History Behind News Program

Japan's history of public health, imperial rise and nationalism. And also, story of a Japanese company's commercial invasion of America.

🚩In this interview:

►What does it mean to be modern?

►Japan's 'modernization' - 1860s to 1910s.

►4 requirements for modernization of Japanese toilets

►disease prevention, e.g., cholera in Japan

►Japan - the rise of a 'clean' empire

►Is Japan's history of cleanliness true?

►Black Gold: Japan's cen...

Why do some presidential sexual relations become major scandals while others don't even make the news?

🚩In this interview:

►Are presidential love affairs different than sexual relations?

►What defines a scandal? The nature of the act or the politics of the moment?

►JFK's sexual relations

►FDR's love affairs

►Cleveland's sex scandals and great love story

►Clinton's sexual relations

►Jackson's scandals - heartbr...

As Pres. Trump and Pres. Putin meet in Alaska to negotiate a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, I speak with scholars of Russia and ask them these questions:

►Who is Putin?

►What event had the biggest impact on his worldview?

►Is he an ideological man?

►Does he love Russia?

►Is he a risktaker?

►Does he fear that Russians will revolt against him?

►Does he want to be remembered in history as Putin the Great? Actually, th...

As Pres. Trump & Putin meet in Alaska, without Pres. Zelensky, to discuss a peace deal in the Russian-Ukrainian War, it is not at all certain that any land will in fact be swapped for peace, as suggested by Pres. Trump. But one thing is for certain - that Pres. Putin will not, ever, swap Crimea for any land in Ukraine.

In this episode, my guest and I discuss the history of Crimea and the Crimean Tatars.

🚩About My 182nd Gue...

Tower of London to Alligator Alcatraz: how constitutionalism came to America and became Americanized.

🚩In this interview:

►What is due process? Is it a legal right or privilege?

►How are procedural and substantive due process different?

►Is due process in the Constitution?

►Do immigrants have due process rights?

►Is due process essentially about fear?

►What is Magna Carta?

►Does due process come from Magna Carta?

►Magna Carta was ...

Is America undermining the rules-based international order? Are we jeopardizing the stability and predictability of the very system that we built for the world?

🚩In this interview:

►What is national security?

►What is America's "special relationship" with Britain?

►In 1916, why did Britain worry about Pres. Wilson's foreign policy?

►Did FDR bring about the end of British Empire?

►How has America benefited from this "special relati...

Most Americans hardly knew about autism in the 1980s and '90s. Then, as if suddenly, autism became big news in the 2000s. And the rate of autism has increased since, including diagnosis among adults. But how did this happen?

🚩In this interview:

►What is autism? A disorder? A disease? A psychiatric medical condition?

►What does autism spectrum mean?

►In the 1980s, what were medical experts taught about the rate of autism?

►Is there ...

"First Responders" of entertainment TV. Why American citizens will miss late-night talk shows.

🚩In this interview:

►What defines a late-night talk show?

►Obsolescence that's in the name!

►Was Carson really the King of Late Night?

►Who is Faye Emerson?

►The Letterman revolution.

►Entertaining in 20th century vs. importance in 21st century.

►The internet effect.

►Are late-night talk show hosts partisan?

►Same format. Different perso...

Can Harvard use its huge endowment to make up for the federal funds frozen by Pres. Trump?

🚩In this interview:

►What are university endowments?

►How are endowments different than grants, federal funds and other monies that come into universities?

►How do universities perpetuate their endowments?

►What rules and regulations govern endowments?

►When did American universities first receive private monies?

►When did American universit...

Why is America's Jewish community so successful? Why have Jewish diaspora communities been so successful throughout history and across many countries and cultures?

🚩In this interview:

►Jewish migration, immigration and emigration

►Preserving Jewish communities: the challenge of Jewish assimilation

►Preserving Judaism without the temple

►Jewish diaspora in Persia - forgotten part of Queen Esther's story

►Which Jews immigrated to Amer...

What is Decoration Day? Did the South celebrate the 4th of July?

As it turns out, the history of the 4th of July is not that straightforward. For example, it took about a century for the recognition of our Independence Day as a federal holiday. And for some 80 years after the Civil war, some parts of the South, including Vicksburg, did not celebrate the 4th of July. It took WWII to create a new sense of nationalism, including the n...

For America, 1979 was one of the coldest years of the Cold War. The U.S. lost a friend. Gained a foe. And then its nightmare scenario for the Middle East began to come true. This is the history of how and why the U.S. military now has a permanent presence in the Middle East.

🚩In this interview, we also discuss the following:

• The dangers that U.S. military presence in the Middle East poses to U.S. democracy at home,
• History of ...

Alone in the Middle East! Imperial Iran… Safavids, Qajars, and even the Pahlavis - alone in the Middle East. And then, the Ayatollahs. Again, Iran alone in the Middle East.

🚩In this interview:

►What is it about Iran and its history that separates it from the rest of the Middle East?

►Who was Reza Shah and why is he so important to Iran's modern history?

►What was the Mohammad Reza Shah's primary national security fear?

►Have the Ay...

Riots, rebellions and U.S. armed forces. Civilian supremacy over the military remains inviolate in our history and constitution. But what happens when a civilian Commander in Chief legally deploys the U.S. military or federalized National Guard on American soil?

This story is as old as our democracy. One could even argue that the use of militia to crush rebellion in America was a major contributing factor in the founding of the Uni...

Bismarck (left) built an empire. But his Emperor (right) destroyed it. The German Empire's swift rise to world power status frightened Europe and threatened its balance of power. So Bismark convinced Germany's neighbors and other world powers that while Germany was prosperous and powerful, it was also peaceful. Wilhelm II, however, flexed his imperial muscles, frightened his neighbors and insulted world leaders.

The brief history of...

80% of South Africa's people own only 4% of the land. These are Black South Africans. In contrast, 75% of the land is privately owned by white South Africans, who comprise about 7% of the population. But apartheid ended in 1994. So why hasn't land been more equitably distributed since then?

In this interview, we discuss the following:

►How colonial era Christianity ended the fluidity of societal and power relations among Blacks in ...

Did you know that up to the Partition of India in 1947, Kashmiri Muslims lived in conditions that very much resembled serfdom? Exploitation of Kashmiri Muslims was particularly notable during the Dogra Dynasty, which ruled the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1846 to 1947.

Since their partition in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought four wars: in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. Based on research and information, three of these w...

Did you know that all of the growth in federal spending as a percentage of the national income is due to the growth of "uncontrollables"?

In this interview, we discuss the following:

►What are "uncontrollables"? Why are they 'mandatory'?

►What are entitlements? How are they treated differently than discretionary budget spending?

►What was the Budget Resolution Process that was introduced in the 1970s?

►How did Pres. Cleveland, Roos...

Gang membership in El Salvador has a common theme, which is also a potential solution for reducing gang membership and gang violence there.

In this interview, I discuss the following with my guest:

►How did El Salvador become the world's most violent country?

►Why is crime so high in El Salvador?

►What are deferred vengeance and retaliation?

►What kinds of crimes are committed in El Salvador? What's the extent of violence?

►Is MS-1...