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About Nathan Bierma

NBN Episodes hosted by Nathan:

Architecture December 2, 2019

The Open-Ended City

David Dillon on Texas Architecture

Kathryn Holliday

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
It may only be a slight exaggeration to say that one of David Dillon's career accomplishments was to put the words "Dallas" and "architecture" in the same sentence again. After …
Journalism July 18, 2019

A Narrative History of the American Press

Gregory Borchard

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
The American press is older than the United States itself. Ever since its catalytic role in the American Revolution, journalism has evolved to meet changing political, economic, and technological demands …
Sports June 25, 2019

Wrigley Field

The Friendly Confines at Clark and Addison

Gregory H. Wolf

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
Wrigley Field is one of a handful of sports stadiums to have transcended its athletic purpose to become a true American landmark. Nestled in its neighborhood on the north side …
Media June 14, 2019

Rube Tube

CBS and Rural Comedy in the Sixties

Sara K. Eskridge

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
The television comedies of the 1960s set in the American South epitomize American innocence. But in their original historical, social, and commercial context, their portrayals of southern life and their …
Media March 27, 2019

From Gutenberg to Google

The History of Our Future

Tom Wheeler

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
It's easy to get sidetracked while writing a book. But imagine being interrupted by the President of the United States. That happened to Tom Wheeler, who was in the midst …
Sports March 19, 2019

The Russian Five

A Story of Espionage, Defection, Bribery and Courage

Keith Gave

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
Keith Gave spent six years in the NSA during the Cold War, but his most daring mission may have come later, while working as a sports writer. In the late …
Media March 6, 2019

Wired into Nature

The Telegraph and the North American Frontier

Jim Schwoch

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
It's been called the first Internet. In the nineteenth century, the telegraph spun a world wide web of cables and poles, carrying electronic signals with unprecedented speed. In order to …
Sports January 31, 2019

A Half Century of Super Bowls

National and Global Perspectives on America's Grandest Spectacle

Peter Hopsicker and Mark Dyreson

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
The Super Bowl is a singular spectacle in American culture. More than just a championship football game, the Super Bowl has become an unparalleled display of nationalism, consumerism, and culture …
Media December 18, 2018

The Queer Fantasies of the American Family Sitcom

Tison Pugh

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
Perhaps no form of popular art has appeared as poised to resist subversive sexual themes as the television situation comedy. But Tison Pugh writes that the sitcom’s historic dogmatic insistence …
Sports December 12, 2018

The Eighth Wonder of the World

The Life of Houston's Iconic Astrodome

Robert C. Trumpbour and Kenneth Womack

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
It rose against the Texas sun in all its architectural audacity: a domed stadium big enough to cover a baseball field. When it opened in 1965, the Houston Astrodome defied …
American Studies November 19, 2018

Inventing American Tradition

From the Mayflower to Cinco de Mayo

Jack David Eller

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
Americans gathering for Thanksgiving this week may assume they are continuing an unbroken chain of tradition that traces directly back to Massachusetts settlers in 1620. In fact, many of our …
Language November 14, 2018

Sympathy for the Traitor

A Translation Manifesto

Mark Polizzotti

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
The success of a translator may seem to lie in going unnoticed: the translator ducks out of the spotlight so that the original author may shine. Mark Polizzotti challenges …
Media November 8, 2018

The Joy of Sets

A Short History of the Television

Chris Horrocks

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
Television started as a dream of nineteenth-century science fiction. It took its place in the twentieth-century home, and became a fixture of family life and a transformative cultural force. Today …
Media October 19, 2018

Jack Benny and the Golden Age of American Radio Comedy

Kathryn Fuller-Seeley

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
Jack Benny was one of the first crossover stars in broadcast comedy, rising from the vaudeville circuit to star in radio, film, and television. Kathryn Fuller-Seeley chronicles Benny's career …
Media October 9, 2018

The Television Code

Regulating the Screen to Safeguard the Industry

Deborah Jaramillo

Hosted by Nathan Bierma
If you watch old movies or study film history, you may know that early 20th-century Hollywood operated under the Motion Picture Production Code, which dictated what could and couldn’t be …