Ira Berlin has been called “one of the greatest living historians of slavery in the United States.” His works include Slaves without Masters, Many Thousands Gone (which won the Bancroft Prize), and more recently, The Long Emancipation. He has taught at the University of Maryland for a half century and got his degree at the University of Wisconsin. But he was raised in the Bronx. Here, Dr. Berlin talks about his first plane ride, activism in the 1960s, and why he chose to exchange a lab coat for the historian’s garb. Also, Ira and Colin share their thoughts about the 2016 election.