Videos

This was a discussion about President George W. Bush’s 2007 decision to increase American troop levels in Iraq. Former Bush administration officials Meghan O’Sullivan and Peter Feaver recoun…

Historian and author Cameron Blevins explained how a national network of some 100,000 post offices transformed the American West in the mid to late 19th century. Southern Methodist Universit…

Jeffrey Engel talked about his book When the World Seemed New, in which he examines George H.W. Bush’s foreign policy initiatives at the start of the post-Cold War world.

Southern Methodist University professor Alexis McCrossen teaches a class on the abundance of the 1920s and the Great Depression. She argues that low wages and an unequal distribution of weal…

University of Notre Dame Professor Darren Dochuk talked about the oil industry’s impact on American religion and politics. He is the author of Anointed with Oil: How Christianity and Crude M…

University of Kentucky Professor Mark Summers told the story of Democrat Grover Cleveland’s 1884 election over Republican James G. Blaine. Both candidates faced moral questions during the ca…

This is the third and last program that looked back at President George W. Bush’s 2007 Iraq surge decision to increase American troop levels. A panel of scholars responded to previous observ…

Former George W. Bush administration officials talked about the planning leading up to the 2007 surge of American troop levels in Iraq, including what they described as myths and misundersta…

Gregg Cantrell talked about his book, The People’s Revolt: Texas Populists and the Roots of American Liberalism. He described the origins of the People’s Party in the 1890s, their political …

The 1918 flu pandemic altered American life in ways that are familiar to those living through the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Conflicting information left people wary and fearful, college cla…

The co-authors of Impeachment: An American History talked about the only three presidential impeachment proceedings ever conducted: those involving Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Cl…

Scholar of American Christianity Marie Griffith talked about her book, Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics. Professor Griffith argued that divis…

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) faced Democratic challenger Representative Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) in Dallas for the first of three scheduled debates.

Professor Tony Smith talked about his book Why Wilson Matters: The Origin of American Liberal Internationalism and Its Crisis Today, in which he offers his thoughts on the impact of Presiden…

Alexandra Zapruder talked about her book, Twenty-Six Seconds: A Personal History of the Zapruder Film. Abraham Zapruder filmed President Kennedy’s Dallas motorcade and assassination in 1963 …

Katherine Sibley talked about how Florence Harding set new precedents as first lady by advocating for causes such as veterans' assistance and animal rights. She also talked about how Preside…

National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins delivered the commencement address for 2017 graduates of Southern Methodist University (SMU). After his remarks, Dr. Collins played…

Andrew O’Shaughnessy talked about the election of 1800 and Thomas Jefferson’s “peaceful revolution.” He argued that the election was one of the most toxic in U.S. history and that it relied …

Professor Kirsten Wood talked about the political use of music during the founding era of the United States. She explained that patriotic music created in this period was used for many purpo…

Author Catherine Clinton talked about the changing historical narratives about President Lincoln’s wife, Mary. She spoke about how Mary would have been remembered if she had died instead of …