Podcasts by University Of The Air
Hosts Norman Gilliland and Emily Auerbach invite distinguished faculty guests from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to discuss topics in music, art, writing, theater, science, education, and history. "University Of The Air" can be heard on Sundays at 4 p.m. on the Ideas Network.
Further podcasts by Wisconsin Public Radio
Podcast on the topic Bildung
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Children With Incarcerated Parents from 2022-04-11T18:28:06.973514
"My dad's in jail and I don't like to talk about it," says Alex, a character on Sesame Street. In this hour, UW Professor of Human Ecology Julie Poehlmann discusses her research and her work with S...
ListenFrederick Douglass from 2022-03-27T01:18:14.092838
From an escaped slave to one of America's great orators and political activists, Frederick Douglass was a major force at a turning point in American history. What were the factors that enabled Doug...
ListenGrammar Is Not Your Enemy! from 2022-03-27T01:18:14.067141
Why do so many people hate grammar? Find out which grammar "rules" are prescriptive gobbledygook with the Chair of the UW English Department
ListenHow The Bible Took Shape from 2022-03-07T02:21:17.758260
How did the Christian and Jewish bibles take their present shape, and how can knowing their historical context help Jews and Christians (and others) think about each other's scriptures differently?...
ListenJohn Marshall and the Spirit of the Constitution from 2022-03-07T02:21:17.753853
We take a look at the US Constitution from the standpoint of America's founding father of the Supreme Court.
ListenNashville's Songwriting Sweethearts from 2022-03-07T02:21:17.744251
It's a record that many a songwriter would envy--2000 songs recorded, many of them covered by prominent performers including Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, James Taylor, Alison Kraus and ...
ListenBlack Abolitionists from 2022-03-07T02:21:17.692933
David Walker, Maria Stewart, and Frederick Douglass were revolutionary black abolitionists in the 19 th century who raised their voices to try to end slavery. Professor Christy Clark Pujara introdu...
ListenThe Latest From Venus from 2022-03-07T02:21:17.688567
Veiled in clouds, Venus is one of earth's most mysterious neighbors, and yet those studying the planet continue to make discoveries about it. Is life possible on Venus? If not, was it ever possible...
ListenA Mosaic of Freedom: An Overview of the Sixties from 2022-03-07T02:21:17.685173
In this hour, we sample the rapidly changing, turbulent sixties, from JFK to LBJ, from Martin Luther King to the Black Panthers, from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones, from hippies to Reagan conse...
ListenJulian of Norwich, Revolutionary Medieval Mystic from 2022-03-06T01:43:23.624911
Revolutionary medieval mystic Julian of Norwich penned what’s thought to be the first book in English written by a woman. She dared to suggest that God was both father and mother. Professor Sherry ...
ListenThe Poison Squad from 2022-02-22T17:05:43.468795
By the end of nineteenth century, food in America could be ownright deadly. Sustances added to extend the shelf life of food often shortened the life of the person who ate it. But American corporat...
ListenThe French Horn Then and Now from 2022-02-20T23:54:33.160522
We may think of the French horn as producing mellow romantic sounds for symphonies, but what happens when you add electronic sounds to this instrument's repertoire?
ListenThe Elephant in the Room: The Role of Poverty in Child Maltreatment from 2022-02-01T03:44:40.956026
What role do poverty and economic hardship play in child maltreatment and neglect? And how can child welfare systems prevent them? UW Professor of Social Work Kristen Slack will hare her research i...
ListenThe Dark Side of the Universe from 2022-02-01T03:44:40.954821
Ninety-five percent of the universe is invisible. How do we know it’s there and what is it? We'll take a look at the dark side of the universe, including the mysterious forces that affect the spin ...
ListenBack Stage to Center Stage: The Groundbreaking Ira Aldridge from 2022-01-30T02:28:37.920475
Why have most of us never heard of Ira Aldridge (1807-1867) , America’s first internationally acclaimed African American actor? UW Theatre professor Baron Kelly links his own journey as a Black act...
ListenThe Hollywood Blacklist from 2021-12-18T20:01:40.274063
Before it ran its course, the Hollywood blacklist sucked in some of the most prominent names in show business. Actors, directors, writers and producers were forced to take sides and those attemptin...
ListenLiteracy for Life from 2021-12-18T20:01:40.273286
In a recent study, Catherine Compton-Lilly followed a group of eight inner-city students from grade one through grade 11 to discover how time operates as a contextual factor in children’s lives as ...
ListenThe Fever of 1721 from 2021-12-18T20:01:40.272506
The story of the Boston smallpox epidemic of 1721 includes an improbable cast of characters embroiled in a controversy that would revolutionize not just American medicine but speed the American col...
ListenDiversity in Ancient Rome from 2021-12-18T20:01:40.271712
Nandini Pandey, UW Professor of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, shatters myths and misconceptions and shows how Ancient Rome embraced cultural diversity in surprising ways.
ListenThe Science of Life's Origin from 2021-12-18T20:01:40.270727
How a living system capable of evolving complexity first emerged on Earth some 4 billion years ago remains one of the biggest unsolved scientific mysteries. Resolving this puzzle would guide the se...
ListenPropaganda 1776: Secrets, Leaks, And Revolutionary Communications in Early America from 2021-12-18T20:01:40.269970
Our guest explores the Declaration of Independence as a "masterstroke of propaganda," links Benjamin Franklin to WikiLeaks, and explains the use of stolen documents, fake news, and leaked letters o...
ListenWhy Teach the Holocaust Today? from 2021-12-06T01:27:07.286139
"Selection" of Hungarian Jews on the ramp at Auschwitz II-Birkenau in German-occupied Poland
ListenAdventures of an International Peace Broker from 2021-12-06T01:27:07.284780
Behind the headlines of diplomatic breakthroughs, unofficial peace brokers do quiet and discreet work setting up negotiations between hostile nations. Our guest for University of the Air was a memb...
ListenSoviet Judgment at Nuremberg from 2021-11-27T23:53:34.358131
The Allies set up the Nuremberg Trials to bring the Nazis to justice after the devastation of World War II. But the trials also became a turning point in the burgeoning Cold War. How did the aims o...
ListenFreud and a History of Psychoanalysis from 2021-11-15T11:51:52.937694
Free association, transference—the Oedipus Complex. When he invented psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud also developed therapeutic techniques and concepts that, a hundred years later, are still part of ...
ListenLibel and the Media from 2021-11-05T01:18:23.233945
Who can sue for libel, what are the defenses against it, and what role does the First Amendment play in settling libel suits? UW-Madison journalism professor Robert Drechsel will guide us through s...
ListenAldo Leopold: The Radio Transcripts from 2021-11-05T01:18:23.204769
Professor Emeritus Stanley Temple explores Aldo Leopold's pioneering land ethic and shares some of Leopold's little-known radio shows from "College of the Air" from the 1930s. For a story about Leo...
ListenThree Women of the Civil Rights Movement from 2021-10-31T02:04:46.784527
Craig Werner profiles three women who took big risks to become leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.
ListenThe Occupation of Japan from 2021-10-26T02:15:04.250369
At the end of World War II, a variety of political and civic virtues helped make it possible for the United States to move decisively in just a few years to turn a defeated Japan into a self-suffic...
ListenOrchestra of Exiles from 2021-10-07T03:48:28.535096
When Hitler came to power, he was quick to apply his anti-Semitic policies to music, getting Jewish musicians removed from German orchestras. The process was so abrupt that conductor Wilhelm Steinb...
ListenWho Are The Amish And The Mennonites? from 2021-09-29T17:09:33.540242
We explore the world of the Amish and Mennonites with an expert in Pennsylvania Dutch culture.
ListenHow Serious a Threat is Russia? from 2021-09-25T11:33:12.560380
Russia is entirely dependent on oil and gas revenues, and desperate for foreign investment, and yet it continues to loom as a major competitor and a threat to US interests. How valid are those conc...
ListenEyes on Schizophrenia from 2021-08-23T22:47:23.212203
We see the term schizophrenia often, but what does a schizophrenia sufferer experience, and how can non-sufferers recognize the symptoms? UW-Madison Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry Diane C.G...
ListenThe Men Who Lost America from 2021-08-23T22:47:23.211457
Losing America came as a shock to the mighty British Empire. Were inept generals and political leaders in Britain responsible? Historian Andrew Jackson O'Shaugnessy looks at the American Revolution...
ListenDebussy's Piano Portraits from 2021-08-11T10:37:39.904968
Claude Debussy was one of the most innovative composers in histor. He had a remarkable ability to create images through music. From the Orient to turn-of the Century America and the mysterious to t...
ListenInfamous Mothers in Literature and Life from 2021-08-11T10:37:39.904346
Teen moms, 'baby mamas,' sex workers, and crack addicts: how did they come out on the other side as doctors, lawyers, artists, counselors, and more? Activist Sagashus Levingston discusses her book ...
ListenFarmer's Markets and Food Justice -- with Alfonso Morales from 2021-07-23T13:09:33.677962
So-called silent films were anything but silent. As with today's films, they had music accompanying the images, often frame for frame for the entire film. A leading latter-day practitioner of silen...
ListenWhat Is Jazz Anyway? from 2021-07-23T13:09:33.676912
Jazz has been called "the coolest, freest, and yet deepest music humans have ever made," an indigenous art form that seems to defy categorization. We explore the definition of jazz with the help of...
ListenThe Search for Extraterrestrial Life from 2021-07-05T16:09:38.513744
What are the indicators of life and how will we look for them as we continue to explore Mars and beyond?
ListenInk And Tears: Five Centuries Of A Famous Chinese Family from 2021-07-05T16:09:38.512933
We explore the transition from Imperial China to modern China through the writings and customs of prominent writer Yu Yue and his descendants. Professor Rania Huntington discusses her own journey f...
ListenThe MIA Recovery and Identification Program from 2021-07-05T16:09:38.512174
The UW MIA Recovery and Identification Project was founded in 2015, two years after helping identify the remains of a U.S. service member mistakenly buried as a German soldier. Since then, UW has f...
ListenRabbi Menasseh ben Israel: The Most Famous Jew of His Time -- with Steven Nadler from 2021-06-17T10:58:40.344727
Meet 17th-century rabbi, scholar, diplomat, and publisher Manasseh ben Israel and learn why a man hailed as a world celebrity died in poverty. Professor Steven Nadler is the author of "Menasseh ben...
ListenHow the Ho-Chunk Resisted Removal from 2021-06-11T01:59:04.559382
During the long course of Native Americans displacement from their ancestral lands, Wisconsin’s Ho-Chunk took various steps to resist it—some of the successful. Historian Stephen Kantrowitz tells h...
ListenThe Indus Civilization: 100 Years of Discovery from 2021-06-02T02:19:58.297323
A century of excavations at Harappa in the Punjab reveal a world of details about daily life and cultural interaction at the dawn of civilization.
ListenJohn Bascom and the Wisconsin Idea - with J. David Hoeveler from 2021-05-31T01:28:13.153644
Explore John Bascom, the colorful President of the University of Wisconsin from 1874-1887 who championed women’s rights, worker’s rights, temperance, the pursuit of truth, and a notion that would g...
Listen'Don Quixote' from 2021-05-15T01:45:34.097162
After the Bible, it’s the most translated book in the world. It’s also called the first modern novel. Don Quixote is the work of a Spaniard who spent five years as a captive in Algiers—and that exp...
ListenCold War Propaganda from 2021-04-15T01:26:23.260762
During the Cold War, words flew furiously between the United States and its adversaries and the propaganda industry worked overtime. Truths, half-truths, and lies filled the airwaves between the Un...
ListenBlack Aboltionists from 2021-04-15T01:26:23.258361
David Walker, Maria Stewart, and Frederick Douglass were revolutionary black abolitionists in the 19 th century who raised their voices to try to end slavery. Professor Christy Clark Pujara introdu...
ListenMary Prince: Understanding the Caribbean Slave Narrative from 2021-04-15T01:26:23.256020
The Caribbean triangle trade of sugar, molasses, and rum was a big part of the colonial economy. Not so well known was the salt industry, which flourished in large measure because of slave labor. M...
ListenMonsters Of Antiquity' from 2021-04-07T01:58:04.447232
Ancient monsters include a chimera with the heads of a snake, lion, and she-goat, a one-eyed cannibal, and venomous women whose gaze turns viewers into stone. Classics professor Will Brockliss link...
ListenHans Christian Andersen from 2021-03-26T00:59:00.929874
His upbringing was unlikely to produce a writer with an international reputation. His education was limited and traumatic. But Hans Christian Andersen became known throughout Europe for stories suc...
ListenJazz Legend Dexter Gordon from 2021-03-06T00:42:27.542878
Dexter Gordon’s widow, Maxine Gordon, explores her award-winning biography Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon.
ListenDead Presidents: An American Adventure into the Strange Deaths and Surprising Afterlives of Our Nation's Leaders from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
WPR All Things Considered host Brady Carlson will take us on a tour of presidential grave sites, monuments, and memorials to tell the death stories of our greatest national leaders. Mixing biograph...
ListenThe Influence of World Music from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Today, the phrase “world music” can mean any number of musical genres with origins outside the United States. But how did the international sound come to permeate our musical culture? Ronald Radano...
ListenThe Pleasure of His Company: A Love Affair with Shakespeare from 2021-01-31T22:10:42.023393
Celebrated actors Randall Duk Kim and Anne Occhiogrosso present favorite scenes from the plays of the Bard of Avon.
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