Mary Ware Dennett – Woman Crush Wednesday!

Mary Ware Dennett was an American women’s rights activist, pacifist, and pioneer in the areas of birth control, sex education, and women’s suffrage. Yet, she is largely unknown to the general public. So, she’s our Woman Crush Wednesday this week! Listen as historian Sharon Spaulding explains Mary’s important life and work! Episode 413. Click here…

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Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is nearly here. The holiday has a fascinating history of its own, but the ways people have thought about the origins and history of Mother’s Day provides us a great opportunity here at the Buzzkill Institute to talk about the complications of history and memory. But it also gives us the chance to…

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Warfare, Technology, Constitutions, and the Making of the Modern World

Professor Linda Colley gives us the first full integrative, as well as literary, examination of the written constitution globally. Tracing their rise to the mid-eighteenth century and the emergence of hybrid warfare (cross-continental battles waged on land and at sea), constitutions addressed a growing concern for rulers during the Enlightenment: popular support. Episode #409. Read…

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The Munich Crisis, 1938

The Munich Crisis of 1938 had major diplomatic and political effects. It was also a “people’s crisis,” and an event that gripped the world. Join Professors Richard Toye, Julie Gottlieb, and Daniel Hucker as they present new research and findings about this prelude to World War II. Episode #408 —Buzzkill Bookshelf The Munich Crisis, politics…

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The History of Concentration Camps

The development of concentration camps in world history is both compelling and distressing. Award-winning author and journalist, Andrea Pitzer, explains how and why human societies have come to use them so frequently. From 1890s Cuba to the detention camps in the 21st century USA, concentration camps have exposed the “savage practicality” used by governments and…

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Appeasement and “Guilty Women” in Inter-War Britain

Professor Julie Gottlieb deepens our understanding of the crisis between World War I and World War 2 in Britain. She shows us how crucial female public opinion was to the development of foreign policy during this period. Chamberlain, Churchill, Munich, and appeasement are better-illuminated light by her new research and interpretations. Join us for a…

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