Adam Hochschild joins Sarah Isgur to kick off our latest book series exploring the 1920s. Hochschild's American Midnight:The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis details a deadly time in American history, threatening the country's democratic principles. Join the two for a discussion on political repression, racism, domestic surveillance, and the hidden heroes who shepherded the nation through the next decade.

In this episode, Sarah is joined by David to conclude the "What It Means to Be Human" session by discussing John Green's The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet. They explore the book's central thesis—that the human race has become a geological force in our own right—and dive into their favorite essays. Stay tuned for Sarah reminiscing on her teenage girl days while trying to relate to Green's childhood.

Rutger Bregman, the young Dutch thinker, is not to be messed with. As the Guardian wrote, he became an "online sensation at Davos last year when he turned on his audience, condemning the absurdity of the rich taking 1,500 private jets to hear David Attenborough warn of the climate crisis and, above all, their failure to pay their taxes or even to mention the word. He said he felt as if he were “at a firefighters’ conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water." We talked about his new book, Humankind: A hopeful history" to kick off our quarter on what it means to be human. Rutger takes on the eternal question of whether humans are by nature selfish, violent, tribal creatures...or are we something else entirely. I didn't agree with all of his book, but I enjoyed reading it immensely. It was thought-provoking and counter-cultural at a time when too many thinkers fit neatly into political stereotypes. Our conversation did not disappoint.

Instead of going big or going home, this week Sarah goes microbe small. Joined by culture editor Alec, The Book Club discusses “I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life” by Ed Yong. From adorable sealife to feces, Sarah and Alec talk about all the wonders of the microbe world.

To wrap up this quarter’s theme of thinking about thinking, Sarah is joined by Harvest Prude, a reporter at The Dispatch, for a conversation about Adam Grant’s book Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know. Grant’s book examines the skill set necessary to question our own opinions. Did Think Again cause Sarah or Harvest to rethink anything?

Sarah is joined by Annie Murphy Paul, author of The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain, to discuss what it means to live in a brainbound society. Contrary to popular belief, our brains are not actually computers, and Paul teases out the science behind the importance of strengthening the ties between the physical life and the intellectual. How can we make our brains rise to meet the moment in this culturally techy age?

On this, the inaugural episode of The Dispatch Book Club, Sarah is joined by David Eagleman, author of Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain, for a fascinating conversation about how our brains work. This is the first in a series of three discussions exploring “thinking about thinking.”

Coming soon: a new exclusive podcast for Dispatch members, The Dispatch Book Club hosted by Sarah Isgur. Each month Sarah will dive into a new book with you, and at the end of the month, she'll have a conversation with the book's author or another expert on the book's subject matter. From neuroscience to Cold War history this is the podcast for book lovers of all stripes.