By Matthew Lebo, Western Communications
Read. Watch. Listen. introduces you to the personal side of our faculty, staff and alumni. Participants are asked to answer three simple questions about their reading, viewing and listening habits – what one book or newspaper/magazine article is grabbing your attention; what one movie or television show has caught your eye; and what album/song, podcast or radio show are you lending an ear to.
Matthew Lebo is a Professor and Department Chair in Political Science.
Today, he takes a turn on Read. Watch. Listen.
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Read.
I’ve been reading the 1619 Project at the New York Times (and will also listen to the podcast). The series puts the story of slavery at the heart of American history and really pushes readers to rethink the standard telling of how America developed.
When I teach the American Constitution, I now devote a lecture to tracing through the various clauses and pieces that recognize and protect slavery. Many are familiar with the 3/5th clause (counting slaves as 3/5th of a person for purposes of representation), but there are so many other ways that founding document dealt with slavery. For example, each state getting two senators was insisted upon by slave states so that they would have the legislative power to block any movement to end slavery. That’s not ancient history. But the 1619 Project goes into many other aspects of America’s development that are fascinating.
Watch.
Netflix’s Mindhunter. Just good thoughtful true crime stuff about how the FBI began thinking about serial killers in the 1970s. Very bingeable.
Listen.
I’m just a classic rock guy and will listen to The Beatles over and over – forever. I am a big fan of Oasis, but that’s as recent as I get.
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If you have a suggestion for someone you would like to see in Read. Watch. Listen., or would like to participate yourself, drop a line to inside.western@uwo.ca.
