Wolftrax
A podcast devoted to the amazing faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences at Northern State University, Aberdeen, South Dakota. In each interview your host, Professor Kenneth Blanchard, interviews his colleagues on all things interesting and entertaining.
Episodes
20 episodes
Two Political Scientists and an Historian walk into a Presidential Election
This episode presents a conversation between Professor of Government Jon Schaff, Professor of History Steven Usitalo, and myself. The three of us discuss the upcoming Presidential Election, including predictions. You can also...
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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1:03:52
Sredni Vashtar by Saki (H. H. Munro)
Season 5 of Wolftrax got off to a late start this year. For Halloween, I have recorded my own reading of a short story by H. H. Munro, who wrote under the pen name Saki. His stories mostly poke light hearted fun at the English upper...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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13:49
Environmental Stewardship and Social Advocacy
To commemorate Earth Day, some undergraduate students at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota highlight their semester-long research on various environmental issues. This interdisciplinary project emerges from a thematic varia...
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1:02:57
Presidential Rerun
NSU Professors of Government Jon Schaff and yours truly discuss the current state of the 2024 Presidential race. How is this year like 1888? What's happening with the Black and Hispanic vote? Why did the Democrats stick with B...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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1:00:27
The Jewish Question
Professors Art Marmorstein, Steven Usitalo, and your host Ken Blanchard, discuss the Gaza war. We cover everything from the birth of Abraham to anti-Semitism at Harvard.
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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1:01:46
One Year Out
NSU Professor Jon Schaff and I discuss U.S. politics one year ahead of the next presidential election.
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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52:10
A werewolf & a vampire walk into a bar...
Historian and professor Dave Grettler and I discuss all things furry and fanged in this second annual Halloween episode. We cover some scholarly angles on these ancient monsters and roll the bones on the best vampire and werewolf movies f...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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54:18
On a roll with Henry J. Kaiser
Professor Dias tells me about someone who knew how to get things done: Henry J. Kaiser, captain of industry.
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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52:51
A cup of science & a cup of stories
In this episode I interview Professor of English Elizabeth Haller and Professor of Biochemistry John Mitchell about this course in science and literature. We consider the removal of a birthmark at a terrible price, suffer through an alien...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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53:19
Dr. Grettler asks Dr. Blanchard about the biology of politics
In this episode Dr. Blanchard sits in the hot chair and Dr. Grettler in the power chair. He interviews me on my field of research, biopolitical science. We talks about Chimpanzees and Bonobos, the difference between men and women, a...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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44:14
Rhyme is what we reason about, and recite, in this episode
Professor of English Lysbeth Benkert-Rasmussen has a volume of poetry on the cusp of publication. We try to decide what poetry does, how it does it, and what it is. Along the way, we both recite some of our favorite verse and best o...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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53:36
Astro Geese
Your host describes the amazing moment, just after he came to South Dakota, when he didn't see flying saucers.
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Season 2
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Episode 0
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6:22
Professor Marmorstein tries to get me to like the book of Revelation
Responding to Professor Marmorstein' s challenge in a previous conversation, we discuss the last book of the Bible. At the beginning of the conversation, he insists that it is a beautiful book and a worthy contribution to the New Testamen...
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54:02
And the Beats Go On! Professor Elizabeth Haller on the Beat Writers
Professor Elizabeth Haller joins me to talk about the beat writers, especially Jack Kerouac (her favorite) and William S. Burroughs (my favorite).
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51:30
Witch bottles & Whitefish: Dave Grettler on Environmental History
On this episode, I talk with Professor of History Dave Grettler about his once upon a time career in archeology and his favorite course: environmental history. Dave explains why he's not walking around in the backwoods of Pennsylvania in ...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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1:00:17
Student Journalist Interviews Wolftrax Host
Reporter for the campus newspaper The Exponent interviews Wolftrax host Ken Blanchard about this podcast. We discuss how it came to be and what it is all about.
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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19:57
Elizabeth Sills on Church Clowns and other funny stuff
In this episode Professor of Communications Studies, Elizabeth Sills, comes on to discuss church clowns. I hadn't heard of them either, but apparently they were once a pretty big thing. Starting in the 1960's, clowns became part of ...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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38:33
Peter Ramey on his new translation of Beowulf
I kick off season two of Wolftrax with Professor of English Peter Raimey. We talk about his forthcoming translation of the great medieval poem, Beowulf. We talk about the historical context in which the poem was written and...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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44:54
The war in Ukraine & the history of the Early Church
In Part 1, historian Steve Usitalo and I discuss Russia and the war in Ukraine. Why did Putin invade? Why have the Russians, so powerful on paper, done so badly against the Ukrainian army? What objectives must Ukraine achieve ...
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Season 1
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Episode 2
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58:14
Abraham Lincoln & Spooky Movies for Halloween
In the first half of this episode I interview Professor of Government Jon Schaff about his fascinating book on Abraham Lincoln. In the second half, Professor's Kristi Brownfield (sociology) and Elizabeth Haller (english) and I discuss our...
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Season 1
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Episode 1
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54:15
