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 45 (Stumbling Colossus, 23): Horatio Alger's Gilded Virtue
December 19th, 2022 | 36 mins 30 secs
Prof. Carol Nackenoff discusses the views, ideas, and failings of one of America's most well-known advocates of civic virtue and self-help.
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Episode 44: Giving Dewey His Due
December 12th, 2022 | 30 mins 5 secs
Professor Joshua Kennedy explains Thomas Dewey from his point of view, as well as his importance for the Republican Party and his clashes within the party and with the Democrats.
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Episode 43 (Stumbling Colossus, 22): The Gilded Midwest
December 5th, 2022 | 30 mins 21 secs
Dr. Jon Lauck discusses the triumphs and struggles of the country's most populous region in the Gilded Age.
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Episode 42 (Stumbling Colossus, 21): The Rise of the US Navy
October 13th, 2022 | 42 mins 44 secs
Dr. James Rentfrow explains the growth, challenges, and direction of the US Navy as America became a rising power.
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Episode 41 (Stumbling Colossus, 20): The Populist Alternative
August 22nd, 2022 | 37 mins 57 secs
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Episode 40 (Stumbling Colossus, 19): Reed's House Rules
August 15th, 2022 | 22 mins 20 secs
Prof. Robert Klotz discusses the impact of Thomas Brackett Reed's majoritarian House rules on American politics.
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Episode 39 (Stumbling Colossus, 18): Controlling Urban Chaos
August 8th, 2022 | 29 mins 30 secs
Zoning Expert Nolan Gray discusses the good and bad of life before zoning in America - and whether we should go back.
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Episode 38 (Stumbling Colossus, 17): Gilded Germans
August 1st, 2022 | 29 mins 50 secs
Prof. Kampheofner discusses the trials and triumphs of one of America's lesser known major immigrant communities during the Gilded Age.
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Episode 37 (Stumbling Colossus, 16): Show Me the Money
July 4th, 2022 | 48 mins 45 secs
Dr. George Selgin discusses how money was issued and provided before, during, and after the Gilded Age.
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Episode 36 (Stumbling Colossus, 15): A More Moral Nation
June 7th, 2022 | 27 mins 59 secs
Professor Gaines Foster discusses the motives, challenges, successes, and failures of the Christian moral lobbyists during the Gilded Age.
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Episode 35 (Stumbling Colossus, 14): Jobbery vs. Snobbery
May 30th, 2022 | 37 mins 37 secs
Professor Joe Postell discusses the debate between party control and technocratic control of government during the Gilded and Progressive Ages.
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Episode 34 (Stumbling Colossus, 13): The Battle of the Classics
April 27th, 2022 | 22 mins 27 secs
Prof. Eric Adler discusses the first great debate on the importance of studying "the best that has been thought and said" - and what we can learn about it for today.
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Episode 33 (Stumbling Colossus, 12): Gilded Mutual Aid
April 18th, 2022 | 24 mins 52 secs
Dr. David Beito discusses the ways in which Gilded Age Americans of all classes helped each other out when the government stood aside.
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Episode 32 (Stumbling Colossus, 11): TR's Wars
April 11th, 2022 | 28 mins 24 secs
Dr. David Pietrusza is back to discuss Theodore Roosevelt's single minded focus on war - and his paradoxical avoidance of the same at critical moments.
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Episode 31 (Stumbling Colossus, 10): US Shipping and the Jones Act
March 28th, 2022 | 29 mins 54 secs
Colin Grabow of the CATO Institute discusses the law, history, and future of American internal shipping, from the Gilded Age to today.
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Episode 30 (Stumbling Colossus, 9): Gilded Age Education
March 21st, 2022 | 37 mins 21 secs
Independent historian Kerry Ellard discusses the chaos and order in America's emerging public school system during the Gilded and Progressive Ages.