Then & Now
Then & Now connects past to present, using historical analysis and context to help guide us through modern issues and policy decisions. Then & Now is brought to you by the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy. This podcast is produced by David Myers and Roselyn Campbell, and features original music by Daniel Raijman.
- Update frequency
- every 12 days
- Average duration
- 47 minutes
- Episodes
- 144
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
From the End of the Military Regime to the Return of Lula: Discussing Brazil's Political History with Bryan Pitts
The narrow victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, better known as Lula, in Brazil's presidential election in November 2022 was seen by many as a win for democracy in the country. Yet as the storming o…
Israel and the Specter of Fascism Today: A Conversation with Omer Bartov
Late in 2022, Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power in Israel, despite being ousted from office in July 2021. Now starting his sixth term as Prime Minister, Netanyahu has aligned himself with a number…
Women’s Rights in Iran: A Conversation with Kelly J. Shannon
In September, 22-year old Mahsa Amini died after being detained by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s dress code. Protests quickly erupted, and over the past two mo…
What's New with the Longest Hatred: A Conversation about Anti-Judaism with David Nirenberg
In the wake of a recent surge of antisemitism, we talk to historian David Nirenberg about what connects the hatred of Jews in the past and present. Anti-Judaism is more than simply a form of prejudic…
The Racial Politics of Historic Preservation in in Los Angeles: A Conversation with Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Hao Ding
At first glance, historic preservation seems to be a key part of good urban planning. But whom does historic preservation actually serve? In this week’s episode, our guests discuss their recent LCHP…
The Past and Future of Latino Politics in LA: A Conversation about the City Council Crisis with Miguel Santana and Gary Segura
Several weeks ago, a leaked tape revealed three LA city council members and a local labor leader engaged in racist conversation. Since then, the city has been enveloped in a political crisis. The lan…
Mussolini’s Long Shadow: The Italian Elections, Giorgia Meloni, and the Legacies of Fascism
On Sunday, September 25th, Italy held a snap election following the resignation of prime minister Mario Draghi and the dissolution of the Italian Parliament. The election resulted in a parliamentary …
Who’s Afraid of the Administrative State? The Supreme Court. A Conversation with Julian Davis Mortenson
This past June, the Supreme Court reached a decision in West Virginia vs. Environmental Protection Agency that curtailed the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon emissions from coal plants. Behind this r…
University in Crisis: Disruption, Response, and Transformation During the Young Administration at UCLA
This episode features a conversation with UCLA graduate and undergraduate students who authored a new LCHP report exploring the history UCLA's response to crises of major scale. Jazz Kiang, Jannelle…
Guns, Violence, and the Law: A Conversation with Professor Adam Winkler
In the wake of more horrific mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, the United States finds itself yet again engaged in a morbid ritual of horror and grief, thoughts and prayers, and renewed calls for…
Student Debt as a Civil Rights Issue: A Conversation with Dalié Jimenez and Jonathan Glater
The student debt crisis in the United States has reached record highs, totaling about $1.75 trillion from 45 million borrowers. As millions of Americans await President Biden’s decision about whether…
What Can International Law Do? A Conversation about the International Legal Order and Russia-Ukraine with Anna Spain Bradley
The international community has widely condemned Russia’s war on Ukraine and has placed increasing pressure on Russia to withdraw. But what more can it do? What legal mechanisms and levers of pressur…
The End of Abortion Rights in the United States? A Conversation with Cary Franklin in the Wake of the Leaked Alito Opinion
In this special episode, Cary Franklin returns Then & Now for a follow-up conversation about abortion rights in the U.S., in light of the leaked Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe vs. Wade (liste…
30 Years Later: A Conversation on the 1992 LA Uprisings with Brenda Stevenson and Kent Wong
On April 29, 1992, three LAPD officers were acquitted after brutally beating Rodney King, and a fourth was let off with no verdict. Widespread protests erupted in response, a result of deep-seated an…
Breaking the Deadlock in Israel Palestine: The New Plan for a Holy Land Confederation
On March 6th, 2022, the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy, in partnership with the USC Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life and the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for …
The History of Racism and the Quest for Racial Justice at UCLA
This episode features a conversation with the UCLA graduate and undergraduate students who authored a new LCHP report exploring the history of both racism and the quest for racial justice at UCLA. Th…
Understanding Ukraine Past and Present: A Conversation with Jared McBride
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shocked and perplexed the world. UCLA Historian Jared McBride joins Then & Now for the third conversation in a mini-series examining this invasion through a historica…
Ghosts of the Past in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Conversations with Historians Benjamin Nathans and Arch Getty. A Special Two-Part Episode
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shocked and perplexed the world. This special two-part episode of Then & Now features two outstanding historical observers: Benjamin Nathans, Alan Charles Kors Endowe…
Deadlock in Israel-Palestine: How to Imagine a Better Future? Part 2
This week's episode features the recording of Part 2 of the three part webinar series organized by the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy in partnership with the USC Casden Institute for the S…
The Transformation of Academic Labor: Past as Prologue at the UC
LCHP Student Research Fellows and Geography Ph.D. students Sammy Feldblum and John Schmidt join Then & Now to discuss their new LCHP research report, The Transformation of Academic Labor: Past as Pro…