Description

What does the rise of authoritarianism look like while it is happening in real time? Historian Pamela Toler, author of The Dragon from Chicago: The Untold Story of an American Reporter in Nazi Germany, joins The Clio Dialogues to tell the remarkable story of Sigrid Schultz, the Chicago Tribune’s Berlin bureau chief who reported on the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.

Toler and host Jennifer Robin Terry discuss how economic and political instability contributed to the collapse of German democracy, what Schultz recognized about Hitler and the Nazi movement before they came to power, and why warnings that appear unmistakable in hindsight can be much harder to recognize in real time. They also explore Schultz’s extraordinary relationship with Hermann Göring.

At its heart, The Dragon from Chicago is the story of a pioneering woman foreign correspondent, as well as that of journalism under authoritarianism, the fragility of democracy, and the importance of a free and engaged press.

In this episode

• Sigrid Schultz and the Chicago Tribune
• the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism
• Schultz’s 1931 interview with Adolf Hitler
• the collapse of German democracy
• Hermann Göring and “The Dragon from Chicago”
• the Reichstag fire
• Nazi censorship and surveillance
• freedom of the press under authoritarianism
• foreign correspondents in Nazi Germany
• journalism, democracy, and recognizing authoritarian warning signs

Featured Guest

Pamela D. Toler is the author of ten works of historical non-fiction, for both adults and children, including, most recently, The Dragon From Chicago: The Untold Story of An American Reporter in Nazi Germany. Toler holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago. You can find out more about her books and her ideas about history, writing, and writing about history at www.pameladtoler.com.

Buy the Book

The Dragon From Chicago: The Untold Story of An American Reporter in Nazi Germany

Bookshop.org

Amazon

BONUS: If you order through my Bookshop.org link ~ not only will you get a fascinating book, but you'll also be supporting the author, this podcast, and local independent bookstores. A win for all!

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**Reviews and shares make a real difference in helping thoughtful conversations about history reach new audiences.

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**History runs on curiosity…and occasionally, caffeine.**

The Clio Dialogues is independently produced. If you'd like to help support future episodes, consider buying me a coffee. Every cup helps keep new conversations coming.

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Affiliate Disclosure

Some links in The Clio Dialogues show notes are affiliate links. As a Bookshop.org Affiliate and Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Those commissions help offset the costs of producing The Clio Dialogues, allowing me to continue bringing historical scholarship to a wider audience. Thank you for your support.

Editorial Independence

The Clio Dialogues supports productive, respectful, freedom of expression.

My opinions are entirely my own, not influenced by affiliates or guests.

My guests’ opinions are entirely their own and may deviate from mine or yours ~ and that’s okay. :-)

Books and products featured on this channel are selected because I believe they are relevant to the conversation and the knowledge is worth having. I will not recommend products I do not believe in.

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Today, our hair is often a means of self-expression. But what if you had no control over what your hair expressed? And I’m not just talking about a bad hair day! In nineteenth-century America, hair conveyed something very different than what it does today.

In this episode of The Clio Dialogues, I am joined by my friend and former classmate (Go Bears!), historian Dr. Sarah Gold McBride to discuss the surprising American cultural history of hair. She explains that by taking seriously something so ordinary as hair, we can learn much about nineteenth-century ideas about race, gender, nationhood, and belonging.

In This Episode

• Why beards surged in popularity in the mid-nineteenth century
• What facial hair had to do with masculinity, citizenship, and political power
• How racial pseudoscience transformed the beard into a symbol of white male authority
• How Frederick Douglass used his photographed image as a challenge to racist ideas about Black bodies
• How nineteenth-century Americans attempted to “read” bodies
• Bearded women, P. T. Barnum, and anti-cross-dressing laws
• Why hair meant something fundamentally different to nineteenth-century Americans than it does to us today

About the Guest

Dr. Sarah Gold McBride is the author of Whiskerology: The Culture of Hair in Nineteenth-Century America, and a historian and award-winning Lecturer in the American Studies program at the University of California, Berkeley, where her research and teaching focus on the daily lives of ordinary people in the nineteenth-century United States, and the information and objects they found meaningful as they tried to understand race, gender, and national identity.

Buy the Book

Whiskerology: The Culture of Hair in Nineteenth-Century America

Bookshop.org or Amazon

Pre-order the Paperback (available November 17, 2026)

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Watch, Listen, Review, and stay up to date: www.cliodialogues.com

Reviews and shares make a real difference in helping thoughtful conversations about history reach new audiences.

**History runs on curiosity…and occasionally, caffeine.**

The Clio Dialogues is independently produced. If you'd like to help support future episodes, consider buying me a coffee. Every cup helps keep new conversations coming.

***************

Affiliate Disclosure

Some links in The Clio Dialogues show notes are affiliate links. As a Bookshop.org Affiliate and Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Those commissions help offset the costs of producing The Clio Dialogues, allowing me to continue bringing historical scholarship to a wider audience. Thank you for your support.

BONUS: If you order through my Bookshop.org link ~ not only will you get fascinating books, but you'll also be supporting the author, this podcast, and local independent bookstores. A win for all!

Editorial Independence

The Clio Dialogues supports productive, respectful, freedom of expression.

My opinions are entirely my own and are never influenced by affiliate or guest relationships.

My guests’ opinions are entirely their own and may deviate from mine or yours, and that’s okay.

Books and products featured on this channel are selected because I believe they are relevant to the conversation and the knowledge is worth having. I will not recommend products I do not believe in.

Send us Fan Mail

Description

Wine with dinner. A beer after work. A whiskey to seal the deal. These rituals feel timeless, but they are far more recent than most Americans realize.

In this episode of The Clio Dialogues, historian Lisa Jacobson explains how the repeal of Prohibition did not automatically restore alcohol's place in American life. Instead, breweries, wineries, distillers, advertisers, cookbook authors, physicians, government officials, and even Hollywood spent decades reshaping public attitudes toward drinking and creating the modern ideal of the "responsible drinker."

In this episode

• The stigmas attached to wine, beer, and whiskey after Prohibition
• How advertisers launched massive "consumer re-education" campaigns
• Why moderation became the new ideal of drinking
• How World War II transformed America's drinking culture
• Cookbooks, rationing, and teaching Americans to cook with wine
• The campaign for the "right to pleasure" and the "right to decent whiskey"
• What Hollywood films reveal about

Featured Guest

Lisa Jacobson is Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Buy the Book

Intoxicating Pleasures: The Reinvention of Wine, Beer, and Whiskey after Prohibition

Bookshop.org Amazon

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If you enjoyed this episode…

consider following or subscribing to The Clio Dialogues wherever you listen or watch. Reviews and shares make a real difference in helping thoughtful conversations about history reach new audiences. You can also join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Bluesky.

**History runs on curiosity…and occasionally, caffeine.**

The Clio Dialogues is independently produced. If you'd like to help support future episodes, consider buying me a coffee. Every cup helps keep new conversations coming.

***************

Affiliate Disclosure

Some links in The Clio Dialogues show notes are affiliate links. As a Bookshop.org Affiliate and Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission on qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Those commissions help offset the costs of producing The Clio Dialogues, allowing me to continue bringing historical scholarship to a wider audience. Thank you for your support.

BONUS: If you order through my Bookshop.org link ~ not only will you get fascinating books, but you'll also be supporting the author, this podcast, and local independent bookstores. A win for all!

Editorial Independence

The Clio Dialogues supports productive, respectful, freedom of expression.

My opinions are entirely my own and are never influenced by affiliate or guest relationships. My guests’ opinions are entirely their own and may deviate from mine or yours, and that’s okay. Books and products featured on this channel are selected because I believe they are relevant to the conversation and that the knowledge is worth having. I will not recommend products I do not believe in.

Send us Fan Mail

Episode Description

What if one of the world's most influential cultural industries wasn't built by publishers or artists alone?

Today, manga is a global phenomenon. It has inspired blockbuster films, anime, video games, conventions, cosplay, and a multibillion-dollar merchandise industry. But according to historian Andrea Horbinski, manga's remarkable success cannot be understood simply by studying famous creators or bestselling titles. Its history is also the story of ordinary readers who refused to remain passive consumers.

In this episode, we explore how children, amateur artists, and devoted fans shaped manga from its earliest decades, helping transform it from political cartoons into one of the world's most influential forms of popular culture. Along the way, we discuss the modern superfan economy, the blurred line between fans and creators, the rise of dōjinshi and Comiket, Osamu Tezuka's revolution in storytelling, and why manga's history offers surprising insights into today's online fandoms and creator communities.

In this episode

• Why manga's success has always depended on fans, not just creators
• Why reader demand kept Norakuro alive and transformed the industry
• How World War II nearly destroyed manga, and why readers brought it back
• Osamu Tezuka's role in expanding manga beyond comedy into tragedy and complex storytelling
• The emergence of gekiga and manga for older readers
• The gendered differentiation of manga in the postwar period
• The Showa 24 Group, Takemiya Keiko, and the reinvention of shōjo manga
• The historical roots of fan fiction, shōnen’ai (Boys' Love), and dōjinshi
• How Comiket revolutionized the relationship between fans and professional creators

About the guest

Dr. Andrea Horbinski earned her PhD in modern Japanese history with a designated emphasis in new media from the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of Manga's First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905-1989. She won the 2026 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Academic/Scholarly Work.

Buy the Book

Andrea Horbinski, Manga's First Century: How Creators and Fans Made Japanese Comics, 1905–1989

Also mentioned: Marc Steinberg, Anime’s Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan

If you enjoyed this episode…

Follow The Clio Dialogues wherever you listen to podcasts, leave a review, and share this episode with someone interested in American history, constitutional law, immigration, or the history behind today's headlines.

**History runs on curiosity…and occasionally, caffeine.**

The Clio Dialogues is independently produced. If you'd like to help support future episodes, consider buying me a coffee. Every cup helps keep new conversations coming.

***************

Affiliate Disclosure

Some links in The Clio Dialogues show notes are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. In other words, if you purchase a book or other eligible item through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Send us Fan Mail

𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Why is one of America's most successful anti-hunger programs suddenly at the center of legal and political controversy?

Recent battles over restrictions on purchases through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the nation's largest government food assistance program, have reignited debates over nutrition, personal choice, and the proper role of government. But as Christopher Bosso explains, those debates are far older than they appear.

Bosso takes listeners back to the Great Depression, when policymakers faced what journalist Walter Lippmann famously called the "paradox of want amidst plenty": farmers were producing more food than Americans could buy, even as millions struggled with hunger. The solution they ultimately devised would evolve into the Food Stamp Program, and later, SNAP.

Along the way, Bosso explains why early food distribution programs proved unpopular, how food stamps restored dignity and consumer choice, why the program was revived during the War on Poverty, and how an unlikely political alliance between urban and rural lawmakers helped ensure its survival. The conversation also explores recurring debates over who deserves public assistance, why Americans often support food aid even while expressing skepticism about welfare, and why SNAP has remained remarkably resilient through changing political administrations.

Whether you've followed the recent headlines or never given SNAP much thought, this episode reveals how a program created to address the economic challenges of the 1930s continues to shape American life nearly a century later.

𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞:

• Why SNAP has returned to the headlines
• The surprising origins of the Food Stamp Program during the Great Depression
• The "paradox of want amidst plenty"
• Why early government food boxes failed
• How food stamps transformed food assistance through consumer choice
• The role of the New Deal, the War on Poverty, and Richard Nixon in shaping SNAP
• Why debates over nutrition restrictions are nothing new
• How SNAP became one of America's most politically durable social programs
• Why the history of SNAP continues to shape contemporary debates over hunger, poverty, and public policy

𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭

Dr. Christopher Bosso is Professor Emeritus of Public Policy and Politics at Northeastern University.

𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤:

Why SNAP Works: A Political History--and Defense--of the Food Stamp Program

Also mentioned:

Framing the Farm Bill: Interests, Ideology, and the Agricultural Act of 2014

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𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞...

Follow The Clio Dialogues wherever you listen to podcasts, leave a review, and share this episode with someone interested in American history, constitutional law, immigration, or the history behind today's headlines.

**𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲... 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐞.**

The Clio Dialogues is independently produced. If you'd like to help support future episodes, consider buying me a coffee. Every cup helps keep new conversations coming.

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𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞

Some links in The Clio Dialogues show notes are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. In other words, if you purchase a book or other eligible item through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Those commissions help offset the costs of producing The Clio Dialogues, allowing me to continue bringing historical scholarship to a wider audience. Thank you for your support.

Send us Fan Mail

What if almost everything you've heard about the history of American immigration is missing half the story?

Less than 24 hours after the Supreme Court upheld birthright citizenship with its decision in Trump v. Barbara, historian Anna O. Law joined The Clio Dialogues to explain why today's debates over birthright citizenship and immigration reach back centuries.

To better understand the controversy over birthright citizenship, Law takes listeners into colonial America, the expansion of slavery, Native American dispossession, Reconstruction, and the struggle over who had the right not only to cross borders, but to remain. Along the way, she challenges familiar myths about "open borders," explains why immigration remained under state control for nearly a century after independence, and reveals how the history of slavery profoundly shaped American immigration law.

The conversation also explores how the Fourteenth Amendment transformed citizenship, why the landmark case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark remains foundational today, and why understanding this history matters more than ever.

In this episode

• Why birthright citizenship became a flashpoint in contemporary politics

• Why the phrase "nation of immigrants" leaves out essential parts of American history

• How Native American removal, westward expansion, and slavery shaped immigration policy

• Why America's borders were never actually "open"

• What the "right to remain" meant before immigration became a federal responsibility

• How the abolition of slavery transformed immigration politics

• Why Chinese immigration became central to the creation of federal immigration law

• How United States v. Wong Kim Ark established modern birthright citizenship

• What historians can contribute to today's constitutional debates

Featured Guest

Anna O. Law is a political scientist whose work examines immigration, citizenship, constitutional development, and American political history. Her latest book, Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African-Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants, traces the intertwined histories of migration, slavery, Native American removal, and citizenship from the colonial period through the federalization of immigration law.

Buy the Book:

Anna O. Law, Migration and the Origins of American Citizenship: African-Americans, Native Americans, and Immigrants

Also mentioned:

Samantha Seeley, Race, Removal, and the Right to Remain: Migration and the Making of the United States

Moon-Ho Jung, Coolies and Cane: Race, Labor, and Sugar in the Age of Emancipation

If you enjoyed this episode...

Follow The Clio Dialogues wherever you listen to podcasts, leave a review, and share this episode with someone interested in American history, constitutional law, immigration, or the history behind today's headlines.

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Affiliate Disclosure

Some links in The Clio Dialogues show notes are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. In other words, if you purchase a book or other eligible item through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Those commissions help offset the costs of producing The Clio Dialogues, allowing me to continue bringing historical scholarship to a wider audience. Thank you for your support.

Editorial Independence

Books and products featured on this channel are selected because I believe they are relevant to the conversation. Any opinions I express are entirely my own and are never influenced by affiliate relationships. Any opinions expressed by my guests are their own.

Send us Fan Mail