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Aural History Productions
Talking History, based at the University at Albany, State University of New York, is a production, distribution, and instructional center for all forms of "aural" history. Our mission is to provide teachers, students, researchers and the general public with as broad and outstanding a collection of audio documentaries, speeches, debates, oral histories, conference sessions, commentaries, archival audio sources, and other aural history resources as is available anywhere. We hope to expand our understanding of history by exploring the audio dimensions of our past, and we hope to enlarge the tools and venues of historical research and publication by promoting production of radio documentaries and other forms of aural history.
For two decades, until 2016, we broadcast a weekly radio program and were engaged in numerous educational efforts, from running and sponsoring workshops to offering full-semester courses on radio production and oral history. Over the years, some of the most talented radio producers and engineers currently working in public and non-commercial radio contributed to Talking History—both to our programming and to our educational efforts through production workshops.
Although our radio broadcasting came to an end in 2016, we continue to be involved in various aural and oral history projects and are committed to maintaining and upgrading our audio archives.
NOTE: WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF REPLACING NON-WORKING OLDER REALMEDIA FILES WITH MP3s. PLEASE BE PATIENT!
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Week of June 21st -- Recommended Aural Programs:
FROM OPEN SOURCE: Black Mountain College: 'The Grass-Roots of Democracy. http://radioopensource.org/black-mountain-college/
"In 1933, a group of freethinking American educators and academics took a look at their fresh, interwar world — and set about trying to remake it.
They set up a campus in idyllic countryside outside Asheville, North Carolina, and Black Mountain College was born."
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Week of June 7th -- Recommended Aural Programs:
FROM Pacifica Radio's AGAINST THE GRAIN: "Union Opponents and Their Rhetoric": https://kpfa.org/episode/against-the-grain-June-7-2016/
"Anti-union activists of the Progressive Era propagated a number of arguments that still resonate throughout the U.S. today. In his new book Reform or Repression, Chad Pearson describes this influential group of employers, activists, and their allies. The story of one Southern activist, N.F. Thompson, reveals connections between racial violence and anti-union activism."
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Week of May 22nd -- Recommended Aural Programs:
FROM Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Radio National's series EARSHOT:
"Where the walls have ears: listening in to Anna Akhmatova": http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/earshot/where-the-walls-have-ears/7405424
Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) is today regarded as one of the greatest Russian poets of the twentieth century; a commanding figure, known for her striking beauty, regal poise and, above all, her inspirational courage in writing about the victims of the terror that pervaded the USSR during the Stalinist era, with its devastating purges and gulags. Writer and broadcaster Robyn Ravlich visited Akhmatova's apartment in St Petersburg, where the gifted poet secretly wrote her poetic masterpieces, Requiem and Poem Without a Hero -- right under the noses of KGB forces, who kept watch on her 24 hours a day and bugged her apartment. It would take decades for the poems to be published, first abroad in translation, and then at last they appeared in full in Russian in the 1980s, during the last period of the Soviet empire. This personal literary pilgrimage revealed surprising details of the poet's intimate and dramatic life that are not widely known, shedding new light on her poems. The program captures what one of Robyn's specialist guide-companions described as 'trembling moments'. Although long absent, Akhmatova remained a powerful presence in the apartment where she lived for over twenty five years: it is still furnished as it was when she lived there, replete with her memorabilia and treasured artwork. The apartment -- in a former palace that was nationalised after the Russian Revolution -- is now a museum devoted to the enduring legacy of Anna Akhmatova. Music in the program is from the album The Trackless Woods, Iris DeMent. Alena Mankova Specialist guide Irena Kazantseva Guide/interpreter
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TALKING HISTORY HAS CEASED OVER-THE-AIR BROADCASTING, EFFECTIVE WITH THE CONCLUSION OF OUR MAY 17, 2016 SHOW. From this point forward we will provide: 1) links to especially noteworthy history-related programming currently available on line, and 2) occasional original programming for national and international distribution.
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May 17, 2016
Segment 1 | BackStory: Watch the Throne ~ America and Royalty (2016)
From BackStory Radio: "Queen Elizabeth celebrates her 90th birthday this June and onlookers around the globe will join the festivities. Despite the Founding Fathers rejecting the crown for a democratic form of government, Americans are still fascinated with royalty.
For this episode, the Guys explore the tensions that have arisen as many Americans defined the nation as the opposite of monarchy, while admiring, and sometimes emulating, royal families throughout the world." For more information and the full list of guests, go to: http://backstoryradio.org/shows/watch-the-throne/.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: "Queen [Wilhelmina] Returns To Netherlands" {1945)
From the National Archives and Records Administration - ARC 39164, LI 208-UN-1047 - "Queen Returns To Netherlands" (1945). This selection from the Motion Picture Films series "United News" Newsreels shows "Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands in Belgium and Holland being greeted on her return from exile." From Wikipedia: "Queen Wilhelmina visited the United States from 24 June to 11 August 1942 as guest of the U.S. government. She vacationed in Lee, Massachusetts, and visited New York City, Boston, and Albany, New York. In the latter city she attended the 300th anniversary celebration of the First Church in Albany, the city's oldest, established by Dutch settlers in the 17th century. She addressed the U.S. Congress on 5 August 1942, and was the first queen to do so."
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May 10, 2016
Segment 1 | BackStory: All In ~ A History of Gambling in America (2016)
From BackStory Radio: "This month, thousands of Americans will bet on the Kentucky Derby, the most heavily-wagered horse race in the U.S. Gambling is a part of America's DNA -- Native Americans played dice games prior to contact with Europeans and in 1612, English proprietors held a lottery to raise funds for the Virginia Company's settlement of Jamestown.
On this episode of BackStory, the Guys explore the history of Gambling in America. We look at how speculators bet on land -- America's most plentiful commodity -- and created the "first" stock market. The Guys also uncover how gambling, once outlawed throughout much of the U.S., has become a major source of revenue for cash-strapped communities. From Native American gaming to the rise of Las Vegas, this episode unpacks how some Americans found opportunity in gambling, while others lost big." For more information and the full list of guests, see: http://backstoryradio.org/shows/all-in/.
Segment 2 | Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Gambler (LibriVox selection, 1866; modern reading)
Here is reading of a selection from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Gambler (1866), translated by Charles James Hogarth (1869 - 1945). Inspired by Dostoyevsky's own addiction to roulette gambling, the short novel "focuses on a young tutor in the employment of a formerly wealthy Russian general. . . . Dostoevsky completed the novella under a strict deadline so he could pay off gambling debts." For the full novel, see: https://librivox.org/the-gambler-by-fyodor-dostoyevsky/.
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May 3, 2016
Segment 1 | From the Vault: A Night in Chicago ~ The 1968 Democratic Convention (1968; 2016)
From the Vault revisits "an outstanding documentary titled A Night in Chicago, which was recorded in Chicago on August 27th, 1968, at the turbulent Democratic National Convention. Incorporating field recordings to capture the tension and brutality outside the convention hall, we'll hear Black Panther co-founder Bobby Seale at a rally, Dick Gregory at President Lyndon Johnson's 'birthday' party, and comments from Allen Ginsberg and Studs Terkel regarding police brutality at religious prayer vigil. This program was produced by Elsa Knight Thompson, and features news reports by Dale Minor, Phil Watson, and Bob Fass.
Democracy Now!'s Amy Goodman introduces A Night in Chicago, and later shares her thoughts on Pacifica's importance in the news business."
See more at: http://fromthevaultradio.org/home/.
Segment 2 | Graham Nash's CHICAGO" (1971)
Graham Nash wrote and released "Chicago" in 1971 -- several years after the events that inspired it: the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the trial of the Chicago Eight. For more information on the song, see: http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=4040.
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April 26, 2016
Segment 1 | BackStory: Judaism in America (2016)
This month, Jewish communities across the country celebrate Passover, a holiday that marks the end of the Israelites’ enslavement by the Egyptians. Only about 2% of the U.S. population is Jewish, but the influence of American Jews far outweighs their relatively small demographic size. In this episode of BackStory, the Guys explore the history of Judaism in America, from George Washington’s famous letter to the Jewish congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, to efforts to establish a Jewish city of refuge, near Buffalo, New York in the l820’s, and the importance of delis in Jewish American culture. Guests include: Eran Shalev, Historian at Haifa University in Israel, and the author of American Zion: The Old Testament as a Political Text From the Revolution to the Civil War; Dianne Ashton, Professor of religious studies at Rowan University, and the author of Hanukkah in America: A History; Steve Oney, Author of And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank; Jonathan Sarna, Historian at Brandeis University; Ted Merwin, Professor of Judaic studies at Dickinson College and author of Pastrami on Rye: An OverStuffed History of the Jewish Deli.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Isaac Mayer Wise on "The Eternal Light" (1945)
The Eternal Light, a radio and television program that was aired on the NBC Radio Network, was produced under the auspices of the Jewish Theological Seminary and was regularly broadcast from 1944 until 1989. In March of 1946, the series produced this dramatic profile of Isaac Mayer Wise -- the founder of Reform Judaism in America.
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April 19, 2016
Segment 1 | BackStory: Pass Fail, An American History of Testing (2016)
From BackStory and the American History Guys: "In this episode of BackStory, we explore the history of testing in America. The Guys go back to the eighteenth-century and look at how elite colleges replaced social status with merit and behavior as a way to grade students. We uncover the links between President James Garfield's 1881 assassination and the civil service test, and look at how officials created the first, "white," affirmative action program by waiving the test for WWII veterans. The Guys explore the long and troubled history of how Americans have used tests to both exclude and include people from the citizenry." For more details, see: http://backstoryradio.org/shows/passfail/.
Segment 2 | Earshot: Off Limits (2016)
From a recent American comic film -- the audio track (slightly edited for length) of the "testing" scene from the 1996 film Men in Black.
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April 12, 2016
Segment 1 | Earshot: Vasa ~ A Brilliant Disaster (2015)
From ABC/Radio National's Earshot : "The Swedish ship the Vasa, built in 1628, was one of the biggest battleships of its era. Sixty-nine metres long, the ship had three masts and was built to carry over four hundred men. It was to be the symbol of the growing Swedish empire, but ended up becoming a disaster. On its maiden voyage, the Vasa sailed just over one kilometre and then sank in the middle of Stockholm’s harbour.
Three hundred years after its disastrous sinking, the ship was discovered. Due to the depth of the sea, and the mud in which the Vasa sank into at the bottom of the harbour, divers found an almost intact ship; the submerged Vasa was described as a marine Pompeii. Journalist Johan Gabrielsson delves into the royal archive and speaks with marine archaeologists and historians to try and discover why the ship sank on her maiden voyage."
Segment 2 | Earshot: Off Limits (2016)
From ABC/Radio National's Earshot: "Many years ago Gary Bryson found a cassette tape amongst a box of old recordings that had once belonged to BBC producer Charles Parker. Parker was famous for the highly acclaimed series of Radio Ballads that he made in the 50s and 60s with folk musicians Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger.
The cassette tape however, was not a radio ballad. It was labelled 'Off Limits #2' and was one of a series of programs produced by Parker along with musicians of what was known as the Critics' Group - a radical leftist folk ensemble led by MacColl. Dated 1970 - the height of the Vietnam war - it features the voices of American draft evaders, discontented soldiers and deserters from the conflict.
Today, Off Limits opens a fascinating window onto the politics of protest at one particular moment in British history. It carries with it the echoes of a world at war, but a war that was never simply black and white, country against country, right or wrong; because Charles Parker didn’t make Off Limits for the BBC. He made it for the Vietcong."
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April 5, 2016
Segment 1 | BackStory: Little Caesars ~ Local Politics in America (2016)
From BackStory and the American History Guys: "As the presidential candidates continue their contentious path to the White House, it's easy to overlook what’s happening at the local level. For this episode of BackStory, the Guys take a break from the race for the White House and examine local power brokers: from big city political bosses and small town sheriffs to some of the social reformers wh'’ve shaped their communities from the ground up." Guests include: Preston Lauterbach, Preston Lauterbach is the author of Beale Street Dynasty: Sex, Song and the Struggle for the Soul of Memphis; Sarah J. Deutsch, Sarah Deutsch is a historian at Duke University. She is the author of Women and the City: Gender, Space, and Power in Boston, 1870-1940; Adam Cohen, Adam Cohen is a journalist and co-author of American Pharoah: Mayor Richard J Daley: His Battle for Chicago and the Nation; Daniel Joseph Watkins, DJ Watkins is the author of Freak Power: Hunter S. Thompson’s Campaign for Sheriff; Bob Braudis, Bob Braudis served as Pitkin County sheriff for 24 years; Steven Jackson, Steven Jackson is a freelance reporter and producer. For more details, see: http://backstoryradio.org/shows/little-caesars/.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: George W. Plunkitt of Tammany Hall (LibriVox reading; selection)
One of the more influential leaders of New York's Democratic political machine,Tammany Hall, George Washington Plunkitt (1842-1924) cultivated the art of "honest graft." Besides his work as a ward boss in New York's Fifteenth Assembly District., he also served as a state senator and a representative to the New York Assembly. Here is a selection (a LibriVox reading) from
William Riordon's William L., Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A Series of Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics (1905) -- in which Plunkitt offers his explanation for honest graft.
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March 29, 2016
Segment 1 | ABC/Radio National's Earshot:
The Sex Workers Revolt
From ABC/Radio National's Earshot: "In 1975 hundreds of French sex workers went on strike and occupied Catholic churches across the country. They were protesting police abuse and government closure of their work places. Supported by a handful of Catholic priests, the aggrieved sex workers became the centre of a global media storm. Forty years on, the strike is credited as the spark for present day sex workers rights movements. Producer Eurydice Aroney takes us to the Church in Lyon, France where it all began. She speaks with those who were there, and with the aid of archives, presents an "audio excavation" of a unique story. The voices of the original 1975 strikers and current French sex workers are re-voiced here by Sydney sex workers. The Sex Workers Revolt was originally broadcast as La Revolte des Prostituees a 50 minute French documentary co-commissioned by Radio Belgium (RTBF) and Radio France (RF) with funding for it's research from the University of Technology Sydney. Special thanks to Alexis Caraco, Nicole Gooch, Albert Lecoanet, Elena Jeffries, Tom Morton, Thierry Schaffauser and Lillian Mathieu Original music composed by Stuart Brown." See: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/earshot/the-sex-workers-revolt/7163548.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Emile Zola's NANA (Selection of reading; the full version is available from Learn Out Loud: http://www.learnoutloud.com/Catalog/Literature/European-Classics/Nana/14345)
French naturalist writer Emile Zola tells the story Nana Coupeau's rise from common streetwalker to high-class prostitute in the 1860s -- during the French Second Empire. For more information about the book, see: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/n/nana/book-summary. For the full text, in English translation, see: https://archive.org/details/nananana00zolarich. For the French edition, see:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5250.
Segment 3 | ABC/Radio National's Earshot: Mack the Knife (Produced by BBC Radio 4's Soul Music, 2015)
From ABC/Radio National's Earshot (originally produced by BBC Radio 4's Soul Music): "The Brecht/Weill song, 'Mack The Knife' first appeared in 'The Threepenny Opera' in Berlin in 1928. Brecht and Weill's 'play with music' was based on John Gay's 'The Beggar's Opera', which was inspired by the real-life English highwayman, Jack Sheppard. 'Mack the knife' was a top ten hit for Bobby Darin in 1959. Ella Fitzgerald famously forgot the words when performing in Berlin in 1960 but her improvised version won a Grammy. Suzi Quatro recalls that as a child, she performed it with her father, playing the bongos in her first-ever stage appearance. Lenny Kaye recalls how he and Patti Smith did a version at their first performance together at St Marks Church in New York on 10th February 1971, for Brecht's birthday. Then there's the story of its first public performer, Kurt Gerron who carried the song with him to the darkest part of Nazi Germany." See: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/earshot/mack-the-knife/7196486.
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March 22, 2016
Segment 1 | BackStory: Well-Regulated Militias ~ A History of Armed Resistance (2016)
From BackStory and the American History Guys: "Earlier this year, tensions with Citizens for Constitutional Freedom, a group of armed protesters who’d occupied a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, ended in bloodshed. Federal agents shot one of the protesters, and soon after the rest surrendered to the FBI.
In this episode of BackStory, the Guys consider different groups who have taken up arms – from Revolutionary War veterans protesting taxes, to the birth of the Ku Klux Klan after the Civil War, and violent labor protests in the 20th century." Guests include:
* Steve Beda -- Steve Beda is a historian at the University of Oregon. He is the author of “‘More Than a Tea Party’: The IWA’s Women’s Auxiliary in the Pacific Northwest, 1937-1948.”
* Woody Holton -- Woody Holton teaches graduate seminars on Colonial America and on the American Revolution. At the undergraduate level, he teaches the first half of the U.S. history survey and upper-level classes on Early American Women, the American Revolution, and Early African Americans. In the near future he will teach seminars on slave rebellions and on the history of capitalism in North America. Holton’s 2009 book, Abigail Adams, which he wrote on a Guggenheim fellowship, won the Bancroft Prize. Holton is the author of Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution (2007), a finalist for the George Washington Book Prize and the National Book Award. His first book, Forced Founders: Indians, Debtors, Slaves and the Making of the American Revolution in Virginia (1999), won the Organization of American Historians’ Merle Curti award.
* Elaine Frantz Parsons -- Elaine Frantz Parsons is a historian of manhood, race, and violence in the nineteenth-century United States. Her latest book, Ku-Klux: The Birth of the Klan in the Reconstruction-Era United States (University of North Carolina Press, 2016), argues that the post-war Klan was produced by northern and southern interests and media alike, and that its victims struggled not only against the Klan itself but against widespread skepticism of reports of Klan violence, and widespread white sympathy for its goals.
* Lou Martin -- Lou Martin is a board member at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum and an associate professor of history at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. He is the author of Smokestacks in the Hills: Rural-Industrial Workers in West Virginia, which will be published by the University of Illinois Press this fall.
* Lucia Duncan -- Lucia is a freelance radio producer-reporter, filmmaker, and teacher based in Boston. Her radio stories have aired on NPR stations KUT and KPCC, Free Speech Radio News, and National Native News. Her films have screened at festivals worldwide and have received awards from the Angelus Student Film Festival, International Documentary Association, CINE, and the International Labor Communications Association. She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and has worked in Mexico and Brazil. As a Fulbright Fellow in northeast Brazil, Lucia taught video production to indigenous youth for Video in the Villages. She has a BA in Development Studies and Portuguese/Brazilian Studies from Brown University and an MFA in Film Production from the University of Texas at Austin.
For more information on this segment, go to: http://backstoryradio.org/shows/well-regulated-militias/,
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Sam Adams on Militias and Revolution (August 1, 1776 Speech reading; YouTube)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a series of fireside chats on various issues of policy; this is a selection from one of them from 1935 -- focusing on unemployment relief and social security. For the source recording, go totalk, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYyh7ATpdl4
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March 15, 2016
NO SHOW THIS WEEK. Explore our archived shows.
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March 8, 2016
Segment 1 | BackStory: Hard Times ~ A History of Unemployment (2016)
From BackStory an the American History Guys: " President Barack Obama claims that the country's low unemployment rate shows that we've rebounded from the Great Recession. But presidential candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders say the "real" unemployment rate is much higher. During this episode of BackStory, the Guys will look at the invention of the official unemployment rate, discuss the struggle among Baltimore's working classes in the early 19th century to find and keep work, and uncover the hidden history of unemployment in the U.S. Guests include:
* Alexander Keyssar: ,Alexander Keyssar is the Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy. An historian by training, he has specialized in the explanation of issues that have contemporary policy implications. His book, The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States (2000), was named the best book in U.S. history by both the American Historical Association and the Historical Society; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Award. A significantly revised and updated edition of The Right to Vote was published in 2009. His 1986 book, Out of Work: The First Century of Unemployment in Massachusetts, was awarded three scholarly prizes. Keyssar is coauthor of The Way of the Ship: America's Maritime History Reenvisioned, 1600-2000 (2008), and of Inventing America, a text integrating the history of technology and science into the mainstream of American history. In addition, he is coeditor of a series on Comparative and International Working-Class History. In 2004/5, Keyssar chaired the Social Science Research Council's National Research Commission on Voting and Elections, and writes frequently for the popular press about American politics and history. Keyssar's current research interests include election reform, the history of democracies, and the history of poverty.
* Seth Rockman: Seth Rockman is a specialist in nineteenth-century United States history, with a focus on the relationship of slavery and capitalism in American economic and social development. His 2009 book Scraping By: Wage Labor, Slavery, and Survival in Early Baltimore won the Merle Curti Prize from the Organization of American Historians, the Philip Taft Labor History Book Award, and the H.L. Mitchell Prize from the Southern Historical Association. Rockman is currently writing a book about shoes, shovels, hats, and hoes manufactured in the North for use on Southern slave plantations. He and Sven Beckert are co-editing Slavery's Capitalism: A New History of American Economic Development. A preview of this work appeared on the Bloomberg News Echoes blog in January 2012. Rockman has a Ph.D. in history from the University of California-Davis and a B.A. in history from Columbia University.
* Scott Sandage: Scott Sandage is a cultural historian who specializes in the nineteenth-century United States and in the changing aspects of American identity. He is the author of Born Losers: A History of Failure in America (Harvard University Press, 2005), on which playwright Arthur Miller commented, “I found Born Losers a confirmation of an old belief that in American history there is a crash in every generation sufficient to mark us with a kind of congenital fear of failure. This is a bright light on a buried strain in the evolution of the United States."
Francisco Balderrama: Francisco Balderrama is emeritus professor at California State University, Los Angeles. He is the co-author of Decade of Betrayal: Mexican Repatriation in the 1930s. The 20th century history of the Mexican in the United States, Mexican immigration and the American Southwest are among Professor Balderrama's areas of expertise. He was presented an award by the Gustavus Myers Center for the study of Human Rights in North America for his book and has received several research grants and professional awards, including the Senior Fulbright Lectureship in American Immigration at the University of Rome.
* Christine Valenciana: Dr. Valenciana, Associate Professor Emeritus, received the Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (Literacy) from the University of California, Riverside. Her research interests include: educational/linguistic impact on Mexican American children who were unconstitutionally deported during the 1930s, Latina/o teacher education, and the literacy of U.S. Mexican children with publications in Urban Review, Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, Action in Teacher Education, Multicultural Education, Equity and Excellence in Education and The Social Studies.
* Felicia Kornbluh: Felicia Kornbluh is an Associate Professor of History and Director of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies. Kornbluh's book, The Battle for Welfare Rights, (University of Penn. Press 2007), is a study of the social movement for welfare rights, and its interactions with mainstream political and legal institutions, in New York City and nationally. It is now available in paperback and is used widely. She is now writing a monograph on the New York City World's Fair of 1964-1965, and on the political movements that made that fair a failure. She is also in the middle of a long-term project on disability, gender and social welfare, which focuses on the activist and constitutional law scholar Jacobus tenBroek."
For more information on this segment, go to: http://backstoryradio.org/shows/hard-times/.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: FDR on Unemployment Relief (1935)
President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a series of fireside chats on various issues of policy; this is a selection from one of them from 1935 -- focusing on unemployment relief and social security. For the entire talk, go to: http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/speech-3304.
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March 1, 2016
Segment 1 | From the Vault: The Confessions of Nat Turner (1968; 2016)
From From the Vault, with special guest host Joanne Griffith presents "a 1968 conversation between Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Styron, actor Ossie Davis and writer James Baldwin on Styron’s attempt to make his novel The Confessions of Nat Turner into a film. Written in 1967 after years of research, The Confessions of Nat Turner weaves fiction into the life Nat Turner, an African American who led a rebellion against slave owners in August of 1831. The novel would immediately draw criticism from Black writers and intelligentsia for Styron’s lack of understanding of the slave experience and misrepresenting one of the heroes of the slave era. Despite this outrage, the book would go on to win the 1968 Pulitzer Prize.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb (LibriVox)
We present a selection from a reading of one of the most famous 19th century slave narrative, the Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb. From LibriVox: "Henry Walton Bibb was born a slave. His father was white although his identity was not positively known. Bibb was separated from his mother at a very young age and hired out to other slave owners for most of his childhood. Always yearning for his freedom, he made his first escape from slavery in 1842. He was recaptured and escaped, recaptured and escaped over and over; but he never gave up on his desire to be a man in control of his own destiny.
Bibb eventually escaped the bondage of servitude for good and dedicated his life to speaking out against the institution of slavery. In the process he helped others obtain their freedom. He published Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, and American Slave in 1849 telling the story of his daily life as a slave, as a runaway and as a free man. He also illustrated the depravity of that “man-destroying system” and the “idea of utter helplessness in perpetual bondage.”
Bibb stated in his Author's Preface that there were other very popular slave narratives published before his own; nevertheless, the uniqueness of his story is in the details of his experiences which, like the others, shine a glaringly truthful beam of light on the sins of this nation. Ultimately Bibb made his way to Canada where in 1851 he published the first black newspaper of that Country, Voice of the Fugitive. He died in 1854 at the age of 39. (Introduction by James K. White)." For the full audio and links to the full text, go to: https://librivox.org/narrative-of-the-life-and-adventures-of-henry-bibb-an-american-slave-by-henry-bibb/.
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February 23, 2016
Segment 1 | BackStory: Real to Reel ~ History at the Oscars (2016)
As in previous years we visit the Oscars. Once again BackStory and the American History guys -- Peter, Ed, and Brian -- "go to the movies and consider how history made its mark on the silver screen this year in Oscar-nominated films" like The Revenant, Bridge of Spies, Birth of a Nation, and Trumbo.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
Here is a short sound track selection from one of the earliest historical films to win a "Best Picture" oscar -- in 1935, Although not always historicallly, accurate, it was one of the best film translations of the actual 1789 mutiny aboard the HMS Bounty. Here is a summary of the famous tale (from 1935 New York Times review of the film): "In 1787 H. M. S. Bounty, commanded by the able but intolerably savage Lieutenant Bligh, left England bound for Tahiti. The spirit of revolt grew among both officers and men during the voyage as Bligh's mania for discipline increased in fury. Discharging her cargo at Tahiti, the Bounty was sailing for home when Christian, the second in command, led the mutinous sailors and seized the ship. Bligh and eighteen loyal men were set adrift with the ship's launch in mid-Pacific, while the triumphant mutineers put back to Tahiti.
Miraculously Bligh took his open boat 3,600 miles across the ocean to the Dutch East Indies, a feat that is almost unparalleled for skill and courage in nautical annals. In the photoplay, though not in fact, Bligh commands the second British ship which pursues the mutineers and is wrecked in the futile search. Midshipman Byam and several other loyal seamen who were forced to accompany the rebels were returned to England for trial. Condemned with the rest, Byam, in the film, is pardoned after an eloquent speech in which he informs the court-martial of the conditions which drove Christian and the crew to mutiny." For the rest of the review, see: New York Times, February 27, 2016.
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February 16, 2016
Segment 1 | Against the Grain: The Culture of the Cuban Revolution (2016)
From Pacifica Radio's Against the Grain, we explore the cultural side of the Cuban Revolution: "What happened in Cuba after 1959 wasn't only Fidel Castro's rise and the political maneuverings of a revolutionary government. There was also a fundamental transformation in culture and cultural production. Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt describes how cultural work was harnessed to the project of building a new society." Nesbit is the author of To Defend the Revolution is to Defend Culture: The Cultural Policy of the Cuban Revolution (PM Press, 2015).
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Revolutionary Songs of Cuba ~ Hasta Siempre Comandante (Carlos Puebla,1965)
"Hasta Siempre, Comandante" -- a popular tribute to Che Guevara written by Cuban composer and musician Carlos Puebla -- recounts and celebrates the significant contributions that Guevera made to the Cuban Revolution. For the complete lyrics of the song, see:
https://www.marxists.org/subject/art/music/puebla-carlos/lyrics/hasta-siempre.htm. The song has been performed by scores of singers in various versions. Here is a link to a traditional interpretation of the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr_g23qi9hg.
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February 9, 2016
Segment 1 | Ginger Strand on the Brothers Vonnegut (2015)
On Feb 9th, we broadcast a talk by nonfiction writer Ginger Strand. She spoke about her new nonfiction book, The Brothers Vonnegut (2015), a biography of major American author Kurt Vonnegut and his brother Bernard Vonnegut, a research scientist at the General Electric laboratory in Schenectady and a professor of Atmospheric Science at the University at Albany. Strand delivered the keynote lecture of the Researching New York Conference on Thursday, November 19, 2015 in the Clark Auditorium of the NYS Museum, Cultural Education Center (Albany, NY). Strand is also the author of Killer on the Road: Violence and the American Interstate (2012), Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies (2008), and Flight: A Novel (2005).
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Kurt Vonnegut at NYU (1970)
From the Pacifica Radio Archives: here is a selection from a recording of a Kurt Vonnegut talk, delivered in an NYU classroom. Vonnegut, the author of Player Piano (1952), The Sirens of Titan (1959), Cat's Cradle (1963), Slaughterhouse Five (1969), and many other works, discusses his work and life. Vonnegut was introduced by Ronald Gross, class instructor, but the introduction is not included in this excerpt. For the full audio, go to: http://blankonblank.org/interviews/kurt-vonnegut-man-eating-lampreys-indianapolis-parents-writing-big-space-fuck-space/. To obain a copy of the recording from the Pacifica Archives, go to: http://www.pacificaradioarchives.org/recording/bc1568.
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February 2, 2016
Segment 1 | BackStory: Court of Public Opinion ~ Trial Watching in America (2016)
In this episode of BackStory, the American History Guys "explore our fascination with courtroom drama. What makes for a compelling case and why have some landmark proceedings received little attention? We'll consider why so many Americans followed the trial of a young clerk accused of murdering a New York City prostitute in 1836, and why we're still talking about Sacco and Vanzetti nearly a century after they were sentenced to death. From public hanging in Puritan Massachusetts, to the murder trial of Black Panther leader Huey Newton in the late 1960's, the Guys will reveal the deep-seated issues beneath American trial-watching." For more information on this segment, go to: http://backstoryradio.org/shows/court-of-public-opinion/.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Orson Welles as Clarence Darrow in Compulsion (1959)
In this selection fom the 1959 film Compulsion, Orson Welles delivers a stirring plea for the lives of his two young clients, accused if kidnapping and murder, The film, based on the fictionalized account written in 1956 by Meyer Levin, focuses on two wealthy Chicago teenagers, Judd Steiner and Artie Straus, who kidnap and murder a young boy.
The final summation by their attorney, played by Welles, is taken directly from the transcript of the real trial. For more information about the film and the trial it was based on, see: http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F00EEDC1138EF3BBC4A53DFB2668382649EDE and
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/leoploeb/leopold.htm.
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January 26, 2016
Segment 1 | Richard Norton Smith on Nelson Rockefeller (Researching NY Conference ~ 11-20-2014)
Presidential and political historian Richard Norton Smith presented the keynote lecture for the 2014 Researching New York conferenc, focusing on his new biography of the former New York State governor and U. S. vice president Nelson Rockefeller, On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller (2014). Fourteen years in the writing, the book has been widely hailed as"the definitive biography of the New York governor and U.S. vice president who championed the arts and education, transformed Albany’s architectural landscape, and defined the moderate Republican brand." Smith's other books include the 1982 biography, Thomas E. Dewey and His Times;The Colonel (2003), about Chicago Tribune publisher Robert McCormick; The Harvard Century: The Making of a University to a Nation (1998); Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation (1993); and An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover (1984).
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Nelson Rockefeller's First State of the State Address (1-7-1959)
Here is an excerpt from Governor
Nelson Rockefeller’s first State of
the State address, delivered on 1-7-1959. It comest to us from the New York State Archives -- more specifically from "Series 13700-83, Audio and video tapes, 1951-1986, New York (State) Governor." The full recording is available from the Archives (contact
[email protected]
or (518) 474-8955 for more information. This selection is available on line at: http://www.archives.nysed.gov/research/audio/rockefeller-state-of-the-state. In his address, Rockefeller " talks about New York's need for leadership that can achieve advances such as the
Erie Canal, the Thruway, the St. Lawrence Seaway, etc., and about addressing
emerging issues before they become
problems, to better shape tomorrow."
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January 19, 2016
Segment 1 | BackStory: Color Lines ~ Racial Passing in America (2016).
"On this episode of BackStory, the Guys will consider how and why Americans throughout the centuries have crossed the lines of racial identity, and find out what the history of passing has to say about race, identity, and privilege in America. We'll look at stories of African-Americans who passed as white to escape slavery or Jim Crow and find out how the "one-drop rule" enabled one blonde-haired, blue-eyed American to live a double life without ever arousing suspicion. We'll also explore the story of an African-American musician who pioneered a genre of exotic music with a bejeweled turban and an invented biography, and examine the hidden costs of crossing over." For more information, go to: http://backstoryradio.org/shows/color-lines/.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Literary "Passing" - George Eliot
We expand our discussion of the notion of "passing" by looking at women who used masculine pen names. Mary Ann Evans is now far better recognized by her pen name, George Eliot, as she is by her birth name. One of the leading English writers of the Victorian era, she chose a masculine pen name to be taken seriously -- to escape the automatic association of women writers with romantic and light-hearted plots. Here we offer a selection from chapter 1 of one of her most famous novels, Middlemarch (1871-72). For more infromation about George and her works, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Eliot.
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January 12, 2016
Segment 1 | From the Vault: Dalton Trumbo (2015).
From one of Pacifica Radio's flagship programs, From the Vault, we present this profile of blacklisted Hollwood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, now the subject of a major Hollywood film: "This week on From the Vault we salute one of America's greatest screenwriters and novelists, Dalton Trumbo, who is known as much for his Academy Award-winning scripts as he is for being one of the infamous "Hollywood Ten," a group of Hollywood film industry professionals blacklisted for publicly denouncing the tactics of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the late 1940's.
In 1971, Trumbo sat down for an interview with Pacifica's Larry Bensky to discuss the film adaptation of his award-winning 1939 novel Johnny Got His Gun. Dalton also explores his thoughts on the Attica Prison uprising, and reminisces on the days of McCarthyism and blacklisting in America.
We'll also hear archival recordings from our collection of Trumbo’s contemporaries who knew him best, including Ring Lardner Jr. (a fellow member of the Hollywood Ten), communist activist Dorothy Healy, and actor Kirk Douglass.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Salt of the Earth (1954).
Here is an excerpt from a film produced during the 1950s directed by blacklisted director Herbert Biberman and produced by a number of other blacklisted Hollywood cast and crew members (including Paul Jarrico) -- though many of the actors came from the local community in which the film was made. The film, based on actual events, focuses on Mexican workers at a Zinc mine who call a strike -- and ultimately triumph as they build a solidarity among themselves. The film is especially unique, not only in the way it was made, but also in its feminist message. The success of the workers was heavily dependent on the trasnformation of the male workers in the film, one that took place as they learned to rely on -- and respet -- the strength and support of their wives, mothers and daughters. For more infromation on the film, see: http://magazine.oah.org/issues/244/salt.html.
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January 5, 2016
Segment 1 | With Good Reason: Reading the Founding Fathers' Mail (2015).
From the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities' With Good Reason: "More than 30 people who spent the last three years immersed in thousands of letters written by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Abigail Adams, and James Madison, are experiencing a sense of loss and sorrow now that the massive project to proofread the letters and make them available online has come to a close. Join us as Bill Kissell, Donna Carty, and Dena Radley share favorite letters that reveal the fascinating inner lives of the founders. Also: Project Director Sue Perdue (Virginia Foundation for the Humanities) and Kathleen Williams (National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives) describe the scope of this remarkable project of the National Archives called Founders Online (produced in collaboration with the University of Virginia Press)." For more information, including links to online feaures, see: http://withgoodreasonradio.org/episode/reading-the-founding-fathers-mail/.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: City Water Tunnel #3 (Marty Pottenger).
Here are some edited audio selections from performer, writer, and director Marty Pottenger "performing" several of the individuals whom she interviewed while collecting the material for her Obie-winning play City Water Tunner #3.
The Multi-media play is about the building of one of the largest non-defense public works project in the Western Hemisphere. The tunnel's construction began in 1970 and is scheduled for final completion in 2025. For information about the play, see: http://www.martypottenger.com/projects/cwt/.
You can also follow a link there to the entire performance, now available on YouTube.
Segment 3 | Rear Vision (ABC Radio): A History of Drinking Water (2015; 2016).
This segment of our show comes to us from ABC's Radio National's weekly program, Rear Vision: "Most people in the big cities of the developed world don’t think twice about their water supply—unless perhaps, water restrictions are applied during a drought.
Rear Vision tracks the remarkable advances in water engineering that make that assumption possible, beginning with the great gravity fed water system of ancient Rome.
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, advances in water engineering not only allowed urban centres safe drinking water but found ways to manage waste water contamination as well.
Now, in the twenty first century, will recycling and desalination plants answer the challenge of future drought and climate change?" For transcript and more information, see: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rearvision/a-history-of-drinking-water/7029616.
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Dec. 29, 2015
NO SHOW THIS WEEK. CHECK OUT OUR PREVIOUS PROGRAMS.
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Dec. 15, 2015
Segment 1 | BackStory: American Prophets ~ Religions Born in the U.S. (2015).
BackStory and the American History Guys look at the history of U.S. relgions this week: "History textbooks often argue that the United States was founded on the principle of religious freedom, beginning with the Pilgrims who sought refuge from the Church of England. But the America of centuries past was more than a safe haven for religious dissenters. It was also fertile ground for many new religious faiths.
In this hour of BackStory, the History Guys will consider religions that originated or transformed in America, from Christian Science to Scientology. They'll find out how the threat of colonization briefly united 18th-century Native Americans under a single deity, and how the Nation of Islam found converts among African-Americans in the civil rights era. What makes a religion "American"? Why do so many new faiths sprout from American soil? And what role will 21st century America play in the history of religious innovation?" This week's guests include:
Estrelda Alexander, William Seymour College; Adam Jortner, Auburn University; John Turner, George Mason University; David Holland, Harvard Divinity School; Hugh Urban, The Ohio State University; Zaheer Ali, Brooklyn Historical Society.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Music from the Shakers: Simple Gifts (1848; modern performance from YouTube).
Here is a recent performance (audio only) of a classic Shaker dance song written and composed in 1848 by Shaker elder Joseph Brackett. For the video of the perfomance -- from Cibertracker Imperium -- go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLAnuG1340g.
For background information on the song, see: http://www.americanmusicpreservation.com/JosephBrackettSimpleGifts.htm and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Gifts.
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Dec. 8, 2015
Segment 1 | Against the Grain: The Moynihan Report of 1965 (2015).
This segment comes to us from Against the Grain [http://www.againstthegrain.org/]: "When the Moynihan Report was released fifty years ago, it sparked an explosive debate as well as a long-running controversy, one that persists to the present day. What did the document say about African American life, and why did William F. Buckley, Dr. King, and Michael Harrington all praise its message? Daniel Geary describes the report's impact on the way people think and talk about race and inequality in the US."
For more information on the Mouynihan Report, see: Daniel Geary, Beyond Civil Rights: The Moynihan Report and Its Legacy (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015).
Segment 2 | From the Archives: "Theodore" (1907 song).
Theodore Roosevelt's achievements are lauded in this song, released in 1907 as an Edison Gold Moulded Record cylinder recording. The song was composed by Vincent Bryan and sung here by Edward M. Favor. For more details, go to this UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive Web site: http://www.library.ucsb.edu/OBJID/Cylinder3429.
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Dec. 1, 2015
Segment 1 | BackStory: Contested Landscape ~ Confederate Symbols in America (2015).
Brom BackStory and the American History Guys: "In July of this year, the murder of nine African-American parishioners at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina reignited a longstanding debate about the Confederate flag. Soon after the shooting, South Carolina lawmakers voted to remove the flag from the State House building, and many other states followed suit. But while some Americans applaud the decision as a victory against racism and hatred, others argue that the flag's removal dishonors the memory of those who died defending the South. On this episode of BackStory, we're looking at how memories of the Confederacy have shaped the nation's landscape, from the rebel flag to the silver screen. The Guys will hear what symbols of the Confederacy mean to African Americans, explore Hollywood's love affair with Confederate heroes, and find out why one Civil War re-enactor changed his mind about his heritage. How have generations of Americans revered and renounced the Confederacy since its defeat 150 years ago?" This week's guests include:
John Coski, American Civil War Museum; Maurie McInnis, University of Virginia; Brenda Stevenson, UCLA; Logan Jaffe, WBEZ Chicago Public Radio; Michael Paul Williams, Richmond Times-Dispatch; Eileen Jones, UC Berkeley; Waverly Adcock, Former Civil War Re-enactor.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Maryland, My Maryland (written 1861; official state song 1939).
Maryland, My Maryland is the official state song of Maryland; it's based on a poem written by James Ryder Randall in 1861. Filled with clearly anti-Northern and anti-Lincoln stanzas, the song was nonetheless adoped as Maryland's official state song on April 29, 1939, by Maryland's General Assembly. For more information about the history of the song, see: http://www.lib.umd.edu/civilwarwomen/exhibition/03song.html.
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November 24, 2015
Segment 1 | Open Source: America's First Dance with the Devil (2015).
From Open Source and Christopher Lydon: "John Winthrop, Massachusetts' first governor, first came to our shores, he gave the famous address, 'A Modell of Christian Charity.'
When Winthrop declared, 'we shall be as a city upon a hill — the eyes of all people will be upon us,' he may well have been thinking of Salem, a pious little place perched on the north shore of Massachusetts Bay, older and richer than the future capital of Boston.
Just before that, Winthrop predicted that a new kind of covenant would govern the people of Salem, Boston, Plymouth and York -- a religious fellowship, a peaceful neighborliness:
We must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience and liberality. We must delight in each other; make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same body. So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace… So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world.
By the century was out, Salem, a city named for peace, would break out into an unholy war of all against all: a fever of recrimination and betrayal directed at witches in high places and low.
Accusers named almost 200 people in places high and low -- from slave women and homeless widows to the governor’s wife -- as their stabbing spectral oppressors. A fiery court went to work in Salem's main street, extracting confessions. By the time the fever had broken, twenty martyrs -- those women and men who refused to pose as witches in order to save their own lives -- had been killed. (Five more had died in prison, including an infant.)
The witch-trial mania of 1692 represented the gravest disappointment of Winthrop's Christian charity yet seen on these shores -- and the shame of it pervades everything.
So, led by Stacy Schiff, author of a controversial new thriller-history of that year, we're looking at the Salem trials again as a whole: not just as a memory or a metaphor for McCarthyism, not as a Halloween jolt of adrenaline, but the ghostly after-image and lingering shame in our neck of the woods.
Historians and writers in town will bring us home: Emerson 'Tad' Baker pitches Salem as a pivotal moment in American history, Marilynne Roach acquaints us with victims of the hysteria, and novelist Katherine Howe finds the clearest soundings of the story in the Gothic 'romances' of Nathaniel Hawthorne and in the gray surround of her home turf in Essex County, Mass."
John Coski, American Civil War Museum; Maurie McInnis, University of Virginia; Brenda Stevenson, UCLA; Logan Jaffe, WBEZ Chicago Public Radio; Michael Paul Williams, Richmond Times-Dispatch; Eileen Jones, UC Berkeley; Waverly Adcock, Former Civil War Re-enactor. For more details, go to: http://backstoryradio.org/shows/contested-landscape/.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: The Three Witches in Macbeth (1968).
An interesting interpretation from Shakespeare's famous scene with the three witches in Macbeth (written in 1606) -- from Act IV, Scene 1. Source: Renee LaTulippe, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY0Hyza6C-U.
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November 17, 2015
Segment 1 | BackStory: Body Politics ~ Disability in America (2015).
BackStory and the American History Guys look back at the history of disability in America [http://backstoryradio.org/shows/body-politics/]: "The impact of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act is visible in parking lots, bathrooms, and public buildings across the country. But for centuries before the ramps and signs were erected, disabled people had to find their own ways to navigate American society. This week on BackStory, we’re exploring the history of disability in America, from the “ugly laws” that barred the disabled from public spaces to the grassroots activism that set the stage for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Guys will consider how the inventor of the telephone tried to stamp out American sign language, and how enslaved people found ways to exploit white fears of physical disability. How have people with disabilities shaped 21st century America? And how have American attitudes towards disability changed?" Guests this week include: Jenifer Barclay, Washington State University; Mat Fraser, Actor and disability advocate; Douglas Baynton, University of Iowa; Brian Greenwald, Gallaudet University; I. King Jordan, Gallaudet University; Dea H. Boster, Columbus State Community College; and Emily Smith-Beitiks, Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Jose Felliciano (1968).
Jose Montserrate Feliciano Garcia -- Jose Feliciano -- was born in Lares, Puerto Rico, on September 10, 1945. He was left permanently blind at birth as a result of congenital glaucoma, "One of eleven boys, his love affair with music began at the age of three when he first accompanied his uncle on a tin cracker can. When he was five, his family immigrated to New York City. Young Jose learned to play the concertina at age six, using a handful of records as his teacher. At eight, he entertained his classmates at PS 57, and at nine, performed at The Puerto Rican Theater in the Bronx. Venturing beyond the accordion, he taught himself to play the guitar with undaunted determination and again, with nothing but records as his teacher, practicing for as many as 14 hours a day. Exposed to the Rock'n'Roll of the 50's, Jose was then inspired to sing. . . . " For more on Feliciano, see his biography here: http://josefeliciano.com/wp/biography. Here we feature one of his better known musical renditions of the Doors' song Light My Fire, first released on his album Feliciano!
in 1968.
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November 10, 2015
Segment 1 | Rear Vision (ABC-Radio National): A History of Zoos (2015).
Here's a piece that comes to us from ABC's Radio National's weekly program, Rear Vision: "People have collected and kept animals for thousands of years. During the eighteenth and nineteenth century, what had been called menageries—often royal collections—gave way to zoos, where live specimens were collected for study.
Although some zoos—like the London Zoo—were established specifically for scientific research, ultimately the widespread human desire to look at live animals turned zoos into popular public places of entertainment.
During the twentieth century, zoo design evolved and concrete cages with bars were replaced by moats and more naturalistic settings. The role of zoos also changed and although entertainment certainly still tops the list for most visitors, education and conservation have been added to the reasons for keeping and displaying captive animals.
Rear Vision looks at the history of zoos and how they have adapted to the concerns of animal welfare advocates and the existential threat to animals in the wild." For the transcript and more, see: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rearvision/zoos/6842166.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Dorothy Day interview (1960).
In this episode of Pacifica Radio's From the Vault, "we feature a rare recording of journalist, activist, and Catholic Worker Movement co-founder Dorothy Day. In 1927, thirty years after her birth, Day converted to Catholicism, and a few years later started The Catholic Worker, a popular newspaper promoting Catholic teachings. Leaning on the success of this publication, Day created the Catholic Worker Movement, which to this day addresses a wide range of social justice issues, guided by Catholic principles. Today, four decades after her passing in 1980, Day remains a revered figure in the modern Catholic Church, widely regarded as one of the most influential and important figures in the American Catholicism; indeed, Pope Francis himself highlighted the legacy of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement in his 2015 address to the United States Congress." For the full From the Vault broadcast, which includes a commentary by Blase Bonpane, host of the radio show World Focus (KPFK) and director of the Los Angeles-based Office of the Americas, more information about this segment -- go to:
http://fromthevaultradio.org/home/.
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November 3, 2015
Segment 1 | BackStory: People's Choice ~ A History of Populism (2015).
Here's another contribution from BackStory and the American History Guys [http://backstoryradio.org/shows/populism/]: "Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have packed the stadiums as they make their case for the 2016 Republican and Democratic presidential nomination. Many pundits have labeled them 21st century “populists.” But invoking the “voice of the people” is a tradition as old as the country itself.
On this episode of BackStory, the Guys trace populism’s influence on American politics—from mob justice in colonial Massachusetts to the White House’s first outsider, Andrew Jackson. BackStory will explore how farmers built a mass movement around monetary reform in the late 19th century and how politicians have capitalized on the tradition of riling up the masses. How have populist movements inspired—and sometimes frightened—the electorate? And how does populism impact our politics today?" This week's guests include: Omar Ali, University of North Carolina, Greensboro; Jamelle Bouie, Slate Magazine; Ranjit Dighe, State University of New York Oswego;
Paul Gilje, University of Oklahoma; Jason Opal, McGill University; Harry Watson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: Georgia Watson Craven interview (Tom Watson's granddaughter) by David Moltke Hansen (short selection; 1990).
Here is a short audio selection from an Interview with Georgia Watson Craven, conducted by David Moltke-Hansen in 1990. Craven is the granddaughter of Georgia populist Thomas E. Watson, who served as a congressman and later senator from Georgia. Watson was one of the founders of Georgia's Populist Party and ran for the Vice Presidency in 1896 on the Populist Party ticket, headed by William Jennings Bryan. For the full interview, go to: http://www2.lib.unc.edu/dc/watson/oralhistories.php. For a short biography of Watson, see: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/thomas-e-watson-1856-1922.
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October 27, 2015
Segment 1 | Against the Grain: Industrialized Agriculture in the Soviet Union (2015).
From Against the Grain: "Agriculture in the Soviet Union had some colossal disasters -- not the least of which was the near-destruction of the Aral Sea -- and some significant successes as well. But most of the analysis of that experience has been through a Cold War lens. Historian Jenny Leigh Smith has taken a second look at Soviet agriculture. She argues that it compares decently to other mid-century industrialized agricultural systems, including that of the United States -- which may not be saying much" For more information, see: Jenny Leigh Smith, Works in Progress: Plans and Realities on Soviet Farms, 1930-1963 (New Haven: Yale U. Press, 2014).
Segment 2 | From the Archives; Harvest of Shame (Documentary film audio track -- selection; 1960).
Here is a short audio track selection from a classic television documentary, focusing on the plight of American migrant agricultural workers. Produced as an installment of the TV documentary series CBS Reports and broadcast on November 25, 1960 -- the day after Thanksgiving -- the segment was directed by Fred W. Friendly and hosted by Edward R. Murrow. The documentary marked Murrow's last appearance on "CBS Reports;" he had accepted John F. Kennedy's offer to head the United States Information Agency. For the full broadcast of Harvest of Shame, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJTVF_dya7E. For a retrospective account of Harvest of Shame and its impact (from National Public Radio), go to: http://www.npr.org/2014/05/31/317364146/in-confronting-poverty-harvest-of-shame-reaped-praise-and-criticism.
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October 20, 2015
Segment 1 | BackStory: "They Might Be Giants ~ China and the US (2015).
From BackStory and the American History Guys: "Americans have traded with China since the earliest days of the Republic. During the colonial era and for early Americans, China was a source of luxury goods like tea, porcelain, and silk. For some of their descendants, it was the destination for an illicit and lucrative trade in opium. Later, Chinese immigrants helped to build the American West. But the relationship between the two countries has often been fraught, with each side fearing that the other is seeking the upper hand. In this episode, Brian, Ed and Peter explore the long and often turbulent history between the two countries, now the top economies in the world. How does our past history with China color our present relationship?" Guests this week include: Gordon Chang, Stanford University; Nicholas Griffin, author of 'Ping Pong Diplomacy: The Secret History Behind the Game that Changed the World';
John Haddad, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg;
Madeline Hsu, University of Texas at Austin;
Lisa Moorehouse, reporter and producer; Joe Orser, University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. See http://backstoryradio.org/shows/china/ for more information.
Segment 2 | LibriVox Reading: The Book of Ser Marco Polo (c. 1300).
Perhaps more than any other person, Marco Polo helped initiate centuries of contact and trade between the West and China. Here is a selection from The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, concerning the kingdoms and marvels of the East, volume 1, translated by Henry Yule (1820 - 1889). He we offer a reading from the book, from LibriVox: "Books of the Marvels of the World" or "Description of the World" (Divisament dou monde), also nicknamed "Il Milione" ("The Million") or "Oriente Poliano", but commonly called "The Travels of Marco Polo", is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa from stories told by Marco Polo, describing the travels of the latter through Asia, Persia, China, and Indonesia between 1271 and 1291.It's been a very famous and popular book since the 14th century, creating the image of Marco Polo as the icon of the bold traveller. Presenting Marco Polo as an important figure at the court of the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, the book was written in Old French by Rustichello da Pisa, a romance author of the time, who was reportedly working from accounts which he had heard from Marco Polo when they were imprisoned in Genoa, having been captured while on a ship.
This audiobook in two volumes uses the 1903 third edition of Sir Henry Yule's translation, revised by Henri Cordier. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Leni)." For the full reading, see; https://librivox.org/the-book-of--marco-polo-1-by-rustichello-da-pisa/.
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October 13, 2015
No broadcast this week. Check out our archive for past broadcasts.
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October 6, 2015
Segment 1 | BackStory: "Banned ~ A History of Censorship" (2015).
From BackStory and the American History Guys: "September 27 marks the beginning of Banned Books Week, an annual event celebrating literature and the freedom to read, by highlighting and exploring efforts around the country to remove or restrict access to certain books. Indeed, Americans have sought to censor all kinds of things: music, radio, TV, and film have also run up against assumed limits on what is acceptable to say or portray. In this episode, Peter, Ed, and Brian offer an uncut account of censorship in American politics, media, and culture—from rules designed to prevent the discussion of controversial subjects ranging from slavery to sex via the mail, to Hollywood's production code and censorship today. Recalling materials and individuals that have been suppressed or once incurred a censor’s wrath, BackStory’s hosts explore how the line between free speech and censorship has changed over time." Guests this week include: Sherman Alexie, author, "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian;"
Richard Bernstein, City College of New York; Thomas Doherty, Brandeis University; John Fialka, Gulf War Correspondent; Joanne Freeman, Yale University; Joe Galloway, War correspondent; Daniel Hallin, University of California, San Diego; RIchard John, Columbia University; Craig LaMay, Northwestern University; Leigh Schmidt, Washington University in St. Louis.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: "Louie, Louis." (1963).
In keeping with the theme of this week, censorship, we offer a song that was banned by several radio stations in 1964 around the nation. Here is one account of why, from Dwight Rounds' The Year The Music Died, 1964-1972: "The words to 'Louie Louie' are almost impossible to understand, and are rumored to be obscene. No question that this added significantly to the sales of the single. There was probably a leak somewhere that the lyrics were obscene; otherwise no one would have realized it. This was the most ingenious marketing scheme ever. The FBI tried to track down Richard Berry, The Kingsmen, and various record company executives. They were never able to determine the actual lyrics used. To this day, the Kingsmen insist they said nothing lewd, despite the obvious mistake at the end of the instrumental, where Jack Ely started to sing the last verse one bar too soon, and can be heard yelling something in the background. Ely also said that he sung far away from the microphone, which caused the fuzzy sound, and that the notoriety was initiated by the record company." NPR actually ran a feature on the story behind the Kingsmen's version of Richard Berry's Louie, Louie [Go here to listen: http://www.npr.org/2015/05/02/403623915/louie-louie-indecipherable-or-indecent-an-fbi-investigation]. For the actual FBI report on its investigation of the song, see: https://vault.fbi.gov/louie-louie-the-song.
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September 29, 2015
Segment 1 | Open Source: "The Fate of the Union (with Steve Fraser)" (2015).
Producer Chrisopher Lydon begins a three-part series, "produced in partnership with The Nation, on the state of work in America today with a little history. It's a contradictory story of a century marked by incredible change, of a great boom and then a slow bust of labor power that brings the story current and into the presidential campaign of 2016.Throughout the 20th century, organized labor was a central feature of American life. Our guide, the historian Steve Fraser, asks what happened—between Roosevelt and Reagan, between the UAW and Uber?" A full summary of the program can be found at http://radioopensource.org/the-fate-of-the-union/.
Segment 2 | From the Archives: "Jimmy Hoffa's Last Interview?" (Selection, 1975).
Here is a short selection from the purported "last" interview with Jimmy Hoffa: "In the summer of 1975 Jimmy Hoffa sat down and gave his most frank and direct interview ever with eight men who questioned Hoffa on a wide range of subjects including a vendetta with Bobby Kennedy, mob ties to the teamsters union, Hoffa's threats to break a reporter's back, pay-offs, and much more. This astonishingly open dialogue from Hoffa lasted over two hours and, when Hoffa disappeared some weeks later on July 30th, 1975, unexpectedly became the last interview Jimmy Hoffa ever gave. Hidden for over thirty years." See the following for the video and information on obtaining the full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-uP9qvVcEc. For information on Hoffa's life, along with a comprehensive bibliography, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Hoffa.
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