KPFA - Letters and Politics

A look at burning political issues and debates and their historical context within the US and worldwide, hosted by Mitch Jeserich. The post Letters and Politics – July 31, 2025 [https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-july-31-2025/] appeared first on KPFA [https://kpfa.org].

Guest: Ann Schmiesing is professor of German and Scandinavian studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is the author of Disability, Deformity, and Disease in the Grimms’ Fairy Tales and most lately, The Brothers Grimm: A Biography. [https://kpfa.org/app/uploads/2025/07/GrimmBrothesPack-307x230.jpg] The post The Story Behind the Grimm Brothers’ Tales [https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-july-30-2025/] appeared first on KPFA [https://kpfa.org].

Guest: Emily Hauser is a senior lecturer in classics and ancient history at the University of Exeter, UK. She is the author of three novels reimagining the women of Greek myth: For the Most Beautiful, For the Winner, and For the Immortal. She is also the author of How Women Became Poets, and most recently, of Penelope’s Bones: A New History of Homer’s World through the Women Written Out of It. [https://kpfa.org/app/uploads/2025/07/LP_MythologyOriginsPack-184x230.jpg] The post Women in Ancient History: Penelope’s Bones [https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-july-29-2025/] appeared first on KPFA [https://kpfa.org].

Guest: Laura Spinney is a science journalist and the author of Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World and most recently, Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global. [https://kpfa.org/app/uploads/2025/07/Proto-Language-152x230.jpg] The post The Origins of the Proto-Indo-Europeans [https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-july-28-2025/] appeared first on KPFA [https://kpfa.org].

Guest: Laurence Rees is an award-winning English historian and documentary filmmaker. He has authored several books including The Holocaust: A New History, Hitler and Stalin,  Auschwitz: A New History, and his latest, The Nazi Mind: Twelve Warnings from History.   [https://kpfa.org/app/uploads/2025/07/FearFactorPack_Black-163x230.jpg] The post Understanding the Psychology of Nazis [https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-july-24-2025/] appeared first on KPFA [https://kpfa.org].