University of the Air

Who can sue for libel, what are the defenses against it, and what role does the First Amendment play in settling libel suits? UW-Madison journalism professor Robert Drechsel will guide us through some notable cases.

Craig Werner profiles three women who took big risks to become leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.

At the end of World War II, a variety of political and civic virtues helped make it possible for the United States to move decisively in just a few years to turn a defeated Japan into a self-sufficient country compatible with American interests. How much did Japanese civilians know about the outcome of the war? And how did the Japanese receive the American occupation forces? And what did they think of the man in charge of the occupation—General Douglas MacArthur? Look at the occupation of Japan from the viewpoint of someone who experienced it firsthand.

When Hitler came to power, he was quick to apply his anti-Semitic policies to music, getting Jewish musicians removed from German orchestras. The process was so abrupt that conductor Wilhelm Steinberg had his baton taken from him by Nazi thugs who entered the opera house where he was rehearsing. We’ll find out how Wilhelm Steinberg left Germany and became William Steinberg, conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony. And we’ll hear the story of violinist Bronislaw Huberman, who formed an orchestra of exiles in Palestine. Guest Frank Tuerkheimer will go into the personalities and politics that crated a remarkable orchestra of exiles.

We explore the world of the Amish and Mennonites with an expert in Pennsylvania Dutch culture.

Russia is entirely dependent on oil and gas revenues, and desperate for foreign investment, and yet it continues to loom as a major competitor and a threat to US interests. How valid are those concerns? UW-Madison Russia expert David McDonald will fill us in on Russia's current status on the world stage.

We explore haiku, the shortest poetic form in the world. Whether crude, erotic or funny, we examine haiku as a fascinating and complex global phenomenon.

Losing America came as a shock to the mighty British Empire. Were inept generals and political leaders in Britain responsible? Historian Andrew Jackson O'Shaugnessy looks at the American Revolution from the standpoint of ten key players on the British side.

We see the term schizophrenia often, but what does a schizophrenia sufferer experience, and how can non-sufferers recognize the symptoms? UW-Madison Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry Diane C.Gooding will lead us through the complexities of a disorder that affects millions of people worldwide.

Teen moms, 'baby mamas,' sex workers, and crack addicts: how did they come out on the other side as doctors, lawyers, artists, counselors, and more? Activist Sagashus Levingston discusses her book Infamous Mothers: Women who've gone through the belly of hell and brought something good back .

Claude Debussy was one of the most innovative composers in histor. He had a remarkable ability to create images through music. From the Orient to turn-of the Century America and the mysterious to the comic, Debussy brought it out in the sounds of the piano. Pianist Catherine Kautsky will give us the background on some of Debussy’s most vivid compositions and their sometimes controversial sources of inspiration.

Jazz has been called "the coolest, freest, and yet deepest music humans have ever made," an indigenous art form that seems to defy categorization. We explore the definition of jazz with the help of numerous musical examples.

So-called silent films were anything but silent. As with today's films, they had music accompanying the images, often frame for frame for the entire film. A leading latter-day practitioner of silent film music, Jelani Eddington, will tell us how he performs the score he composed for "The Flying Ace," a remarkable 1926 action movie with an all-black cast. How well does a silent film work on radio? Find out as we experience the Art of Silent Film Music.

The UW MIA Recovery and Identification Project was founded in 2015, two years after helping identify the remains of a U.S. service member mistakenly buried as a German soldier. Since then, UW has forged a unique partnership with the Department of Defense that harnesses the cutting edge technology and knowledge of the Madison campus — and now other academic partners — to find and identify America's MIAs. We'll find out what advantages the Project has when it comes to identifying some of Wisconsin’s 1500 missing soldiers and hear the stories of some of their discoveries.

We explore the transition from Imperial China to modern China through the writings and customs of prominent writer Yu Yue and his descendants. Professor Rania Huntington discusses her own journey from Mazomanie, Wisconsin, to a career in Chinese studies and shares her personal connection to the Yu family's poignant writings about memory and loss.