S8 Ep147: Wildlife Intelligence: Magpie Alliances and Cockatoo Defense — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis discussed his dog Dallas, who has become a skilled magpie whisperer, having cultivated alliances with five distinct magpie families throughout the neighborhood. Dallas dem

S8 Ep148: First Ashes Test in Perth: Lopsided Victory and Food Surplus — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis detailed the first Ashes test match in Perth, which concluded rapidly due to Australia's dominant performance, resulting in a severely lopsided victory over England. The u

S8 Ep147: Alarming Urban Home Invasion: Venomous Brown Snake in Canberra — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis reported on a concerning home invasion in Canberra involving a highly venomous great eastern brown snake, one of Australia's deadliest species. The family discovered the

S8 Ep147: Bureau of Meteorology Website Renovation Fails — Jeremy Zakis — Zakis reported on the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), which failed to accurately predict the La Niña weather cycle and subsequent rainfall patterns. A $96.5 million website renovation

S8 Ep146: 8/8 Trauma, Memory, and the Silence of "Eating Bitterness" — Tanya Branigan — Branigan characterizes the CR as a collective convulsion or "Maoist hysteria." Mental health infrastructure was historically underdeveloped in China, and psychology was official

S8 Ep146: 7/8 The Unfilial Son and the Trauma of Informing — Tanya Branigan — This segment recounts the 1970 execution of Fu Zhong Mo, a devoted Communist Party member who was denounced following her criticism of Mao. Her seventeen-year-old son, Jiang Hong Bing, in

S8 Ep146: 6/8 Impersonators, Nostalgia, and the Fall of Lin Biao — Tanya Branigan — CR nostalgia manifests in organized commemorative groups and the remarkable phenomenon of Lin Biao impersonators. Lin Biao, once Mao's designated successor and principal architect o

S8 Ep146: 5/8 Princelings, Purges, and the Politics of Red Nostalgia — Tanya Branigan — Princelings Bo Xilai and Xi Jinping, both children of senior Communist leadership, were themselves CR victims, experiencing persecution and hardship. Bo Xilai, known for his con

S8 Ep146: 4/8 Persecution and Survival: The Composer Wang Xilin's Memory — Tanya Branigan — The biography of composer Wang Xilin, a zealous Communist Party member and peasant-background intellectual, illustrates the regime's betrayal of its devoted followers. Wang

S8 Ep146: 3/8 Red August and the Idealism of Teenage Red Guards — Tanya Branigan — Yu Zhangzhen, who became a Red Guard at age thirteen, recalls "Red August" 1966, when Mao Zedong summoned millions of young people to massive rallies, explicitly endorsing the moveme

S8 Ep146: 2/8 Witnessing the First Red Guard Murder and the Contested Apologies — Tanya Branigan — This segment examines the 1966 murder of educator Bian Zhongyun by teenage Red Guards at a prestigious girls' secondary school. Her husband, Wang Jingyao, clandestine

S8 Ep146: 1/8 The Vanishing Museum of the Cultural Revolution — Tanya Branigan — Branigan's book Red Memory opens with the Pagoda Museum in Shantou, the sole institutional site documenting Cultural Revolution history and memory. Built by official Peng Qi'an to pres

S8 Ep145: 8/8. Roosevelt's Landslide and the Realignment of American Politics — David Pietrusza — Contrary to the Literary Digest straw poll prediction of a close race, early returns confirmed Roosevelt's enormous landslide victory, securing 46 states and overwhelm

S8 Ep145: 7/8. The Campaign: Eleanor's Star Rises as FDR Welcomes Hatred — David Pietrusza — Alf Landon conducted a weak campaign that deteriorated sharply after attacking Social Security, alienating key voter constituencies. Eleanor Roosevelt, initially regarded a

S8 Ep145: 6/8. Alf Landon, the Unremarkable Candidate, Nominated by Republicans — David Pietrusza — Republicans deliberately rejected Herbert Hoover, instead considering mavericks like William Borah and mainstream figures like Arthur Vandenberg before ultimately no

S8 Ep145: 5/8. William Randolph Hearst Breaks with Roosevelt over Tax Policy — David Pietrusza — Newspaper and radio magnate William Randolph Hearst, who initially opposed FDR in 1932, became progressively disaffected as Roosevelt moved leftward and proposed substa

S8 Ep145: 4/8. FDR Deals with the Socialist and Communist Parties — David Pietrusza — Roosevelt expressed concern that the Socialist Party (led by Norman Thomas) and the Communist Party (led by Earl Browder) would siphon votes from the Democratic ticket. Due to Sta

S8 Ep145: 3/8. Social Security is Driven by the Townsend Plan and the Rise of Father Coughlin — David Pietrusza — Dr. Francis Townsend's proposal to provide $200 monthly to citizens over age 60 compelled a reluctant FDR to rapidly introduce the Social Security legi

S8 Ep145: 2/8. The Populist Challenge: Huey Long's Legacy and Eugene Talmadge — David Pietrusza — Roosevelt faced formidable challenges from both the populist left and the conservative South. Although Huey Long (representing the radical Share Our Wealth program) wa

S8 Ep145: 1/8. FDR's 1936 Campaign Begins Amid Loss and Opposition from the Right — David Pietrusza — Pietrusza's book Roosevelt Sweeps Nation details the opening phase of FDR's 1936 reelection campaign, commencing with the April death of Franklin D. Roosevelt's pr