History Talk

Ohio State faculty experts hold a conversation that puts American domestic policy changes during the first 100 days of the second Trump administration into historical perspective. Panel Members: Bart Elmore , Professor of History, The Ohio State University Maria Hammack , Assistant Professor of History, The Ohio State University Clay Howard , Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University Daniel Rivers , Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University.This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective , please visit origins.osu.edu .

Ohio State faculty experts hold a conversation that puts American foreign policy changes during the first 100 days of the second Trump administration into historical perspective.Panel Members:Peter L. Hahn, Distinguished University Professor of History, The Ohio State UniversityMitchell Lerner, Professor of History and Director of the East Asian Studies Center, The Ohio State UniversityJennifer Mitzen, Professor of Political Science, The Ohio State UniversityChristopher McKnight Nichols, Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair in National Security Studies and Professor of History, The Ohio State University Dorothy Noyes (Moderator), Director, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Studies

Who doesn’t love penguins? Join Ellen Arnold to learn about the many different roles that penguins took on as Europeans first began to encounter them in the mid-1500s, from quirky oddity to salvation for the starving. Over the course of the following centuries, Europeans had many different interactions with penguins, and these shaped how they understood what the birds were. Sailors and scientists alike brought back accounts of the strange birds, which were only slowly understood to be unique to the South. Featuring Ellen Arnold, an environmental historian and Senior Lecturer in the Ohio State University Department of History. Moderated by Nicholas Breyfogle, Professor of History and Director of the Harvey Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching.

This presentation commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Disaster (2-3 December, 1984 in Bhopal, India), the world’s worst industrial disaster. Dr. Madhumita Dutta, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at The Ohio State University discusses the disaster, the immediate and ongoing health repercussions for the people of Bhopal, and their global legal and activist fight for justice and corporate accountability. Nicholas Breyfogle, Professor in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and Director of the Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, serves as moderator. This is a production of the College of Arts & Sciences and Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective , please visit http://origins.osu.edu . Follow us on Facebook, Instragram and Bluesky: @Origins OSU.

While most of the books written about the Salem witch trials concern those who were accused of witchcraft and their accusers, Matt Goldish's new book, Science and Specters at Salem, turns the spotlight on the judges. They were, after all, the men who decided to accept these accusations and move the trials forward. Historians have long wondered why the judges accepted evidence based on visions of apparitions and "touch tests.” Goldish offers some unexpected answers. Speaker Note: Matt Goldish would like to add a more complete response to one of the questions asked him after his talk. Not all those convicted in Salem were executed. Anyone who confessed was, paradoxically, kept alive, while those convicted who would not confess were executed. Presumably, those who confessed would have been executed eventually if the trials had been allowed to continue. In addition, Elizabeth Procter was spared because she was pregnant and the court wished to spare the life of the unborn child. Presented by Matt Goldish, Samuel M. and Esther Melton Chair in History at The Ohio State University. The moderator is Nicholas Breyfogle, Co-Editor of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, Director of the Harvey Goldberg Center and Professor of History at Ohio State University. A transcript of this podcast can be found at https://origins.osu.edu/listen/history-talk/judges-salem-witch-trials This is a production of the College of Arts & Sciences and Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective , please visit http://origins.osu.edu . Connect with us! Email: Origins@ osu.edu , Instagram: @OriginsOSU Facebook: @OriginsOSU Find transcripts, background reading, and more at origins.osu.edu

Presented by Lydia Walker, Provost Scholar Assistant Professor, Seth Andre Myers Chair in Global Military History, in the Department of History at The Ohio State University. After the Second World War, national self-determination became a recognized international norm, yet it only extended to former colonies. Groups within postcolonial states that made alternative sovereign claims were disregarded or actively suppressed. This talk showcases their contested histories, highlighting little-known regions in South Asia and Southern Africa, marginalized individuals, and their hidden (or lost) archives. Personal connections linked disparate nationalist struggles across the globe through advocacy networks. However, these advocates had their own agendas and allegiances, which could undermine the autonomy of the claimants they supported. This webinar features material from Lydia Walker’s new book, "States-in-Waiting" (Cambridge, 2024) which illuminates the unfinished and improvised ways that the state-centric international system replaced empire, which left certain claims of sovereignty perpetually awaiting recognition. The book is available Open Access for free download at https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/statesinwaiting/9446AB4E4355759A4500202B9C0F9C25 A transcript of this podcast is available at: https://origins.osu.edu/listen/history-talk/postwar-decolonization-and-its-discontents . The Moderator is Nicholas Breyfogle, Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching at The Ohio State University.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated existing trends that put at risk the viability of many colleges and universities, as well as that of the towns and cities in which they are located. With the post-COVID-19 shift to more remote work, and millions of people moving to more affordable and livable cities, a place that wants to attract talent will require a thriving academic environment. This represents a new opportunity for “town and gown” to create dynamic, thriving communities. Associate Professor David Staley outlines a talent magnet strategy that offers colleges and towns a plan of action for regeneration, affording institutions of higher learning the opportunity to reinvent themselves and become talent magnets. Panelists: David Staley is an historiographer, writer, designer, futurist, and journalist. He is an Associate Professor in the Departments of History, Design and Educational Studies at The Ohio State University. Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University.

Facing the harrowing task of rebuilding a life in the wake of the Holocaust, many Jewish survivors, community and religious leaders, and Allied soldiers viewed marriage between Jewish women and military personnel as a way to move forward after unspeakable loss. Proponents believed that these unions were more than just a ticket out of war-torn Europe: they would help the Jewish people repopulate after the attempted annihilation of European Jewry. Historian Robin Judd, whose grandmother survived the Holocaust and married an American soldier after liberation, introduces us to the Jewish women who lived through genocide and went on to wed American, Canadian, and British military personnel after the war. She offers an intimate portrait of how these unions emerged and developed—from meeting and courtship to marriage and immigration to life in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom—and shows how they helped shape the postwar world by touching thousands of lives, including those of the chaplains who officiated their weddings, the Allied authorities whose policy decisions structured the couples' fates, and the bureaucrats involved in immigration and acculturation. The stories Judd tells are at once heartbreaking and restorative, and she vividly captures how the exhilaration of the brides' early romances coexisted with survivor's guilt, grief, and apprehension at the challenges of starting a new life of starting a new life in a new land. Robin E. Judd is an Associate Professor of History at The Ohio State University, Director of the Hoffman Leaders and Leadership in History Program, and President of the Association for Jewish Studies. Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator) is an Associate Professor of History and Director of the Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching at The Ohio State University.

Conflict has defined Arab-Israeli relationships for many decades, with the interstate warfare of the 1940s-1980s giving way in the 1990s and after to a roiling confrontation between the State of Israel and the Palestinian people of the Israeli-occupied territories. Since the 1940s, the United States has striven to contain, manage, or resolve the conflict, with some notable successes and numerous pronounced failures. While not without precedent, the crisis that erupted in early October 2023 marks an especially difficult, deadly and portentous phase of conflict, and thus poses acute policy dilemmas for U.S. officials who seek to achieve stability and peace in the region. In this webinar, Professor Peter L. Hahn analyzes the complicated situation in Gaza in its historical and contemporary contexts, focusing on the American role and aiming to bring clarity and balanced perspective about this difficult and dangerous moment in the Middle East. This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective , please visit origins.osu.edu .

The rural roads that led to our planet-changing global economy ran through the American South. Acclaimed scholar Bart Elmore explores that region's impact on the interconnected histories of business and ecological change. He uses the histories of five southern firms—Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, Walmart, FedEx and Bank of America—to investigate the environmental impact of our have-it-now, fly-by-night, buy-on-credit global economy. Drawing on exclusive interviews with company executives, corporate archives and other records, Elmore explores the historical, economic, and ecological conditions that gave rise to these five trailblazing corporations. He then considers what each has become: an essential presence in the daily workings of the global economy and an unmistakable contributor to the reshaping of the world's ecosystems. Even as businesses invest in sustainability initiatives and respond to new calls for corporate responsibility, Elmore shows the limits of their efforts to “green” their operations and offers insights on how governments and activists can push corporations to do better. Bart Elmore is Professor of Environmental History and Core Faculty, Sustainability Institute, The Ohio State University. Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), is Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University. If you'd like to learn more about Country Capitalism: How Corporations from the American South Remade Our Economy and the Planet or to purchase the book, please visit https://uncpress.org/book/9781469673332/country-capitalism/

Join world-renowned historian Geoffrey Parker for a definitive history of the Spanish Armada. In July 1588 the Spanish Armada sailed from Corunna to conquer England. Three weeks later an English fireship attack in the Channel—and then a fierce naval battle—foiled the planned invasion. Many myths still surround these events. The genius of Sir Francis Drake is exalted, while Spain’s efforts are belittled. But what really happened during that fateful encounter? In his recent book, Armada , (co-authored with Colin Martin), Parker draws on archives from around the world and deploys vital new evidence from Armada shipwrecks off the coasts of Ireland and Scotland. In a gripping account, he will provide a fresh understanding of how the rival fleets came into being; how they looked, sounded, and smelled; and what happened when they finally clashed. Looking beyond the events of 1588 to the complex politics which made war between England and Spain inevitable, and at the political and dynastic aftermath, Armada deconstructs the many legends to reveal why, ultimately, the bold Spanish mission failed. Geoffrey Parker is a Distinguished University Professor and Andreas Dorpalen Professor of European History at the Ohio State University. His book, Armada , can be found at https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300259865/armada/ . Nicholas Breyfogle, Moderator, is an Associate Professor of History and Director of the Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching at Ohio State University.

On August 4, 1983, Captain Thomas Sankara led a coalition of radical military officers, communist activists, labor leaders, and militant students to overtake the government of the Republic of Upper Volta. Almost immediately following the coup’s success, the small West African country—renamed Burkina Faso, or Land of the Dignified People—gained international attention as it charted a new path toward social, economic, cultural, and political development based on its people’s needs rather than external pressures and Cold War politics. Join James E. Genova as he recounts in detail the revolutionary government’s rise and fall, demonstrating how it embodied the critical transition period in modern African history between the era of decolonization and the dawning of neoliberal capitalism. He will uncover one of the revolution’s most enduring and significant aspects: its promotion of film as a vehicle for raising the people’s consciousness, inspiring their efforts at social transformation, and articulating a new self-generated image of Africa and Africans. The talk is based on Genova’s new book Making New People: Politics, Cinema, and Liberation in Burkina Faso, 1983–1987 and spotlights the revolution’s lasting influence throughout Africa and the world. Speaker: James E. Genova, Professor of History, The Ohio State University Moderator: Nicholas Breyfogle, Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching This is a production of the College of Arts & Sciences and Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit http://origins.osu.edu . Follow us on Twitter: @OriginsOSU, Facebook: @Origins OSU

Across human history and throughout this very diverse planet, water has defined every aspect of human life: from the molecular, biological and ecological to the cultural, religious, economic and political. Water stands at the foundation of most of what we do as humans. At the same time, water resources — the need for clean and accessible water supplies for drinking, agriculture and power production — will likely represent one of the most complicated dilemmas of the twenty-first century. In this presentation, Nicholas Breyfogle, Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching at Ohio State University speaks on the history of water. The talk is moderated by Bart Elmore, Associate Professor of Environmental History and Core Faculty, Sustainability Institute, Ohio State University.

New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed presidential historian Douglas Brinkley talks about his new book, "Silent Spring Revolution," which chronicles the rise of environmental activism during the Long Sixties (1960-1973), telling the story of an indomitable generation that saved the natural world under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon.   With the detonation of the Trinity explosion in the New Mexico desert in 1945, the United States took control of Earth’s destiny for the first time. After the Truman administration dropped atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II, a grim new epoch had arrived. During the early Cold War years, the federal government routinely detonated nuclear devices in the Nevada desert and the Marshall Islands. Not only was nuclear fallout a public health menace, but entire ecosystems were contaminated with radioactive materials. During the 1950s, an unprecedented postwar economic boom took hold, with America becoming the world’s leading hyperindustrial and military giant. But with this historic prosperity came a heavy cost: oceans began to die, wilderness vanished, the insecticide DDT poisoned ecosystems, wildlife perished, and chronic smog blighted major cities.   In "Silent Spring Revolution," Douglas Brinkley pays tribute to those who combated the mauling of the natural world in the Long Sixties: Rachel Carson (a marine biologist and author), David Brower (director of the Sierra Club), Barry Commoner (an environmental justice advocate), Coretta Scott King (an antinuclear activist), Stewart Udall (the secretary of the interior), William O. Douglas (Supreme Court justice), Cesar Chavez (a labor organizer), and other crusaders are profiled with verve and insight.   Carson’s book "Silent Spring," published in 1962, depicted how detrimental DDT was to living creatures. The exposé launched an ecological revolution that inspired such landmark legislation as the Wilderness Act (1964), the Clean Air Acts (1963 and 1970), and the Endangered Species Acts (1966, 1969, and 1973). In intimate detail, Brinkley extrapolates on such epic events as the Donora (Pennsylvania) smog incident, JFK’s Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Great Lakes preservation, the Santa Barbara oil spill, and the first Earth Day.   With the United States grappling with climate change and resource exhaustion, Douglas Brinkley’s meticulously researched and deftly written "Silent Spring Revolution" reminds us that a new generation of twenty-first-century environmentalists can save the planet from ruin. This is a production of the College of Arts & Sciences and Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit http://origins.osu.edu .

Russian President Vladimir Putin has gone to extraordinary lengths to commemorate the Second World War. Even though the war ended over 77 years ago, Putin has made World War II memory central to contemporary Russian national identity.  This talk will explore how war remembrance serves Putin’s interests, including with regard to his war in Ukraine.   Panelists:  David L. Hoffmann, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor, Department of History, The Ohio State University  and Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University   This talk is a presentation by the Clio Society in the Ohio State University Department of History. A transcript of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/listen/history-talk/world-war-ii-memory-putins-russia

The United States was a nation forged in the ideological fires of a democratic revolution to overturn monarchy and imperial control. Yet many American leaders and citizens ever since have denied or rejected a foreign policy guided by ideology. Why? If ideas and ideologies help us to order and explain the world, often serving as rationales for (in)action as well as explanations for success or failure, how does the history of U.S. foreign relations appear differently when viewed through the lens of ideology? In short, how has and does ideology drive U.S foreign relations? Panelists: Christopher McKnight Nichols , Professor of History and Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair in National Security Studies at The Ohio State University.  An Andrew Carnegie Fellowship Award winner and Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer, Nichols is a frequent public commentator on U.S. politics and foreign policy. Nichols is the author or editor of six books, including most recently  Ideology in U.S. Foreign Relations: New Histories  (2022). Nicholas Breyfogle  (Moderator), Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, The Ohio State University. A in-text version of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/watch/transatlantic-telephone-iphone

As the hazards of carbon emissions increase and governments around the world seek to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, the search for clean and affordable alternate energies has become an increasing priority in the twenty-first century. However, one nation has already been producing such a fuel for almost a century: Brazil. Its sugarcane-based ethanol is the most efficient biofuel on the global fuel market, and the South American nation is the largest biofuel exporter in the world. In this talk, Jennifer Eaglin discusses her new book and offers a historical account of the industry's origins. The Brazilian government mandated a mixture of ethanol in the national fuel supply in the 1930s, and the success of the program led the military dictatorship to expand the industry and create the national program Proálcool in 1975. Private businessmen, politicians, and national and international automobile manufacturers together leveraged national interests to support this program. By 1985, over 95% of all new cars in the country ran exclusively on ethanol, and, after consumers turned away from them when oil was cheap, the government successfully promoted flex fuel cars instead. Yet, as she shows, the growth of this “green energy” came with associated environmental and social costs in the form of water pollution from liquid waste generated during ethanol distillation and exploitative rural labor practices that reshaped Brazil's countryside. Speakers: Jennifer Eaglin , Assistant Professor of History and Sustainability Institute Nicholas Breyfogle (Moderator), Associate Professor of History, Director, Goldberg Center Co-sponsors of this episode:  The Center for Latin American Studies , https://clas.osu.edu/ The Sustainability Institute , https://si.osu.edu/ Connect with us! Email: Origins@ osu.edu Twitter: @OriginsOSU Instagram: @OriginsOSU Facebook: @OriginsOSU Find transcripts, background reading, and more at origins.osu.edu A transcript of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/listen/history-talk/sweet-fuel-remarkable-story-brazilian-ethanol

...And Water For All is an educational documentary about water affordability in Ohio. The film aims to amplify the voices of those who work toward providing clean, affordable water for all. Even though the movie is set in Ohio, many of its lessons will be relevant for those concerned with water affordability in other places.  This project was made possible by the support of the School of Environment and Natural Resources and the Ohio Water Resources Center  at The Ohio State University.

Ohio State University History Professor David Hoffmann examines some key moments in recent Russian and Ukrainian history, with particular attention to the breakup of the Soviet Union, Putin’s rise to power in Russia, and the 2014 Revolution in Ukraine.  Speaker | David L. Hoffmann, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of History. Professor Hoffmann is a specialist in Russian and Soviet history, with a particular focus on the political, social, and cultural history of Stalinism.   Moderator | Angela Brintlinger, Professor and Interim Department Chair of the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures and Director of the Center for Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies. This lecture is a part of the Center for Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies' "Understanding the War in Ukraine: Weekly Wednesday Speaker Series." Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit http://origins.osu.edu. A transcript of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/listen/history-talk/understanding-war-ukraine-insights-recent-past-1991-present

Bart Elmore takes us on an authoritative and eye-opening journey into how the company Monsanto came to have outsized influence over our food system. Monsanto, a St. Louis chemical firm that became the world’s largest maker of genetically engineered seeds, merged with German pharma-biotech giant Bayer in 2018―but its Roundup Ready® seeds, introduced twenty-five years ago, are still reshaping the farms that feed us. Elmore examines Monsanto’s astounding evolution from a scrappy chemical startup to a global agribusiness powerhouse. Monsanto used seed money derived from toxic products―including PCBs and Agent Orange―to build an agricultural empire, promising endless bounty through its genetically engineered technology. Bart Elmore is Associate Professor of Environmental History at The Ohio State University. A transcript of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/listen/history-talk/seed-money-monsantos-past-and-our-food-future

Learn about an exciting new collaboration that marries photographs and words to bring Black history to life. Picturing Black History (https://www.picturingblackhistory.org/) is a collaborative project between Getty Images and Ohio State’s Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective (http://origins.osu.edu) that contributes to the ongoing public dialogue on the significance of Black history and Black life. The project embraces the power of images to capture stories of oppression and resistance, perseverance and resilience, freedom dreams, imagination, and joy within the United States and around the globe. To view the photographs in this podcast, please view the video version which is available at https://youtu.be/L2rfMgk6Abg. Participants: - Bob Ahern | Director of Archive Photography for Getty Images - Dawn Chitty, (Ed.D.) | Director of Education at the African American Civil War Museum - Daniela Edmeier (Moderator) | Ph.D. Candidate History, Ohio State, and Managing Editor of Picturing Black History - Damarius Johnson | Ph.D. student History, Ohio State, and Associate Editor of Picturing Black History - James Morgan | Programming Consultant with the African American Civil War Museum A transcript of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/listen/history-talk/picturing-black-history

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been described as a “a crime against peace” and “Europe’s Darkest Hour” since World War II. It is an attack that is sure to restructure the international order along with the lives of all Ukrainian citizens. Our panelists assist us in understanding these tragic and world-changing events. This webinar addresses the following questions: Why has Russia invaded and why now? How have Ukrainians responded to the threat of war and to the pressures from Russia over the years? What role does Russian and Ukrainian nationalism play in this crisis? What are long-term patterns of Russian-Ukrainian relations? What should the rest of the world do in the world do in the face of this crisis? Panelists : · Angela Brintlinger (Moderator), Director, Center for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, The Ohio State University · Shawn Conroy , PhD Candidate, History, The Ohio State University · Marianna Klochko , Associate Professor of Sociology, The Ohio State University · Philip Kopatz , Graduate Student, Center for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, The Ohio State University · Myroslava Mudrak , Professor Emeritus, Department of History of Art, The Ohio State University · Mykyta Tyshchenko , Graduate Student, Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures, The Ohio State University A transcript of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/listen/history-talk/russian-invasion-ukraine

In 2006 a small group of historians startled the world by announcing the discovery and publication of a Gospel of Judas. Could the disciple who betrayed Jesus be a hero? Sixteen years later we can see the true significance of this strange text, which reveals to us the amazing diversity of Christianity only one hundred years after Jesus. A presentation by David Brakke, Professor and Joe R. Engle Chair in the History of Christianity at The Ohio State University. Moderated by Nicholas Breyfogle, Associate Professor of History and Director, Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching at The Ohio State University. Hosted by the Department of History Clio Society and Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective. A transcript of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/listen/history-talk/gospel-judas-rediscovery-earliest-gnostic-gospel

Our panel of historians reevaluates what we think we know about the War on Drugs. When and where did it really begin? Why has it persisted? And perhaps most importantly, will we ever be able to quit? They uncover how the centuries-long history of global drug prohibition prologues today's discussions of drug use, abuse, and legalization. Panel: Dr. Isaac Peter Campos , Associate Professor of History, University of Cincinnati Brionna Mendoza , Doctoral candidate in History, Ohio State University Dr. Sarah Brady Siff , Drug Enforcement & Policy Center, Moritz College of Law; Ohio State University Nicholas Breyfogle , Associate Professor of History and Director of the Goldberg Center for Excellence in Teaching, Ohio State University A transcript of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/listen/history-talk/global-war-drugs

During the Cold War, cultural diplomacy emerged as an important aspect of relations between states across the globe. Exhibitions, concerts, performances, book readings, and film screenings captured the ideological message of each side, as they showed conflicting “ways of life” in the global Cold War context. Based on Theodora Dragostinova’s recent book, The Cold War from the Margins: A Small Socialist State on the Global Cultural Scene , this talk interrogates the importance of Cold War culture in a global perspective, tracing the cultural contacts of small Bulgaria from the British Museum and NYC’s Metropolitan to New Lexington, Ohio, to Mexico City, New Delhi, and Lagos. Panel: Nicholas Breyfogle | Associate Professor, Department of History; Director, Goldberg Center Theodora Dragostinova | Associate Professor, Department of History A transcript of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/listen/history-talk/cultural-diplomacy-and-global-cold-war