An Unfinished History of the Holocaust

Why does being alive feel like something? Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio argues that the answer begins with the body's need to stay alive. Hunger, thirst, pain, and pleasure tell us how we're doing and push us to act. These basic feelings, he says, are the foundation of conscious ...  Show more

Can fighting racism end up reinforcing it? Shelby Steele grew up under segregation and became a Black militant in the 1960s. Today, he argues that White guilt has created a different racial problem: treating Black Americans as permanent victims who cannot succeed without White he ...  Show more

The Holocaust is an event so vast and terrible it can often be hard to wrap our heads around it. But what motivated those who perpetrated horrific crimes in the name of the Third Reich, and how did they justify their actions? Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, Martin Davidson discusses ...  Show more

How did the Nazis’ poisonous antisemitic rhetoric eventually culminate in the systematic mass-murder of millions? Speaking to Rachel Dinning back in 2023, historian Laurence Rees charts the course of the Holocaust – from its origins to its devastating conclusion. Holocaust Memor ...  Show more

Historians continue to unearth documents, interpret new records accounts and reinterpret old ones in their light. In doing so they expand our understanding of unfolding antisemitism and the holocaust. Anne McElvoy speaks to Barbara Warnock the senior curator of the Wiener Holocau ...  Show more

This show starts off with an extended discussion of the genocide of Jews in the Holocaust and the associated dangers of extreme governmental power followed by an interview with Holocaust expert and historian Dan Stone.