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Imagine if the world’s most influential (and sometimes, most infamous) philosophers, politicians, and personalities could chime in on today's news. Each week, WWKMD? reanimates the minds of history’s sharpest and most opinionated thinkers to interpret modern headlines.
Join WWKMD? as it summons philosophers, economists, and thinkers from decades and centuries past to debate capitalism, culture wars, and the debt ceiling. Because sometimes, you need a 19th-century revolutionary to make sense of a 21st-century mess.
For the full list of threads and episodes, visit www.wwkmd.com
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 14: The Price of Every Promise: James Baker’s Rule for Diplomacy
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Jun 19, 2026 |
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 13: Kissinger's Playbook: How Uncertainty Became America's Silent Weapon
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Jun 19, 2026 |
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 12: When Deals Are Ledgers: J.P. Morgan on Diplomacy and Value
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Jun 19, 2026 |
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 11: What John Quincy Adams Would Say About the Iran Deal
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Jun 19, 2026 |
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 10: What Would Ben Franklin Do About the Iran Deal?
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Jun 19, 2026 |
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Mormons (thread 11), Episode 6: Mark Twain Roasts Mormonism — And Gets Surprised
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Jun 11, 2026 |
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Mormons (thread 11), Episode 5: Elizabeth Cady Stanton on Mormon Polygamy--Holding a Mirror to America
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Jun 11, 2026 |
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Mormons (thread 11), Episode 4: When a Senator Saw Mormons as 'Barbarism': Charles Sumner vs. Utah
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Jun 11, 2026 |
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Mormons (thread 11), Episode 3: When the Spanish Inquisition Met Mormonism: A 17th-Century Smackdown
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Jun 09, 2026 |
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Mormons (thread 11), Episode 2: If Joseph Smith Faced the Salem Courts: Angels, Evidence, and Endless Questions
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Jun 09, 2026 |
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Mormons (thread 11), Episode 1: When Cotton Mather Met Joseph Smith: Puritan Skeptic vs. New Revelation
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Jun 09, 2026 |
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WWKMD, Episode 19: Marx vs. the Self-Checkout: Who’s Really Doing the Work?
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Jun 04, 2026 |
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WWKMD, Episode 18: Karl Marx at Walmart — Part 1: The Shopping Cart Showdown
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Jun 04, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 17: From Buchanan to Trump: How a Forgotten Nationalist Foretold the Tariff Turn
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May 26, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 16: Ross Perot’s Charts: The Man Who Saw NAFTA’s Fallout Coming
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May 26, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 15: Reagan's Trade Paradox: Free-Market Saint, Surprise Protectionist
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May 26, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 14: Nixon’s Tariff Playbook: The Original Trade Populist
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May 26, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 13: Truman vs. Tariff Chaos: What He'd Say About Today's Trade Wars
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May 26, 2026 |
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 9: Goldwater’s Grit: How He’d Handle Modern Iran
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May 19, 2026 |
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 8: Dean Acheson: The Suit Who Built America’s Global Order
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May 19, 2026 |
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 7: Dulles on the Brink: How a Cold Warrior Would Handle Iran
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May 19, 2026 |
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Iran (thread 10), Episode 6: If Truman Saw Iran Today: Cold War Instincts in a Hot Region
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May 19, 2026 |
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Obamacre (thread 2), Episode 11: Fighting Bob vs. Big Health: La Follette on Obamacare
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May 16, 2026 |
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Obamacre (thread 2), Episode 10: Teddy vs. the Health Care Goliath: What TR Would Say About Obamacare
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May 16, 2026 |
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The White House Ballroom (thread 7), Episode 5: Huey Long and the People's Ballroom: How Populism Loves Spectacle
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May 06, 2026 |
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The White House Ballroom (thread 7), Episode 4: Teddy Roosevelt’s Big-Show Presidency: Why He’d Love a White House Ballroom
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May 06, 2026 |
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The White House Ballroom (thread 7), Episode 3: Why Chester A. Arthur Would Approve of a Gilded White House Ballroom
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May 06, 2026 |
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WWKMD, Episode 17: Oil, Empires, and the Unstoppable Logic of Capital
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Apr 16, 2026 |
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Iran (Thread 10), Episode 5: When There's No Referee: Hobbes on the Iran Clash
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Apr 14, 2026 |
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Iran (Thread 10): Episode 4: “This Time It’s Different”? Erasmus Wouldn’t Buy It
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Apr 14, 2026 |
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Iran (Thread 10), Episode 3: Machiavelli in the Strait: Power, Fear, and the Politics of Oil
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Apr 14, 2026 |
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Iran (Thread 10), Episode 2: Aquinas on the Strait: Is the Iran Fight Truly Just?
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Apr 14, 2026 |
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Iran (Thread 10), Episode 1: Grotius in the Gulf: Rules, Rights, and the Strait of Hormuz
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Apr 14, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--14th Amendment, Episode 9: When 'Any Person' Wins: The Plyler v. Doe Breakthrough
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Apr 09, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--14th Amendment, Episode 8: When the Constitution Stops at the Shore: The Insular Cases Explained
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Apr 09, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--14th Amendment, Episode 7: Born Here, Belong Here: The Wong Kim Ark Case
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Apr 09, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--14th Amendment, Episode 6: All Persons, With an Asterisk: The Chinese Exclusion Act vs. the 14th Amendment
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Apr 09, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--14th Amendment, Episode 5: Separate But Equal: The Court That Sold Segregation
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Apr 02, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--14th Amendment, Episode 4: Slaughterhouse Surprise: How the 14th Amendment Was Gutted
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Apr 02, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--14th Amendment, Episode 3: Chase’s Caution: How the 14th Amendment Was Tempered
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Apr 02, 2026 |
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Vaccines (thread 4), Epsiode 10: Leicester's Rebellion: The Birth of the Anti-Vaccination League
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Mar 31, 2026 |
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Vaccines (thread 4), Episode 12: The Spine vs. Germs: D.D. Palmer’s Bold Rejection of Germ Theory
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Mar 27, 2026 |
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Vaccines (thread 4), Episode 11: The Shirtless Philosopher: When Abs Met Anti-Vax
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Mar 27, 2026 |
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Vaccines (thread 4), Episode 9: Survival of the Fittest: Spencer’s Case Against Vaccination
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Mar 27, 2026 |
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Vaccines (thread 4), Episode 8: Thoreau vs. The Needle: When Conscience Meets Contagion
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Mar 27, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 12: FDR’s Lesson: You Can’t Tariff Your Way Out
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Mar 26, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 11: Smoot-Hawley: The Tariff That Trapped Hoover
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Mar 26, 2026 |
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ICE (thread 8), Episode 7: When the Badge Becomes the Blame: What Abolitionists Would Say About ICE
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Mar 22, 2026 |
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ICE (thread 8), Episode 6: When Order Trumped Justice: From the Fugitive Slave Act to Modern Enforcement
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Mar 22, 2026 |
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WWKMD?, Episode 16: If Karl Marx Took On the Vaccine Debate
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Mar 22, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 18: Whose Hands Built the Prosperity? Cesar Chavez’s Challenge
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Mar 13, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 17: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Unapologetic Voice America Couldn't Ignore
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Mar 13, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 16: If MLK Sat in the State of the Union: The Questions He’d Ask
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Mar 13, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 15: If William F. Buckley Watched Trump's State of the Union
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Mar 13, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 14: Goldwater Would've Nodded — Then Raised an Eyebrow
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Mar 13, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 13: If Murrow Faced the State of the Union: Lights, Tape, Truth
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Mar 13, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 12: When McCarthy Would Cheer: TV Rhetoric and the State of the Union
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Mar 13, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 11: If JFK Watched the State of the Union: Ambition vs. Applause
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Mar 13, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 10: FDR vs. Trump: What the King of Crisis Management Would Change About the State of the Union
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Mar 13, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 9: If Jane Addams Sat in the State of the Union Gallery
|
Feb 28, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 8: What Ida B. Wells Would Ask at the State of the Union
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Feb 28, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 7: If Mark Twain Attended the State of the Union
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Feb 28, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 6: If Eugene Debs Watched the State of the Union: Who Really Holds Power?
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Feb 28, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 5: Du Bois Takes the State of the Union: The X‑Ray Behind the Flags
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Feb 28, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 4: If Teddy Roosevelt Watched Trump’s State of the Union
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Feb 28, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 3: If Lincoln Watched Trump's State of the Union
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Feb 28, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 2: If Andrew Jackson Watched Trump's State of the Union
|
Feb 28, 2026 |
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SOTU (thread 9), Episode 1: If George Washington Watched Trump's State of the Union
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Feb 28, 2026 |
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ICE (thread 8), Episode 5: When Law Becomes a Boot: Patriots vs. the Empire
|
Feb 22, 2026 |
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ICE (thread 8), Episode 4: If Britain Were Watching: 1770s Logic Meets Modern Enforcement
|
Feb 22, 2026 |
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Historic Whimsey, Episode 3: If Nixon Watched Pam Bondi: Loyalty, Cover-Ups, and the Epstein Files
|
Feb 22, 2026 |
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WWKMD?, Episode 15: If Adam Smith Walked Into Walmart
|
Feb 17, 2026 |
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WWKMD?, Episode 14: If Marx Met AI: Why Machines Didn’t Surprise Him
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Feb 17, 2026 |
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Venezuela (thread 6), Episode 7: The Marine Who Exposed Empire: Smedley Butler's Reckoning
|
Feb 17, 2026 |
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Venezuela (thread 6), Episode 6: Mark Twain vs. Empire: Why Venezuela Isn't America's to Save
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Feb 17, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 10: Carnegie vs. Rockefeller: How Tariffs Rewrote American Capitalism
|
Feb 14, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 9: TR vs. Trump: The Tariff Test
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Feb 14, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 8: McKinley vs. Modern Tariff Politics: What He'd Say About Trump's Trade War
|
Feb 14, 2026 |
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ICE (thread 8), Episode 3: Kant vs. Deterrence: When Duty Checks Power
|
Feb 10, 2026 |
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ICE (thread 8), Episode 2: Locke vs. Power: When 'Law and Order' Becomes Tyranny
|
Feb 10, 2026 |
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ICE (thread 8), Episode 1: Leviathan at the Border: What Hobbes Would Say About ICE
|
Feb 10, 2026 |
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Ukraine (thread 1), Episode 18: Emma Goldman on War: Bodies, Obedience, and Power
|
Feb 05, 2026 |
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Ukraine (thread 1), Episode 17: What W.E.B. Du Bois Would Say About the Ukraine War
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Feb 05, 2026 |
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Ukraine (Thread 1), Episode 16: The Ukraine War Through a Socialist's Eyes
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Feb 05, 2026 |
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The White House Ballroom (thread 7), Episode 2: Jefferson vs. Washington: Why the White House Shouldn’t Dance
|
Feb 03, 2026 |
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The White House Ballroom (thread 7), Episode 1: Why George Washington Wouldn’t Let the White House Have a Ballroom
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Feb 03, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--Obamacare (thread 8), Episode 7: When the Court Changed the Rules: How Hughes Made Regulation Constitutional
|
Jan 27, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--Obamacare (thread 8), Epsiode 6: Taft vs. Obamacare: When the Court Clung to Old Order
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Jan 27, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--Obamacare (thread 8): Episode 5: The Fuller Court vs. Obamacare: How 19th‑Century Judges Would Have Said No
|
Jan 27, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--Obamacare (thread 8), Episode 4: Reconstruction Court vs. Obamacare: When Liberty Meant Being Left Alone
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Jan 27, 2026 |
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Venezuela (thread 6), Episode 5: When Headlines Start Wars: Hearst’s Venezuela Playbook
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Jan 22, 2026 |
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Venezuela (thread 6), Episode 4: Moral Imperialism: Beveridge’s Divine Case for Empire
|
Jan 22, 2026 |
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Venezuela (thread 6), Episode 3: Henry Cabot Lodge: When Empire Felt Like Duty
|
Jan 22, 2026 |
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WWKMD?, Episode 13: Marx vs. Obamacare: The Market’s Medical Band‑Aid
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Jan 22, 2026 |
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WWKMD?, Episode 12: Marx vs. Bitcoin: What the Bearded Prophet Would Say
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Jan 22, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--Tariffs, Episode 7: Rehnquist’s Ruling: Why Trump’s Tariffs Would Hold
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Jan 19, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--Tariffs, Episode 6: When the Burger Court Said 'Not Our Job': Why Deference Won
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Jan 19, 2026 |
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Historic Supreme Courts--Tariffs, Episode 5: If Earl Warren Could Judge Trump: Tariffs Through the Warren Court Lens
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Jan 19, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3): Episode 7: Henry Clay vs. Trump: Tariffs That Build — Not Blow Up — the Union
|
Jan 13, 2026 |
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Tariffs (thread 3), Episode 6: Jackson Would Hang the Dissenters: How Tariffs Become a Power Play
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Jan 13, 2026 |