Best Justin J Johnson Podcasts (2024)

1
Stephen J. Pyne, "Pyrocene Park: A Journey Into the Fire History of Yosemite National Park" (U Arizona Press, 2023) 1:09:37

1h ago1:09:37

1:09:37

How is Yosemite National Park a microcosm for our warming, fire-driven, world? Arizona State University emeritus professor Stephen Pyne answers that question in Pyrocene Park: A Journey Into the Fire History of Yosemite National Park (U Arizona Press, 2023). Pyne frames the fire history of Yosemite National Park around a three day hike he and a tea…

1
Justin B. Stein, "Alternate Currents: Reiki’s Circulation in the Twentieth-Century North Pacific" (U Hawaii Press, 2023) 56:56

2h ago56:56

56:56

In the second half of the twentieth century, Reiki went from an obscure therapy practiced by a few thousand Japanese and Japanese Americans to a global phenomenon. By the early twenty-first century, people in nearly every corner of the world have undergone the initiations that authorize them to channel a cosmic energy—known as Reiki—to heal body, m…

1
Derek Taira, "Forward without Fear: Native Hawaiians and American Education in Territorial Hawai'i, 1900-1941" (U Nebraska Press, 2024) 52:17

2h ago52:17

52:17

During Hawai‘i’s territorial period (1900–1959), Native Hawaiians resisted assimilation by refusing to replace Native culture, identity, and history with those of the United States. By actively participating in U.S. public schools, Hawaiians resisted the suppression of their language and culture, subjection to a foreign curriculum, and denial of th…

1
Steven Powell, "Love Me Fierce In Danger: The Life of James Ellroy" (Bloomsbury, 2023) 1:00:37

1h ago1:00:37

1:00:37

Love Me Fierce In Danger: The Life of James Ellroy (Bloomsbury, 2023) is the story of James Ellroy, one of the most provocative and singular figures in American literature. The so-called “Demon Dog of Crime Fiction,” Ellroy enjoys a celebrity status and notoriety that few authors can match. However, traumas from the past have shadowed his literary …

1
Pekka Hämäläinen, "Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power" (Yale UP, 2019) 40:02

1h ago40:02

40:02

The names of Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse are often readily recognized among many Americans. Yet the longer, dynamic history of the Lakota - a history from which these three famous figures were created - remains largely untold. In Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power (Yale, 2019), historian Pekka Hämäläinen, author of The C…

1
James Mallery, "City of Vice: Transience and San Francisco's Urban History, 1848-1917" (U Nebraska Press, 2024) 1:05:11

7m ago1:05:11

1:05:11

San Francisco began its American life as a city largely made up of transient men, arriving from afar to participate in the gold rush and various attendant enterprises. This large population of men on the move made the new and booming city a hub of what "respectable" easterners considered vice: drinking, gambling, and sex work, among other activitie…

1
Jacob Lee, "Masters of the Middle Waters: Indian Nations and Colonial Ambitions Along the Mississippi" (Harvard UP, 2019) 1:33:50

4h ago1:33:50

1:33:50

America’s waterways were once the superhighways of travel and communication. Coursing through a central line across the landscape, with tributaries connecting the South to the Great Plains and the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River meant wealth, knowledge, and power for those who could master it. In Masters of the Middle Waters: Indian Nations and …

1
Alfred Peredo Flores, "Tip of the Spear: Land, Labor, and US Settler Militarism in Guåhan, 1944–1962" (Cornell UP, 2023) 49:44

30m ago49:44

49:44

In Tip of the Spear: Land, Labor, and US Settler Militarism in Guåhan, 1944–1962 (Cornell University Press, 2023), Dr. Alfred Peredo Flores argues that the US occupation of the island of Guåhan (Guam), one of the most heavily militarised islands in the western Pacific Ocean, was enabled by a process of settler militarism. During World War II and th…

1
William Gow, "Performing Chinatown: Hollywood, Tourism, and the Making of a Chinese American Community" (Stanford UP, 2024) 1:05:40

3d ago1:05:40

1:05:40

This episode features a conversation with Dr. William Gow on his recently published book, Performing Chinatown: Hollywood, Tourism, and the Making of a Chinese American Community (Stanford University Press, 2024), focuses on the 1930s and 1940s Los Angeles–its Chinatowns, and “city,” as well as the Chinese American community’s relationship with Hol…

1
Jake Johnson, "The Possibility Machine: Music and Myth in Las Vegas" (U Illinois Press, 2023) 57:38

6d ago57:38

57:38

Las Vegas is a place the American dream made; a city built in the middle of desert visited by millions of people every year hoping to make their dreams (big or small) come true. The essays in The Possibility Machine: Music and Myth in Las Vegas (University of Illinois Press, 2023) examines Las Vegas not as a kitschy, vaguely embarrassing American t…

1
Sigrid Schönfelder, "'Gold Fever' and Women: Transformations in Lives, Health Care and Medicine in the 19th Century American West" (Transcript, 2023) 45:09

10d ago45:09

45:09

Throughout its history, the American West symbolized a place of hope and new beginnings, where anything was possible, especially for men. However, the history written until the 1970s and 1980s excluded women. In 'Gold Fever' and Women: Transformations in Lives, Health Care and Medicine in the 19th Century American West (Transcript, 2023), Sigrid Sc…

1
Troon Vineyard - Craig Camp 46:30

12d ago46:30

46:30

Located in the Applegate Valley of Southern Oregon, Troon Vineyard has a long history dating back to 1972, yet recent years have seen it become one of the most forward-thinking wineries in the U.S., as it is one of just two to have become Regenerative Organic Certified through the Regenerative Organic Alliance. The recent certification follows a co…

1
Felicia Arriaga, "Behind Crimmigration: ICE, Law Enforcement, and Resistance in America" (UNC Press, 2023) 1:02:51

24d ago1:02:51

1:02:51

In recent years, dozens of counties in North Carolina have partnered with federal law enforcement in the criminalization of immigration--what many have dubbed "crimmigration." Southern border enforcement still monopolizes the national immigration debate, but immigration enforcement has become common within the United States as well. While Immigrati…

1
David H. Wilson, "Northern Paiutes of the Malheur: High Desert Reckoning in Oregon Country" (U Nebraska Press, 2022) 1:01:43

14d ago1:01:43

1:01:43

Between the mid-19th century and the start of the twentieth century, the Northern Paiute people of the Great Basin went from a self-sufficient tribe well-adapted to living on the harsh desert homelands, to a people singled out by the Native activist Henry Roe Cloud for their dire social and economic position. The story of how this happened is told …

1
Resonance Wines - Guillaume Large 45:42

19d ago45:42

45:42

Founded in 2013 by winemaker Jacques Lardière of Maison Louis Jadot, Résonance crafts expressive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines from its estate Résonance Vineyard and other premier sites throughout the Willamette Valley that embody the elegance and complexity Oregon wines are known for. The seeds for the project were planted when Maison Louis Jado…

1
Elsa Devienne, "Sand Rush: The Revival of the Beach in Twentieth-Century Los Angeles" (Oxford UP, 2024) 42:50

26d ago42:50

42:50

The Los Angeles shoreline is one of the most iconic natural landscapes in the United States, if not the world. The vast shores of Santa Monica, Venice, and Malibu are familiar sights to film and television audiences, conveying images of pristine sand, carefree fun, and glamorous physiques. Yet, in the early twentieth century Angelenos routinely lam…

1
Kathleen DuVal, "Native Nations: A Millennium in North America" (Random House, 2024) 58:18

23d ago58:18

58:18

In this sweeping new history, esteemed University of North Carolina historian Kathleen DuVal makes the case for the ongoing, ancient, and dynamic history of Native nationhood as a critical component of global history. In Native Nations: A Millennium in North America (Random House, 2024), DuVal covers a thousand years of continental history, buildin…

1
Alex V. Barnard, "Conservatorship: Inside California's System of Coercion and Care for Mental Illness" (Columbia UP, 2023) 59:36

1M ago59:36

59:36

Is involuntary psychiatric treatment the solution to the intertwined crises of untreated mental illness, homelessness, and addiction? In recent years, politicians and advocates have sought to expand the use of conservatorships, a legal tool used to force someone deemed “gravely disabled,” or unable to meet their needs for food, clothing, or shelter…

1
Hillcrest Vineyard - Dyson Demara 56:27

26d ago56:27

56:27

Oregon’s oldest estate winery and the birthplace of Oregon Pinot Noir. Founded by Richard Sommer “Father of Oregon wine” we have been recognized domestically and internationally for our innovation and quality. Amongst the first are the first of many vinifera cultivars in Oregon, first stainless steel tanks, first to go back to concrete fermenters, …

1
Timothy G. Anderson and Brian Schoen, "Settling Ohio: First Peoples and Beyond" (Ohio UP, 2023) 36:02

26d ago36:02

36:02

Scholars working in archaeology, education, history, geography, and politics tell a nuanced story about the people and dynamics that reshaped this region and determined who would control it. The Ohio Valley possesses some of the most resource-rich terrain in the world. Its settlement by humans was thus consequential not only for shaping the geograp…

1
Tara López, "Chuco Punk: Sonic Insurgency in El Paso" (U Texas Press, 2024) 51:21

1M ago51:21

51:21

Tara López's Chuco Punk: Sonic Insurgency in El Paso (University of Texas Press, 2024), is an immersive study of the influential and predominantly Chicanx punk rock scene in El Paso, Texas. Punk rock is known for its daring subversion, and so is the West Texas city of El Paso. In Chuco Punk, Tara López dives into the rebellious sonic history of the…

1
Ward Four Wines - Justin Trabue 21:04

1M ago21:04

21:04

I'm from Washington DC, which is split into different wards, and my mother's maiden name is Ward. There are also four people in my family, I've created four different styles of wine to each represent a different person. Growing up, my dad always told me about the beauty of Chocolate City and the rich history of Washington DC. I am lucky to have gro…

1
Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans, "The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels" (Crown, 2024) 39:41

2M ago39:41

39:41

For centuries, people who died destitute or alone were buried in potters’ fields—a Dickensian end that even the most hard-pressed families tried to avoid. Today, more and more relatives are abandoning their dead, leaving it to local governments to dispose of the bodies. Up to 150,000 Americans now go unclaimed each year. Who are they? Why are they …

1
LXV Winery - Neeta Metal 30:45

2M ago30:45

30:45

LXV Wine is our connection to India. Paso Robles reminds us of India. Roblans have a deep relationship with the earth.. With each other. There is an intimacy in the ecosystem in Paso. And that expresses itself in the grapes, in the winemaking and, ultimately, in the wines. Neeta and Kunal Mittal invite you to enjoy a unique wine tasting experience …

1
Omar Valerio-Jiménez, "Remembering Conquest: Mexican Americans, Memory, and Citizenship" (UNC Press, 2024) 1:11:26

2M ago1:11:26

1:11:26

Omar Valerio-Jiménez's book Remembering Conquest: Mexican Americans, Memory, and Citizenship (UNC Press, 2024) analyzes the ways collective memories of the US-Mexico War have shaped Mexican Americans' civil rights struggles over several generations. As the first Latinx people incorporated into the nation, Mexican Americans were offered US citizensh…

1
Danielle R. Olden, "Racial Uncertainties: Mexican Americans, School Desegregation, and the Making of Race in Post–Civil Rights America" (U California Press, 2022) 1:21:57

2M ago1:21:57

1:21:57

Mexican Americans have often fit uncertainly into the white/non-white binary that has goverens much of American history. After Colorado, and much of the rest of the American West, became American claimed territory after the Mexican-Americna War in 1848, thousands of formerly Mexican citizens became American citizens. Flash foward a century to post-…

1
Sunaura Taylor, "Disabled Ecologies: Lessons from a Wounded Desert" (U California Press, 2024) 1:17:02

2M ago1:17:02

1:17:02

A powerful analysis and call to action that reveals disability as one of the defining features of environmental devastation and resistance. Deep below the ground in Tucson, Arizona, lies an aquifer forever altered by the detritus of a postwar Superfund site. Disabled Ecologies: Lessons from a Wounded Desert (U California Press, 2024) tells the stor…

1
Daniel P. Ott, "Harvesting History: McCormick's Reaper, Heritage Branding, and Historical Forgery" (U Nebraska Press, 2023) 1:04:19

2M ago1:04:19

1:04:19

Cyrus McCormick invented the revolutionary mechanical reaper in 1831...right? At least, that's how the story has been told for decades. In Harvesting History: McCormick's Reaper, Heritage Branding, and Historical Forgery (U Nebraska Press, 2023), National Park Service historian Daniel Ott argues that not only have textbooks and other sources of his…

1
Ulloa Cellars - Nancy Ulloa 32:02

2M ago32:02

32:02

My name is Nancy Ulloa and I am the Winemaker, Owner & Boss Lady of Ulloa Cellars. Ulloa Cellars is a tale of passion for a dream and the manifestation of the hard work involved in the process. I moved to Paso Robles from the Bay Area in 2017 with the burning desire to learn the art of winemaking. For the last few years, I have gained an invaluable…

1
Julia G. Young, "Mexican Exodus: Emigrants, Exiles, and Refugees of the Cristero War" (Oxford UP, 2019) 52:29

3M ago52:29

52:29

In Mexican Exodus: Emigrants, Exiles, and Refugees of the Cristero War (Oxford University Press, 2019), Julia G. Young reframes the Cristero War as a transnational conflict, using previously unexamined archival materials from both Mexico and the United States to investigate the intersections between Mexico's Cristero War and Mexican migration to th…

1
Sydney Stern, "The Brothers Mankiewicz: Hope, Heartbreak, and Hollywood Classics" (U Mississippi Press, 2019) 1:14:59

3M ago1:14:59

1:14:59

Herman J. (1897–1953) and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909–1993) wrote, produced, and directed over 150 pictures. With Orson Welles, Herman wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane and shared the picture’s only Academy Award. Joe earned the second pair of his four Oscars for writing and directing All About Eve, which also won Best Picture. In The Brothers M…

1
Katie Gee Salisbury, "Not Your China Doll: The Wild and Shimmering Life of Anna May Wong" (Dutton, 2024) 46:21

3M ago46:21

46:21

In 2022, the U.S. Mint released the first batch of its American Women Quarters series, celebrating the achievements of U.S. women throughout its history. The first set of five included Maya Angelou, Sally Ride…and Anna May Wong, the first Asian-American to ever appear on U.S. currency. Katie Gee Salisbury takes on Anna May Wong’s life in her book N…

1
Andrés Reséndez, "Conquering the Pacific: An Unknown Mariner and the Final Great Voyage of the Age of Discovery" (Mariner Books, 2022) 1:08:58

3M ago1:08:58

1:08:58

The Pacific Ocean is twice the size of the Atlantic, and while humans have been traversing its current-driven maritime highways for thousands of years, its sheer scale proved an obstacle to early European imperial powers. Enter Lope Martin, a forgotten Afro-Portuguese ship pilot heretofore unheralded by historians. In Conquering the Pacific: An Unk…

1
Steven C. Beda, "Strong Winds and Widow Makers: Workers, Nature, and Environmental Conflict in Pacific Northwest Timber Country" (U Illinois Press, 2022) 1:04:08

3M ago1:04:08

1:04:08

Imagine an environmentalist. Are you picturing a Birkenstock-clad hippie? An office worker who hikes on weekends? A political lobbyist? What about a modern day timber worker? This last group is at the center of University of Oregon historian Steven C. Beda's new book, Strong Winds and Widow Makers: Workers, Nature, and Environmental Conflict in Pac…

1
Talley Vineyards - Eric Johnson 28:07

3M ago28:07

28:07

Our family farmed estate vineyards harness the terroir of the SLO Coast, allowing our wines to express unique authenticity. Climatically our coolest site, Rosemary’s Vineyard tends to produce berries with thicker skins than our other vineyards. The resulting wines have a darker appeal, with a surprisingly light and elegant flavor profile. And becau…

1
Héctor Beltrán, "Code Work: Hacking Across the US/México Techno-Borderlands" (Princeton UP, 2023) 29:42

3M ago29:42

29:42

In Code Work: Hacking Across the US/México Techno-Borderlands (Princeton UP, 2023), Héctor Beltrán examines Mexican and Latinx coders’ personal strategies of self-making as they navigate a transnational economy of tech work. Beltrán shows how these hackers apply concepts from the code worlds to their lived experiences, deploying batches, loose coup…

1
Amanda Mei Kim, "California Obscura," The Common magazine (2023) 36:04

3M ago36:04

36:04

Amanda Mei Kim speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her essay “California Obscura,” which appears in The Common’s most recent issue, in a portfolio of writing and art from and about the immigrant farmworker community. Amanda discusses how the essay changed and developed over many drafts. The finished piece explores her childhood growing up…

1
J. Lohr Vineyards - Kristen Barnhisel 31:26

3M ago31:26

31:26

Founded fifty years ago by Jerry Lohr and still family-owned today, J. Lohr Vineyards & Wines grows, produces and bottles a full line of internationally recognized wines wines from its more than 4,000 acres of California Sustainable Estate certified vineyards Appellations Arroyo Seco and Santa Lucia Highlands of Monterey County, Paso Robles and St.…

1
Davis Bynum - Greg Morthole 45:02

4M ago45:02

45:02

In 1973, Davis Bynum first released his small lot of single vineyard Pinot Noir from the famed Rochioli vineyard in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley. The first to produce single vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, Davis Bynum was instrumental in bringing the prestige to Russian River Valley vineyards, still acclaimed as one of California’…

1
Ieva Jusionyte, "Exit Wounds: How America's Guns Fuel Violence Across the Border" (U California Press, 2024) 56:40

4M ago56:40

56:40

American guns have entangled the lives of people on both sides of the US-Mexico border in a vicious circle of violence. After treating wounded migrants and refugees seeking safety in the United States, anthropologist Ieva Jusionyte boldly embarked on a journey in the opposite direction—following the guns from dealers in Arizona and Texas to crime s…

1
Alta Colina - Molly Lonborg 31:16

4M ago31:16

31:16

Founded in 2003 and dedicated to Rhone varietals, Alta Colina farms 31 acres of steep mountainsides in the Paso Robles/Adelaida District. The combination of shallow, calcareous soils and a dinurnal temperature shift approaching 40 degrees during the growing season yield fully ripened fruit and balanced wines. We are a true estate operation—fruit is…

1
Paul Carter, "Richard Nixon: California's Native Son" (U Nebraska Press, 2023) 1:59:32

4M ago1:59:32

1:59:32

Born in Yorba Linda and raised in Whittier, California, Nixon succeeded early in life, excelling in academics while enjoying athletics through high school. At Whittier College he graduated at the top of his class and was voted Best Man on Campus. During his career at Whittier's oldest law firm, he was respected professionally and became a chief tri…

1
John William Nelson, "Muddy Ground: Native Peoples, Chicago's Portage, and the Transformation of a Continent" (UNC Press, 2023) 1:22:56

4M ago1:22:56

1:22:56

The birchbark canoe is among the most remarkable Indigenous technologies in North America, facilitating mobility throughout the watery world of the Great Lakes region and its borderlands. In Muddy Ground: Native Peoples, Chicago's Portage, and the Transformation of a Continent (UNC Press, 2023), Texas Tech University historian John William Nelson a…

1
Brent M. Rogers, "Buffalo Bill and the Mormons" (U Nebraska Press, 2024) 30:17

4M ago30:17

30:17

In this never-before-told history of Buffalo Bill and the Mormons, Brent M. Rogers presents the intersections in the epic histories of William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody and the Latter-day Saints from 1846 through 1917. In Cody's autobiography he claimed to have been a member of the U.S. Army wagon train that was burned by the Saints during the Utah Wa…

1
Looking into the Heart of Arizona: A Discussion with Author Tom Zoellner 52:46

4M ago52:46

52:46

In Rim to River: Looking into the Heart of Arizona (University of Arizona Press, 2023), Tom Zoellner, a fifth-generation Arizonan, takes the reader on a walk across the length of the state, his narrative interspersed with essays on Arizona’s history, culture and politics. Our conversation focuses on such topics as how Arizona anticipated the Trump …

1
Amy Absher, "Fritzie: The Invented Life and Violent Murder of a Flapper" (U Oklahoma Press, 2023) 31:34

4M ago31:34

31:34

One January day in 1923, a young boy came across the dead body of a twenty-year-old woman on a San Diego beach. When the police arrived on the scene, they found the woman’s calling card, which read simply, “I am Fritzie Mann.” Yet Fritzie’s identity, as revealed in this compelling history, was anything but simple, and her death—eventually ruled a h…

1
Christina Gish Hill et al., "National Parks, Native Sovereignty: Experiments in Collaboration" (U Oklahoma Press, 2024) 1:20:11

4M ago1:20:11

1:20:11

The history of Native people and the National Park Service in the United States is fraught. Dispossession, cultural insensitivity, and outright erasure characterize the long relationship that the NPS has with Indigenous groups. But change is possible, as Drs. Christina Hill, Matthew Hill, and Brooke Neely adeptly demonstrate in National Parks, Nati…

1
Bob Cabral Wines - Bob Cabral 48:17

4M ago48:17

48:17

Bob Cabral Wines was started in 2015 with the mission of crafting world class wines and giving back to children in need. We farm to be as sensitive to the Earth as possible by integrating practices that meld into the natural ecosystem of each vineyard site. Our goal is to leave this planet better than when we arrived. Our winemaking is thoughtful a…

1
Lisa Messeri, "In the Land of the Unreal: Virtual and Other Realities in Los Angeles" (Duke UP, 2024) 1:09:44

5M ago1:09:44

1:09:44

In the mid-2010s, a passionate community of Los Angeles-based storytellers, media artists, and tech innovators formed around virtual reality (VR), believing that it could remedy society’s ills. Lisa Messeri offers an ethnographic exploration of this community, which conceptualized VR as an “empathy machine” that could provide glimpses into diverse …

1
Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm 1:04:01

5M ago1:04:01

1:04:01

Today’s book is: Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm (Red Hen Press, 2023), by David Mas Masumoto. In his new memoir, Mas discovers his “lost” aunt. She had been taken away in 1942 when all Japanese Americans were considered the enemy and imprisoned. Due to a disability, she became a “ward” of the state…

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Justin J Johnson Podcasts

Podcasts Worth a Listen

Quick Reference Guide