Avi's Conversational Corner
A podcast on culture, history, and politics in a broad perspective
About the show
Welcome! Here I will talk to a range of people on issues which interest me and I hope you, from religious slogans and wargaming to deeper political ideas to forgotten historical episodes. Bring up a chair, get comfortable, and enjoy!
- Avi
Episodes
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Episode 72 (Stumbling Colossus, 43): The Golden Age of the "Hated" Railroads
April 1st, 2024 | 35 mins 35 secs
International railroad expert Christian Wolmar discusses the good and the bad of the machine that defined the Gilded Age.
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Episode 71 (Stumbling Colossus, 42): Did the “poor get poorer” while the “rich got richer”?
March 12th, 2024 | 35 mins 5 secs
In another solo episode, I unpack the complications of this common misconception of the Gilded Age.
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Episode 70 (Stumbling Colossus, 41): Making a Nation Into a Neighborhood
February 26th, 2024 | 31 mins 2 secs
Professor Richard John returns to discuss how telegraph and telephone networks connected and shaped Gilded Age America.
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Episode 69 (Stumbling Colossus, 40): Ragtime
February 19th, 2024 | 25 mins 26 secs
Musical historian Ed Berlin discusses the rise and power of ragtime, the precursor to jazz and one of America's great musical inventions.
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Episode 68 (Stumbling Colossus, 39): Poetry for a Society in Motion
February 6th, 2024 | 28 mins 55 secs
Ben Sears discusses some of the main influences and trends in American poetry in the Gilded Age.
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Episode 63 (Pop Goes the Culture, 1): Video Game Music
December 26th, 2023 | 15 mins 25 secs
Cultural commentator Oliver Jia discusses the beginnings, birth pangs, and development of video game music, and what makes it unique compared to other forms of music.
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Episode 62 (Stumbling Colossus, 38): Gilded Age America – Democracy? Republic? Something Else?
December 5th, 2023 | 48 mins 44 secs
Dr. Jay Cost discusses the challenges and questions America faced as a republic and democratic civil society during the Gilded Age.
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Episode 61 (Stumbling Colossus, 37): And the Band Went Marching On
November 13th, 2023 | 48 mins 3 secs
Professor Bryan Proksch looks at the overwhelming popularity of marching bands in the Gilded Age - who played, what they played, why they rose and why they fell.
To read Professor Proksch's full documentary history, click here to buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Golden-Age-American-Bands/dp/1622776275
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Episode 60 (Stumbling Colossus, 36): The Mail Must Get Through
October 4th, 2023 | 25 mins 19 secs
Professor Richard John discusses the development, challenges, and partisan and political politics of the federal government's most important service in the Gilded Age.
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Episode 59 (Stumbling Colossus, 35): Growing Small Town America
September 27th, 2023 | 24 mins 35 secs
Prof. R. Douglas Hurt discusses the successes and challenges of farmers in the American Midwestern heartland.
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Episode 58 (Stumbling Colossus, 34): Gustav Mahler's Musical New York
August 28th, 2023 | 31 mins 36 secs
Acclaimed American classical music historian Joseph Horowitz discusses the personalities and musical creativity that burst forth in Gilded Age America, with a focus on acclaimed composer and conducter Gustav Mahler.
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Episode 58 (Stumbling Colossus, 33): Brother, Can You Spare A Dime (Novel)?
August 14th, 2023 | 38 mins 29 secs
Award winning author Matthew Kerns talks about the origins, popularity, mythology, and legacy of the dime novel, America's proto-comic book.
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Episode 57 (Stumbling Colossus, 32): A Glorious and Terrible Aftermath – The Grand Army of the Republic and Civil War Veterans in the Gilded Age
July 3rd, 2023 | 37 mins 22 secs
Prof. Barbara Gannon breaks down the role of the largest Civil War veterans association in commemorating the past, helping veterans in the present, and its place in America's future generations.
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Episode 56 (Stumbling Colossus, 31): Electing The Gilded Age Senate – Corrupt Bargain or Anti-Populist Bulwark?
June 26th, 2023 | 29 mins 57 secs
Professor Wendy Schiller discusses the good and the bad of how Senators were chosen before and after the 17th amendment to the constitution creating direct election of Senators.
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Episode 55 (Stumbling Colossus, 30): Anthony Comstock’s Crusade Against Lust – Doomed Madness or Moral Heroism?
May 29th, 2023 | 40 mins 50 secs
I discuss the life and work of one of America's most energetic - and controversial - moralizing crusaders.
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Episode 53 (Stumbling Colossus, 29): Protecting American Industry – Vital Lifeline or Political Racket?
May 1st, 2023 | 24 mins 30 secs
Prof. Douglas Irwin discusses the politics and economics of American trade policy in the Gilded Age.