America is just not that into you anymore, says historian Marci Shore. It's not us, it's them. The Yale professor blames the U.S. for the failed relationship and warns the world that her own country can no longer be counted on to defend democracy, not even within its own borders. Shore has been studying the history of totalitarianism for nearly 30 years. She tells Nahlah Ayed why she relocated to Canada and how her knowledge of Eastern Europe informed her choice.

It might seem like the vast, turbulent ocean of information we call news has always existed, but that's not the case. Theatrical plays in Elizabethan England set the stage for our modern news culture, argues Stephen Wittek in his post-doctoral work. He says the cross-pollination between theatre and news developed the norms for our contemporary public conversations. *This updated episode of Ideas from the Trenches was originally broadcast in 2014.

It's not them, it's you. That's what fans of the cormorant argue, pointing out how people see the gangly aquatic bird all wrong. This common bird has irritated communities with its large colonies, fishing habits and tree-killing excrement. But defenders suggest maybe it's humans and their cultural assumptions that are the source of the problem. They say it's time for people to re-evaluate their perception of cormorants and see their beauty and worth. *This episode originally aired on October 6, 2021.