Best The Scholars Circle Interviews Podcasts (2025)

1
Scholars’ Circle – Texas Re-districting ; Grandmother’s of Argentine’s disappeared – August 10, 2025 58:00

3d ago58:00

58:00

First, will Donald Trump’s and the republican party’s efforts to redraw electoral maps give them a permanent majority? [ dur: 24mins. ] Jeremi Suri is Professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. He holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The Uni…

1
Michael Jabara Carley, "Stalin's Great Game: War and Neutrality, 1939-1941" (U Toronto Press, 2025) 1:29:19

8h ago1:29:19

1:29:19

The period from September 1939 to early 1942 was crucial for Soviet foreign policy and coincided with the early stages of the Second World War, including the Great Patriotic War. In Stalin's Great Game, Michael Jabara Carley unpacks the complexities of Soviet diplomacy during this time, addressing key issues such as the Soviet-Finnish Winter War, S…

1
Episode 68: Episode #68: The Ninth Circle, Occult Icons, and Sex Magick 2:07:55

1d ago2:07:55

2:07:55

In this episode of WakingWorld, Toby and Dale take a deep dive into some of the darker and more hidden corners of occult history and its modern echoes. From the alleged Ninth Circle cult to the esoteric work of Austin Osman Spare, the controversial research of Alfred Kinsey, and the surreal films of Kenneth Anger, they explore how each connects to …

1
Edward Luce, "Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Great Power Prophet" (Simon and Schuster, 2025) 43:25

1d ago43:25

43:25

Zbigniew Brzezinski was a key architect of the Soviet Union’s demise, which ended the Cold War. A child of Warsaw—the heart of central Europe’s bloodlands—Brzezinski turned his fierce resentment at his homeland’s razing by Nazi Germany and the Red Army into a lifelong quest for liberty. Born the year that Joseph Stalin consolidated power, and dying…

1
Rita Kiki Edozie and Moses Khisa, "Africa's New Global Politics: Regionalism in International Relations" (Lynne Rienner, 2022) 1:55:57

3d ago1:55:57

1:55:57

The African Union's threat to lead African states' mass withdrawal from the International Criminal Court in 2008 marked just one of many encounters that demonstrate African leaders' growing confidence and activism in international relations. Rita Kiki Edozie and Moses Khisa explore the myriad ways in which the continent’s diplomatic engagement and …

1
Alan McPherson, "Ghosts of Sheridan Circle: How a Washington Assassination Brought Pinochet's Terror State to Justice" (UNC Press, 2019) 1:08:42

4d ago1:08:42

1:08:42

On September 21, 1976, a car bomb exploded in Washington DC, killing a former Chilean diplomat named Orlando Letelier and his American colleague Ronni Moffitt. The assassination was a cruel and brazen attempt by the Chilean government to silence a critic of the Pinochet regime. And it proved to be a major strategic error––Pinochet himself used the …

1
Jonathan Fisher and Nina Wilén, "African Peacekeeping" (Cambridge UP, 2022) 53:56

4d ago53:56

53:56

In African Peacekeeping (Cambridge University Press, 2022), Dr. Jonathan Fisher and Dr. Nina Wilén explore the story of Africa's contemporary history and politics through the lens of peacekeeping. This concise and accessible book, based on over a decade of research across ten countries, focuses not on peacekeeping in Africa but, rather, peacekeepin…

1
Megan Brown, "The Seventh Member State: Algeria, France, and the European Community" (Harvard UP, 2022) 1:04:55

4d ago1:04:55

1:04:55

In The Seventh Member State: Algeria, France, and the European Community (Harvard University Press, 2022), Dr. Megan Brown details the surprising story of how Algeria joined and then left the postwar European Economic Community and what its past inclusion means for extracontinental membership in today’s European Union. On their face, the mid-1950s …

1
Grace C. Huang, "Chiang Kai-Shek's Politics of Shame: Leadership, Legacy, and National Identity in China" (Harvard UP, 2021) 47:09

4d ago47:09

47:09

Once a powerful figure who reversed the disintegration of China and steered the country to Allied victory in World War II, Chiang Kai-shek fled into exile following his 1949 defeat in the Chinese civil war. As attention pivoted to Mao Zedong’s communist experiment, Chiang was relegated to the dustbin of history. In Chiang Kai-shek’s Politics of Sha…

1
Alan McPherson, "Ghosts of Sheridan Circle: How a Washington Assassination Brought Pinochet's Terror State to Justice" (UNC Press, 2019) 1:08:42

4d ago1:08:42

1:08:42

On September 21, 1976, a car bomb exploded in Washington DC, killing a former Chilean diplomat named Orlando Letelier and his American colleague Ronni Moffitt. The assassination was a cruel and brazen attempt by the Chilean government to silence a critic of the Pinochet regime. And it proved to be a major strategic error––Pinochet himself used the …

1
Is It News? A look at today’s news stories – UK Edition (09.08.25) 56:23

4d ago56:23

56:23

WakingWorld's co-host, Dale, takes a quick look at last week’s news reported in the UK's International Express (united with the brainwashed masses). It’s also as bland as piss…but it’s a bit better than the Australian rags.

1
Mobile Shizz (07.08.25) - JCBs & Racing Willies 13:34

6d ago13:34

13:34

Just a quick ramble on a beautiful winter’s afternoon.

1
Zack Cooper, "Tides of Fortune: The Rise and Decline of Great Militaries" (Yale UP, 2025) 40:18

7d ago40:18

40:18

An ambitious look at how the twentieth century's great powers devised their military strategies and what their implications mean for military competition between the United States and China. How will the United States and China evolve militarily in the years ahead? Many experts believe the answer to this question is largely unknowable. But Zack Coo…

1
Episode 2507: Amy Hackenberg - student units coordination and teacher decentering 45:03

9d ago45:03

45:03

Amy Hackenberg from Indiana University discusses two articles from the Journal of Mathematical Behavior--"Middle school students at three stages of units coordination learn to make same speeds" (Vol. 72, 2023) and "Decentering to support responsive teaching for middle school students" (Vol. 77, 2025), both co-authored with Aydeniz-Temizer and Borow…

1
Scholars’ Circle – Corporation of Public Broadcasting funding cuts – August 3, 2025 58:01

9d ago58:01

58:01

Congress has now clawed back the funding it had allocated for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. What does this mean for the future of publicly funded broadcasting in the USA? How will it affect news, public affairs and other vital information delivery? We will explore the role of public broadcasting in a democracy. What role does money play a…

1
César Brioso, "Last Seasons in Havana: The Castro Revolution and the End of Professional Baseball In Cuba" (U Nebraska Press, 2019) 42:49

9d ago42:49

42:49

Today we are joined by César Brioso, author of the book Last Seasons in Havana: The Castro Revolution and the End of Professional Baseball In Cuba (University of Nebraska Press, 2019). Blending the love for baseball fans in Cuba had during the 1950s with the political upheaval that led to Fidel Castro’s rise to power in 1959, Brioso weaves a fascin…

1
Giles Tremlett, "The International Brigades: Fascism, Freedom and the Spanish Civil War" (Bloomsbury, 2021) 53:27

9d ago53:27

53:27

When civil war broke out in Spain in 1936, tens of thousands of young men and women from across the world flocked there to fight against the Nationalist uprising. Though their history has been told before, Giles Tremlett’s The International Brigades: Fascism, Freedom and the Spanish Civil War (Bloomsbury, 2021) draws upon previously unavailable mat…

1
Dan Reiter, "Untied Hands: How States Avoid the Wrong Wars" (Cambridge UP, 2025) 43:57

10d ago43:57

43:57

How do states advance their national security interests? Conventional wisdom holds that states must court the risk of catastrophic war by “tying their hands” to credibly protect their interests. Dan Reiter overturns this perspective with the compelling argument that states craft flexible foreign policies to avoid unwanted wars. Through a comprehens…

1
Sarah E. K. Smith, "Trading on Art: Cultural Diplomacy and Free Trade in North America" (UBC Press, 2025) 34:00

11d ago34:00

34:00

hat is the relationship between culture and trade? In Trading on Art: Cultural Diplomacy and Free Trade in North America Sarah E. K. Smith, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University and the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Art, Culture and Global Relations, examines the history of cultural relatio…

1
Sasha D. Pack, "The Deepest Border: The Strait of Gibraltar and the Making of the Hispano-African Border" (Stanford UP, 2019) 1:00:54

12d ago1:00:54

1:00:54

In his new book, The Deepest Border: The Strait of Gibraltar and the Making of the Hispano-African Border(Stanford, 2019), Sasha D. Pack considers the Strait of Gibraltar as an untamed in-between space—from “shatter zone” to borderland. Far from the centers of authority of contending empires, the North African and Southern Iberian coast was a place…

1
Is It News? A look at today’s news stories – UK Edition (01.08.25) 57:00

13d ago57:00

57:00

WakingWorld's co-host, Dale, takes a quick look at last week’s news reported in the UK's International Express (united with the brainwashed masses). It’s also as bland as piss…but it’s a bit better than the Australian rags.

1
Mobile Shizz (31.07.25) - Bacon Butties 6:31

14d ago6:31

6:31

Just dropping a little upload as I’ve found this app that lets me record some shit on the fly/move/run.

1
Dan-el Padilla Peralta, "Classicism and Other Phobias" (Princeton UP, 2025) 50:52

14d ago50:52

50:52

Classicism and Other Phobias (Princeton University Press, 2025) shows how the concept of “classicism” lacks the capacity to affirm the aesthetic value of Black life and asks whether a different kind of classicism—one of insurgence, fugitivity, and emancipation—is possible. Engaging with the work of Sylvia Wynter and other trailblazers in Black stud…

1
Daniel Morales, "Between Here and There: The Political Economy of Transnational Mexican Migration, 1900-1942" (Oxford UP, 2024) 1:00:46

14d ago1:00:46

1:00:46

Between Here and There is the first history of the creation of modern US-Mexico migration patterns narrated from multiple geographic and institutional sites. This book analyzes the interplay between the US and Mexican governments, civic organizations, and migrants on both sides of the border and offers a revisionist and comprehensive view of Mexica…

1
Scholars’ Circle – Private Military Corporations and State responsibilities – July 27, 2025 58:00

15d ago58:00

58:00

Private Military Corporations have become a growing element of the warfighting landscape. States have historically had a monopoly on the use of military force. But private corporations challenge this monopoly. How much do they increase the lethality and likelihood of war? How much can private corporations be regulated? And what are the challenges t…

1
Michael Vorenberg, "Lincoln's Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War" (Random House, 2023) 1:34:56

15d ago1:34:56

1:34:56

More than a century and a half after Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant, historians are still searching for exactly when the U.S. Civil War ended. Was it ten weeks afterward, in Galveston, where a federal commander proclaimed Juneteenth the end of slavery? Or perhaps in August of 1866, when President Andrew Johnson simply declared “the i…

1
Is It News? A look at today’s news stories – UK Edition (27.07.25) 55:55

18d ago55:55

55:55

WakingWorld's co-host, Dale, takes a quick look at last week’s news reported in the UK's International Express (united with the brainwashed masses). It’s also as bland as piss…but it’s a bit better than the Australian rags.

1
Teo Ballvé, "The Frontier Effect: State Formation and Violence in Colombia" (Cornell UP, 2020) 41:58

18d ago41:58

41:58

In The Frontier Effect: State Formation and Violence in Colombia (Cornell UP, 2020), Teo Ballvé challenges the notion that in Urabá, Colombia, the cause of the region's violent history and unruly contemporary condition is the absence of the state. Although he takes this locally oft-repeated claim seriously, he demonstrates that Urabá is more than a…

1
Julian Jackson, "De Gaulle" (Harvard UP, 2018) 1:11:02

18d ago1:11:02

1:11:02

Charles de Gaulle is one of the greatest figures of twentieth century history. If Sir Winston Churchill was (in the words of Harold Macmillan) the "greatest Englishman In history", then Charles de Gaulle was without a doubt, the greatest Frenchman since Napoleon Bonaparte. Why so? In the early summer of 1940, when France was overrun by German troop…

1
Agathe Demarais, "Backfire: How Sanctions Reshape the World Against U.S. Interests" (Columbia UP, 2022) 1:06:28

19d ago1:06:28

1:06:28

Sanctions have become the go-to foreign policy tool for the United States. Coercive economic measures such as trade tariffs, financial penalties, and export controls affect large numbers of companies and states across the globe. Some of these penalties target nonstate actors, such as Colombian drug cartels and Islamist terror groups; others apply t…

1
Episode 67: Episode #67: Theosophy, Freemasonry, and the Liberal Catholic Church 1:42:28

20d ago1:42:28

1:42:28

In this episode of WakingWorld, Toby delves into the history and influence of the Theosophical Society and its connection to the Freemasonic-aligned Liberal Catholic Church. Founded by two members of the Theosophical Society, the LCC sought to merge esoteric teachings with Christian ritual. Long accused by some of cult-like behaviour, with ex-membe…

1
Is It News? A look at this week’s news stories – Australian Edition (23.07.25) 44:01

22d ago44:01

44:01

WakingWorld's co-host, Dale, takes a quick look at this week’s recent news reported in the Australian broadsheets. It’s as bland as piss…but it’s still interesting to see what the plebs are reading.

1
Scholars’ Circle – Safe drinking water delivery in US ; Floods and aftermath in Ellicott City, Maryland – July 20, 2025 58:01

22d ago58:01

58:01

Although Access to safe drinking water is a human right, millions of people in the United States do no have access to safe water. Lead in the pipes is the most well-known cause but there are many others. What can be done to fix the nation’s water delivery systems? What have we learned from the Flint case? [ dur: 34mins. ] Newsha Ajami is Chief Deve…

1
Luke A. Nichter, "The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election Of 1968" (Yale UP, 2024) 1:02:55

22d ago1:02:55

1:02:55

A sitting Democratic president who chooses not to run for re-election, a vice president running out of the president’s shadow, and a Republican nominee trying to make a political comeback amidst accusations of collusion – welcome to the 2024 1968 presidential election. What we think we know about the election has been challenged, however, by a new …

1
Ketian Zhang, "China's Gambit: The Calculus of Coercion" (Cambridge UP, 2023) 1:11:57

24d ago1:11:57

1:11:57

Emerging from an award-winning article in International Security, China's Gambit examines when, why, and how China attempts to coerce states over perceived threats to its national security. Since 1990, China has used coercion for territorial disputes and issues related to Taiwan and Tibet, yet China is curiously selective in the timing, target, and…

1
Frank L. Jones, "Sam Nunn: Statesman of the Nuclear Age" (UP Kansas, 2020) 1:03:46

24d ago1:03:46

1:03:46

In a 2012 opinion piece bemoaning the state of the US Senate, Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank cited a “leading theory: There are no giants in the chamber today.” Among the respected members who once walked the Senate floor, admired for their expertise and with a stature that went beyond party, Milbank counted Sam Nunn (D-GA). Nunn served in …

1
Sean McMeekin, "Stalin's War: A New History of World War II" (Basic Books, 2021) 1:15:10

24d ago1:15:10

1:15:10

World War II endures in the popular imagination as a heroic struggle between good and evil, with villainous Hitler driving its events. But Hitler was not in power when the conflict erupted in Asia—and he was certainly dead before it ended. His armies did not fight in multiple theaters, his empire did not span the Eurasian continent, and he did not …

1
How ClioVis is Transforming Education and Historical Research 22:14

25d ago22:14

22:14

Today I’m speaking with Marcus Golding, historian and Director of Educational Operations at ClioVis. ClioVis is an incredible software and learning tool that allows educators and studies to create digital timelines, network visualizations, and interactive presentations. Founded by UT Austin history professor Erika Bsumek, ClioVis is made for profes…

1
Is It News? A look at today’s news stories – UK Edition (19.07.25) 53:30

26d ago53:30

53:30

WakingWorld's co-host, Dale, takes a quick look at last week’s news reported in the UK's International Express (united with the brainwashed masses). It’s also as bland as piss…but it’s a bit better than the Australian rags.

1
Scholars’ Circle – Book Author interview – Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land ; Mining the Ocean Floor – July 13, 2025 58:00

26d ago58:00

58:00

The search for a safe haven for Jewish people in the early 20th Century led some Zionists to land on Galveston, Texas as a potential homeland for Jewish refugees. What was the Galveston Movement and what happened to it? We interviews the author of a new book MELTING POINT: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land. [ dur: 35mins. ] Rachel …

1
Scholars’ Circle – Supreme Court decisions: Federal Injunctions and Religious belief exemption from public school curriculum – July 6, 2025 58:00

26d ago58:00

58:00

The US Supreme Court has decided numerous cases and announced their opinions in the past week. On today’s show we explore two cases. The Court declared an end to national injunctions in a case involving birthright citizenship. [ dur: 28mins. ] Erwin Chemerinsky is the Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Cali…

1
Haley Cohen Gilliland, "A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children" (Simon & Schuster, 2025) 50:46

28d ago50:46

50:46

In the early hours of March 24, 1976, the streets of Buenos Aires rumble with tanks as soldiers seize the presidential palace and topple Argentina’s leader. The country is now under the control of a military junta, with army chief Jorge Rafael Videla at the helm. With quiet support from the United States and tacit approval from much of Argentina’s …

1
Is It News? A look at this week’s news stories – Australian Edition (16.07.25) 38:51

28d ago38:51

38:51

WakingWorld's co-host, Dale, takes a quick look at this week’s recent news reported in the Australian broadsheets. It’s as bland as piss…but it’s still interesting to see what the plebs are reading.

1
Bonus Shizz #61: The Water People – Commune, Cult, or Something Darker? 1:11:53

29d ago1:11:53

1:11:53

In this episode of Bonus Shizz, Dale and Toby take a closer look at Hermes Far Eastern Shining, a spiritual collective more commonly referred to as the "Water People." With ex-members having stepped forward to share troubling accounts, questions arise: is this simply a community of like-minded individuals choosing to live an alternative life away f…

1
Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman, "Hitler's American Gamble: Pearl Harbor and Germany's March to Global War" (Basic Books, 2021) 46:17

1M ago46:17

46:17

A riveting account of the five most crucial days in twentieth-century diplomatic history: from Pearl Harbor to Hitler's declaration of war on the United States. By early December 1941, war had changed much of the world beyond recognition. Nazi Germany occupied most of the European continent, while in Asia, the Second Sino-Japanese War had turned Ch…

1
Jürgen Buchenau and David S. Dalton, "Anti-Catholicism in the Mexican Revolution, 1913-1940" (Simon and Schuster, 2024) 1:02:36

1M ago1:02:36

1:02:36

Anti-Catholicism in the Mexican Revolution, 1913–1940 examines anti-Catholic leaders and movements during the Mexican Revolution, an era that resulted in a constitution denying the Church political rights. Anti-Catholic Mexicans recognized a common enemy in a politically active Church in a predominantly Catholic nation. Many books have elucidated t…

1
Laurie Denyer Willis, "Go with God: Political Exhaustion and Evangelical Possibility in Suburban Brazil" (U California Press, 2023) 47:05

1M ago47:05

47:05

Through deep attention to sense and feeling, Go with God grapples with the centrality of Evangelical faith in Rio de Janeiro's subúrbios, the city's expansive and sprawling peripheral communities. Based on sensory ethnographic fieldwork and attuned to religious desire and manipulation, this book shows how Evangelical belief has changed the way peop…

1
Is It News? A look at today’s news stories – UK Edition (10.07.25) 58:17

1M ago58:17

58:17

WakingWorld's co-host, Dale, takes a quick look at last week’s news reported in the UK's International Express (united with the brainwashed masses). It’s also as bland as piss…but it’s a bit better than the Australian rags.

1
Siri Schwabe, "Moving Memory: Remembering Palestine in Postdictatorship Chile" (Cornell UP, 2023) 49:58

1M ago49:58

49:58

Two juxtaposed years frame the subject matter of Moving Memory: Remembering Palestine in Postdictatorship Chile. In one, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet’s troops stormed Chile’s presidential palace. In the other, 1948, Zionist militias expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homeland. That 1973 should move memories in Chile is obvi…

1
Episode 69: Episode #69: Sex Work, Spiritual Energies, and the Occult Reality of the Industry 2:24:27

1M ago2:24:27

2:24:27

In this episode of WakingWorld, Dale and Toby are joined by Ali, a current escort based in Western Australia, for an open and thought-provoking conversation about the realities of the sex industry. The discussion explores what motivates someone to enter such a taboo profession, the environmental and psychological conditions that contribute to that …

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