Holiday Best-Of: 100 Years of Radio; Earthquakes; Malcolm Gladwell; Wonderful World of Oz

The Brian Lehrer Show

As 2024 winds down, enjoy some of our favorite recent conversations:

• For the centennial series "100 Years of 100 Things," Matthew Barton, curator of recorded sound at the Library of Congress, walks us through the history of radio.
• April's earthquake in New Jersey was likely a natural phenomenon, but earthquakes can be caused by human interventions -- like fracking. For our climate story of the week, Umair Irfan, staff writer at Vox writing about climate change and energy policy, breaks down how fracking and other natural resource extractions have increased the likelihood of earthquakes in the United States.
• Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of many books, including Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering (Little, Brown and Company, 2024), talks about his new work which follows up on his breakthrough book, The Tipping Point, with a more sobering look at social "epidemics."
• As our centennial series continues, John Fricke, historian focused on The Wizard of Oz and Judy Garland and the author of The Wonderful World of Oz: An Illustrated History of the American Classic (Down East Books, 2014), talks about the enduring impact of the story of The Wizard of Oz.

These interviews were lightly edited for time and clarity; the original web versions are available here:

100 Years of 100 Things: Radio (July 10, 2024)

How Fracking Can Cause Earthquakes (April 9, 2024)

Malcolm Gladwell Re-Considers (October 18, 2024)

100 Years of 100 Things: The Wizard of Oz (December 9, 2024)