Editorial Staff

New York Times Best Seller Paul Reid on Winston Churchill, WWII, & the Cold War

/in , , , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

This week on “The Learning Curve,” host Cara Candal and guest co-host Kerry McDonald talk with Paul Reid, co-author, with William Manchester, of the New York Times best-selling biography of Winston Churchill, The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965. Reid shares how he was enlisted to complete William Manchester’s biographical trilogy on the greatest political figure of the 20th century, which became a best-seller. They discuss Churchill’s remarkable foresight about the dangers of Nazi Germany in the 1930s, his courageous World War II leadership, and what students should know about his central role in the Allies’ defeat of Hitler, as well as big-picture lessons on statesmanship during times of crisis. They review the significance of Churchill’s famous “Iron Curtain” speech, delivered in Missouri 75 years ago, a seminal Cold War event warning about communist totalitarianism. Reid offers insights on Churchill’s liberal arts education and grounding in classical history, which informed his actions as well as his 43 book-length works and extraordinary speeches. He also sheds light on the more private side of this great figure, who was an ambitious, driven workaholic, yet also charismatic, playful, and artistic. The interview concludes with a reading from Reid’s Churchill biography.

Stories of the Week: In Ohio, state legislators are considering a bill that would mandate K-12 computer science instruction. A Newsweek op-ed encourages revolutionizing the factory model of education based on lessons learned from the pandemic, with new, entrepreneurial, and self-directed approaches to learning.

Guest:

Paul Reid is the co-author, with William Manchester, of the biography of Winston Churchill, The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965. In 2004, Manchester requested his friend Reid complete the third volume of his Churchill trilogy. The book was a New York Times bestseller and named one of the best books of 2012 by The Wall Street Journal. Reid has appeared on C-SPAN, the Churchill Chat, and was a Mason Distinguished Lecturer. In 2013, Reid was made a Churchill Fellow at Westminster College, where Churchill gave his Iron Curtain speech. Previously, Mr. Reid was a feature writer for The Palm Beach Post and a regular op-ed writer for The Boston Globe. He worked in manufacturing before earning a bachelor’s degree from the Harvard University Extension School and beginning a career in journalism.

The next episode will air on Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021 at 12 pm ET with guest, Naomi Schaefer Riley, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of several books, including Be the Parent, Please.

Tweet of the Week:

News Links:

Reimagining K-12 Education After COVID

Sarah A. Morgan Smith is the former Director of Faculty at the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University. Brian A. Smith is the Managing Editor of Law & Liberty.

https://www.newsweek.com/reimagining-k-12-education-after-covid-opinion-1597321

OH K-12 schools may see new computer science mandate

https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/k-12-schools-may-see-new-computer-science-mandate/RXLL6W4LM5BTNOYAHIFZIDDXFY/

Get new episodes of The Learning Curve in your inbox!

Related Posts

Lauren Redniss on Marie Curie, STEM, & Women’s History

0 Comments
/
This week on The Learning Curve, Cara and Gerard mark Women's History Month with Lauren Redniss, author of Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout, the first work of visual nonfiction to be named a finalist for the National Book Award.

“The Last Candid Man”: B.U.’s Dr. John Silber

0 Comments
/
This week on The Learning Curve, Cara and Gerard talk with Rachel Silber Devlin about her memoir, Snapshots of My Father, John Silber, which captures the wide-ranging and remarkable life of the late philosopher, teacher, and president of Boston University.

OECD’s Andreas Schleicher on PISA & K-12 Global Education

0 Comments
/
This week on The Learning Curve, Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), discusses global K-12 education, skills, and competition.

India Unbound: Gurcharan Das on the Rise of the World’s Largest Free-Market Democracy

0 Comments
/
This week on The Learning Curve, Gurcharan Das, author, public intellectual, and former CEO of Procter & Gamble India, discusses the rise of India since independence to become a thriving, incredibly diverse nation of 1.4 billion people—the world's largest free-market democracy.

Dr. Deborah Plant on Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”

0 Comments
/
This week on The Learning Curve, Dr. Deborah Plant, editor of the 2018 book Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo" discusses Zora Neale Hurston's work as an anthropologist telling the story of one of the last survivors of the infamous Middle Passage.

George Weigel Discusses Pope St. John Paul II for National Catholic Schools Week

0 Comments
/
This week on The Learning Curve, George Weigel, the biographer of Pope St. John Paul II explores how Karol Wojtyla's education, deep faith, and experiences during World War II shaped his life as a spiritual leader and helped lead to the fall of Communism.

Award-Winning UK Author & Filmmaker Laurence Rees on the Holocaust, Auschwitz, and Remembrance

0 Comments
/
To mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Laurence Rees, a former head of BBC TV History Programmes and author of The Holocaust: A New History, sheds light on Germany in the 1920s and 1930s and the cultural and political conditions that led to the Holocaust.

D.C.’s Kevin Chavous on National School Choice Week

0 Comments
/
This week on The Learning Curve, Cara and Gerard talk with Kevin Chavous, president of Stride K12, Inc. and a former member of the Council of the District of Columbia, on the growing movement toward school choice in education. Chavous discusses recent Supreme Court rulings and the expansion of school choice programs, education savings accounts, and vouchers.

Pulitzer Winner Prof. David Garrow on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement

0 Comments
/
https://chrt.fm/track/4655F8/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/53284998/tlc_davidgarrow.mp3 This…

Independent Institute’s Dr. Richard Vedder on Higher Education, Skyrocketing Tuitions, & the Student Debt Crisis

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Dr. Richard Vedder, Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Economics at Ohio University. He shares analysis on the macro impact of COVID on the U.S. labor market, and the long-term economic prospects of American college students. He reviews insights from his recent book, "Restoring the Promise: Higher Education in America."