THE CIVIL DISCOURSE

#401 Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg
Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg is a literary and biblical scholar, professor, and author of a series of Judaic texts, including The Hidden Order of Intimacy: Reflections on the Book of Leviticus, Moses: A Human Life, and the National Jewish Book Award-winning The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis. In this episode of The Civil Discourse, Zornberg joins Host Paula Marantz Cohen from Jerusalem, Israel to discuss her analysis of biblical themes and their relevance to modern times; the impact of women's perspectives on contemporary biblical interpretation; and her affinity for the life and literature of George Eliot.

#402 Dan Burt
Dan Burt is a poet, memoirist, and former lawyer with a fascinating life story. As he recounts in Every Wrong Direction: An Emigré's Memoir, Burt left behind a rough-and-tumble Philadelphia upbringing where he worked in the family butcher shop, got into fights, struggled to stay in line at school, and witnessed his family's own involvement with the mafia. Years later, following a career in international corporate tax law, the writer has taken to life overseas, written a series of poetry collections, and found an appointment as Honorary Fellow with St. John's College at the University of Cambridge. In this episode of The Civil Discourse, Burt joins Host Paula Marantz Cohen from Cambridge, England to reflect on these varied life experiences and the lessons they taught him along the way.

#403 Steven Greenhouse
Steven Greenhouse is a longtime labor and workplace reporter, having led the beat for decades at The New York Times. He eventually went on to author two leading books on the labor movement: The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker and Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor. In this episode of The Civil Discourse, Greenhouse joins Host Paula Marantz Cohen for a wide-ranging discussion on the field of journalism, the evolution of unions and the labor movement (particularly as impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic), and controversial policies of Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

#404 Tressie McMillan Cottom
Tressie McMillan Cottom is a writer, researcher, and sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As a public scholar and essayist, McMillan Cottom explores matters related to Black America, culture, politics, and economics for The New York Times and is the author of the books Thick: And Other Essays and Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy. She is also the recipient of a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" award. In this episode of The Civil Discourse, McMillan Cottom joins Host Paula Marantz Cohen to address her challenges as a Black woman intellectual, how institutions of higher education are pivoting DEI initiatives, and how race and ethnicity present complex differences.

#405 Iain McGilchrist
Iain McGilchrist is an eminent psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and literary scholar. He is the author of the compendium The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World and the groundbreaking work The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. In this episode of The Civil Discourse, McGilchrist joins Host Paula Marantz Cohen to uncover the neuropsychological differences between the left and right hemispheres of the brain and how they translate to social changes in human civilization. This discussion also examines disorders of the brain, including schizophrenia.

#406 Mark Roosevelt and J. Walter Sterling
St. John’s College, labeled by The New York Times as “The Most Contrarian College in America,” offers a unique model for higher education: two national campuses with focus on intellectual debate; a fervent great books curriculum; small class sizes; progressive tuition practices; and faculty who identify as “tutors,” learning alongside students. In this roundtable discussion for THE CIVIL DISCOURSE, Host Paula Marantz Cohen converses with President Mark Roosevelt and former Dean J. Walter Sterling—both representing the Santa Fe, New Mexico campus of St. John’s College—about the institution’s distinct approach to education in the face of cultural trends. They address an effort to expand diversity of representation in its curriculum, ways to maintain knowledge acquisition in lieu of financial bloat, and the need for civil discourse in contemporary society.