The greatest persisting mystery from the twentieth century is the career of Adolf Hitler and his “success” in leading his military and his “Volk” into the ultimate abyss of mass murder in the Holocaust. The impossible task of “explaining Hitler” was confronted by many and, in the consensual judgment of the historians, none came closer than Sir Ian Kershaw. Here is the full interview that I did with him after the publication of the second volume of his great study of this freakish figure who was at the center of unaccountable, ultimate evil.

For despairing conservatives who think they discern the inevitable decline of their country, new hope and optimism may be found in the new book by James Bennett and Michael Lotus, American 3.0: Rebooting American Prosperity in the 21st Century–Why America’s Greatest Days Are Yet to Come. Or, maybe not. Here is a close and critical discussion with Michael Lotus who foresees a great “rebooting” of America.

Among the many scholars who have argued that Freudianism is fraudulent, the outstanding American contributor is Frederick Crews, author of Follies of the Wise, Unauthorized Freudand The Memory Wars. Here he is in full form, arguing the case that Freudian psychoanalysis has no scientific standing and, as therapy, has no demonstrated value.

Phillip Ball, a great British historian of science, joins us to discuss Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Hooke, Giambattista della Porta and the many others who made the Scientific Revolution. All are included in his book Curiosity: How Science Became Interested in Everything. What moved and sustained them all was curiosity, a human compulsion that was not fully allowed until the 17th century.

It’s Yemen. Does that surprise you? That may be because you’re a little light on your knowledge of the fifth century AD. Glen Bowersock, a great historian located at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, is our guest in this podcast as we discuss his new book The Throne of Adulis, about the Jewish rulers and people of Yemen who ultimately were overwhelmed by the newly risen force of Islam. The world was full of more things than were dreamt of in your college course on the history of the pre-Islamic middle east.

That’s the title of the recent Broadside book by Sally Pipes, President and CEO of the Pacific Research Institute. Here she is showing how Obamacare will add tremendously to the costs for individuals and employers. But, she argues, there are easily implemented alternatives…and here they are.

David McCullough’s biography of John Adams won the Pulitzer Prize and this discussion with him preceded the award by some months.  John Adams was short, tubby, passionate, often angry and, in McCullough’s judgment, could never have won the presidency in the electronic age. How fortunate we were in having him as one of the “Founders” – and as President – is one of the main themes of this chat. The other great theme is, simply, a fascinating life which is here recounted by America’s foremost popular historian.

Even though the spotlight had shifted back to Congress, the delay or discard of Obamacare, and whether some Senate Democrats might defect, Syria still festers and the Obama performance still, shall we say, puzzles. We talked in September, 2013 with Victor Davis Hanson about what then was at issue – and how the President played it and was played.

So what’s really wrong with you? The APA (American Psychiatric Association) has got your number or, rather, your diagnosis. And it is all laid out in the DSM-5.  Whazzat? The revised list of mental disorders wherein your neighborhood psychiatrist can find you, label you and make you eligible or ineligible for insurance coverage for the sometimes quite harmful drugs he will prescribe. So says psychologist Gary Greenberg in his new Book of Woe: The DSM and the Unmaking of Psychiatry. According to Greenberg that branch of medicine  is now in danger of becoming a sideshow turned into a racket.

On occasion we will put up a podcast of a past and “classic” encounter between Milt and a prominent political, journalistic or scholarly figure. Here’s a conversation with Henry Kissinger in 1994 which still makes much sense of international relations now.