StocktonAfterClass

Ron Stockton was a professor of political science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn for 48 years. His specialty was non-western politics and political change. He taught classes on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Religion and Politics, the Politics of Revolution, Non-Western politics, and American politics. He also taught in the Honors Program, focusing upon foundational readings from the 18th and 19th centuries. He has an interest in religion and politics and in the role of religio-ethnic groups in the political system. The listener can anticipate talks on Arab-Americans, Jews, African-Americans, the Scots-Irish, and Evangelicals. He has lectured and written on American politics, public opinion, and voting behavior and on the role of religious organizations and ideologies in the political system. There will be occasional discussions of books and films that address serious issues. And he has lectured and published and even taught a class on gravestones, especially those of different ethnic and religious groups such as Muslims, African-Americans, Jews, and Native Americans. The goal of the podcast series is to provide analysis and commentary by a political scientist to explain and make accessible political, historical, and cultural developments in the United States and around the world, and to give the listener analytical tools to understand those developments. It is also to entertain the listener.

Podcasting since 2021 • 230 episodes

StocktonAfterClass

Latest Episodes

Last Will and Testament, 1717 style

Being my family historian, I bump into strange documents from time to time. A couple of years ago, I saw a will from 1717 that I thought might belong to an ancestor. It turned out that it did not, but the will was so fascinating tha...

May 04, 2026 • 17:13

At War With Iran! Everything You Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask

This is a discussion of the historic context of this war, plus some thoughts on the strategic issues involved. Note: At one point I referred to the end of the Gulf War when I meant to say the end of World War II. Note:&n...

March 17, 2026 • 35:45

Stop Blaming God. When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Rabbi Kushner. The Story of Job, and the Lessons We Can Learn From It.

In 1981 Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book on suffering. He decided to write this when he learned that his beloved son Aaron had a terrible disease that would turn him into an old man even as a child. Aaron died at eight. Kushner ref...

March 05, 2026 • 25:45

Venezuela And The Trump Empire.

On January 3 American forces went into Caracas and captured Venezuelan President Maduro. He was taken to the United States to stand trial. Is this a one-off adventure because of a corrupt leader, or does it suggest a broader set of ...

January 10, 2026 • 23:38

No Room in the Inn. An Alternative Nativity Story. (Probably more accurate than the one you learned as a kid).

When I was in Turkey I visited a caravan serai. It was a place where a caravan would stop along the way. (And where travelers could find a place to spend the night). When we read that there was "no room in the inn" and Mary ha...

December 25, 2025 • 4:37

See All Episodes