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PODCAST

Cross Word Books

Michele McAloon

mysteryhints@gmail.comListen. Learn. Engage. Welcome to Cross Word Books, the podcast where we delve into compelling conversations with authors who illuminate history, politics, culture, faith, and art.Each episode uncovers intriguing insights and untold stories that shape our understanding of today’s world and the rich tapestry of ideas that define it. Whether you’re passionate about the cultural impact of art or curious about how history informs our political landscape, Crossword invites you to

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All Episodes

49:03

Unmasking Christopher Columbus: Facts, Myths, And The...

Cross Word Books ·

2026/02/18

Send a text https://www.bookclues.com Tell a friend about CROSS WORD BOOK Podcast-the podcast for the serious reader Think misinformation started with the internet? We rewind five centuries to watch it form in real time. With historian Matthew Restall, we separate the historic Christopher Columbus from the patriotic mascot and the Italian American symbol, and we track how printing presses, royal propaganda, immigration waves, and modern media each remixed one navigator into many icons. The re...

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38:13

Presidents, Power, And The Story We Tell

Cross Word Books ·

2026/02/13

Send a text Find out more information at https://www.bookclues.com Presidents aren’t just dates and policies; they’re people formed by families, faith, loss, ambition, and a country that rarely stops arguing. We sat down with author and veteran editor Mary Carol Ghislin to unpack her new book—a compact, classroom-friendly journey through every U.S. president that doubles as an eye-opening guide for adults who want the big picture without the bloat. Mary Carol explains why she built eac...

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58:39

What Happens When Information Outruns A King

Cross Word Books ·

2026/02/06

Send us a text Contact michele at https://www.bookclues.com What if a city without modern newspapers learned to think like a public anyway? We sit down with historian Robert Darnton to chart how Paris, from 1748 to 1789, became an information society powered by parades, fireworks, songs, rumor, and street theater. Instead of headlines, “publication” meant a royal herald reading peace aloud while bands played—and a celebration that ended in a deadly crush. Those moments didn’t just inform...

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42:51

Civil War Memory, Now

Cross Word Books ·

2026/01/30

Send us a text Connect with Michele at https://www.bookclues.com Headlines keep tossing around the phrase “civil war,” but what are we really talking about when we invoke that history today? We sit down with historians John Kinder and Jennifer Murray, co-editors of They Are Dead and Yet They Live: Civil War Memories in a Polarized America, to unpack how memory gets made—and why it gets weaponized. From the Lost Cause to the language of conflict we see online, we explore the difference be...

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47:05

Pangolins, Faith, And A Librarian’s Quest

Cross Word Books ·

2026/01/20

Send us a text https://www.bookclues.com Care about wildlife conservation, China-Africa politics, religious freedom, and character-driven storytelling with real stakes, this conversation is for you. An interview with author David Pinault on his real world fiction book Earth Dragon RunA Spiritual Entertainment Ignatius Press A quiet librarian gets pushed out, grabs a stuffed monkey, and walks straight into the underbelly of our global moment. We dive into Earth Dragon Run, a propulsive n...

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47:10

So, About That “Solved In One Day” Plan

Cross Word Books ·

2026/01/09

Send us a text Article by Adam Entous of the New York Times The Separation: Inside the Unraveling U.S.-Ukraine Partnershiphttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/12/30/world/europe/ukraine-war-us-russia.html We trace Ukraine’s war from early U.S.–Ukraine partnership to a fragile “separation,” where support is uneven, Europe scales up late, and a DMZ-style end state competes with continued attrition. Adam Entous of the New York Times lays out the battlefield, the backchannels, and the choices...

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29:02

Gold, Frankincense, Myrrh, And A Whole Lot Of...

Cross Word Books ·

2026/01/05

Send us a text Forget the tinsel and crowns—let’s meet the Magi where history lives. We sit down with Fr. Dwight Longenecker, author of The Mystery of the Magi, to rethink the famous journey to Bethlehem through the lenses of archaeology, geopolitics, and Scripture. Instead of mystical monarchs following a neon star, we explore a compelling alternative: Nabataean court advisors—astrologers and diplomats—from Petra, navigating trade routes, Roman power, and Herod’s volatile court. We dig into...

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36:57

its a Charlie brown Christmas

Cross Word Books ·

2025/12/20

Send us a text Merry Christmas everyone!!! This is a re-run but one of my most popular podcasts about the beloved Charlie Brown. Who doesn't love the Charlie brown Christmas Tree? I hope all of you are captured by the wonder of this season, surrounded by love and to remember what it is to love. God Bless all Look forward to everyone in the New Year. Michele McAloon We explore how Charles Schulz turned Peanuts into a cultural mirror for Cold War fear, public faith, an...

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41:06

History of German Christmas Markets

Cross Word Books ·

2025/12/19

Send us a text If you love Christmas history, urban culture, or just the glow of a winter night, this conversation will change how you walk a market lane. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend who loves Christmas markets, and leave a quick review to tell us your favorite Christmas market whereever you are in the world. Connect with the Catholic Thing Fear – and Hope – in Europe’s Christmas Markets' from The Catholic Thing. https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2025/12/13/fear-and...

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25:59

Wild Lives Among The Graves

Cross Word Books ·

2025/12/12

Send us a textA million stories rest under the trees of Père Lachaise, and some of them still move. We sit down with curator and author-photographer Benoît Galliot to walk the avenues of Paris’s most visited cemetery and discover why it feels so alive. From neo-gothic chapels and art nouveau tombs to foxes raising kits among ivy, this tour blends cultural history with urban ecology in a way that surprises and soothes.Benoît opens the gate on a distinctly French approach to burial: time-bound

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41:34

One King, Two Kingdoms; A colorful Life

Cross Word Books ·

2025/12/03

Send us a text In this fascinating podcast episode, historian Gareth Russell delves into the riveting life of King James I. Michele McAloon, the host, describes Russell's latest book, 'The Six Loves of James the First,' as a compelling historical narrative that rivals even the most intricate fiction. Russell shares captivating anecdotes about James I's dramatic upbringing amidst religious turmoil, his complex relationships, and his influence on history, including the creation of the King Jame...

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37:21

Rivalry That Built The South

Cross Word Books ·

2025/11/26

Send us a text War Eagel! Roll tide! College game day! The Iron Bowl A single game can define a state. We sit down with Yahoo Sports senior writer Jay Busbee to unpack how Alabama vs Auburn became the South’s fiercest mirror, reflecting pride, pain, progress, and power from 1893 to NIL. Jay’s new book, Iron in the Blood, traces the Iron Bowl’s evolution from picnic blankets and early tailgates to bowl-driven TV eras and today’s high-dollar recruiting wars, revealing how a rivalry without pro ...

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59:36

Inside The Edmund Fitzgerald: What Really Sank...

Cross Word Books ·

2025/11/14

Send us a text A freighter longer than a skyscraper is tall. Waves four seconds apart that can bend steel. A ballad recorded in a single take that changed how an entire industry thinks about risk. We sat down with John U. Bacon, author of The Gales of November, to trace the Edmund Fitzgerald from blueprint to bell, and from storm science to the quiet rooms where families still keep watch. We unpack what makes the Great Lakes uniquely dangerous: freshwater’s sharper, closer-spaced waves; loca...

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40:26

Angelica Schuyler, Truly Revolutionary

Cross Word Books ·

2025/11/07

Send us a text Find out more about Cross Word Books at https://www.bookclues.com/ Professor Beer's website https://mollybeer.net A woman without a rank helped a country find its balance. We sit down with Professor Molly Beer to explore Angelica Schuyler—born Engeltia into Dutch New York, educated at a royal governor’s table, and fluent in the quiet arts that hold a republic together. Her new book, Angelica: For Love and Country in Time of Revolution, uncovers a life lived at the center o...

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41:48

Vampire Epidemics Explained

Cross Word Books ·

2025/10/29

Send us a text You can contact Michele at https://www.bookclues.com Have you ever read Dracula??? child's play compared to John Blair's Killing the Dead; Vampire Epidemics from Mesopotamia to the New World. A corpse that won’t stay put tells you as much about the living as it does about the dead. We sit down with Oxford’s Professor John Blair to chart how vampire epidemics rise when communities are shaken by disease, war, or rapid change—and why the freshly buried beco...

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53:35

No Wi‑Fi Underwater, Still Plenty Of Drama

Cross Word Books ·

2025/10/20

Send us a text Connect with Michele at https://www.bookclues.com What if the most important maps we’ll ever draw are hidden under miles of water and thousands of PSI? We sit down with physicist and exploration roboticist James Bellingham to trace a life spent pushing past pressure, busting tethers, and building the autonomous systems that make the deep sea knowable. We start with the physics that rule the depths: hydrostatic pressure that crushes air spaces, why small pressure vessels surviv...

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54:38

Murder in the Cathedral

Cross Word Books ·

2025/09/29

Send us a text Michele McAloon is the host. You can find more interviews on her website https://www.bookclues.com. The name Thomas Becket echoes through history as one of medieval England's most compelling figures – a man whose dramatic transformation from royal chancellor to martyred archbishop continues to captivate our imagination nearly a millennium later. In this episode, we're joined by Professor Michael Stotten from University College Dublin, a medieval historian whose expertise ...

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42:39

Russia's Secret Spies

Cross Word Books ·

2025/09/12

Send us a text Connect with me on https://www.bookclues.com Have you ever wondered about the real-life inspiration behind shows like "The Americans"? Shaun Walker pulls back the curtain on one of history's most audacious espionage operations in this riveting conversation about his meticulously researched book, "The Illegals: Russia's Most Audacious Spies and Their Century-Long Mission to Infiltrate the West." Walker reveals the extraordinary world of Russian "illegals" – spies who spend...

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41:12

Beyond the Body: What Defines Our Humanity?

Cross Word Books ·

2025/09/02

Send us a text Contact the host of Cross Word, Michele McAloon https://www.bookclues.com What makes us human? It's a question at the heart of today's most heated cultural debates, from abortion to artificial intelligence to gender identity. In this profound conversation, Princeton's Professor Robert George offers a compelling framework for understanding human dignity that transcends political divides. The conversation explores how ancient philosophical errors resurface in modern debates. Ge...

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51:06

From Kremlin Access to Exile: Surviving Putin's Media...

Cross Word Books ·

2025/08/19

Send us a text Contact Michele at her website https://www.bookclues.com Andrei Soldatov shares his firsthand account of Russia's transformation under Putin, explaining how the free press was systematically dismantled and the country became increasingly isolated from the West. His powerful narrative weaves personal stories of journalists who either resisted or succumbed to the system, providing crucial context for understanding Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its hostile stance toward America...

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154 results

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