The Exchange

Adam Hochschild: Journalism in the Trump Era

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 19:24:02 +0000

Adam Hochschild, author, historian, and co-founder of Mother Jones Magazine, talks about his career in the newspaper business, how journalism has changed over the past few decades, and the role for journalists in the Trump era.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat: How Fascists Rise

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Wed, 01 Feb 2017 08:05:20 +0000

Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University, talks about her research on the rise of fascism in 1920s Italy, how and why authoritarian leaders can gain power, and her views on the 2016 U.S. Presidential election.

Bob Petrella: The Memory Man

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 07:01:19 +0000

Bob Petrella, one of a few dozen people in the world who has been diagnosed with Hyperthymesia, talks about growing up in Northwestern Pennsylvania, how a near-perfect autobiographical memory has impacted his life, and some of the early insights scientist have gleaned from researching HSAM.

Henry Friedman: Fighting Cancer With Polio

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 25 Apr 2016 07:01:29 +0000

Dr. Henry Friedman, deputy director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University, talks about his professional background, his career working to help children and adults with brain and spinal cord tumors, and Duke’s initial trials using the polio virus to treat glioblastoma, a procedure recently documented on 60 Minutes.

Raheel Raza: Muslim Beliefs By The Numbers

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 07:02:16 +0000

Author and activist Raheel Raza talks about growing up in Pakistan as a Sunni Muslim, her video “By The Numbers,” which documents scientific polling data about the beliefs of Muslims around the world, and her work to try to modernize the Islamic world in relation to human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Daniel Everett: Life with the Pirahã

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 07:02:49 +0000

Author and linguistics professor Daniel Everett talks about becoming a Christian missionary as a young adult, living with the Pirahã tribe in the Amazon in an attempt to convert them to Christianity, and how his experience with the Pirahã moved him to atheism and a reevaluation of his beliefs and his life.

Theodora Ross: A Cancer in the Family

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 07:02:39 +0000

Dr. Theodora Ross talks about her career in medicine, her role as director of UT Southwestern’s Cancer Genetics Program, and her new book, A Cancer in the Family, a personal and scientific story highlighting the latest science of cancer genetics.

James Bradley: The China Mirage

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 08:03:40 +0000

Author James Bradley talks about the path the led him to write his first book, Flags of Our Fathers, the historical revelations of his third book, The Imperial Cruise, and the themes of his most recent book, The China Mirage.

Robyn Thomas: Gun Control in America

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 15 Feb 2016 08:01:23 +0000

Robyn Thomas, Executive Director of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence talks about gun control history in the United States, the 101 California shooting in San Francisco, and how California has been able to reduce gun violence through statewide legislation.

Sean Conley: GiveWell

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 08:03:08 +0000

Sean Conley, a research analyst at GiveWell, talks about the history of GiveWell, its methods used to analyze the cost-effectiveness of charitable organizations, and its primary goals for the future.

Joel Beinin: Israel and Palestine

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 08:01:13 +0000

Joel Beinin, Professor of Middle East History at Stanford University, talks about living on a kibbutz in Israel, how that experience influenced the trajectory of his personal and professional life, and the history of Israel and Palestine.

Jonathan Russell: Combating Islamic Terrorism

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 28 Dec 2015 08:05:17 +0000

Jonathan Russell, head of policy at Quilliam, talks about the state Islamic extremism in the world, the three founders of Quilliam – all of whom were Islamists earlier in their lives – and the work of Quilliam, the “world’s first counter-extremism think tank,” which was created to “generate creative, informed and inclusive discussions to counter the ideological underpinnings of terrorism.”

Linda Hirshman: Sisters in Law

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 08:01:25 +0000

Author Linda Hirshman talks about the changes in opportunities for women in the American workplace over the past two generations, and the lives and careers of America’s first two female Supreme Court Justices, Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who are the subjects of her new book, Sisters in Law.

Anthony Norfolk: Western Pioneers

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 23:52:18 +0000

Anthony Norfolk, board president of the Roedde House Museum in Vancouver, Canada, talks about this history of Vancouver, the lives of early pioneers as seen through the home of the city’s first bookbinder, Gustav Roedde, and the day-to-day life of individuals at the end of the 1800s.

Tim Lennon: The Sexual Abuse of Children within the Catholic Church

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 08:01:06 +0000

Tim Lennon talks about SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, his own childhood experience with sexual abuse by a Catholic priest, and the movie Spotlight, which details the 2001 Boston Globe investigation of the cover-up of the sexual abuse of children within the Catholic Church.

David Grusky: Income Inequality in America

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 08:02:04 +0000

Professor David Grusky, director of Stanford University’s Center on Poverty and Inequality, talks about the history of income inequality in America, the millions of Americans who are currently living in poverty, and potential public policy that could alter the growth of the U.S.’s economic disparity.

Vance Vredenburg: The Sixth Extinction

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 08:01:22 +0000

Dr. Vance Vredenburg talks about the history of extinctions on Earth, his influential paper “Are we In the midst of the sixth mass extinction?“, and what humans can do to decrease extinction rates throughout the world.

Adam Hochschild: King Leopold’s Ghost

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 08:04:22 +0000

Returning guest, author Adam Hochschild, discusses his book King Leopold’s Ghost, which details the Belgian colonization of the Congo. Adam talks about the individuals who publicized the genocide which resulted from the colonization, and how the murder of roughly 10 million Africans was virtually unknown to public consciousness until the past few decades.

Gavin Wright: The Economic History of Slavery in America

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 08:05:57 +0000

Stanford economic historian Gavin Wright talks about his interest in the South, the economic history of slavery in America, and the issue of the Confederate flag in modern times.

Thomas Südhof: Researching the Brain

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 04:01:33 +0000

Stanford neuroscientist Thomas Südhof talks about growing up in Germany, his interest in the brain, and the discoveries that led to his being awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize.

Ko Ko Lay: Fighting the Burmese Military Dictatorship

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 20 Jul 2015 00:03:40 +0000

Ko Ko Lay talks about the history of Burma, the military dictatorship that has controlled his nation for decades, and his efforts in the 1980’s as a revolutionary fighting back against the single-party regime.

Tracey Helton: Overcoming a Heroin Addiction

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 00:03:47 +0000

Tracey Helton talks about how she went from being a high school honors student in Ohio to a heroin addict, her years of living homeless on the streets of San Francisco, being featured in the HBO documentary Black Tar Heroin, and her 17 years of sobriety, during which she has become a drug counselor, a wife, and a mother of three.

Jamie DeWolf: L. Ron Hubbard’s Great-Grandson

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 00:03:51 +0000

Jamie DeWolf, the great-grandson of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, discusses the life of L. Ron Hubbard, the recent book and documentary about Scientology, Going Clear, and his own criticisms of the history, practices, and beliefs of Scientology.

Jack Lissauer: NASA’s Quest to Find Earth-like Planets

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:03:12 +0000

NASA research scientist Jack Lissauer talks about his path to working at NASA, the process by which stars and planets are created in the universe, and his work on the Kepler program, which is trying to discover Earth-like planets that are orbiting other stars.

Terry Plank: Clergy Who’ve Lost Their Faith

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 25 May 2015 00:05:49 +0000

Terry Plank, President of the Board of Directors of The Clergy Project talks about his journey from Christian pastor to atheist, and the work of The Clergy Project, which provides support and encouragement to former and current members of the clergy who no longer believe in the supernatural.

Alexa Koenig: Human Rights Today

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 00:05:37 +0000

Alexa Koenig, Executive Director of the Human Rights Center at the University of California – Berkeley, talks about her interest in human rights, war crimes in the 20th and 21st century, and the work of the Human Rights Center.

Adam Hochschild: Ending the British Slave Trade

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 00:05:00 +0000

Author Adam Hochschild talks about his interest in journalism and history, his book Bury the Chains, which details the abolitionists who worked to successfully end the British slave trade, and what modern climate change activists can learn from the lessons of that movement.

Fran Moore: The Economic Cost of Climate Change

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 00:03:56 +0000

Stanford Ph.D. candidate Frances Moore talks about the science of climate change, the history of governmental treaties to address global warming, and her research relating to the long-term economic costs of carbon emissions.

Ilya Ponomarev: Opposing Putin

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 00:10:12 +0000

Russian opposition leader Ilya Ponomarev talks about the rise of Vladimir Putin, the dissenting votes he cast as a member of the State Duma, his banishment from Russia, the recent assassination of anti-Putin activist Boris Nemtsov, and the future of his native country.

Peter Stansky: Orwell’s Biographer

daniel.e.riley@gmail.com (Dan Riley) — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 00:10:59 +0000

Stanford University historian Peter Stansky talks about the life of George Orwell, the two biographies he wrote about Orwell, and the relevance of 1984 in modern times.