Las Vegas
In celebration of the New Year, we will be looking at the history of one of the world’s great entertainment spots – Las Vegas. Our guest will be Sally Denton, co-author of a history of Las Vegas, titled, ” The Money and The Power.”
Airdate: December 30, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Erika Doss looks at artistic representations of laborers during the Great Depression.
Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God
Jack Miles is a leader in the field of biblical scholarship. His book, God: A Biography,won him a Pulitzer Prize. And now he is back with Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God. Newsday hailed Jack Miles as a “maverick among biblical interpreters.” Winner of a 2002 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, Miles holds a Ph.D in Near Eastern Languages from Harvard. A former Jesuit, he has been a Regents Lecturer at the University of California, director of the Humanities Center at Claremont Graduate University, and visiting professor of humanities at the California Institute of Technology. Miles brings a provocative and fresh perspective to the New Testament. In Christ: a Crisis in the Life of God, Miles explores the Bible’s dimension as a work of art. He begins the story with God’s broken promise to the Children of Israel to end the five hundred year long oppression, and return them to greatness. Under the Romans the Jews face a holocaust and God’s resolution is to become a Jew himself-Christ.
Airdate: December 23, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Andrew Schocket reflects on the history of politicians “on the take.” His point? In some ways, many things have changed. In other ways, they remain the same.
Strike Songs
In this week’s show we talk about music and protest – the history of working men and women expressing their grievances in song. In particular, we examine strike songs of the Great Depression.
Airdate: December 16, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Benjamin Filene pays tribute to one of America’s great musicologists and collectors of folk music and folklore, Alan Lomax, who died earlier this year at the age of 87.
The Tulsa Riot
In 1921 a black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma was accused of sexually assaulting a white woman. The charge sparked one of the worst riots in US history – which was all but lost to history until publication of Reconstructing the Dreamland by Alfred Brophy, our guest this week, on Talking History.
Airdate: December 9, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Don B Kates discusses a new book on violence, whose findings contribute to the long standing, but still hotly debated, question: “Do Guns Cause Crime?”
Eleanor Roosevelt
In this week’s show we will be looking at the most prominent of the nation’s first ladies, Eleanor Roosevelt — the eyes, ears, and legs of President Franklin Roosevelt, but who was an important figure in her own right.
Airdate: December 2, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Henry Butterfield Ryan comments on the idea of regime change, much in the news lately in reference to Iraq, and how such measures have worked in the past.
The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82
This week — as we celebrate Thanksgiving — we look back at one of the most devastating diseases with which out forefathers — as well as the Native Americans with whom they came into contact — had to deal: small pox. Although back in the news again for other reasons, it is a disease with which we have little familiarity.
Airdate: November 25, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Norman Markowitz provides some historical perspective on current cases of corporate corruption and government attempts to control it.
Transsexuality
Talking History takes a look at probably the most famous event in the history of transsexuality in the United States – the operation by which George Jorgensen became Christine Jorgensen and made national headlines.
Airdate: November 18, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Historian Robert Brent Toplin provides some historical perspective on the recent problems of dishonesty on Wall Street and in the nation’s corporate boardrooms.
Veterans’ Day
Talking History celebrates Veterans’ Day by looking at the impact of war on history. We begin with a conversation with Philip Bobbitt on his new book on war and peace, The Shield of Achilles.
Airdate: November 11, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Following our interview, in our weekly commentary, Alan Winkler talks about how Americans have faced the decisions of whether to do to war, or not, in the past.
Civil War Political Parties
Talking History looks at political party conflict during the American Civil War. Much has been writeen on politics before the war. Less has been done of politics after secession — how disunion affected political parties, political contests, and the conduct of the war itself. Jim Madison speaks with Mark Neely, author of “The Union Divided.”
Airdate: November 4, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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History is almost always seen as the product of people — usually men, but increasingly women as well. Ted Steinberg, Professor of History and Law at Case Western Reserve University, insists that nature has had a bit to do with it as well.
Salem Witch Trials
Talking History celebrates Halloween by taking another look at the Salem witch trials, one of the most enduring stories of the American past. Eileen Dugan speaks with historian Mary Beth Norton about her new book on the subject.
Airdate: October 28, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Ellen Dubois reports on a petition presented to Congress by a group of historians urging them to carry out their responsibility to debate and vote on any call for military action against Iraq, as provided for in the U.S. Constitution.
Foodways of Immigrants
Talking History’s Jim Madison talks about ethnic food in America with Hasia Diner, author of Hungering for America: Italian, Irish, and Jewish Foodways in the Age of Migration.
Airdate: October 21, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Andrew Schocket comments on how we marked the first anniversary of the tragic events of 9-11.
Senses of Humor
This week, Talking History looks at the history of humor in 19th and 20th Century America. What does humor tell us about ourselves, our society, and even our politics? Talking History’s Fred Nielsen interviews Daniel Wickberg.
Airdate: October 14, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Andrew Kydd provides some historical perspective on preventative war.
Sex in Advertising
Women have long been the central image of advertising and commercials — both because of their role as consumers and because sex sells. This week we speak with Charles Sable of the Eisner Museum of Advertising and Design about the history of women in advertising.
Airdate: October 7, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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And, speaking of consumers, Dr. America, James Farrell, returns this week — this time commenting on the celebration of the Mall of America’s tenth anniversary.
Sex in the Heartland
This week we look at sex in the heartland — in Kansas, to be more specific — during the 1960s. It was the sexual revolution — or was it? And was it all about sex — or was it concerned with politics and culture? That is the subject of Talking History’s feature interview with Beth Bailey.
Airdate: September 30, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Is ours still the framers’ constitution, or has it become something quite different? University of Chicago Professor Cass Sunstein takes up that question in our commentary this week.
Hollywood and the West
In the second part of Talking History’s two-week series on the American West, Bryan Le Beau talks to Richard Etulain about how Hollywood has represented the west.
Airdate: September 23, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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In this week’s commentary, Eric Rauchway compares the efforts of President George Bush to restore confidence in American campitalism to Theodore Roosevelt’s crusade against business corruption a century ago.
American West
In the first of a two-part, two-week series, Talking History returns to one of its audience’s favorite topics, the American West. Bryan Le Beau discusses images of the West in advertising with Elliot West.
Airdate: September 16, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Robert Tignor looks at the influence of decolonization on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
History of Caffeine
Talking History’s Eileen Dugan discusses the history of caffeine with her guest, Bennett Alan Weinberg.
Airdate: September 9, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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William Lambers in his commentary offers some historical perspective on current issues surrounding nuclear arms reduction policy in the United States.
Mother Jones
Talking History celebrates Labor Day by examining the life of one of American labor’s most colorful and controversial figures–Mother Jones.
Airdate: September 2, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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On the celebration of her one hundredth birthday, Thomas Doherty looks at the controversial German Filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl.
Air Conditioning
As many of us deal with what seems to be a never-ending string of days of scorching heat, we thank our lucky stars for air conditioning. What better time to pause and consider its history–which is what Talking History’s Fred Nielsen will do with his guest, Marsha Ackermann.
Airdate: August 26, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Ira Chernus’s commentary focuses on the “double legacy” of the Six-Day War.
Hatfields and McCoys
Their feud has become the stuff of legend–setting the mark against which all other quarrels are measured. But how much of what we know–or think we know–about the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys is true, and how much is legendary? In this week’s show, Talking History’s Eileen Dugan discusses the Hatfields and McCoys with her guest Altine Waller.
Airdate: August 19, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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In commentary this week Jeffrey Pasley offers his thoughts on the recent popularity of the Founding Father, John Adams.
Baseball
In an interview with Talking History’s Jim Madison, Charles Alexander will explore baseball during the great depression.
Airdate: August 12, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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In this week’s commentary Patricia Seed will examine the meaning of “modern.”
Atomic Cinema Jerome Shapiro will discuss Atomic Cinema with Talking History’s Fred Nielsen.
Airdate: August 5, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Documentaries is the topic for Eric Stange’s op-ed.
Amos ‘n’ Andy
This week we speak with Melvyn Patrick Ely about the radio program, Amos ‘n’ Andy, which originated on WMAQ in Chicago in 1928 and became one of the longest running programs in broadcast history. When it made it to television in 1951 it became highly controversial as well.
Airdate: July 29, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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Elazar Barkan offers us his thoughts on whether reparations can heal the wounds of slavery.
Gangsters
Gangsters are stock figures in American popular culture, often serving as the focus for films, novels, and television programs. In this week’s show we explore the gangster phenomenon in its heyday–the 1920s–with historian David Ruth.
Airdate: July 22 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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This week’s commentary is with Maria Rose Menocal who provides a timely historical perspective on a time and place when Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together peacefully.
The Metaphysical Club
A look at how new ideas gradually replaced the old in the years following the Civil War in an interview with Louis Menand about his Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Metaphysical Club. Menand is a professor of English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and a staff writer at the New Yorker.
Airdate: July 15 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by James Muldoon says globalization is not a new phenomenon. Muldoon is Research Scholar at Brown University’s John Carter Library and author of The Expansion of Europe: Popes, Lawyers and Infidels.
Sacred Remains
A look at the history of American attitudes toward death with Gary Laderman, author of The Sacred Remains: American Attitudes Toward Death, 17991883 and the forthcoming book Death in Modern America: A Cultural History of the American Funeral Industry. Laderman is an associate professor of religion at Emory University.
Airdate: July 3 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by Rutgers History Professor Norman Markowitz offers a cautious note on the predicted demise of Social Security.
Voting in America
A look at the history of the struggle over who should vote in America with Alexander Keyssar, author of The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States, which was a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize. Keyssar is a professor of history and social policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Airdate: July 1 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by Dr. America says we should celebrate July 5th as well as the 4th.
Captain’s Concubine A tale of revenge and honor in Italy as described by Donald Weinstein in his book The Captain’s Concubine: Love, Honor and Violence in Renaissance Tuscany. Weintein is Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Arizona. The commentary provided by Richard Pells looks at why Europeans mostly ignore American history.
Airdate: June 24 2002
Run Time: 28 minutes
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The commentary provided by Richard Pells looks at why Europeans mostly ignore American history.
History of the Screw and Screwdriver
One of man’s most basic tools and perhaps one of the most significant inventions in the past 1,000 years, at least Witold Rybczynski thinks so. He is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Architecture and author of One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and Screw.
Airdate: June 17, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by Alan Winkler looks at the history behind Spider-man and the message conveyed by the original comic strip. Winkler is a professor of history at Miami University.
A History of Contraceptives in America
A look at how the birth control business evolved from the black market of the 19th century to the mass market of today in an interview with Andrea Tone, author of Devices and Desires: A History of Contraceptives in America. Tone is a professor of history at Georgia Tech.
Airdate: June 10, 2002
Run Time: 31 minutes.
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The commentary provided by John Hagan looks at the reason so many antiwar protesters remained in Canada, even when it was safe to return. Hagan is a professor of sociology and law at Northwestern University and the University of Toronto and is the author of Northern Passage: American Vietnam War Resisters in Canada.
Trafficking in Women
Martina Vandenberg, a researcher for Human Rights Watch’s Women Rights Division talks about the long history of trafficking in women and how widespread it is around the world.
Airdate: June 3, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by Peter Decherney talks about the history of film education and the issues it encountered along the way. Decherney is a professor of film and media studies at Johns Hopkins University.
History of Citizenship
A right guaranteed by those who have fought and died in war and some would argue, taken for granted. Michael Schudson, author of The Good Citizen: A History of American Civic Life, says while Americans may practice citizenship differently than they used to, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Schudson is a professor of communication and sociology at the University of California, San Diego.
Airdate: May 27, 2002
Run Time: 28 minutes
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The commentary provided by Alfred Brohpy looks at the latest charges that Yale University profited from slavery and points out that Yale is not alone. Brophy is the author of Reconstructing the Dreamland: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921–Race, Reparations and Reconciliation.
Famous Equation
David Bodanis talks about his book e=mc2: A Biography of the World’s Most famous Equation, and why he chose to focus on the equation instead of its creator Albert Einstein.
Airdate: May 20, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by political science professor Michael Nelson looks at why history views Henry Kissinger and Daniel Patrick Moynihan so differently, despite their similarities. Nelson is a professor at Rhodes College and author of more than twenty books on the American presidency and public policy matters.
The Seventies
A look at what the 1970s meant in America. According to historian Bruce Schulman there was a lot more to the 1970s than bad music and polyester. Schulman is the author of The ’70s: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society and Politics. He is a professor of history and American studies at Boston University.
Airdate: May 13, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by Susan Rosenfeld who reminds us of a forgotten antiwar demonstration that had tragic results in 1970. Rosenfeld is a professor of history at Wayne State and a consultant on FBI historical and archived research.
Wives of Whalefishermen
An interview with Lisa Norling, author of Captain Ahab Had a Wife: New England Women and Whalefishery, 1720–1870, on the lives of seawives. Norling is a professor of history at the University of Minnesota.
Airdate: May 6, 2002
Run Time: 32 minutes
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The commentary provided by Alan Winkler looks at the good and bad of the reemergence of partisan politics since September 11. Winkler is a professor of history at Miami University and is a regular contributor to Talking History
Carrie Nation
An interview with Biographer Fran Grace about the woman who became known as the hatchet wielding saloon buster. Fran is the author of Carrie A. Nation: Retelling the Life.
Airdate: April 29, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by Andrew Schocket takes a look at President George Bush’s faithbased initiative and turns to the Founding Fathers for guidance. Schocket is a professor of history at Bowling Green State University
Wilderness
What began as a dissertation more than 40 years ago became one of the most influential history books of our time. Roderick Nash talks about his book Wilderness and the American Mind.
Airdate: April 22, 2002
Run Time: 32 minutes
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The commentary provided by history professor Nancy Unger takes aim at the recent PBS American Experience series on Woodrow Wilson. Unger is the author of Fighting Bob La Follette: The Righteous Reformer.
Fred Thompson/Coney Island
Amusement parks are as popular today as they were years ago when adults flocked to Coney Island for thrills and adventure. Woody Register, author of The Kid of Coney Island: Fred Thompson and the Rise of American Amusements looks at one of the creators of mass entertainment at the turnofthe century at Coney Island. Register is a professor of American Studies at Sewanee, The University of the South.
Airdate: April 15, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by Alan Winkler looks at the Enron scandal and the history of big business in the U.S. Winkler, Distinguished Professor of History at Miami University, is a regular contributor to Talking History.
History of Debt
Debt is nothing new to Americans. According to our guest Lendol Calder there has been a longstanding willingness to get ahead by getting into debt. Calder is a professor of history at Augustana College and the author of Financing the American Dream: A Cultural History of Consumer Credit.
Airdate: April 8, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by David Greenberg looks at president Lincoln’s record on civil liberties in light of President Bush’s policies toward those suspected of terrorism in the U.S. Greenberg, a professor of history at Columbia University, is a regular contributor to Talking History.
Dracula
Was Dracula purely a fictional character or is there some truth to the myth? In an interview with Kurt Treptow we look at the life of Vlad the Impaler. Treptow is the author of Vlad III Dracula: The Life and Times of the Historical Dracula and director of the Center for Romanian Studies in Iasi, Romania.
Airdate: April 1, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by Dr. America, James Farrell,looks at the cultural contours of the history of boredom.
Civil War: Part IV
The last segment of the Civil War series looks at the impact of movies on American’s view of History with Bruce Chadwick, a former editor at New York Daily News. Chadwick lectures on history and film at Rutgers University. In his book The Reel Civil War: Mythmaking in American Film, Chadwick asserts that two of the biggest American box office hits have been the Civil War epics, Birth of a Nation and Gone With the Wind.
Airdate: March 25, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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In the commentary of the week, Alice Randall talks about why she wrote The Wind Done Gone.
Civil War: Part III
William J. Cooper Jr., looks at the life of Jefferson Davis. Cooper is Boyd Professor of History at Louisiana State University. His book on Jefferson Davis, Jefferson Davis, American, received the 2001 Los Angeles Times‘ Book Award for best biography.
Airdate: March 18, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The oped by Gary Gallagher talks about the “Myth of the Lost Cause.”
Civil War: Part II
A look at the life of Ulysses S. Grant, a national hero and two term president, with biographer Jean Edward Smith. Smith is a professor of political science at Marshall University and author of Grant, recognized by the New York Times as one of the most distinguished books of 2001.
Airdate: March 11, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by Michael Fellman looks at Grant’s primary opponent, Robert E. Lee. Fellman is a professor of history at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, B.C. and author of The Making of Robert E. Lee.
Civil War: Part I
Part One of the four-part series on the Civil War. Historian Louis Masur looks at the year 1831 and why he considers it a pivotal one in the Civil War. Masur is a professor of history at the City College of New York and author of 1831: Year of Eclipse.
Airdate: March 4, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by George Fletcher says the Civil War created a new constitutional order. Fletcher is the Cardozo Professor of Jurisprudence at Columbia University School of Law and author of Our Secret Constitution: How Lincoln Redefined American Democracy.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
March, 2002 marks the 150th anniversary of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and historian Joan Hedrick talks about the book and its author. Hedrick is a professor of history at Trinity College and author of the Pulitzer Prize winning biography Harriet Beecher Stowe: A Life.
Airdate: February 25, 2002
Run Time: 28 minutes
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Author Jane Smiley looks at the myth of Huck Finn
US/Africa Relations
For much of the last half century, the United States has ranked as one of the great powers in the international system. Salih Booker, director of Africa Action, talks about the little known history of US/Africa Relations.
Airdate: February 18, 2002
Run Time: 29 minutes
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The commentary provided by regular contributor Alan Winkler asks the questions, “Where are You Safe?”. Winkler is Distinguished Professor of History at Miami University in Ohio
Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
A look at the 125 year history of one of the nation’s most popular events with William Stiffel, Westminster Show historian and author of The Dog Show: 125 Years of Westminster. The commentary provided by D. Keith Naylor who says there is no historical basis for the Republicans to be seen as the anti-conservation party.
Airdate: February 11, 2002
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The commentary provided by D. Keith Naylor who says there is no historical basis for the Republicans to be seen as the anti-conservation part
Billie Holiday Strange Fruit
A look at the song, Strange Fruit, made famous by singer Billie Holiday about lynching in the South. Margolick is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair magazine and author of Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday, Cafe Society and an Early Cry for Civil Rights.
Airdate: February 4, 2002
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Walter Berns discusses whether it takes a war to make a patriot. Berns is a political scientist and Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University.
Handwriting
We explore the world of handwriting and its instruction in the U.S. with Dr. Tamara Plakins Thornton, associate professor of history at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Dr. Thornton is the author of Handwriting in America: A Cultural History.
Airdate: January 28, 2002
- Listen Now: Real Audio 28.8
The commentary by Norman Markowitz looks at how the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 may provide some guidance for the U.S. in reexamining its foreign policy in light of the events of September 11, 2001. Markowitz is a professor of history at Rutgers University.
Tupperware
A look at this cultural symbol of the American way of life with Alison Clarke, author of Tupperware: The Promise of Plastic in 1950s America.
Airdate: January 21, 2002
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The commentary by historian Alan Winkler provides some insight into how defending the nation at home, from the attack of its enemies abroad, can threaten American civil liberties. Winkler is Distinguished Professor of History at Miami University of Ohio.
The Swastika
A look at what has become one of the most hated symbols and what it represented before the Nazis in an interview with Steven Heller. Heller is the senior art director at the New York Times and chairman of the MFA Design Department at the School of Visual Arts. He has published more than 70 books including, The Swastika: Symbol Beyond Redemption.
Airdate: January 14, 2002
- Listen Now: Real Audio 28.8
The commentary by Max Page describes how the unimaginable tragedy of the terrorist attacks on New York City had been imagined many times before.
Trauma and Collective Memory
Arthur Neal talks about national trauma and its impact on collective memory and the age group most likely to be affected by the terrorist attacks of 911. Neal is the author of National Trauma and Collective Memory: Major Events in the American Century.
Airdate: January 7, 2002
- Listen Now: Real Audio 28.8
The commentary by Alan Winkler explains that President Bush is not the first president to engage in a propoganda campaign to win support for a war effort.
War Crimes
Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch International Justice Program talks about the history of war crimes trials.
Airdate: January 1, 2002
- Listen Now: Real Audio 28.8
The commentary by historian Bernard Weisberger reveals that terrorism in the U.S. is not new and dates back to the late 19th century. Weisberger is a columnist for American Heritage Magazine.