The American Age
What if your favorite college professors were willing to talk about everything from philosophy and politics to pop culture and love with the same kind of consideration and enthusiasm? Each week C. Travis Webb, Seph Rodney, and Steven Fullwood discuss life, culture, and art, and challenge their listeners to take fewer things for granted and all things more seriously.
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Episodes
Monday May 13, 2019
Monday May 13, 2019
071 – The 2020 Democratic field is crowded, but there are a few standouts. Assessing the field, the hosts make the argument that Elizabeth Warren stands far out ahead of the rest in terms of preparedness. But is she electable?
Monday May 06, 2019
Monday May 06, 2019
070 – Though it is widely accepted that Michael Jackson suffered from vitiligo, there is still much to be learned from looking at our own responses to his cosmetic transformation. What does Jackson's appearance say about our own racial imagination?
Monday Apr 29, 2019
Monday Apr 29, 2019
069 – Megastars like Michael Jackson seem to be exempted from critiques of their wealth. Rarely do you hear Jay-Z or Tom Hanks referred to derisively as "the one percent." Why don't we care about extremes of wealth in our entertainers?
Monday Apr 22, 2019
Monday Apr 22, 2019
068 – People are willing to sacrifice a lot to be near greatness. From Plato's Symposium to starfuckers, the desire to be near the powerful has been with us a long time. But to be near that kind of power requires a sacrifice.
Monday Apr 15, 2019
Monday Apr 15, 2019
067 – In this episode the hosts discuss our preoccupation with innocence, and when moral responsibility takes shape. Defenses of Michael Jackson often involve his complicated childhood. How convincing is that defense?
Monday Apr 08, 2019
Monday Apr 08, 2019
066 – Dan Reed's documentary "Leaving Neverland" offers a compelling but disturbing description of the alleged abuse suffered by James Safechuck and Wade Dobson at the hands of Michael Jackson. But how credible is Reed's film? Join as we discuss "Leaving Neverland."
Monday Apr 01, 2019
Monday Apr 01, 2019
065 – Even though he died in 2009 Michael Jackson is still the most famous person in the world. With the release of Leaving Neverland his legacy has been once again called into question. Why is his life and art so meaningful to us? Join us as we try to unravel this history.
Monday Mar 25, 2019
Monday Mar 25, 2019
064 – The hosts conclude their conversation about White Supremacy. They discuss the reasons why even radical critiques of race relations in the U.S. have reasons to be hopeful about the future. And they preview their next topic: Michael Jackson.
Monday Mar 18, 2019
Monday Mar 18, 2019
063 - In what ways does "white" ideology interfere with human empathy and compassion? And what does it mean to be "human" anyway? Can a better version of the United States be written in the twenty-first century? The hosts draw together several threads from their previous podcasts.
Monday Mar 11, 2019
Monday Mar 11, 2019
062 - What does it mean to say, as Malcolm X famously did, that it's the responsibility of whites to educate themselves? If each group is responsible to educate only those who are already a member of that respective group, how can we forge a coherent national identity?
Why does the American flag look like this?
As you can see, our flag is different.
We believe in the American idea that all men and women are equal before the law and enjoy rights that are intrinsic and inalienable. We also believe, along with Thomas Jefferson, that because men and women are imperfect, and their wisdom is limited and fleeting, that this idea must be renewed periodically in order to remain vital...
Discover The American Age
The American Age is a salutary response to the disease at the core of American civic culture. It is a rejection of intellectual cynicism, historical amnesia, and the politics of dread. It is a rooster call to stir our fellow humanists awake.