Tag Archives: History

Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Book author interviews: The fight for black literacy, women intellectuals of the civil rights movement – February 23, 2025

We honor Black History Month.

The South outlawed black literacy all the way until the Civil War. What was this war on black literacy and how did educators resist this law? [ dur: 32mins. ]

Then, Black women have long been at the forefront of black empowerment. What were their intellectual contributions during the civil rights era? we discuss the women intellectuals of the civil rights movement. [ dur: 26mins. ]
This interview was recorded February 2023.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Samuel Ringgold Ward: A life of Struggle, a biography – December 29, 2024

The history of anti-slavery activism is a rich and important period in American history. But there are so many stories that still have yet to be written. Samuel Ward is one of those activists; an important figure in the African-American activist community working against slavery and racism, whose story is largely lost. Our guest R. J. M. Blackett is addressing this need to tell Ward’s story in a new book, Samuel Ringgold Ward: A life of Struggle. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin, Mihika Chechi, and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – President Biden chooses to step down and Kamala Harris ascendancy to lead the Democratic Party into November 2024 election – August 11, 2024

We explore the choice of Kamala Harris as the Democratic party’s candidate despite not running in primaries, the choice of President Biden to withdraw from the race, whether he should step down and what the decision means for age and service in the US, and some of the policy implications such as Supreme Court reform and foreign policy. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – A book author interview: History of California as a Slave State – July 28, 2024

We interview the author of a new book CALIFORNIA, A SLAVE STATE (Yale University Press; June 27, 2023). Professor Jean Pfaelzer shows that, since the very first colonizers crossed the border, the Golden State was and still is powered by slavery – a piece of American history that many still try to bury. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This interview was recorded July 2023.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Henry Kissinger forging memorable trail of destruction when he pursued foreign policy for United States and others – December 16, 2023

Henry Kissinger was perhaps among the most influential people on US foreign policy and global events, fr which some consider him a war criminal. How should Kissinger be remembered? What does this answer say about the US in the world?

In 1979 Vietnam invaded Cambodia, a country ravaged by a war partly caused by US bombings, and overthrew the genocidal Khmer Rouge government. What have been the consequences of that decision? We explore the reasons for this invasion with the author of a new book.

This program is produced by Maria Armoudian, Doug Becker, Ankine Aghassian and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Osage Nation (tribe): history, oil, murders and gender dynamics – November 19, 2023

With the release of the critically acclaimed new film, Killers of the Flower Moon, there is a new interest in the murders of the Osage tribe following the discovery of oil on tribal lands. But how much do we know about the Osage, their history, and their life experiences? And how typical was this particularly gruesome set of murders on tribes in the US and in particular in Oklahoma. On Today’s show, we will explore the history of the Osage. We will get to know their story in greater detail and ask, what did the film get right and what did it miss? [ dur: 35mins. ]

  • Robert Warrior is Hall Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Kansas. He is a citizen of the Osage Nation. He is the author of Tribal Secrets: Recovering American Indian Intellectual Traditions. He is past president of the American Studies Association and was the founding president of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association. Professor Warrior was the founding co-editor of Native American and Indigenous Studies and edits the Indigenous Americas series. In 2018, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
  • Robert Miller is Professor of Law at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. He is Interim Chief Justice at Pascua Yaqui Tribe Court of Appeals. He is an enrolled citizen of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe. In 2014, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society. He is the author of A Promise Kept: The Muscogee (Creek) Nation and McGirt v Oklahoma. You can access the Scholars’ Circle interview on the book A Promise Kept here. .

In addition to highlighting the violence against the Osage, the film Killers of the Flower Moon focuses on the distinctly gendered relationships between the Osage and their white spouses. The film itself focuses on Osage women (notably Lily Gladstone’s Molly) and their white husbands. So, what were the gender dynamics of the Osage people? [ dur: 23mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Mihika Chechi and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Book interview – Madison’s Militia: The Hidden History of the Second Amendment – June 4, 2023

What did James Madison mean when he wrote the Second Amendment? What was his motivation? In a new book, our guest says the Second Amendment was intended to protect the states against slave insurrection, not to protect individual liberties. We explore the “original intent” of this controversial amendment to the US Constitution. And look at the epic debate between James Madison of the Federalists and Patrick Henry of the Anti-federalists and how they framed the motivations behind the Second Amendment. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin, Mihika Chechi, and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Samuel Ringgold Ward: A life of Struggle, a biography – March 5, 2023

The history of anti-slavery activism is a rich and important period in American history. But there are so many stories that still have yet to be written. Samuel Ward is one of those activists; an important figure in the African-American activist community working against slavery and racism, whose story is largely lost. Our guest R. J. M. Blackett is addressing this need to tell Ward’s story in a new book, Samuel Ringgold Ward: A life of Struggle. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin, Mihika Chechi, and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Black Women intellectuals contribution to civil rights struggle; History of Cooperatives in Black Communities – Feb. 12, 2023

What role have black women played in the civil rights era and black empowerment in addressing issues of white supremacy? We explore the importance of black women intellectuals, the way in which they have framed the scholarship, the analysis, and policies. Hosted by Doug Becker. [ dur: 33mins. ] – Recorded March 2022.

Can worker owned cooperatives transform workers lives and livelihoods? We speak with Jessica Gordon Nembhard author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice. Hosted by Maria Armoudian. [ dur: 25 mins. ] – Recorded December 2016.

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin, Mihika Chechi, and Sudd Dongre.

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Scholars' Circle Interviews

Scholars’ Circle – Book analysis – A Promise Kept: The Muscogee (Creek) Nation and McGirt vs. Oklahoma – January 8, 2023

In 2020, the Supreme Court surprised many observers by holding up the rights of the Muscogee (Creek) nation. In McGirt v Oklahoma, the Court held that the Creek Nation retained its sovereign rights over a very large part of Eastern Oklahoma. The decision began with a poetic line: “At the end of the Trail of Tears is a promise.” The case raises further interest in issues of Indian law, which includes a very important case on the docket this year on the issue of the adoption of Indian children without the consent of the tribe. Robert Miller and Robbie Ethridge have written a new book on the McGirt case, on the history of the Muscogee nation’s relations with the United States, and the details of the case itself. And the title of the book references that first line of the decision. It is called A Promise Kept: The Muscogee (Creek) Nation and McGirt v Oklahoma. Our guests are the authors of the book. [ dur: 58mins. ]

This program is produced by Ankine Aghassian, Doug Becker, Melissa Chiprin and Sudd Dongre.

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