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
Announcement
As we near the start of the 2020-21 academic year at UCLA, Then & Now will be moving to a biweekly schedule. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and to sign up for our emails, t…
Women's Political Empowerment in the U.S. Since the 19th Amendment: A Conversation with Ellen Dubois
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which granted and protects women’s right to vote. As we mark this centennial during an election ye…
Cruel, Unusual, and Overcrowded: A Conversation on California Prisons with Sharon Dolovich
The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution prevents the government from inflicting "cruel and unusual punishment” on those accused or convicted of a crime. Yet California’s prisons have b…
Is the U.S. Entering an Authoritarian Era? A Conversation with Samuel Moyn and Vera Eidelman
In the wake of the unprecedented election of President Donald Trump, and now punctuated by the COVID-19 pandemic and summer of protests, many scholars and public figures have argued that the U.S. is …
Mass Incarceration, Mass Deportation, and the Persistence of White Supremacy: A Conversation with Kelly Lytle Hernández
What are the roots of mass deportation and incarceration, and what do the two have to do with each other? How can studying these histories allow us to confront and dismantle the racist structures at …
"On The Basis of Sex:" A Conversation about the Supreme Court and LGBTQ Rights with ACLU Legal Director David Cole
On June 15, the Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects Gay and Transgender individuals from workplace discrimination. ACLU National Legal Director David Cole, who spearhe…
Reimagining Israel-Palestine: A Conversation with Peter Beinart on American Jews, Israel, and the the Principle of Equality for All
The seemingly intractable Israel-Palestine conflict may well be moving into a new phase, one in which the long-dominant two-state solution is no longer viable or desirable to the parties involved. H…
The Woman Worker, Reproductive Labor, and the ILO: A Conversation with Eileen Boris
What is work? Who is a worker? How have women been perceived and treated as workers? Who is deemed “deserving” of benefits, welfare, and pensions, and who gets excluded? Answers to these questions …
The Black Athlete as "Racial Project": A Conversation on Race, Politics, and Sports with Ben Carrington
From Jack Johnson to Muhammed Ali, from Tommie Smith to Colin Kaepernick, Black athletes have played a huge role in the social and cultural history of the 20th and 21st centuries. Ben Carrington, so…
Pride, Progress, and Power: A Conversation with Bamby Salcedo
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the first LGBTQ Pride Parade and Festival in West Hollywood. Activist, speaker, and founder of the TransLatin@ Coalition Bamby Salcedo joins Then & Now in conv…
Bella Abzug, Feminism, and Resistance Politics Today: A Conversation with Leandra Zarnow
“Battling Bella” Abzug was a Congresswoman, lawyer, and ardent feminist leader — during the 1970s she was one of the most recognizable women in U.S. politics. Abzug biographer and historian Leandra Z…
Who Counts in the Age of Corona? A Conversation on Latinx Health with David Hayes-Bautista
The coronavirus is like rain — it falls on everyone, but some communities are better able to protect themselves.
In this week’s episode, Dr. David Hayes-Bautista talks with the LCHP's Maia Ferdman ab…
400 Years of Racism, Myth, and Hope: Historical Perspectives on our Current Moment with Prof. Brenda Stevenson
"We cannot be the nation we want to be if we wrap ourselves in a flag of mythology, and refuse to look at what lies underneath that flag."
As part of our special coverage on the aftermath of the murde…
Collecting, Curating, Corona and the Black Experience of the American West: A Conversation with Tyree Boyd-Pates
Historians have the responsibility not only to unearth facts, but to uncover and lift up stories that have been traditionally ignored or excluded. This calling is all the more important in the midst …
The Banality of Evil and the Murder of George Floyd: A Conversation with Robin Kelley
Political philosopher Hannah Arendt famously argued - in the case of SS officer Adolf Eichmann - that ordinary people can easily become complicit in evil acts as part of a larger system of injustice …
All is Not Well in the Golden State: The Scourge of White Nationalism in Southern California
This week the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy releases its report on White Nationalism in Southern California, titled "All is Not Well in the Golden State."
We are joined by the authors, Gr…
Bending toward Justice? The Arc of Human Rights over the Past 70 Years: A Conversation with Prof. Tendayi Achiume
Please join for an inspiring conversation on Then & Now with Tendayi Achiume, UCLA Law Professor, the Faculty Director of the UCLA Law Promise Institute for Human Rights, and the UN Special Rapporteu…
How to Act—and Not Act—in Public Health Crises: A Conversation with Dr. Linda Rosenstock
Dr. Linda Rosenstock, Professor and Dean Emeritus of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, joins Then & Now to share her rich experience in the public health field and helps us make sense of the…
How Universities Have Responded and Should Respond to Crisis: A Conversation with Prof. Michael Meranze
This week we are joined by Professor Michael Meranze, UCLA History Professor and Chair of UCLA’s Academic Senate. The Academic Senate is a body of faculty members who share in the governance of the U…
Of Supervisors and Sheriffs: A Deep Dive into the Challenges of County Government
To conclude Then & Now’s three-part mini-series on the relationship between the LA County Supervisors and Sheriff’s Department, we sat down with Connie Rice, Esq. and Dr. Raphael Sonenshein, two prom…