Old School with Shilo Brooks

A Note From Shilo

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What ‘The Future Is Female’ Has Meant for Men

For decades, the fight for gender equality has squarely focused on lifting women up—in the workplace, politics, and beyond. But according to Richard Reeves, president of

Walter Isaacson on the Sentence That Created America

If America has a mission statement, it is this:   “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with c

The WWII Novel That Explains America

In this special episode, Shilo Brooks is joined by Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Jon Meacham at the Jack Miller Center’s annual summit on civic education.  They took

Agatha Christie and the Kidnapping That Inspired Her Greatest Mystery

In this episode, Shilo sits down with veteran journalist Joe Nocera for a deep dive into the world’s best-selling novelist, Agatha Christie.  Nocera’s new investigative

Inside the Supreme Court with Amy Coney Barrett

In this special episode, taped live at the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Shilo sits down with Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett for a wide-ranging interview o

A New Series From The Free Press | The Lindbergh Conspiracies

Hi Old School listeners! Veteran reporter Joe Nocera has launched a six part series about the Lindbergh kidnapping. Enjoy episode one here and then head on over to ⁠The L

Roald Dahl: Genius and Bigot

For tickets to our live recording with Jon Meacham in Philadelphia, click here and register. Use code TFP for a 20 percent discount.  Roald Dahl gave the world Matilda,

How Sports Became Our Civic Religion

For tickets to our live recording with Jon Meacham in Philadelphia, click here and register. Use code TFP for a 20 percent discount.  In this episode, Shilo sits down wi

The Ancient Jewish Wisdom Behind a $5 Billion Company

For tickets to our live recording with Jon Meacham in Philadelphia, CLICK HERE and register. Use code TFP for a 20 percent discount.  As he built Kind Snacks into a $5 b

Neal Stephenson on AI, Rome, and How Civilizations Decline

Neal Stephenson, the prophetic author of cyberpunk classics like Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, has shaped how we imagine the future, from the metaverse to crypto to AI.

The Two Types of People Who Never Find Happiness

For tickets to our live recording with Jon Meacham in Philadelphia, CLICK HERE and register. Use code TFP for a 20 percent discount.  Life is short. How do we live it we

Hunting Humans for Sport

For tickets to our live recording with Jon Meacham in Philadelphia, CLICK HERE and register. Use code TFP for a 20 percent discount.  Richard Connell’s 1924 short story

Joan Didion Knew What Hollywood Would Become

The perfect book to read around the Oscars this weekend? Joan Didion’s Play It as It Lays. In this episode, Shilo sits down with Peter Savodnik to discuss Didion’s 1970

The NYC Public Defender Who Sends Books to Prisoners

In this episode, Shilo Brooks sits down with New York City public defender Ben Schatz to discuss the novel True Grit–and the nature of justice in America.   Ben founded

‘The Brothers Karamazov’ Helped Inspire the Catholic App Hallow

Alex Jones was using apps like Headspace and Calm to quiet his mind, but he had fallen away from his Catholic faith. Then he read The Brothers Karamazov, and everything c

‘Lolita,’ Jeffrey Epstein, and the Real Meaning of a Challenging Classic

One particular novel is all over the Epstein files: Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. Reportedly, this was the one and only book Jeffrey Epstein kept at his bedside table. He ow

The Secret Lives of Ordinary People

Dylan Thomas is one of the 20th century’s legendary poets.  In this episode, English journalist David Aaronovitch joins Shilo to discuss Thomas’ 1954 play Under Milk Woo

David Mamet vs. the Snobs

Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright David Mamet spent his childhood cutting class and reading at the local library. His first pick was Sinclair Lewis’s Main Street, which h

Colin Quinn on Incels, Woke Activists, and Peaking at 14

In this episode, legendary comic Colin Quinn dives into a cult classic that still makes him cry with laughter: John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. The novel fo