. >> host: university of wisconsin professor jennifer ratner-rosenhagen, who was frederick nietzsche? >> guest: he was a 19th century german philosopher who wrote many, many, many, many books on philosophy and all sorts of different forms. and all of them some after riskic, some essayistic, some longer formally teaks, and all of them -- critiques, and all of them had something to do with the challenge of universal truth. so he took as his enemy the notion of universal truth, and pretty much all of his work has something to do with his effort to tear it down, excavate it, look at the history of that idea and to show that anything that we take to be universals like, oh, god -- [laughter] are human creations. but they're not rooted in nature or necessity, they're not mirrors of reality. >> host: he wrote at one time god is dead -- >> guest: and he wrote that god is dead. and this first makes its appearance in his gay science. and in it the gay science -- in it, it's an aphorism, and it's called the madman. and so the aphorism is he's playing with this idea that a madman runs into the tow

. >> host: university of wisconsin professor jennifer ratner-rosenhagen. teaches hoyt here at the university. here's her book "american nietzsche: the history of an icon and his ideas. over watching booktv on c-span. on saturday evening a discussion on william f. buck buckley's run for mayor, and groom discusses his book, the generals. >> one of the first questions i'm usually asked when i do a tv or radio show is why did you choose these three men, from second world war? and the answer is that they embodied, i believe, super characteristics of courage, character, and patriotism. >> on sunday night at 8:00, a look back at a turning point in world history in 1932, the rise of hitler and fdr. and at 11:15 p.m. eastern, alyssacast discusses her book, the influence machine, the u.s. chamber commerce and the corporate capture of american life. >> there's a around chose the chamber of commerce as a subject for my book. and it's because it sums up the temperature how we got here to this place. ... >> >> >> could be the welcome to politics & prose is a pleasure to

. >> host: university of wisconsin professor jennifer ratner-rosenhagen, who was frederick nietzsche? >> guest: he was a 19th century german philosopher who wrote many, many, many, many books on philosophy and all sorts of different forms. and all of them some after riskic, some essayistic, some longer formally teaks, and all of them -- critiques, and all of them had something to do with the challenge of universal truth. so he took as his enemy the notion of universal truth, and pretty much all of his work has something to do with his effort to tear it