Journalist Loren Grush detailed the history & experiences of the six women selected in 1978 to become America's first female astronauts. She was interviewed by former NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tampa Bay Times book critic Colette Bancroft previews some of the most anticipated non-fiction books being released this fall. About Books also reported on the latest publishing industry news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Englishman Thomas Paine arrived in America in 1774 as the conflict between the colonies and Great Britain peaked. Up to that point, the colonies were said to have considered negotiation rather than separating from Britain. This week, University of Maryland history professor Richard Bell joins BTSA to discuss Paine's arguments, his life, and what led him to publish Common Sense. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Lindsay Chervinsky is a presidential historian who has written what she says is the first book on the presidential cabinet. It's called "The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution." It was on November 26, 1791, that President George Washington convened his cabinet department secretaries: Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Knox, and Edmund Randolph. It was the first cabinet meeting ever held. Among other things, we asked Lindsay Chervinsky why Washington waited a full two and a half years into his presidency to call everyone together. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian Richard Striner talks about his book "Ike in Love and War," about the personal life and career of Dwight D. Eisenhower, covering everything from his upbringing and military service to his two-terms as president of the United States. Mr. Striner also talks about the three women Eisenhower fell in love with over his lifetime: Gladys Harding, Mamie Doud (later Mamie Eisenhower), and Kay Summersby, a Brit who served as Eisenhower's driver during World War Two.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chalkbeat editor Cara Fitzpatrick looked at the school choice movement and the future of education in America. She was interviewed by Washington Post education reporter Moriah Balingit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has been 32 months since the attack on the U.S. Capitol that disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress in the process of completing the presidential election result. More than 1,100 defendants have been charged in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia. More than 110 individuals have been found guilty of felonies. Kyle Cheney of Politico has spent a lot of time during these past months covering the trial in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia. We asked him to give us an overview of what these court proceedings have looked like up close. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Presidential historian and author Richard Norton Smith discusses his biography of President Gerald Ford titled "An Ordinary Man." He talks about Ford's personal life, anti-establishment politics, and post-presidential years. He also talks about the efforts made by President Ford to heal the country following the Watergate scandal and his controversial decision to pardon Richard Nixon.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The title of Dartmouth history professor Matthew Delmont's latest book is "Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad." Prof. Delmont, our guest this week, writes in his introduction that: "Nearly everything about the war – the start and end dates, geography, vital military roles, home front, and international implications – looks different form the African American perspective." He points out that ultimately, over one million Black men and women served in World War II.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

YouTuber Max Miller discussed his cookbook which explores history through recipes. About Books also reported on the latest publishing industry news and current non-fiction books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chapman University professor Luke Nichter is the author of the book "The Year That Broke Politics: Collusion and Chaos in the Presidential Election of 1968." Professor Nichter is also the creator of nixontapes.org, the "only website dedicated solely to the scholarly production and dissemination of digitized Nixon tape audio and transcripts." Nichter's book focuses on the 1968 presidential race and the contentious battle between Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, and George Wallace.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge discusses her book "Generations," about the differences between the six generations – The Silents, Baby Boomers, Gen. X, Millennials, Gen. Y and "The Polars" – currently living in the United States. She argues that technological advances shape generations more than anything else and talks about the impact this will have on the country in the future.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Craig Nelson, in his book "V Is For Victory," reports on the number of casualties from World War II. He writes that, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, the military casualties were 1,870,000 (405,000 killed and 673,115 wounded). Then, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were over 8.9 million American war industry worker casualties (75,400 dead and over 8.8 million wounded) between 1942 and 1945. Author Craig Nelson, our guest this week, further says: "Across history, the 'arsenal of democracy' has come to mean this miracle of American manufacturing. When Roosevelt used the term, however, he meant the miracle of the American people."      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our guest is Shahan Mufti's, who's new book, American Caliph, recounts an event that's been lost to history-- the March 9th, 1977 Hanafi Muslim siege in Washington, D.C. That day, three buildings in Washington, D.C. were seized by 12 Hanafi Movement gunmen and were held for two days. The group took 149 hostages, killed a young radio reporter named Maurice Williams, and shot then-councilman and future Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry. Mr. Mufti describes the background of the group's leader, Hamas Abdul Khaalis, the blood feud between him and the Nation of Islam, a movie about the prophet Muhammed that fueled the hostage-taking, and the tense negotiations that ultimately ended the siege. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York Times books reporter Elizabeth Harris discusses the review website Goodreads and how the platform can help and hurt sales, especially for lesser-known authors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Metropol Hotel is located near the Bolshoi Theatre in downtown Moscow. When it opened in 1901 it was the symbol of Russia's growing prosperity. After the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, it was often used by Lenin to give speeches at so-called party congresses. During World War II, the Metropol became a home and office for almost all foreign journalists allowed to work in the U.S.S.R. British journalist Alan Philps, our guest this week, has written a book about those days titled "The Red Hotel: Moscow 1941, the Metropol Hotel, and the Untold Story of Stalin's Propaganda War."    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By advancing his judicial philosophies of "originalism" and "textualism," Antonin Scalia became one of the 20th century's most influential justices. This week, James Rosen talks about Book One of his two-part biography of Antonin Scalia, titled "Scalia: Rise to Greatness, 1936-1986," Rosen who is Newsmax's Chief White House Correspondent examines Justice Scalia's life prior to the Supreme Court. We talk about Nino Scalia's early years, the importance of his Catholic faith, his first years as a corporate lawyer, his teaching career at the University of Chicago and UVA, his time in government during the Nixon and Ford administrations, and his appointment to the U.S. Court of Appeals.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Adam Andrzejewski is the founder of OpenTheBooks.com and lives in Hinsdale, Illinois. OpenTheBooks.com says it is "the largest private repository of U.S. public sector spending." The mission is to post "every dime, online, in real time." In their 2022 annual report on government spending, Alexander Fraser, a 19th century Scottish professor of history is quoted saying: "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. Democracy will continue to exist until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury." Mr. Andrzejewski is our guest this week on the Booknotes+ podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, you'll meet Ilyon Woo, author of a new bestseller-- "Master Slave, Husband Wife." She recounts the harrowing journey of self-emancipation made by two enslaved Georgians--William and Ellen Craft -- in 1848. Disguised as a wealthy disabled white man traveling with his enslaved servant, the Crafts left Georgia via public conveyances, avoiding slave traders, law enforcement, and curious fellow passengers in their successful effort to gain freedom. Becoming popular speakers on the lecture circuit, they found themselves hunted by slavecatchers after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daily Beast 's Matt Lewis explored how American politics is fueled by wealth & offered reforms on how to hold elected officials more accountable. He was interviewed by RealClearPolitics columnist and associate editor A.B. Stoddard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emory University professor Dan Sinykin discusses the late novelist Cormac McCarthy and how his career was nurtured by the publishing industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wall Street Journal reporter Katherine Clarke, in her book "Billionaires' Row," admits that: "Part of my motivation for writing this book was that as a reporter I can't help but observe that the colorful characters who've made the New York real estate world so dynamic are increasingly few and far between…In some ways, this book memorializes that dying breed of New York real estate kingpins who took big swings and risked losing it all." The subtitle of the book describes its focus: "Tycoons, High Rollers, and the Epic Race to Build the World's Most Exclusive Skyscrapers." These supertall buildings that house $100 million apartments are located on 57th Street at the southern end of Central Park in Manhattan.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A year before Arkansas' Little Rock Central High School was desegregated, 12 Black students in Clinton, Tennessee, enrolled, by court mandate, in Clinton High School's 1956 Fall semester. Historian Rachel Louise Martin, author of "A Most Tolerant Little Town," talks about the experiences of the students who desegregated the first school in the south following Brown v. Board of Education and the violent reaction by the extremist White Citizens Council and others in town who championed a segregated America.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Amul Thapar discussed the judicial philosophy of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas & recounted some of Thomas's key opinions. He was interviewed by USA Today Supreme Court correspondent John Fritze. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the past 18 months, since the start of the Russia-Ukraine War, the threat of a possible nuclear war is mentioned in the media almost every day. There are 9 countries in the world that reportedly have nuclear weapons, over 13,000 in all, 89% of which are controlled by the United States and Russia. Rebeccah Heinrichs of the Hudson Institute spends most of her professional time thinking, speaking, and writing about national security and defense. We asked her to give us her analysis of the nuclear weapons issue.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Axios chief financial correspondent Felix Salmon, author of "The Phoenix Economy," talks about the long-term social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. He argues that while the pandemic was devastating, many of the outcomes that have resulted from it have been surprisingly positive.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Wesley Lowery argued that moments of progress in race matters in the U.S. are often met with acts of violence. He was interviewed by Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Dean Jelani Cobb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Publishing analyst and consultant Thad McIlroy talked about the impact artificial intelligence might have on the publishing industry. About Books also reported on the latest publishing industry news and current non-fiction books. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we begin the 2024 presidential campaign, we hear the word "inflation" in almost every candidate's speech. One issue that is always mentioned is the price of food. Benjamin Lorr spent several years travelling the United States and the world to investigate how the food supply chain works. His book is titled "The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the American Supermarket." He writes that: "Most people shop for groceries with clueless abandon."    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian and Politico contributing writer Joshua Zeitz, author of "Lincoln's God," talks about the impact of faith on America's 16th president. Zeitz contends that as a young man, Abraham Lincoln was skeptical of organized religion but later, as president, came to embrace the power of evangelical Protestantism, both personally and politically.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

USC public policy professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett argued that rural & urban America have more in common than what Americans have been led to believe. She was interviewed by former Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 6, 1970, TWA flight 741 from Israel to New York was hijacked and flown to the Jordanian desert. Historian Martha Hodes, at the time 12 years old, was on that plane along with her sister Catherine, who was 13. A group called the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was behind the hijacking. For years, Martha Hodes, who teaches 19th Century history at New York University, only had fuzzy memories of those 6 days and nights in the desert as a hostage. In the past couple of years, Prof. Hodes decided to try to piece together her experience. The result is her book titled "My Hijacking: A Personal History of Forgetting and Remembering."     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guardian newspaper editorial writer and former China correspondent Tania Branigan, author of "Red Memory," talks about China's Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), during which millions of Chinese were killed and tens of millions were persecuted by the Chinese government for being enemies of the state. In the book, Ms. Branigan profiles several people who were targeted during this period and discusses the lasting impact of the Cultural Revolution in China today.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author and illustrator Jerry Craft discusses attempts to remove his graphic novels from school libraries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

C.W. Goodyear was born in New Orleans. He's a graduate of Yale University and now lives in the Washington, DC area. He's also a first time biographer, having just published a book about James Garfield titled "President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier." Garfield, America's 20th president, took office on March 4, 1881. His time as president lasted only 200 days. Garfield was assassinated by Charles Guiteau in a Washington, DC train station at the corner of 6th and Pennsylvania Avenue on July 2, 1881. Mr. Goodyear has written a full life biography of James Garfield, from the years he grew up in Ohio through his generalship in the Civil War and his 17 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This July 4th weekend, University of Michigan musicology and American culture professor Mark Clague discusses his book, "O Say Can You Hear?," about the history and cultural impact of the Star-Spangled Banner. He talks about how the 1814 poem written by Francis Scott Key became the U.S. national anthem, its widespread use today at sporting events, and renditions of the song performed by Jimi Hendrix, Whitney Houston, Roseanne Barr, and others.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Business journalist Jason Del Rey looks at the rise of Amazon and Walmart and their economic impact on the U.S. and the world. He's interviewed by Insider chief tech correspondent Eugene Kim. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former president Theodore Roosevelt died on January 6, 1919. He was 60 years old. Author William Hazelgrove, in his new book about Roosevelt, chose to focus mostly on the last two years of TR's life. It's titled "The Last Charge of the Rough Rider," and it's the focus of this week's podcast. Mr. Hazelgrove takes us through TR's feud with President Woodrow Wilson over wanting to create another Rough Rider soldier regiment to fight in Europe. Wilson turned him down in spite of the fact that both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives had approved Roosevelt's request.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Journalist Rebecca Grant reported on maternal healthcare in the U.S. & discussed how social & political dynamics impact pregnancy & motherhood. She was interviewed by New York Times reporter Alisha Gupta.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Book Industry Study Group executive director Brian O’Leary discusses how his organization is working to improve the production and distribution of print and digital books in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Simon Sebag Montefiore is a British historian. He's 57 and lives in London with his wife Santa and their two children. He's written 12 books - 9 nonfiction and 3 novels. His latest effort is titled "The World: A Family History of Humanity." Including the index, it's 1,304 pages. In his preface, Montefiore writes: "I have always wanted to write an intimate human history like 'The World' – in some ways a new approach, in some ways a traditional one – which is the fruit of a lifetime of study and travels."   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emmett Till's cousin Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr., who accompanied Till on his trip to Mississippi in 1955, talked about the fateful events leading up to Till's murder by two white men and his efforts to get justice for his late cousin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Robert Kaplan's 21st book, "The Tragic Mind," revolves around what he has learned over the years from Greek philosophers and William Shakespeare. Yale University Press says that Kaplan "employs the works of ancient Greek dramatists, Shakespeare, German philosophers, and the modern classics to explore the central subjects of international politics: order, disorder, rebellion, ambition, loyalty to family and state, violence, and the mistakes of power." Mr. Kaplan, 70, was born in New York City and graduated from the University of Connecticut.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate magazine staff writer Henry Grabar, author of "Paved Paradise," talks about the evolution of parking in the United States and the consequences of that development today. He argues that the decades-long importance given to parking has negatively impacted housing costs and development, city traffic, the environment, and more.      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former Trump Administration Interior Secretary David Bernhardt argued that the administrative state has amassed unaccountable power over the last twenty years. He was interviewed by American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Adam White. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices