Today’s episode is the second part of a two-episode series on John Steinbeck’s novel To a God Unknown. I wanted to do two episodes on this because the novel is fascinating, complex, and at times mystifying—and I wanted to get a few different perspectives to better understand it.
Today’s guest is Dr. Michael Boyden, a professor in both the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures as well as the Institute for Culture and History. His primary interest is in American literature, with a special focus on ecocriticism, Anthropocene studies, and critical sustainability studies.
I read a fascinating article he published on To a God Unknown, which examines the novel from an ecological perspective, and I was eager to talk with him about it. We cover a lot of ground—some topics echo my first conversation with Dr. Rivers—but we dive deeper into the ecological dimensions this time around.
Today's episode is the first in a series of episodes on the history of Chinese Americans in California. We are beginning the series by...
Host Jordan Mattox sits down with novelist Shelley Blanton-Stroud for a wide-ranging conversation about Bakersfield, historical fiction, and the hidden corners of California’s past....
In this episode, we investigate the Anza expeditions and their implications for the changing population of California.