A women-led podcast that spotlights the voices of workers, immigrants, and communities of color. Produced by Veena Hampapur and Saba Waheed.
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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. Then & Now is produced by David Myers and Roselyn Campbell, and features original music by Daniel Raijman.
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Free Speech and Academic Freedom in the University: A Conversation with Michael Meranze
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As the war in Gaza rages on, discussions surrounding free speech and the right to protest have surged across the United States, particularly on college campuses. When a pro-Palestine encampment at Columbia University was raided by police, leading to dozens of arrests in late April 2024, university students around the country set up their own protes…
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Gun violence has become deeply ingrained in the historical fabric of the United States, intertwined with the principles outlined in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which grants individuals the right to keep and bear arms. This amendment is frequently invoked in debates surrounding the implementation of stricter gun control measures. …
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Free Speech, Cancel Culture, and Safe Spaces: A Conversation with David Cole
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In the wake of the events of October 7th in Israel and the swift reaction by the Israeli government against Hamas, student protests have erupted on campuses around the United States, igniting fervent discussions about free speech, the First Amendment, and safe spaces. This week on then & now, we are joined by David Cole, the National Legal Director…
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Deadly Borders: A Conversation on Immigration with Dr. Jason de León
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As the U.S. primary elections unfold, the issue of border security, particularly along the US-Mexico border, has taken center stage. Concerns about the number of people crossing the U.S. southern border illegally have prompted extreme and sometimes fatal measures by U.S. officials to curb the flow of migrants. How effective are these measures at sl…
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Re:Work and the IRLE Present "Changing Lives, Changing L.A."
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In partnership with the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE), Re:Work presents “Changing Lives, Changing L.A.,” a play created from transcripts from the UNITE HERE Local 11 Oral History Project and originally performed before a live audience at Loyola Marymount University and UCLA.Portrayed by professional actors, four members…
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Challenges and Opportunities in the New Age of AI: A Long-Term View with John Villasenor
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As advances in technology continue to shape our world, understanding the implications of artificial intelligence (AI), cyber security, and digital privacy has never been more important. In this episode of then & now, we delve into the crucial intersection of technology, law, and policy with John Villasenor, a distinguished professor at UCLA and co-…
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The Nuclear Threat Today: A Conversation with Albert Carnesale
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While the conflicts between Israel and Palestine and Russia and Ukraine are center-stage, the threat of nuclear weapons hovers ominously over our world. The recent release of the popular movie "Oppenheimer" reminds us of the extraordinary potency of nuclear weapons. Russia's aggression in Ukraine has raised concerns about its nuclear intentions, wh…
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Is California an Outlier? Health Care Policy in the Sunshine State: A Conversation with Historian Ben Zdencanovic
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One of the most vexing social problems in U.S. society is our country’s healthcare system, which is wracked by rising costs, inequitable access, and manifold inefficiencies. Unlike Canada or a number of European countries, the United States has never adopted a single-payer system in which the government provides health insurance to all. Instead, it…
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Civil rights icon, Reverend James Lawson Jr., shares his recollections of the 1960s and working closely with Martin Luther King Jr.Reverend Lawson presents the nonviolent movement in America as the "nuclear engine" of the mid-20th century civil rights movement, and as a strategic series of organizing campaigns for racial and economic justice.This i…
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Israel, Gaza, and the U.S.: A Conversation with Aaron David Miller
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On this episode of then & now, Middle East expert Aaron David Miller offers his perspective on the current state of affairs in Israel and Gaza after October 7, 2023 — and on the broader historical context of the explosion of violence in recent months. Drawing on his decades of service in the U.S. State Department, he also traces the arc of American…
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Re:Work presents "Is work-life balance a privilege for Latinos?" (from the Pulso Podcast)
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We’re closing out the year with an episode from our friends at the Pulso Podcast:Latinos work hard. But is our "work hard" attitude too closely connected to our sense of self-worth? The Pulso Podcast brings you the untold stories & unheard voices that make up our history, our culture, nuestra gente. For Latinos, by LatinosThis episode was produced …
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America On Strike: Labor Takes Center Stage
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In our final episode of 2023, we are sharing a recording of an event hosted by the UCLA History Department as part of the Why History Matters series. Labor movements have surged to the attention of the public over the past year, with the historic Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes at the beginning of the year as well as the United Auto Workers str…
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This fall, California’s fast food workers won a historic victory when Governor Newsom signed AB 1228, which ensures the creation of a fast-food industry council with the ability to determine wages and industry standards, and which, importantly, includes worker voices. The bill also means that by next spring, the minimum wage for California’s fast-f…
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Understanding the Israel-Gaza Conflict: Causes, Conduct, and Consequences
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For this special episode, we are sharing a recording of a Zoom event hosted on November 21 by the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy. Featuring two UCLA history professors, Dr. James L. Gelvin and Dr. David N. Myers, this informational session explores the historical background to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, addressing questions such as: W…
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The Enduring Power of Non-Violence: A Conversation with Rev. James Lawson
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This episode of then & now features a conversation with the Reverend James Lawson, the legendary social justice activist who introduced the practice of non-violent action to the civil rights movement. The conversation takes up Rev. Lawson’s early years and encounters with racism in Massillon, Ohio; his exposure to the idea of non-violence through h…
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Unions, Labor, and the American Working Class: A Conversation with Nelson Lichtenstein
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On September 15, 2023, workers from the United Auto Workers union went on strike at Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Stellantis simultaneously, quickly expanding to include tens of thousands of workers at automobile factories throughout the United States. Founded by visionary and then UAW president Walter Reuther, At its founding, the union …
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Urban Spaces Past and Present: A Conversation with Monica Smith
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More than half the world’s population currently lives in cities, and current estimates suggest that by 2050 nearly 7 out of every 10 people will live in urban spaces. In an increasingly crowded and urbanized world, space has become a precious commodity. As a species, we seem drawn to cities, despite their obvious disadvantages. From the ancient cit…
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What is Going on in Nagorno-Karabakh? A Conversation with Historian Sebouh Aslanian
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Reports have emerged in recent weeks that a grave humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Nagorno-Karabakh, a contested region in present-day Azerbaijan that contains a large majority of Armenian residents. A prominent international lawyer, Luis Moreno Ocampo, in fact, maintains that “a Genocide is being committed” by Azerbaijani forces against Armenia…
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Re:Work presents "Delivering Community" (from Feet In 2 Worlds: A Better Life?)
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We've partnered with Feet in 2 Worlds: A Better Life? and are excited to share an episode from their show!A Better Life? Producer Oscar Durand tells the story of Cesar, a delivery worker from Mexico who found a cause and a community while organizing his fellow delivery workers in New York. We also speak with Hildalyn Colón Hernández from Los Delive…
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The Long Roots of Israel's Democracy Crisis: A Conversation with Michael Sfard
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As we transition to our fourth season of "Then & Now", this episode features renowned Israeli human rights lawyer, Michael Sfard. He offers an analysis of Israel's current crisis of democracy, including the attacks on the judicial system and Supreme Court, and a wide contextual frame that extends back to 1948 and to the founding document of the sta…
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Fighting Crimes against the Environment: A Conversation about “Ecocide” with Kate Mackintosh
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Following the recent destruction of the Kakhovka dam in the south of the country, the government of Ukraine accused Russia of the crime of “ecocide.” This term first surfaced in the 1970s in the context of the U.S. military’s use of Agent Orange in Vietnam. Since that time, the term has gained currency in international legal circles as a tool to fi…
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From Diversity to Reparation: A Conversation about Race, Higher Education, and the Aftermath of the Affirmative Action Decision with Eddie Cole
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On June 29, 2023, the US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to end affirmative action for college admissions, stating that considering race as a factor was unconstitutional, while preserving ‘legacy’ admissions which often allow students of alumni entrance to prestigious institutions. Yet from the establishment of the first university in the United States, ra…
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The Case for Open Access: A Conversation with Peter Baldwin
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In this episode, historian Peter Baldwin makes the case for open access. He surveys the history of knowledge production and transmission from the Gutenberg Bible, which opened up access in unprecedented ways. Open access today, he argues, is not a novelty but continuous with earlier developments in which artists and thinkers were "workers for hire,…
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Re:Work presents "Who Gets To Be a Citizen of the United States (with Ramtin Arablouei)"
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We've partnered with Immigrantly and are excited to share an episode from their show!Immigrantly is a weekly podcast hosted by rights activist and social entrepreneur Saadia Khan that bears witness to the extraordinariness of the immigrant experienceToday we have a fellow podcaster in our midst. Ramtin Arablouei is the co-host and co-producer of NP…
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The Politics of Reproductive Rights: A Conversation with Elizabeth O'Brien
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Women's reproductive rights have been a contentious issue over the past few years in the United States. Both federal and state measures have been introduced that restrict women’s ability to make decisions about their bodies and reproduction, culminating last year with the Supreme Court’s reversal of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Though the US …
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Zev's Los Angeles: A Conversation with Zev Yaroslavsky about his New Memoir (Part II)
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In part two of our conversation with Zev Yaroslavsky, one of Los Angeles's best-known public officials, we continue our conversation on his recently released memoir and his reflections from his long career in politics. In this episode, Zev talks about the history of race relations in LA, the growing crisis of its unhoused population, and the import…
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When we think about college, there’s a certain whimsical image, a time of self discovery and carefree fun before you step out into the “real” world. But now, with the rising costs of education and living expenses, most students work, and work a lot.In this episode of Re:Work, Adolfo González shares his decades long journey to provide for his family…
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Zev's Los Angeles: A Conversation with Zev Yaroslavsky about his New Memoir (Part I)
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In the first of a two-part conversation, "Then & Now" sits down with Zev Yaroslavsky, one of LA's best-known public officials, to talk about his fascinating life and forty-year career in politics. Yaroslavsky has just released a memoir entitled Zev's Los Angeles that traces his rise from a Jewish immigrant family in Boyle Heights and Fairfax to his…
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The Life and Times of J. Edgar Hoover: A Conversation with Beverly Gage
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As the director of the FBI for nearly half a century, John Edgar Hoover was the chief architect of the American security apparatus during a large chunk of the 20th century. A recognizable figure in popular memory, Hoover is also remembered for his fierce campaigns against Communism and his antipathy to civil liberties, which led to egregious abuses…
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What Can We Learn from History? A Conversation on Israel and America, Past and Present, with Yael Sternhell
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29:20
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The United States and Israel have both been roiled by major democratic crises in recent years. Many observers attribute these crises to the Trump presidency and the recent plan by the Netanyahu government to undertake a major overhaul of the judiciary. But their roots may well extend back further. Can we learn from the histories of these two countr…
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We often refer to birth as miraculous, and it can also seem mysterious. Many times there is a veiling around birth and labor, and the types of work mothers and birthworkers do to bring new life into this world. In this episode, Allegra Hill shares birth stories from her family and how her personal journey led her into the world of birthwork.It is p…
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The Global Debt Crisis and the Neoliberal Economy: A Conversation with Ahilan Kadirgamar and Jamie Martin
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In the decade since the global financial crisis of 2007-8, a number of countries have faced and succumbed to sovereign-debt crises and declared bankruptcy. After Greece, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina, Zambia, and Lebanon, Sri Lanka has recently joined the ranks of countries felled by economic downturn, whose harsh impact will be felt by its people …
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The Past and Future of the Humanities? A Conversation with Katherine Fleming
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In the wake of the pandemic and persistent underfunding, cultural and educational institutions in the United States today are increasingly confronted with an uncertain fate. How can they sustain growth, enfranchise new audiences, and increase diversity at a time when “the death of the humanities” looms on the horizon? In this episode of Then & Now,…
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From Resistance to Representation in Transnational Hip-Hop: A Conversation with Samuel Lamontagne
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Hip-hop culture and rap music are often assumed to be quintessentially American art forms. But by the late 1970s, hip-hop had transcended its roots in the US coasts. In France, artists from the African diaspora experimented with hip-hop, using it as an art form to articulate Blackness at a time when their community had little visibility in public l…
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Despite a long tradition of midwifery in the Black community, which predates the founding of the United States, less than 2% of midwives today are Black. In this episode we share the story of Kim Durdin, who found her calling in reclaiming midwifery and birthwork.It is part one of two episodes where we bring you the stories of Black midwives in Los…
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Re-examining US Foreign Policy: Can There Be an Alternative to Imperialism?
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The legitimacy of a US-led global order has been taken for granted by many in political, diplomatic and intellectual circles in the United States and even beyond. Yet this narrative of a postwar liberal order sits uncomfortably with a long history of imperial expansion and settler-colonial practices that the US has pursued over the centuries. Host …
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In 2020, India suddenly went into a national lockdown without advance planning or adequate government support, which led to a humanitarian crisis in addition to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Millions of jobs disappeared and hunger was a serious issue. Tens of millions of migrant workers struggled to get home — often on foot — and many died …
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Authoritarianism and Patriarchy from Ancient Egypt to the Present: A Conversation with Kara Cooney
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Recent years have witnessed a stark rise across the globe in populist leaders whose policies are implicitly, or even explicitly, authoritarian. The policies of these leaders are sometimes at odds with their populist rhetoric in that they reward the elite few at the expense of the masses. Yet this trend is not new. As far back as ancient Egypt, we s…
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Civil rights icon, Reverend James Lawson Jr., shares his recollections of the 1960s and working closely with Martin Luther King Jr.Reverend Lawson presents the nonviolent movement in America as the "nuclear engine" of the mid-20th century civil rights movement, and as a strategic series of organizing campaigns for racial and economic justice.This i…
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China-US Relations in the Age of the Indo-Pacific: A Conversation with Rosemary Foot
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China-US relations have again drawn global attention after a Chinese high-altitude balloon, suspected of carrying surveillance equipment, was shot down off the Carolina coast by the United States military. Beyond concerns about espionage and national security, this incident captured the US government’s larger anxieties about China’s growing influen…
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“The Tractor Princess” draws on excerpts from an oral history interview that is a part of a community archive and research initiative called Watsonville is in the Heart, which highlights the stories of Filipino families from the greater Pajaro Valley region in California. In this episode of Re:Work, Antoinette Yvonne DeOcampo-Lechtenberg paints a p…
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From the End of the Military Regime to the Return of Lula: Discussing Brazil's Political History with Bryan Pitts
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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 of its legislature on January 8 showed, former president Jair Bolsonaro's tumultuous, populist tenure has left Brazil deeply divided. How did Lula and t…
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On Dec. 11, 2021, the UCLA Labor Center’s historic MacArthur Park building was officially named the UCLA James Lawson Jr. Worker Justice Center, in honor of a civil and worker rights icon who has been teaching at UCLA for the last 2 decades.In this episode of Re:Work, 93-year-old Rev. Lawson shares stories from his youth, and how he came to discove…
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Israel and the Specter of Fascism Today: A Conversation with Omer Bartov
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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 of far-right parties, commencing what some observers have described as a “fascist” era. Professor Omar Bartov discusses the conditions that have given…
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Women’s Rights in Iran: A Conversation with Kelly J. Shannon
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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 months they have grown into calls for regime change. How did Iran, a country that once sat at the forefront of Muslim women’s advancement, end up with su…
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What's New with the Longest Hatred: A Conversation about Anti-Judaism with David Nirenberg
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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 prejudice against a particular ethnicity. Rather, it is a foundational and essential idea in Western civilization which provides cultures with a way of thinkin…
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The Racial Politics of Historic Preservation in in Los Angeles: A Conversation with Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Hao Ding
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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 report that analyzes the power dynamics behind historic preservation. They look at the way in which historic preservation norms have been applied as an…
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The Past and Future of Latino Politics in LA: A Conversation about the City Council Crisis with Miguel Santana and Gary Segura
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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 language used by the council members has been covered extensively and widely condemned. But beneath these conversations lie deep and pressing questions ab…
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Mussolini’s Long Shadow: The Italian Elections, Giorgia Meloni, and the Legacies of Fascism
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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 majority a right-wing coalition led by Fratelli d’Italia (or Brothers of Italy), a far-right party with roots in postwar Italian neofascist movements. …
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Who’s Afraid of the Administrative State? The Supreme Court. A Conversation with Julian Davis Mortenson
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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 ruling was the principle of “non-delegation” — the idea that Congress cannot delegate its legislative powers, or rule-making authority, to other entitie…
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