When was that? The 30s, 40s and 50s during which every form flourished including the classic “soap operas,” band broadcasts, variety shows, comedy series and extensive coverage of World War II. Our guide is the major radio historian, Fred MacDonald and here he is along with many great sound clips.

What will we be eating (and why) a hundred years from now or – for that matter – in 2020? The future of food depends upon climate, politics, costs and sheer human curiosity and perversity, according to the three experts who joined us in this discussion.

The mode of ultimate inquiry represented by the likes of Plato and Aristotle still flourishes. One of the most significant practitioners of modern philosophy is Martha Nussbaum, with whom we had this memorable conversation focused on classical and contemporary concerns.

The preface to World War II was, of course, the Spanish Civil War. What caused it, how it was fought and the ultimate consequences of the fascist victory are discussed here by Stanley Payne, that war’s most notable historian.

Baseball did not begin in Cooperstown N.Y. Nor was it invented by Abner Doubleday. The real history of the game and its further evolution are colorfully recounted here by one of its leading scholars.