Advertise on podcast: Chicago Humanities Tapes

Margaret Atwood is joined in conversation with author Elif Batuman to unfold the story of her life, linking seminal moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape, from the cruel year that spawned Cat's Eye to the Orwellian 1980s Berlin where she wrote The Handmaid's Tale. As we travel with her along the course of her life, more and more is revealed about her writing, the connections between real life and art, and the workings of one of our greatest imaginations.   Podcast Credits: Live event programmed by Michael Green Live event produced by Nikki Konomos Live event stage managed by Kait Samuels Live event produced and mixed by Jeff Kolar Production assistance by Rebecca Dose Podcast edited and mixed by Katherine Kermgard Voiceover by Anthony Fleming III Transcription assistance by Micquela Washington Subscribe Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events Instagram • YouTube • Facebook • LinkedIn

Acclaimed author Ron Chernow, of Hamilton fame, is one of the most renowned voices in history and politics. Recipient of the 2015 National Humanities Medal, Chernow has dedicated his life to telling the stories of some of the most notable figures in history. Chernow joins The Interview Show host Mark Bazer to discuss his newest work, Mark Twain, a nuanced portrait of "the father of American literature." Drawing  on thousands of letters and hundreds of unpublished manuscripts, Chernow captures the exuberant genius whose career reflected the country's westward expansion, industrialization and foreign wars, and became the white author of his generation who grappled most fully with the legacy of slavery. Hear from Chernow as he sheds light on the life of Mark Twain — from his start as a brash journalist to his days as the most notable political pundit in the U.S.   [Podcast Credits] Live event programmed by Mark Bazer Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Rebecca Dose Live event produced and mixed by Dan Glomski Production assistance by Aaron Stephenson / Micquela Washington Podcast edited and mixed by Katherine Kermgard Voiceover by Anthony Fleming III  Subscribe Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn

Actor, comedian, writer, and producer Ed Helms joins us in conversation with podcast host and producer Greta Johnsen to discuss his new book SNAFU, which brings you an absurdly entertaining look at history's greatest screwups. Helms steps in as unofficial history teacher diving into each decade's craziest SNAFUs like planting nukes on the moon to training felines as CIA spies to weaponizing the weather. SHOW NOTES: Read the podcast transcript CW: Mature language and subject matter Photo: Ed Helms (right) and Greta Johnsen (left) on stage at First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in May 2025.   Live event programmed by Michael Green Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Kait Samuels  Live event produced and mixed by Dan Glomski Production assistance by Carl Herzog / Hope Mignini Podcast edited and mixed by Katherine Kermgard Voiceover by Anthony Fleming III Subscribe Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events. Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn

Beloved novelist, poet, and educator Ocean Vuong joins his friend and colleague Adrian Matejka, editor of Poetry magazine, for a hilarious, heartbreaking, and affirming conversation about the power of the sentence. SHOW NOTES: Read the podcast transcript. CW: Discussion of drug addiction PHOTO: Ocean Vuong and Adrian Matejka on stage at the Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in May 2025.   Read: Ocean Vuong, The Emperor of Gladness Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Poetry Magazine   Explore: Ben Lerner Yusef Komunyakaa Sharon Olds Djuna Barnes, Knightwood Lyn Hejinian Bernadette Mayer Bhanu Kapil Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's, Dictée Lady Murasaki, The Tale of Genji Phillis Wheatley Jupiter Hammon Harriet Jacobs Annie Dillard César Vallejo André Breton, Manifestoes of Surrealism Aimé Césaire, Notebook of a Return to My Native Land Federico García Lorca Gabriel García Márquez Édouard Glissant Frantz Fanon Claude McKay John Keats Walt Whitman Emily Dickinson Kevin Young Jeff Van Gundy   Live event programmed by Michael Green Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Danny Fender Live event produced and mixed by Nick Broste Production assistance by River Williams and Logan Venezia Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn   Subscribe Help shape the future of the podcast! Let us know what you think by taking the short survey. Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events.   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   B3EYK2S9BZSDLJ60

Originator of the role Aaron Burr in the Broadway smash hit Hamiliton, Leslie Odom, Jr. reflects on his Tony and Grammy Award-winning, Oscar and Emmy Award-nominated career. With a loving eye toward his own creative practice and collaborative spirit, he gabs with NBC's Matthew Rodrigues on self-care, fame, and might just bring us a little Christmas in June by the end. SHOW NOTES: Read the podcast transcript. PHOTO: Matthew Rodrigues and Leslie Odom, Jr. on stage at Francis W. Parker School at the Chicago Humanities 2025 Spring Festival.   Read: Leslie Odom, Jr., Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning   Watch: One Night in Miami... trailer Leslie Odom Jr. Sings A Change is Gonna Come Purlie Victorious PBS Great Performances   Explore: https://www.instagram.com/rodriguesmatt/   Live event programmed by Kaity O'Reilly Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Sophia Fishkin Live event produced and mixed by Jeff Kolar Production assistance by Hope Mignini, Rach Granillo, Bucky Emmerling, and Cody Kressman Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn   Subscribe Help shape the future of the podcast! Let us know what you think by taking the short survey. Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events.   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   YMVWX4N4Y1RK1WA4

Our goal at Chicago Humanities Tapes is to help you get closer to the answers to life's biggest questions with the brightest minds the world offers. And we'll get those answers eventually according to philosopher Agnes Callard, though it might take another 10,000 years of humanity. So, how do we live our lives knowing we'll never know the answers to life's biggest questions such as: is there a God? What makes a good parent? Should I have gone into academia? Her and University of Chicago constitutional law professor William Baude think the answer is in the Socratic method – asking questions without the goal of persuasion, being ok without getting answers, and living a life examined. This spirited conversation also touches on confirmation bias, the challenges of making new friends as an adult, and how to pause and ask yourself those big philosophical questions… without being driven to madness. SHOW NOTES Read the podcast transcript. CW: Mentions of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988 lifeline.org.   PHOTO: Agnes Callard and William Baude.   Read: Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life, Agnes Callard   Listen: Minds Almost Meeting podcast   Live event programmed by Michael Green Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Rebecca Dose, Juju Laurie, Aryn Henderson Live event produced and mixed by Jeff Kolar, Ryn Hardiman, Nick Broste Production assistance by River Williams and Logan Venezia Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn   Subscribe Help shape the future of the podcast! Let us know what you think by taking the short survey. Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events.   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   056OVXZETU2IQKY4

Bestselling authors and popular podcasters Ezra Klein (The New York Times) and Derek Thompson (The Atlantic) are interested in societal abundance – how do we get closer to equality when it seems like we're getting farther from having enough resources for everyone? Joined by historian and science fiction writer Ada Palmer, these three brilliant minds joyfully dig into everything from futurism to Shakespeare, encouraging listeners to combat daily despair with progressive action. Subscribe to the podcast. SHOW NOTES Watch the full program here. Read the podcast transcript. PHOTO: Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson, and Ada Palmer on stage at the UIC Dorin Forum at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in 2025.   Read: Abundance, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson Why We're Polarized, Ezra Klein Inventing the Renaissance: The Myth of a Golden Age, Ada Palmer   Listen: The Ezra Klein Show Plain English with Derek Thompson   Explore: adapalmer.com Kathleen Belew, "the early adopter effect" Jay Van Bavel on how internet warps communication and language Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman on technology J. Storrs Hall on futurism Fix the News newsletter   Live event programmed by Mark Bazer Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Sophia Fishkin Live event produced and mixed by Joe Darnaby Production assistance by River Williams Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn   Help shape the future of the podcast! Let us know what you think by taking the short survey. Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events.   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   T3JJTTLPKSKZIGYS

Join fine art painters turned sign designers turned book publishers Andrew and Kelsey McClellan of Heavy Pages Press on a lovingly nerdy investigation through the signs of Chicago's small businesses of yesteryear. A chance encounter with a perfectly preserved "ghost sign" by the Beverly Design Co. from the 1930s led them to uncover previously lost sign design sketches. They sit down with podcast host Alisa Rosenthal to discuss their book The Golden Era of Sign Design: The Rediscovered Sketches of Beverly Sign Co., what it was like to interview tough talking old timer painters, and their hope for how access to this rediscovered material will usher in the next generation of great designers.  Tickets to Heavy Pages Press with Tanner Woodford, founder and executive director of the Design Museum of Chicago, on Saturday, May 10, 2025 from 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm CT at Co-Prosperity available here. Explore the rest of the Bridgeport Day 2025 events here. SHOW NOTES: Read the podcast transcript. PHOTO: Kelsey and Andrew McClellan and Alisa Rosenthal chat over Zoom.   Read: The Golden Era of Sign Design: The Rediscovered Sketches of Beverly Sign Co., Heavy Pages Press   Explore: Heart & Bone Signs "The Chicago Look" Edition Field Notes The Monadnock Building   Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn Additional assistance provided by Lauren Pacheco   Subscribe Help shape the future of the podcast! Let us know what you think by taking the short survey. Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events.   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   NOIVFYY2M8NZSJOW

In support of Chicago-based klezmer band Upshtat Zingerai bringing Yiddish tunes and dancing to the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival, the creative partners behind the Jewish Museum of Chicago sat down with podcast host Alisa Rosenthal to preview the upcoming event. They chat artistic process, visions for having a future physical space, and how the museum project was started to fill a void in the Chicago arts scene as a hub for Jewish artists and community members.  Explore the rest of the Lakeview Day 2025 events here. Subscribe to the podcast • Let us know what you think by taking the short survey   SHOW NOTES: Read the podcast transcript. PHOTO: Maya Kosover, Gabriel Chalfin-Piney-González, and Alisa Rosenthal talk over Zoom.   Learn more about the Jewish Museum of Chicago Follow @jewishmuseumchicago on Instagram Follow @upshtatzingerai on Instagram Episode photo of Grace Gittelman, a Jewish Museum of Chicago 2024 Artist Fellow. Photo by Ricardo E. Adame.   Edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn Additional assistance from Kaity O'Reilly   Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events.   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   RNNY2VBKAJUXFLHO

Bronzeville native and preeminent Black pop artist Hebru Brantley joins visual artist and MacArthur Fellow Amanda Williams for a life-affirming conversation that spans the power of unbridled creativity, his inviting marketing strategy, and naturally, a little bit of Chicago vs. LA discourse. This program was recorded live at the Illinois Institute of Technology in May 2024. Subscribe to the podcast • Let us know what you think by taking the short survey   SHOW NOTES: Watch the full conversation here. Read the podcast transcript. PHOTO: Amanda Williams and Hebru Brantley at the Illinois Institute of Technology at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in 2024.   Read: Hebru Brantley, Hebru Brantley   Explore: Find Hebru Brantley murals near you Amanda Williams, Color(ed) Theory Nevermore Park   Live event programmed by Lauren Pacheco Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Kyle Anderson Live event produced and mixed by Jeff Kolar Production assistance by Christopher Moore and Cody Kressmann Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn   Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events.   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   HA1LFLRDRPORXNOG

Comedian, Emmy Award-nominated actor, screenwriter, #1 New York Times bestselling author and musician Paul Reiser reflects on stand-up in the '80s, Mad About You, his writing, and his renaissance with roles on Stranger Things and The Kominsky Method. He chats with friend of the fest Mark Bazer, contributing writing to Chicago Magazine and host and executive producer of The Interview Show. Subscribe to the podcast • Let us know what you think by taking the short survey SHOW NOTES: Read the podcast transcript. PHOTO: Mark Bazer and Paul Reiser on stage at the Music Box Theatre at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in 2025.   Read: Paul Reiser, What a Fool Believes: A Memoir Paul Reiser, Couplehood   Watch: Paul Reiser: Life, Death & Rice Pudding Mad About You, Mel Brooks and the coupons The Problem with People   Explore: The Interview Show with Mark Bazer   Live event programmed by Mark Bazer Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Juju Laurie Live event produced and mixed by Jeff Kolar Production assistance by Rach Granillo and Preston O'ffill Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn   Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events.   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   PQOYU7E7ACZWTNOM

Political commentator and New York Times best-selling author Joy Reid is joined by veteran reporter April Ryan for a conversation around Reid's book "Medgar and Myrlie: A Love Story That Awakened America." Representing Delta Sigma Theta, Reid and Ryan's friendship is electric, recorded live in April 2024 at a full house at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple. Reid and Ryan discuss "Medgar and Myrlie," which chronicles the lives and love story of civil rights icons Medgar Evers and Myrlie Evers-Williams and the crucial groundwork they laid for Black Americans that still reverberates today. Subscribe to the podcast • Let us know what you think by taking the short survey SHOW NOTES: Watch the full conversation here. Read the podcast transcript. PHOTO: Joy Reid and April Ryan on stage at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple at the Chicago Humanities Spring Festival in 2024.   Learn more: Joy Reid, Medgar and Myrlie: A Love Story That Awakened America   Live event programmed by Michael Green Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Kait Samuels Live event produced and mixed by Nick Broste Production assistance by Bucky Emmerling and Christopher Moore Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Joseph Alaimo   Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events.   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   This video features materials protected by the Fair Use guidelines of Section 107 of the Copyright Act. All rights reserved to the copyright owners. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. This Little Light of Mine · Swan Silvertones Presenting The Swan Silvertones ℗ 1947 King Records Composer: John Henry Miles, Traditional Lyricist: John Henry Miles, Traditional Music  Publisher: No Publisher [USD0FB31I3L3G0A4]

Today's mini episode is the best of Ali Barthwell (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) from October 2024's Writing on Eggshells: Political Comedy Cracked Up panel, featuring Peter Grosz (The Colbert Report, Late Night with Seth Meyers) and John Lutz (Late Night with Seth Meyers, Saturday Night Live), moderated by Second City's Kelly Leonard. Chicago's own Barthwell shares war stories from the front lines of touring the country with Second City and the experience of being a Black voice in comedy writers' rooms. Subscribe to the podcast • Let us know what you think by taking the short survey   SHOW NOTES Read the podcast transcript. CW: Profanity PHOTO: Ali Barthwell, Peter Grosz, Kelly Leonard, John Lutz.   EXPLORE: Ali Barthwell Peter Grosz John Lutz Kelly Leonard   WATCH: John Oliver, "Elmo's mom"   Live event programmed by Michael Green Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Sophia Fishkin Live event produced and mixed by Jeff Kolar Production assistance by Hope Mignini, Logan Venezia, and Josh Harlow Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn   Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events.   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   FNLGD48PTD1IREUE

Four experts discuss the politicization of immigration alongside the normalcy of human migration. Topics include Chicago as a sanctuary city, the need to address root causes, and the importance of centering the humanity of migrants. Northwestern history professor and contributing writer for The New Yorker Geraldo Cadava moderates the panel with UIC professors and immigration experts Dr. Ivón Padilla-Rodríguez, Adam Goodman, and Bárbara Andrea Sostaita. SHOW NOTES Read the podcast transcript. PHOTO: Bárbara Andrea Sostaita, Adam Goodman, Dr. Ivón Padilla-Rodríguez, and Geraldo Cadava at the National Museum of Mexican Art at the Chicago Humanities Fall Festival in September 2024.   READ: Geraldo Cadava, latest works Bárbara Andrea Sostaita, Sanctuary Everywhere: The Fugitive Sacred in the Sonoran Desert Adam Goodman, The Deportation Machine: America's Long History of Expelling Immigrants Dr. Ivón Padilla-Rodríguez, selected publications   FURTHER READING: Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, As We Have Always Done, Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance New York Times, Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S. Hidetaka Hirota, Expelling the Poor: Atlantic Seaboard States and the Nineteenth-Century Origins of American Immigration Policy Block Club Chicago, Southeast Mutual Aid Helping Migrants, Neighbors Alike: 'There Will Always Be A Need', South Shore Thanksgiving Party An 'Olive Branch' Between Longtime Residents, Migrants   EXPLORE: National Museum of Mexican Art Sanctuary Campus Movement Elvira Arellano The Sanctuary Movement in Chicago Dora Rodriguez Panchito Governing Immigration Through Crime ACLU Know Your Rights, 100 Mile Border Zone Migrant Roots Media Kino Border Initiative Mijente #NoTechForICE Rigo Padilla Organized Communities Against Deportation Bracero Program DACA – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals   Live event programmed by Mark Bazer Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Sophia Fishkin and Devonte Washington Live event produced and mixed by Jeff Kolar Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn   Subscribe Help shape the future of the podcast! Let us know what you think by taking the short survey. Donate now to support programs like this. Explore upcoming events.   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   9YKHYYLUOY4RBYJK

Adrianne Black has an incredible story along with a profound evolution. Her father was a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, and she was raised as a frequent spokesperson for the white nationalist movement as a child. Her memoir "The Klansman's Son" details the shift from spreading hate on TV to attending weekly Shabbat dinners. In today's program, she's joined at her alma mater the University of Chicago by her friend and National Jewish Book Award Winner Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg for a conversation spanning Black's transgender identity, her relationship with her family, and how to stay progressively productive in the face of increasingly visible white supremacy.  SHOW NOTES: Read the podcast transcript. PHOTO: Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg and Adrianne Black at the University of Chicago in Fall 2024.   Learn more: R. Derek Black, The Klansman's Son: My Journey from White Nationalism to Antiracism: A Memoir Danya Ruttenberg, On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World   Live event programmed by Michael Green Live event produced by Jesse Swanson Live event stage managed by Rebecca Dose Live event produced and mixed by Kyle Anderson Production assistance by Bucky Emmerling, Hope Mignini, and Cody Kressman Podcast edited and mixed by Alisa Rosenthal Podcast story editing by Alexandra Quinn   Subscribe: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chicago-humanities-tapes/id1534976656 Help shape the future of the podcast! Let us know what you think by taking the short survey: http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=1Pk_AtHDS9DU&ver=short Donate now to support programs like this: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/donate/ Explore upcoming events: https://www.chicagohumanities.org/   Instagram • YouTube • TikTok • Twitter • Facebook • LinkedIn   FRATSIXVB6LQLNGU