Avi's Conversational Corner

Episode 77 (Stumbling Colossus, 48): Was the Gilded Age "too democratic"?

September 16th, 2024  |  26 mins 40 secs

Dr. Jon Grinspan discusses the good and the bad of the political culture of the Gilded Age - and how and why it was changed.

Episode 76 (Stumbling Colossus, 47): Recovering the Lost Constitution

July 29th, 2024  |  1 hr 55 secs

Professor Randy Barnett discusses the often misunderstood fourteenth amendment, how it was neutered, and what it means today. BONUS: Professor Barnett discusses his memoir describing his life as a prosecutor, libertarian intellectual and legal scholar.

Episode 75 (Stumbling Colossus, 46): Americans and Railroads – A Stormy Relationship

July 8th, 2024  |  23 mins 28 secs

Scott Huffard discusses American attitudes towards the railroads during and after their heyday in the Gilded Age.

Episode 74 (Stumbling Colossus, 45): The Rise and Fall of Saloon Culture

June 24th, 2024  |  40 mins 19 secs

Christine Sismondo discusses the good and the bad of one of the Gilded Age's most important social institutions - the saloon.

Episode 73 (Stumbling Colossus, 44): The Railroad's Color Line

June 3rd, 2024  |  40 mins 58 secs

Prof. Eric Arnesen discusses the good and the bad of the Black American railroad worker experience.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.