Pope Leo XIII sought to find a way forward for the Catholic church at a time when the world was rapidly changing and the church was often at odds with those changes.

Research:

• Aubert, Roger-François-Marie. "Leo XIII". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 May. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Leo-XIII
• “ELECTION OF POPE LEO XIII.” New York Times. Feb. 21, 1878. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1878/02/21/issue.html
• Jedin, Hubert and John Patrick Dolan. “History of the Church: The Church in the Industrial age.” Burns & Oates. 1981. https://books.google.com/books?id=h5LYAAAAMAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s
• Masci, David. “A look at popes and their encyclicals.” Pew Research Center. June 9, 2015. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2015/06/09/a-look-at-popes-and-their-encyclicals/
• Miller, James Martin. “The life of Pope Leo XIII : containing a full and authentic account of the illustrious pontiff's life and work.” G.H. Harr. Omaha, Nebraska. 1908. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/lifeofleo1300milluoft/page/n5/mode/2up
• O’Reilly, Bernard. “Life of Leo XIII, from an authentic memoir furnished by his order.” Sampson Low, Marston & Co. London. 1903. https://archive.org/details/lifeofleoxiiifro0000orei/page/n9/mode/2up
• Pope Leo XIII. “AETERNI PATRIS.” 1879. https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_04081879_aeterni-patris.html
• Pope Leo XIII. “INSCRUTABILI DEI CONSILIO.” 1878. https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_21041878_inscrutabili-dei-consilio.html
• Pope Leo XIII. “RERUM NOVARUM.” https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html
• Pope Leo XIII. “Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae.” 1899. https://www.papalencyclicals.net/leo13/l13teste.htm
• “Religious.” Chicago Tribune. February 24, 1878. https://www.newspapers.com/image/349728621/?match=1&terms=Pope%20Leo%20XIII
• “Vatican country profile.” BBC. Nov. 17, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17994868

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This 2022 episode covers Griswold v. Connecticut, the U.S. supreme court decision that overturned laws banning contraception – at least, for married couples.

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Tracy talks about her experiences with the Blue Ridge Parkway growing up, including her mixed feelings about it. Holly talks about the theft of the Mona Lisa.

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The Blue Ridge Parkway is the longest roadway in the U.S. that was planned as a single unit. Its origin is connected to government efforts to provide relief from the Great Depression, and conservation of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Research:

• "Restoring Western North Carolina's Infrastructure: NCDOT Receives $250 Million in Federal Emergency Relief Funds." National Law Review, 21 Feb. 2025. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A828346450/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=b22cedc8. Accessed 12 May 2025.
• "The Blue Ridge Parkway." NCpedia. Accessed on May 14th, 2025. https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/blue-ridge-parkway.
• “Report In Full of Secretary Work’s Appalachian National Park Committee. “National Parks and Conservation Magazine.” 1924-11-25: Iss 42. https://archive.org/details/sim_national-parks_1924-11-25_42/page/n5/
• Averill, Graham. “The Blue Ridge Parkway: A Monumental Drive.” Our State. 9/27/2021. https://www.ourstate.com/the-blue-ridge-parkway-a-monumental-drive/
• Buxton, Barry. “Blue Ridge Parkway: Agent of Transition.” Proceedings of the Blue Ridge Parkway Golden Anniversary Conference. Appalachian Consortium Press/Boone, North Carolina. 1986.
• Coutant, Linda. “Helene Recovery, 7 Months After the Storm.” National Parks Conservation Association. 4/26/2025. https://www.npca.org/articles/8198-helene-recovery-7-months-after-the-storm
• Coutant, Linda. “Helene: Facing Loss and the Blue Ridge Parkway’s ‘Most Tremendous Challenge’.” National Parks Conservation Association. https://www.npca.org/articles/5459-helene-facing-loss-and-the-blue-ridge-parkway-s-most-tremendous-challenge
• “Driving Through Time: The Digital Blue Ridge Parkway.” https://docsouth.unc.edu/blueridgeparkway/
• Jolley, Harley E., “Blue Ridge Parkway: The First 50 Years,” Appalachian State University Libraries Digital Collections, accessed May 14, 2025, https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/items/show/43667.
• Landis, Mark. “This 5,600-mile highway route was created to see 12 national parks in the West.” The Sun. 6/13/2022. https://www.sbsun.com/2022/06/13/this-5600-mile-highway-route-was-created-to-see-12-national-parks-in-the-west/
• Mitchell, Anne V. “Culture, History, and Development on the Qualla Boundary: The Eastern Cherokees and the Blue Ridge Parkway, 1935-40.” Appalachian Journal , WINTER 1997, Vol. 24, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40933835
• National Park Service. “Blue Ridge Parkway: Virginia and North Carolina.” From Highways in Harmony online books exhibit. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/hih/blue_ridge/index.htm
• Roberts, Brett G. “Returning the Land: Native Americans and National Parks.” Ave Maria Law Review 148 (Spring, 2023). https://www.avemarialaw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/v21.Roberts.final38.pdf
• Speer, Jean Haskell. “’Hillbilly Sold Here’: Appalachian Folk Culture and Parkway Tourism.” From Parkways: Past, Present and Future. International Linear Parks Conference. Appalachian State University. (1987). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1xp3kv8.33
• S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. “America's Highways 1776-1976.” U.S. Government Printing Office. https://archive.org/details/AmericasHighways1776-1976
• Whisnant, Anne Mitchel. “Routing the Parkway, 1934.” Driving Through Time. DocSouth. https://docsouth.unc.edu/blueridgeparkway/overlooks/competing_routes/#footnote9
• Whisnant, Anne Mitchell. “A Capsule History of the Blue Ridge Parkway.” Appalachian Voice. 10/11/2017. https://appvoices.org/2017/10/11/a-capsule-history-of-the-blue-ridge-parkway/
• Whisnant, Anne Mitchell. “Super-Scenic Motorway: A Blue Ridge Parkway History.” University of North Carolina Press. 2006.
• Zeller, Thomas. “Consuming Landscapes: What We See When We Drive and Why It Matters.” Johns Hopkins University Press. 2022. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/book.103002

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Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park is a scenic road tied to the “See America First” movement of the early 20th century. The acquisition of land for the project was difficult, and displaced many families from their homes.

Research:

• Harrison, Sarah Georgia. “The Skyline Drive: A Western Park Road in the East.” From Parkways: Past, Present and Future. International Linear Parks Conference. Appalachian State University. (1987). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1xp3kv8.13
• Jolley, Harley E., “Blue Ridge Parkway: The First 50 Years,” Appalachian State University Libraries Digital Collections, accessed May 14, 2025, https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/items/show/43667.
• Jones, Jenny. “Skyline Drive: Engineered with Nature In Mind.” Civil Engineering. April 2001.
• Kyle, Robert. “The Dark Side of Skyline Drive.” Washington Post. 10/17/1993.
• Miles, Kathryn. “Shenandoah National Park Is Confronting Its History.” Outside. 9/23/2019. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/hiking-and-backpacking/shenandoah-national-park-segregation-history/
• Nash, Carole. “Native American Communities of the Shenandoah Valley: Constructing a Complex History.” 2020. https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.lib.jmu.edu/dist/9/133/files/2019/04/Native-American-Communities-of-the-Shenandoah-Valley.pdf
• National Park Service. “Shenandoah National Park: Skyline Drive: Virginia.” From Highways in Harmony online books exhibit. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/hih/shenandoah/index.htm
• Roberts, Brett G. “Returning the Land: Native Americans and National Parks.” Ave Maria Law Review 148 (Spring, 2023). https://www.avemarialaw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/v21.Roberts.final38.pdf
• Roosevelt, Franklin Delano. “The Dedication of Shenandoah National Park.” https://drive.google.com/file/d/134q1Gkk6Af0zl6bb_wekgqs0k2Wt9VPT/view
• Simmons, Dennis E. “Conservation, Cooperation, and Controversy: The Establishment of Shenandoah National Park, 1924-1936.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography , Oct., 1981. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4248512
• S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. “America's Highways 1776-1976.” U.S. Government Printing Office. https://archive.org/details/AmericasHighways1776-1976
• Zeller, Thomas. “Consuming Landscapes: What We See When We Drive and Why It Matters.” Johns Hopkins University Press. 2022. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/book.103002

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This 2016 continuation of our coverage of the Palmer Raids covers a series of raids on perceived threats to national security by Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Thousands of people were rounded up, many without cause or warrant, and kept in horrifying conditions.

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Tracy outlines all the way RFK Jr.'s claims regarding disease history make no sense. Holly talks about the section of her career that was spent working in a university library.

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The Library of Congress has a lot of responsibilities. It’s massive in both physical scale and in scale of services. So how did it start, and how did it evolve to be the largest library in the world?

Research:

• Cole, John Y. “America’s Greatest Library: An Illustrated History of the Library of Congress.” Library of Congress, Washington, DC, in Association with D. Giles Limited, London. 2017.
• “Dr. Carla Hayden delivers opening statement at Library of Congress hearing.” Committee on House Administration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3LrEsNycZ4
• “Library of Congress Classification.” Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcc.html
• “The Library of Congress Is Your Library.” Library of Congress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Ze_bpATac
• “National Digital Library Program.” Library of Congress. https://webarchive-beta.loc.gov/general/20150701231729/https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dli2/html/lcndlp.html
• “Preservation Science.” Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/preservation/scientists/
• Reid, Paula. “Senior Justice Department officials tapped by Trump to run Library of Congress are denied access.” CNN. May 12, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/politics/library-of-congress-trump-justice-blanche
• “Sale of Books to the Library of Congress (1815).” Monticello.org. https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/sale-books-library-congress-1815/
• Tully-McManus, Katherine. “GOP leaders draw the line at Trump’s Library of Congress takeover.” Politico. May 14, 2025. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/14/library-of-congress-trump-takeover-carla-hayden-00349275
• Walsh, Dylan. “Carla D. Hayden wants to spread the wonders of the library into everyone’s lives.” University of Chicago News. June 8, 2023. https://news.uchicago.edu/story/carla-d-hayden-wants-spread-wonders-library-everyones-lives

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