Crazy Lady On The Phone: A True Story Artwork

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.

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StocktonAfterClass

Crazy Lady On The Phone: A True Story

June 13, 2026 • Ronald Stockton

0:00 | 3:38

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This is one of those episodes in life that descend upon you like a mosquitoe that just keeps buzzing around. You can either let it ruin your night's sleep or you can view it as an opportunity. I chose to turn it into an anecdote.

By the way, there was a time, not long ago, when there were people called "operators." They were very helpful and were always available to help find a number or to reach a person. In time, the phone companies decided they could be replaced by on-line information. Then they started charging for on-line information. That is why some of you who are younger may be slightly confused by the "operator" aspect of this story.