About Christine Lamberson

Christine Lamberson is a historian. Her research and teaching focuses on 20th century U.S. political and cultural history. She’s currently working on a book manuscript about the role of violence in shaping U.S. political culture in the 1960s and 1970s.

NBN Episodes hosted by Christine:

Matthew Fox-Amato, "Exposing Slavery: Photography, Human Bondage, and the Birth of Modern Visual Politics in America" (Oxford UP, 2019)

February 24, 2024

Exposing Slavery

Matthew Fox-Amato

Shortly after its introduction, photography transformed the ways Americans made political arguments using visual images. In the mid-19th century, phot…

Robert N. Gross, "Public vs. Private: The Early History of School Choice in America" (Oxford UP, 2018)

January 3, 2024

Public vs. Private

Robert N. Gross

There are numerous political debates about education policy today, but some of the most heated surround vouchers, charter schools, and other quest…

Debbie Sharnak, "Of Light and Struggle: Social Justice, Human Rights, and Accountability in Uruguay" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023)

September 15, 2023

Of Light and Struggle

Debbie Sharnak
Listen:

Debbie Sharnak's new book, Of Light and Struggle: Social Justice, Human Rights, and Accountability in Uruguay (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2023)…

Jeremi Suri, "Civil War by Other Means: America's Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy" (PublicAffairs, 2022)

November 2, 2022

Civil War by Other Means

Jeremi Suri

In 1865, the Confederacy was defeated, but the military victory did not end the tensions of the war or signal acceptance of a new, more equal nation. …

C. M. Wolnisty, "A Different Manifest Destiny: U. S. Southern Identity and Citizenship in Nineteenth-Century South America" (U Nebraska Press, 2020)

January 5, 2021

A Different Manifest Destiny

Claire M. Wolnisty

The story of Manifest Destiny and the role of expansion in American slavery is dominated by the history of Western migration. In A Different Manifest …

Vaneesa Cook, "Spiritual Socialists: Religion and the American Left" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2019)

May 27, 2020

Spiritual Socialists

Vaneesa Cook

In this episode of the podcast, Vaneesa Cook discusses her new book Spiritual Socialists: Religion and the American Left (University of Pennsylvania P…

Mary-Elizabeth Murphy, "Jim Crow Capital: Women and Black Freedom Struggles in Washington, DC, 1920-1945" (UNC Press, 2018)

August 16, 2019

Jim Crow Capital

Mary-Elizabeth Murphy

Though women’s roles in the black freedom struggle remain under-acknowledged, scholars continue to make their importance clear. In her new book, Jim C…

Max Felker-Kantor, "Policing Los Angeles: Race, Resistance, and the Rise of the LAPD" (UNC Press, 2018)

April 9, 2019

Policing Los Angeles

Max Felker-Kantor

In recent years, the treatment of African Americans by police departments around the country has come under increased public scrutiny. As any student …

Elliott J. Gorn, "Let the People See: The Story of Emmett Till" (Oxford UP, 2018)

February 5, 2019

Let the People See

Elliott J. Gorn

The story of Emmett Till’s death at the hands of white Mississippians is well known. For many Americans, it highlights the racism of the Jim Crow Sout…

Adam Malka, "The Men of Mobtown: Policing Baltimore in the Age of Slavery and Emancipation" (UNC Press, 2018)

December 4, 2018

The Men of Mobtown

Adam Malka

Criminal justice, policing, and mass incarceration have gained significant political attention recently, and the problems of these systems have drawn …

J. Samuel Walker, "Most of 14th Street Is Gone: The Washington, DC Riots of 1968" (Oxford UP, 2018)

July 30, 2018

Most of 14th Street Is Gone

J. Samuel Walker

Fifty years ago, the United States, and many other societies, experienced one of the most turbulent years of the century. In 1968, Americans were deep…

Brian James Leech, "The City That Ate Itself: Butte, Montana and Its Expanding Berkeley Pit" (U Nevada Press, 2018)

June 15, 2018

The City That Ate Itself

Brian James Leech

The plight of today's coal miners has gained significant attention in recent U.S. politics. As coal mining practices and technologies change in the Un…

Kali Nicole Gross, "Hannah Mary Tabbs and the Disembodied Torso" (Oxford UP, 2016)

March 13, 2018

Hannah Mary Tabbs and the Disembodied Torso

Kali Nicole Gross

True crime is as popular as ever in our present moment. Both television and podcast series have gained critical praise and large audiences by explorin…

David Weinstein, "The Eddie Cantor Story: A Jewish Life in Performance and Politics" (Brandeis UP, 2017)

March 5, 2018

The Eddie Cantor Story

David Weinstein

Eddie Cantor was once among the most popular performers in the United States. He was influential and innovative on stage, radio, and film from the ear…

Nicholas Trajano Molnar, "American Mestizos, the Philippines, and the Malleability of Race, 1898-1961" (U Missouri Press, 2017)

February 7, 2018

American Mestizos, the Philippines, and the Malleability of Race, 1898-1961

Nicholas Trajano Molnar

In 1898, the United States took control of the Philippines from the Spanish. The U.S. then entered into a brutal war to make the Filipinos submit to t…

Richard E. Schroeder, "The Foundation of the CIA: Harry Truman, the Missouri Gang and the Origins of the Cold War" (U Missouri Press, 2017)

January 25, 2018

The Foundation of the CIA

Richard E. Schroeder

The CIA is a well-known agency to say the least. It is a key part of the United States' national security apparatus and has been for the past 70 years…

Sarah Haley, "No Mercy Here: Gender, Punishment, and the Making of Jim Crow Modernity" (UNC Press, 2016)

September 15, 2017

No Mercy Here

Sarah Haley

Recent popular and scholarly interest has highlighted the complex and brutal system of mass incarceration in the United States. Much of this interest …

Allison Perlman, "Public Interests: Media Advocacy and Struggles Over U.S. Television" (Rutgers UP, 2016)

September 11, 2017

Public Interests

Allison Perlman

Since its infancy, television has played an important role in shaping U.S. values and the American sense of self. Social activists recognized this pow…

Christopher Lowen Agee, "The Streets of San Francisco: Policing and the Creation of a Cosmopolitan Liberal Politics, 1950-1972" (U Chicago Press, 2014)

March 9, 2017

The Streets of San Francisco

Christopher Lowen Agee

Policing tactics have recently been the subject of lively political debates and the target of protest groups like the Black Lives Matter movement. Pol…

Mitchel Roth, "Convict Cowboys: The Untold History of the Texas Prison Rodeo" (U North Texas Press, 2016)

February 1, 2017

Convict Cowboys

Mitchel Roth

For more than 50 years, Huntsville prison put on an annual rodeo throughout the month of October to entertain prisoners, locals, and visitors from acr…

Heather Ann Thompson, "Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy" (Pantheon, 2016)

November 1, 2016

Blood in the Water

Heather Ann Thompson

In 1971, prisoners took over Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York. The uprising followed a wave of protests in prisons and jails across th…

Jason Pierce, "Making the White Man's West: Whiteness and the Creation of the American West" (UP of Colorado, 2016)

September 26, 2016

Making the White Man's West

Jason Pierce

The West, particularly the mountain West of states like Colorado, Utah, Idaho, has long had an image as a land of white men. This image dates to the 1…

Barbara Hahn and Bruce Baker, "The Cotton Kings: Capitalism and Corruption in Turn-of-the-Century New York and New Orleans" (Oxford UP, 2015)

September 16, 2016

The Cotton Kings

Barbara Hahn and Bruce Baker

With the recent economic collapse and rising income inequality, lessons drawn from turn-of-the century capitalism have become frequent. Pundits, polic…

Campbell F. Scribner, "The Fight for Local Control: Schools, Suburbs, and American Democracy" (Cornell UP, 2016)

August 25, 2016

The Fight for Local Control

Campbell F. Scribner

Battles over school politics from curriculum to funding to voucher systems are key and contentious features of the political landscape today. Many of …