The conclusion to Matt's and my conversation about the Internment during WWII and what it means for Americans and the world today. Not only what happened but why we should care and continue to study this period, even eighty years later... are we really so far removed from the country that incarcerated a whole 'race' of people that we're not liable to do it again?

If you didn't listen to the previous episode, I highly highly highly recommend you listen to that one before this one...we don't do much of a recap but jump right in where we left off, so you might miss quite a lot by starting with Ep. 4.

Matt's professional bio is available here: https://pages.palomar.edu/mestes/

For books mentioned, here's George Takei's graphic memoir about his own experience during the Internment: https://amzn.to/4sARXtE

And Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston: https://amzn.to/4vtz66N

A great place to start learning more about the Japanese-American Internment and experience is densho.org. https://www.densho.org

Mark Twain once quipped that history doesn't "repeat...but if often rhymes."

This week on The Last Question I talk with history professor Matt Estes about a period in U.S. history that I think is often overlooked but could be remarkably instructive in our present day.

Professor Estes teaches history at Palomar College near San Diego and is a historian whose own history is interwoven with the history he studies. He's a long-time friend and once was my high school world history teacher; today he remains a go-to resource for me in my own work and today as someone well-qualified to speak to the experience of Japanese-American families imprisoned by their own country after the Japanese Empire's attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Matt's professional bio is available here: https://pages.palomar.edu/mestes/

For books mentioned in this week's episode, here's George Takei's graphic memoir about his own experience during the Internment: https://amzn.to/4sARXtE

And Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston: https://amzn.to/4vtz66N

A great place to start learning more about the Japanese-American Internment and experience is densho.org. https://www.densho.org

I recorded this one sort of on a whim, though as much to maintain my self-imposed weekly rhythm as to keep a previous plan to share some words of wisdom from St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia. I think my encountering the experience and recent trials of Ben Sasse and his family only add urgency to the question of what I (and you?) are doing with our time remaining and whether the "evil" we're fighting is the right target for our attention.

As for Mr. Sasse, you should listen to his recent interview with New York Times contributor Ross Douthat, linked here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/09/opinion/ben-sasse-death-pancreatic-cancer.html

You can learn more about St. Porphyrios here or from the 2003 book Wounded by Love, which I read from in this episode.

If you're at all curious about my writing or topics we've touched on previously, find me on Substack at The Original (aclazarus.substack.com).

Thanks for listening, and/or watching, and your support. 🙏