Added 7.12.19. The Pakistani Islamic militant who masterminded the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers and other deadly terrorist attacks now remains in custody at Guantanamo Bay. Investigative journalist and author Richard Miniter wrote the definitive account of his life and career, titled, “Mastermind: The Many Faces Of The 9/11 Architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.” In this interview with Milt, Miniter shares detailed and colorful revelations about Mohammed’s life as a student in the U.S., his role in the capture of Osama bin Laden and the prevention of other planned terrorist attacks landmarks in the U.S. and abroad, and his interrogation by U.S.authorities. Miniter has worked for the Wall Street Journal and Sunday Times of London and is now the national security columnist for Forbes. His other books include “Losing bin Laden,” and “Shadow War: The Inside Story of How America Is Winning The War On Terror.”

Added 6.7.19. Loaded with historical radio clips, Milt interviews broadcast historian J. Fred MacDonald about 20th Century broadcasting history. The show starts with a vintage clip that jolts the listener back to  a national turning point. The Sunday broadcast of the New York Philharmonic, live, playing Shostakovich’s Symphony #1 in F Minor, is interrupted by a news bulletin, and then continued radio news coverage of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The episode traces the role of broadcast communications in U.S. history, politics and public opinion going forward from that point.

Added 5.31.19. Modern Russia is a study in intersectionality. How is it shaped by the overlapping spheres of strongman leader Vladimir Putin, the criminal oligarch class, plus a media more and more owned by said oligarchs, and the restless but still somewhat cowed masses? What are the key takeaways on the nation’s resurgent geopolitical profile? Milt probes the problems and prospects of modern Russia with two eminent “Russianists.” They are John Bushnell, a Northwestern University historian, and Martha Merritt, then of the University of Chicago.

Added 5.24.19. Situated on the site of modern-day Istanbul, the city of Byzantium – also known for some time as Constantinople – was an empire which bridged antiquity and the dawn of modernity, and became the dominant economy, culture and military in Europe. Joining Milt in a closer look at the Byzantine Empire through the peregrinations of time are Dean Miller, professor emeritus of history at the University of Rochester, and Robert Nelson, a University of Chicago historian.

Added 5.17.19. With historians John Lynn of the University of Illinois and Brian Sandberg of Northern Illinois University, Milt in this vintage episode explores what drove conquerors such as Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and Hitler to do what they did. What was the role of “legacy preoccupation” in Alexander’s quests? How exactly did Hitler conceptualize his symbiosis with the body politic? These questions and much more get a lively treatment from the panel, and callers add their own theories and queries.