Host Harry Kreisler welcomes UC professors Herbert York and Susan Shirk for a discussion of the role of research universities in meeting today’s national security challenges. York, the first director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and founding director of the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) and Shirk, Asian security policy expert and current IGCC Director, compare the Cold War and the Post 911 world. Highlighting the importance of regional contexts and the need for well informed diplomacy, they evaluate the U.S. response in managing these threats and offer recommendations for the future. (55 minutes)

Winner of the Nobel Prize for his role in the invention of the laser and maser, UC Berkeley Professor Charles Townes recounts his adventures as a scientist. (54 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Pamela Constable of the Washington Post for a discussion of changes in Afghanistan and Pakistan Since 911. She analyzes the 2008 Pakistan election and its implications for U.S. Pakistan relations and describes the renewal of the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. (56 minutes)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes New Yorker staff writer Lawrence Wright for a discussion of his new book, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Included in the conversation are profiles of Mohammed Qutb, Osama Bin Laden, and Dr. Ayman al-Zawarhiri. key figures in the radical jihadist movement that became Al Qaeda. Wright also reflects on the career of FBI agent John O’Neill who lead the FBI search for terrorists within the United States and was killed` in the destruction of the Twin Towers. (57 minutes)

Conversations with History host Harry Kreisler interviews Joseph Joffe, editor/publisher of Die Zeit, about the implications of the Bush Doctrine for U.S-European relations. (58 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes writer/critic Mark Steyn, the 2007 Nimitz Lecturer at Berkeley. Focusing on his new book, "America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It," they discuss Europe and America's relations with the Islamic world. In the interview, their conversation also focuses on the craft of writing in a multi media globalized world. (55 minutes)

Kishore Mahbubani, author of Beyond the Age of Innocence: Rebuilding Trust between America and the World and Can Asians Think? joins Conversations host Harry Kreisler for a discussion about America and the world. (55 min)

Host Harry Kreisler welcomes Columbia University political scientist Robert Jervis for a discussion of theory in international relations. Their discussion includes an examination of the Bush Doctrine and the failure of intelligence in the lead up to the Iraq War. (58 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes NYU law professor Stephen Holmes for a discussion of the Bush administration's response to the 911 attack. He analyzes the motivations behind policies, examines the interplay between politics and ideas, and highlights the implications for American democracy. He also addresses the options available to the the next President in confronting the tragic errors of the Bush administration. (59 minutes)

In this edition, UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler talks with Laura D'Andrea Tyson, the Class of 1939 Professor of Economics and Business at UC Berkeley. They discuss her research in international economics, her service in the Clinton administration, and the interaction between national economic policy and the international economy. (55 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Harper's Editor Emeritus Lewis Lapham for a discussion of his career and the history of Harper's Magazine. Lapham compares print to electronic media, analyzes the corruption of language by politics, and reflects on the incompatibility of democracy and empire. He concludes with a devastating critique of the Bush administration and its impeachable offenses. (59 min)

One of the significant Irish poets and scholars of our time, Maire MacEntee, discusses the influences that led to her becoming a poet. (27 min)

Host Harry Kreisler welcomes Harvard political scientist Stephen M. Walt for a discussion of how to think about balancing power in international politics. They also consider the role theory might play in formulating foreign policy and consider the way the world is responding to the U.S. hegemony in the aftermath of 911 and the Iraq War. (58 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes biblical scholar Bart Ehrman for a discussion of his intellectual odyssey with a focus on how the Bible explains the problem of human suffering. The conversation includes a discussion of the challenges of biblical interpretation when confronting this age old problem of the human condition. Included are topics such as the contribution of the prophets, a comparison of the old and new testaments, the book of Job, and the emergence of apocalyptic writers. (57 minutes)

Conversations with History host Harry Kreisler welcomes Walter Russell Mead of the Council on Foreign Relations for a discussion of the Anglo American maritime system—its origins, development, and impact on the world. The conversation touches on the unique synergy between Protestant religion and capitalism, the consolidation of Anglo American power in the process of transforming the international system, the importance of culture in international politics, and the need for a dialogue of civilizations in the 21st century. (57 minutes)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Yale Professor James Gustave Speth for a discussion of his career in the environmental movement. Professor Speth traces his changing perspective on the appropriate response to the environmental crisis. Concluding that only a radical transformation of capitalism will save the planet for future generations, he outlines the changes in consciousness and in the political agenda that will be required. (54 minutes)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes General Tony Zinni for a discussion of national security challenges facing the United States in the 21st century. He analyzes the failure of U.S. foreign policy to address the new instabilities threatening world order and discusses the lessons of the Iraq War. (57 minutes)

On this edition of Conversations with History, Harry Kreisler welcomes Michael Nacht, Dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley. Nacht discusses the making of U.S. foreign policy and comments on how it is changing in the aftermath of 9/11. (58 min)

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Harvard Professor Samantha Power for a discussion of her new book, "Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World." The conversation focuses on the lessons of De Mello's life for understanding the challenges confronting world order in the 21st century. (56 minutes)

Conversations with History host Harry Kreisler welcomes Ruan Zongze, Vice President of the China Institute of International Studies, Beijing, for a discussion of China's changing domestic scene and its implications for Chinese foreign policy. (57 min)