America Podcasts

What drives the actions Vladimir Putin? Vladimir Shlapentokh, a longtime observer of Russian affairs, tries to explain. Shlapentokh, a professor of sociology at Michigan State University, was a founder of Soviet sociology. Since coming to the United States in 1979, he has published two dozen books on Russian and American society.

A discussion of John Michael McDonagh's new film "Calvary" with Kerry Weber, Ronan McCoy and Allison Shapiro.  Spoilers included. 

Dennis P. Halpin talks about the tragedy of Korea's "comfort women" and how Pope Francis might reach out to them during his visit to South Korea. You can read Mr. Halpin's article "Healing an Old Wound" in the August 4-11, 2014 issue of America.

Raymond A. Schroth, S.J., talks about his father's formative experience serving during World War I. 

Culture columnist Bill McGarvey reports on a recent visit to Japan and Taiwan. You can read his blog posts from Japan here and here.

Vincent D. Rougeau discusses his recent article about the legacy of the Civil Rights Act. 

George Drance, S.J., talks about his solo theatrical performance of the entire Gospel of Mark, now playing in New York City through June 15. For more information and tickets visit www.lamama.org

Peter Schineller, S.J., reports on a recent trip to Vietnam, where he taught theology to Jesuit seminarians. Vietnam is home to a large number of religious vocations despite the official atheist position of the Communist government.  View pictures from Father Schineller's trip.

James Martin, S.J., and Tim Reidy discuss the highlights of the first half of the final season of "Mad Men." Is redemption possible for Don and his coworkers at Sterling Cooper? How are the characters affected by the sins they commit? And what exactly did Don experience in the final moments of the show?