In this episode conference director Matthew Biberman talks with acclaimed war journalist and poet Tom Sleigh about Israel and making sense of the region while the 10/7 war rages on.  Sleigh's most recent essay collection is The Land Between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees. His mid-career turn to war journalism has garnered Sleigh a new audience while making him one America’s essential poets for understanding our world today. He is also a Distinguished Professor in the MFA Program at Hunter College. Our conversation includes discussion of Tom's forthcoming New and Selected Poems featuring the memorable long poem "Widows" as well as his memoir Rosie (about assisting his mother with her suicide).


Season 4, Episode 1: Tom Sleigh

In his 1988 semiautobiographical novel "The Beautiful Room Is Empty," author Edmund White relates his experiences on the night of June 28, 1969, as he and others passed by the Stonewall Inn, a New York City gay bar: “I suppose the police expected us to run away into the night, as we’d always done before, but we stood across the street on the sidewalk of the small triangular park. … Everyone booed the cops, just as though they were committing a shameful act. We kept exchanging peripheral glances, excited and afraid.”

The uprising that White witnessed is described by the Library of Congress as a “tipping point” for the gay liberation movement in the United States. One year later, the first Pride marches were held in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago – the beginning of an annual June tradition of events commemorating Stonewall and the continuation of prior decades of activism and demonstrations for equal rights for LGBTQ+ people.

White, the author of over 30 books of fiction and nonfiction and hundreds of essays and articles, died on June 3, 2025. He’s called a “towering figure in American literature” who is “most justly known as one of the singular lights of gay letters” by Jonathan Alexander, UC Irvine Chancellor’s Professor of English and informatics who’s been named the next chair of the campus’s nationally ranked Department of English.

In this wide-ranging episode of The UC Irvine Podcast, Alexander reflects on both White and Pride. He also describes how he thinks about fear in the face of uncertainty, his vision for the future of the UC Irvine English department, and what he’s learning through his current research on how the craft of writing affects University of California graduates.

“Shadowing,” the music for this episode, was provided by Corbyn Kites, via the audio library in YouTube Studio.

On writing, a pioneer writer, Pride and maintaining one's courage

Two AI Bots discuss the David Boles article about The Arts and Critics published online at BolesBlogs.com 

The Enemy of the Arts is the Humanities

Dr. Tamara D. Hill is not only a versatile scholar but her exteensive body of work spans various publications.
In Merge Literary Magazine she authored the insightful piece "What Black Girl Advocacy on 'The Chi' Looks Like."  he also penned a three-part series on the influence and impact of rap artists Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion and Nicki Minaj in the music industry. The series culminated with her article , "Megan Thee Stallion-Her Name and Persona is an Open Love Letter  to Women and Southern Swag Belles."
She's back continuing her discussion on Black Women their music and impact on Pop Culture.

Dr. Tamara D.  Hill: Black Women in Music Flex in Defining Pop Culture

This episode addresses the elephant slouching on its phone in the corner of many literature classrooms. Mary Isbell (University of New Haven) describes her search for a solution to the student reading crisis, incorporating conversations recorded as she was writing Searching for Wonder: Teaching Literature with Student-Selected Texts. These conversations reveal the many reasons faculty may be hesitant to set aside their carefully curated reading lists. With her guests, Isbell explores the history of literature instruction, the firm hold of close reading on the teaching of literature, the role of scholarly expertise in the humanities classroom, and the challenge of assessing process in literature courses. Production support by Stefan Schöberlein (Texas A&M University-Central Texas). Transcript available at bit.ly/S0902Transcript. To read the conclusion of Isbell's book Searching For Wonder, visit bit.ly/S09E02Resources.

S09 E02 | How Do We Teach Literature When Students Won’t Read What We Assign?

Roy Scranton returns to the podcast to discuss his new book, Impasse: Climate Change and the Limits of Progress, recently published by Stanford University Press.

Scranton describes our moment as an impasse. We struggle to narrativize and imagine our path through. The vision of our collective horizons is muddied by the sheer unknowability of what the near and distant future holds. Narratives of progress have brought us to this confluence of crises as complex global systems collapse and shift under the weight of material limits on a hotter, more chaotic world.

// Episode notes: https://www.lastborninthewilderness.com/episodes/roy-scranton-2

// Sustain + support: https://www.patreon.com/lastborninthewilderness 

// Donate: https://www.paypal.me/lastbornpodcast

390 / Impasse / Roy Scranton

We're coming for you / Un Etat du Monde / Janvier 2025

Join Humanities Center director Dr. Shellen Wu as they talk with Dr. Ziad Munson on Right Wing Movements.

Episode 1: A Conversation with Ziad Munson on Right Wing Movements

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Mariana Imaz, program manager of the Speakers Bureau for Humanities Washington. The Speakers Bureau provides a range of topics and speakers covering arts, culture, history - and so much more - and non-profit groups and public agencies around the Evergreen State can submit applications to request speakers to appear in their communities.

Humanities Washington just released the list of speakers and topics available for 2026-2027. Deadline for applications to request a speaker for First Quarter 2026 is November 15, 2025.

Humanities Washington website for more information for groups requesting speakers:
https://www.humanities.org/programs/speakers-bureau/host-a-speaker/

Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau 2026-2027 Roster
https://www.humanities.org/programs/speakers-bureau/upcoming-speakers/

Humanities Washington Calendar of Upcoming Events:
https://www.humanities.org/events/

Feliks Banel's 2026-2027 Presentation Description - All Over The Map:
https://www.humanities.org/speaker/feliks-banel-3/

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station is located at historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss an episode.

BONUS EPISODE: Apply Now for FREE Speaker Programs for Communities around the Evergreen State

Recorded September 26th, 2025.

Trinity’s Dean of Research, Professor Sinéad Ryan, welcomes Government Science Advisor, Aoife McLysaght, for a lively conversation with Hub Director Patrick Geoghegan on bridging research and public policy. Drawing on her career as a geneticist and public communicator and adviser, Dr McLysaght reflects on how Science and the Humanities can work together to shape understanding and create impact.

Learn more at www.tcd.ie/trinitylongroomhub

Science, Public Policy, and the Humanities

The LCLC Podcast features candid conversation about and among practitioners and enthusiasts of literature and culture. 

Since its inception in 1973, the Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture draws many important thinkers and writers to its annual gathering (including Jennifer Egan, Ben Lerner, and Rachel Kushner).  Director Matthew Biberman invites friends and LCLC participants to weigh in on particularly pressing concerns including the place and the role of the humanities today.  Past guests include Tom Sleigh, Jane Gallop, and Stanley Fish.

Opened in 2010, the Trinity Long Room Hub Arts and Humanities Research Institute is dedicated to advancing Trinity College Dublin’s rich tradition of research excellence in the Arts and Humanities, on an individual, collaborative and inter-disciplinary basis.

Author, Public Speaker, Radio Host of Collections by Michelle Brown Blog Radio

As Lehigh’s largest college, the College of Arts and Sciences is home to the social sciences, arts, humanities, and natural sciences. Undergraduate and graduate degree programs prepare students to anticipate and lead change, to view challenges as opportunities, to turn knowledge into action, and to make a difference in the world. We seek to maximize student growth and development through a flexible curriculum that allows students to explore their interests. Our classrooms extend to the broader community and to countries spanning the globe.

The C19 Podcast is a production by scholars from across the world exploring the past, present, and future through an examination of the United States in the long nineteenth century.

The official podcast of C19: The Society of Nineteenth-Century Americanists.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is the only LIVE radio show presenting news and stories about people doing cool things with and for history in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia. We talk about people, artifacts, books, maps, photos, places, landmarks, public lands, state and national parks, trails, highways, and the historic events that can bring us all together.

The show is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time on SPACE 101.1 FM (and streaming via http://www.space101fm.org ) from studios located on the shores of Lake Washington in historic Magnuson Park in Seattle, former site of Sand Point Naval Air Station (though sometimes CASCADE OF HISTORY originates from remote locations around the region). The podcast feed consists of the weekly broadcast, plus frequent bonus episodes with timely and topical interviews, vintage local audio or other Pacific Northwest history-related content - and sometimes even BREAKING NEWS.

Producer and host Feliks Banel is an Emmy-winning and Edward R. Murrow Award-winning broadcaster, and former deputy director of Seattle's Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI).

Send your questions, comments, guest suggestions, news tips and other correspondence to cascadeofhistory@gmail.com.

A podcast about transitions, death, the ruptures of life in between.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.

David Boles, branded from the braided prairie, is a NYC writer, publisher, teacher, lyricist, musician. Cats: https://BolesBrits.com Live music stream: https://Boles.radio Uncanny: https://Boles.ai Live video stream https://Boles.tv Music: https://Boles.co/music 11Labs AI Voice: https://Boles.co/11

New tracks tagged #Humanities