KPFK Wed. 5/28: End of the Age of Reagan?

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The Age of Reagan: is it coming to an end? In 1964 the conservative movement seemed nearly dead. Then it manged to seize power and dominate American politics for the past 35 years. Historian SEAN WILENTZ will talk about Ronald Reagan – how his rise was hardly inevitable; how his successes had little to do with conservative ideology; and how the nearly forgotten Iran-Contra scandal was a fundamental challenge to the constitution and democracy. Sean teaches history at Princeton; his new book is The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008.

Plus: Your Minnesota Moment: in preparation for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, the local FBI is soliciting informants to keep tabs on local protest groups and their “vegan potlucks” — a report by Matt Snyders in CityPages.

Also: The “Frozen Chosen:” MICHAEL CHABON won the Pulitzer Prize for The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay – now after seven years he’s back with another one that’s dazzling fun: The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, out now in paperback. In the wake of WWII, the US permits immigrant Jews to settle in Sitka, Alaska (which was in fact proposed by FDR) after the defeat of the nascent state of Israel. Our hero is detective Meyer Landsman, “a crazy little Jew with a question and a gun.” (originally broadcast May 9, 2007)

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