Episodes

  • How a post-World War II ‘Red Scare’ resonates in modern America

    How a post-World War II ‘Red Scare’ resonates in modern America
    Apr 8 2025
    Fights over how American history is taught. Labels of “Communist” and “Socialist” used to smear. Civil rights gains seen as a loss for the “real” America. While all that might sound like last week’s headlines, those battles and the hysteria surrounding them are nothing new. In “Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism and the Making of Modern America,” Clay Risen details how the conspiracy-mongering and cultural backlash of that post-World War II period speak to the divisiveness of today. The award-winning historian and New York Times editor joins Equal Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    47 mins
  • Fighting a disease and a health-care system

    Fighting a disease and a health-care system
    Mar 7 2025
    As America’s health-care system is not being spared in policy shake-ups from the very top, Equal Time takes a look at one case and what it says about disparities in health care and why that matters. In “Transplant: A Memoir,” the resilient Bernadine Watson takes us on her journey, a perilous one, even with support from doctors and family. The nonfiction writer and poet has focused on social policy research around youth and community issues during her career. She joins Equal Time to talk about her experiences, and why challenges remain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    38 mins
  • Has the fringe gone mainstream?

    Has the fringe gone mainstream?
    Feb 18 2025
    In 2025, you don’t have to reach very far to reach those dark corners of the internet where fringe conspiracy theories and racist memes once hid. In award-winning journalist Elle Reeve’s book, “Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics,” the CNN correspondent takes readers on a journey that leads to the violence of Charlottesville and January 6. You could say the Equal Time guest saw it coming; that doesn’t mean some things about today’s political scene don’t surprise her. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    48 mins
  • Why Lying in Politics Is a Danger to Democracy and Can It Be Fixed?

    Why Lying in Politics Is a Danger to Democracy and Can It Be Fixed?
    Dec 23 2024
    The “L-word.” It took some time for journalists to call a lie a lie when politicians uttered provable falsehoods. After all, don’t all politicians stretch the truth when it comes to policies, opponents or their own accomplishments? Bill Adair, an award-winning journalist and educator, shares his thoughts and experiences in his book “Beyond the Big Lie: The Epidemic of Political Lying, Why Republicans Do It More, and How It Could Burn Down Our Democracy.” The creator of PolitiFact, the Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking site, and co-founder of the International Fact-Checking Network, has ideas about the problem -- and possible remedies. Adair is a professor of journalism and public policy at Duke University and a leader in the effort to combat misinformation. And, at the end of a year chock full of election rhetoric to analyze, he is my guest and guide on Equal Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    43 mins
  • Looking at Climate Futures with Imagination and Resolve

    Looking at Climate Futures with Imagination and Resolve
    Dec 6 2024
    With a recently concluded global climate summit with challenging takeaways, an incoming president who vows to again remove the U.S.from international climate agreements, and increasing weather disasters that defy what went before, a look at what is being called an existential crisis could be grim. But that’s not the kind of book Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has written. “What If We Get It Right: Visions of Climate Futures” is a provocative mix of essays, interviews, data, poetry, and art, as Johnson guides the reader through solutions and possibilities at the nexus of science, policy, culture, and justice. She is a marine biologist, policy expert, co-founder of the non-profit think tank Urban Ocean Lab and a guest on Equal Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    43 mins
  • How a battle for locker-room access was about so much more

    How a battle for locker-room access was about so much more
    Oct 28 2024
    Sports and politics don’t mix. In truth, that has never been the case. Sports, in fact, reflect every issue, every conflict in society from civil rights to equal justice. Melissa Ludtke knows this from experience. In the 1970’s, when she was trying to cover Major League Baseball for Sports Illustrated, her path to doing the job – which required equal access to the players – was blocked by a powerful and inflexible commissioner. The battle mirrored America’s burgeoning women’s movement, and ultimately ended up in federal court, presided over by a judge with her own civil rights experience. Ludtke tells the story in “Locker Room Talk: A Woman’s Struggle to Get Inside,” and on this episode of Equal Time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    45 mins
  • Has grift hijacked American conservatism?

    Has grift hijacked American conservatism?
    Oct 1 2024
    In the middle of a contentious election season, it might be the perfect time to look back, to try to figure out how we got here. In “The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers, and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism,” best-selling author and Equal Time guest Joe Conason investigates how lofty rhetoric can sometimes hide money-making motives. Who benefits, who is left to pay the bill and how does anyone get away with it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    35 mins
  • Investing in the Culture – the History and Power of Black Philanthropy

    Investing in the Culture – the History and Power of Black Philanthropy
    Aug 9 2024
    There is a powerful tradition of giving back in African-American communities – a history highlighted in August, Black Philanthropy Month. And it’s about much more than writing a check. But just as giving circles celebrate efforts to invest in the culture, right-wing activists, with validation from some courts, have been pushing back, using policies originally enacted to even America’s unequal playing field. Valaida Fullwood is a founder of New Generation of African American Philanthropists, Charlotte, North Carolina’s only Black philanthropic collective, and a model for organizations across the country. Fullwood, a project consultant and “idea whisperer,” joins Equal Time to share her vision for the future of Black philanthropy, as NGAAP approaches its 20th anniversary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    34 mins
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