Imagine a world in which you love skiing, but the only way to shush down the mountain is to trudge to the top of the mountain with the skis strapped to your back. There are no lift lines, sure, but each run requires an arduous effort to make happen. Conversely, imagine a world in which ski lifts are abundant, but a lift ticket doesn’t cost north of $200 per day at the window. Why and how did the ski business in North America get so expensive and how did it become what some might describe as a duopoly? Join us as we explore the world of the ski business.

Why did the Cold War end? Every high schooler in the country would likely answer that with some reference to the steely-eyed resolve of John F. Kennedy, or America's overwhelming economic power. But Professor Fritz Bartel of Texas A&M University has a compelling--and very surprising--new theory he put forth in his recent book The Triumph of Broken Promises.

The two largest ride share providers in the United States, Uber and Lyft, have recently said that they will be exiting Minneapolis in May. Minneapolis' city council has passed into law a requirement that the ride share providers pay a (in the companies' view) high minimum hourly wage to their riders. The companies say the wage is unsustainable. The city council says it is necessary to ensure a living wage. Join us as we explore this timely debate with Dave Orrick of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Imagine a war ravaging your home and everything you know. But this isn’t a normal war, it is, in the eyes of the aggressor, a “small war.” The aggressor perhaps calls it a “peacekeeping mission.” From your perspective, this doesn’t matter one bit. Death is death and violence is violence. Throughout modern history, imperial powers have waged so-called small wars across the globe while resisting calls to define these conflicts as wars. Why are small wars so integral to understanding imperial powers in the modern world, and why is it that these conflicts so frequently garner little notice? Join us as we learn about imperial small wars and Lauren Benton's recent book They Called it Peace.

Imagine a world in which your elected leaders may not be removed from office. You go to the polls, you vote, and for whichever leader wins the election, they are handed a mandate and a golden ticket to pilfer the country in whatever way they see fit. In the United States and many other democracies around the globe, even the holder of the highest elected office in the land is still subject to removal via an impeachment process. This final check on power is the last resort when things go wrong.

Imagine a world in which time is not kept by a single authority. If you drive from your hometown to one a few hours away, noon is slightly different and tied to the local experience of when the sun peaks. Time would be less precise, and more driven by the moon, the stars, the sun, and even the behavior of animals. We all live in a world in which time is centrally determined and incredibly accurate and precise. But time was not always that way. Join us as we explore the history of time and its evolution into the thing we know today.

Join us for a discussion with a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Imagine living in a country riven by political discord and strife. One party works to steal the election from the other. Politicians who are, in the eyes of their opposition, wholly unfit for office are running for and winning some of the highest elected positions in the country. This may sound familiar, but it is actually a tale of some of the earliest days of the United States. The characters are not Trump, Biden, or Obama, but rather Adams, Jefferson, and Hamilton. Join us as we explore some of the earliest, most contentious days of our country in the recently-released book Founding Partisans.

Imagine a world in which your life is turned upside down by war…. Not just war, but total war. The very land on which you live is destroyed and you are forced to flee, leaving everything behind. Beyond that, the very place you live in is destroyed. Food is scarce, shelter is difficult to find, and fear pervades your life. Though total war is most associated with modern conflicts, its roots go back much further than you may have thought. Join us as we explore environmental warfare.