the 2000s. And the rate of autism has increased since, including diagnosis among adults. But how did this happen? 🚩In this interview: ►What is autism? A disorder? A disease? A psychiatric medical condition? ►What does autism spectrum mean? ►In the 1980s, what were medical experts taught about the rate of autism?►Is there a link between autism and vaccines? ►Do genetics cause and/or contribute to autism? ►Does autism have infection causes and/or contributors? ►When was autism first discovered? ►Is autism the rich kids' disease?►Was autism considered the rich kids' disease in Europe? ►Do older parents have a higher likelihood of having autistic children? ►What explains the dramatic increase in rate of autism since 2000? ►Is autism a Western medical issue? ►What happened at the Seatle May 2025 International Society for Autism Research conference? ►Latest studies in autism, including the April 2025 published CDC report🚩About My 180th Guest Scholar:Dr. Maureen Durkin is the Department Chair of Population Health Sciences and Professor of Population Health Sciences and Pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. She is a Waisman Center Investigator, Principal Investigator on the Wisconsin Surveillance of Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities System, and Principal Investigator of two studies that we discuss in this interview. She is a contributor to studies conducted by the CDC, including a study that was published in April 2025, reporting that in 2022 1 in 31 children age eight were autistic. 🚩Related Articles: "Experts Doubt Kennedy’s Timetable for Finding the Cause of Autism", New York Times, April 11, 2025. "Kennedy Turns to a Discredited Vaccine Skeptic for Autism Study", Wall Street Journal, March 27, 2025"Vaccine Opponent Hired by RFK Jr. Scours Official Records for Link to Autism", Wall Street Journal, June 5, 2025. "Aluminum-Adsorbed Vaccines and Chronic Diseases in Childhood", Annals of Internal Medicine, July 15, 2025. 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: 🚩Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? More than 200 scholar interviews and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
"First Responders" of entertainment TV. Why American citizens will miss late-night talk shows. 🚩In this interview: ►What defines a late-night talk show? ►Obsolescence that's in the name! ►Was Carson really the King of Late Night? ►Who is Faye Emerson? ►The Letterman revolution. ►Entertaining in 20th century vs. importance in 21st century. ►The internet effect. ►Are late-night talk show hosts partisan? ►Same format. Different personalities. ►What is different about Colbert? ►Why late-night talk shows are so important for our Republic? 🚩About My 179th Guest Scholar:Dr. Robert Thompson is the founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and a Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. 🚩Related Interviews: ►S3E29: TV & Magic of Hollywood: Dr. Thomas Doherty (Brandeis University) ►S4E2: Women of Hollywood: Dr. Doherty & Dr. Maggie Hennefeld (University of Minnesota)🚩Image Attribution: Stephen Colbert at the 2024 New York Comic Con, held at the Javits Center in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan. By PhilipRomanoPhoto - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=154208372🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: 🚩Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? 178 scholars and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
Can Harvard use its huge endowment to make up for the federal funds frozen by Pres. Trump? 🚩In this interview: ►What are university endowments? ►How are endowments different than grants, federal funds and other monies that come into universities? ►How do universities perpetuate their endowments? ►What rules and regulations govern endowments? ►When did American universities first receive private monies? ►When did American universities create endowments with legal structures and complex financial plans and dedicated departments to manage them? 🚩About My 178th Guest Scholar:Ms. Cathleen Rittereiser is a highly recognized authority on the Endowment Investment Model. She is the co-author of the following books: "Foundation and Endowment Investing", which we discuss in this interview, and "Top Hedge Fund Investors"Most recently, Ms. Rittereiser served as the Executive Director of the Commonfund Institute, a thought leadership service for investment fiduciaries, where she educated trustees and investment committee members about endowment management best practices. She also founded Uncorrelated, LLC, a conference and thought leadership publishing platform for endowment, foundation, and pension investment officers. Uncorrelated published three papers: The Portfolio Whiteboard Project, The Investment LAB, the Energy Revolution, DoDiligence™ - Reinventing the Due Diligence Process.Ms. Rittereiser has educated nonprofit fiduciaries on the endowment model, governance, and alternatives at numerous industry conferences including AGB, NACUBO, Council on Foundations, NBOA, SALT, Global ARC, AIMA, CAIA, JFNA, Institutional Investor and The Investment Institute. Earlier in her career, she held investor relations and marketing roles with leading financial services firms and hedge fund complexes and began her career in the Merrill Lynch Corporate Intern Program. She received an A.B. from Franklin & Marshall College and an M.B.A. from NYU Stern School of Business.🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: 🚩Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? 178 scholars and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
Why is America's Jewish community so successful? Why have Jewish diaspora communities been so successful throughout history and across many countries and cultures? 🚩In this interview: ►Jewish migration, immigration and emigration ►Preserving Jewish communities: the challenge of Jewish assimilation ►Preserving Judaism without the temple►Jewish diaspora in Persia - forgotten part of Queen Esther's story►Which Jews immigrated to America? ►Henry Ford and Jews in Detroit ►America's Jews and America's elite universities ►Jewish business success in America - the film industry and stories of risk taking ►Importance of immigration to America🚩About My Guest Scholar:Dr. Howard Lupovitch is a professor of history at Wayne State University and the director of the Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies. He specializes in modern Jewish History and urban Jewish history, specifically the Jews of Hungary and the Habsburg Monarchy. In addition to the books mentioned in the podcast, Dr. Lupovitch is the author of "Jews and Judaism In World History", which is the featured image of this episode. Here are links to some of the sources for the data I share in the introduction: ►Jewish student population in America's elite universities ►Jewish Nobel Prize winners ►Jewish Pulitzer Prize winners 🚩Related Podcast Interviews: ►History of Jewish Diaspora, Dr. Lupovitch, 2023 ►History of Ancient Israel, Dr. Michael Pytlik, 2023 ► Golden Age of Jewish-Muslim Relations, Dr. Michael Pytlik, 2021🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: 🚩Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? 178 scholars and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.
For America, 1979 was one of the coldest years of the Cold War. The U.S. lost a friend. Gained a foe. And then its nightmare scenario for the Middle East began to come true. This is the history of how and why the U.S. military now has a permanent presence in the Middle East. 🚩In this interview, we also discuss the following: The dangers that U.S. military presence in the Middle East poses to U.S. democracy at home, History of America's military support of Israel, How America switched from Vietnam to the Middle East,The Shah of Iran, The Iran-Iraq War, History of some events that led up to the 9/11 tragedy, and What would happen if the U.S. military left the Middle East? 🚩About My Guest Scholar:My guest for this episode, which was recorded in early January 2024, is Dr. Andrew Bacevich, co-founder and Emeritus Board Chair of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He is Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at BostonUniversity. He is a graduate of West Point, a Vietnam War Veteran, and a retired colonel of the US Army. Dr. Bacevich is the author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books, including the following: The New American Militarism, The Limits of Power, Paths of Dissent: Soldiers Speak Out against America’s Forever Wars, and America’s War for the Greater Middle East🚩My Recommendations: ►Iran's 1979 Revolution: Dr. Naghmeh Sohrabi, Brandeis University►Iran's Grand Strategy: Dr. Vali Nasr, Johns Hopkins University 🚩Regarding Images: Left: Pres. Jimmy Carter, 39th U.S. president (1977-81) Center: Leonid Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1964-82)Right: Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, King of Iran (1941-79) 🚩Adel Aalihost & producer☑️Where to find my program:Home:https://historybehindnews.com Spotify:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Spotify Apple:🎧https://bit.ly/HbN-Podcast-Apple YouTube:▶️https://bit.ly/HbN-YT-Sub Adel on Facebook and X.com🚩Support My Program: 🚩Click here and join our other supporters of the History Behind News podcast. Thank you. 🎵 attribution, links and license for thetheme music in this podcast: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoon Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Scholars in Your Inbox? 177 scholars and counting! So don't miss HbN guest scholars’ weekly takes on the history behind our news.