Segment 2: "Comment: Why Is There No Socialism"
Gary Marks, University of North Carolina and co-author of It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the Unitied States (with Seymour Martin Lipset), offers his thoughts on why socialism never developed in the United States.

Segment 3: "Clement Moore and The Night Before Christmas."
This commentary by professor Don Foster, discusses the real authorship of the poem "Visit From St. Nicholas" (a.k.a. The Night Before Christmas). Foster is the author of Author Unknown: On the Trail of Anonymous.

Segment 4: "Greenwich Mean Time and the New Millenium."
Robin Catchpole, Senior Astronomer of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, offers some observations about time and observing the start of the new millennium.

December 14, 2000
"A Conversation With Harry Belafonte"

PART I

PART II

Harry Belafonte is well-known as an artist, but he has also been involved in political struggles throughout his life and career. This wide-ranging interview focuses on Belafonte's life while also telling a larger story of union and civil rights struggles and the role of the media in social change. Our thanks to Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg of WBAI and Building Bridges for permission to air this program.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

December 7, 2000
December 7, 2000
Segment 1: "Blanche Weisen Cook: A Tribute to Lorena Hickok."

Download: MP3

From 1928 to 1933 Lorena Hickok, the first woman assigned national stories, was a star reporter for the Associated Press. She became Eleanor Roosevelt's closest women friend during the White House years and until Eleanor's death 4 years before Lorena, yet evidence of "Hick's" presence was virtually erased. Her death went unnoticed and her cremation unattended. Recently a group of scholars in New York's Hudson Valley held a memorial to commemorate Hickok's life and to establish a scholarship in her memory. Historian Blanche Weisen Cook, Eleanor Roosvelt's biographer talks about Lorena Hickok life and her relationship with Eleanor Roosevelt. Produced by Ginger Miles and distributed by Freida Werden and WINGS, the Women's International Newsgathering Service. Our thanks to both for permission to present this segment.

Segment 2: "200 Years at The Library of Congress"
The Library of Congress was created in 1800 with the gift of Thomas Jefferson's personal library. Creighton University's Dennis Mihalek discusses the creation and evolution of the nation's first cultural institution with James Conaway, author, with Edmund Morris, of America's Library: The Story of the Library of Congress, 1800-2000. (Yale University Press, 2000)

Segment 3: "Comment: The Library of Congress."
Nancy Kranich, President of the American Library Association and Associate Dean of Librairies at New York University, pays tribute to the vision and the reality of the 200 year history of the Library of Congress.

November 30, 2000
"Allen B. Ballard: Where I'm Bound."

PART I

PART II

University at Albany Professor Allen Ballard reads from his new work of historical fiction, Where I'm Bound (Simon & Schuster, October 2000), at a New York State Writer's Institute presentation on October 5, 2000. Inspired by the true story of a black cavalry unit in Mississippi, this debut novel tells the adventures of an escaped slave, Joe Duckett, who becomes a hero in the Northern Army, weaving the accomplishments of African-American Civil War soldiers with the drama of Duckett's heroic efforts to reclaim his life and family. Spiritual of the period are sung by the Mount Calvary Baptist Church Choir.

~ ~ ~ ~

November 23, 2000
"A Republic Against Caesar."

PART I

PART II

PART III

Michael Parenti is an author and lecturer who received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University in 1962. In this lecture, recorded in October 1998, Parenti journeys to ancient Rome to explore conspiracy and class power as he examines how the past and present can inform each other. This approximately 70 minute talk is divided into 3 parts for easier listening.  

 

~ ~ ~ ~ November 16, 2000
Segment 1: "Presidential Leadership."
Election Wrap-Up: Concluding our series on presidential elections, a talk with presidential scholar Fred Greenstein, author of "The Presidential Difference: Leadership Style from FDR to Clinton".

Segment 2: "The American Romance with Robert Kennedy"
Robert Kennedy: For the 75th anniversary of RFK's birth, a talk with Ronald Steel, author of "In Love With Night: The American Romance with Robert Kennedy".

Segment 3: "Plymouth Rock."
Professor Robert Arner discusses the history of Plymouth Rock and its meaning to generations of Americans.

~ ~ ~ ~ November 9, 2000
"The Return of the Shad"

PART I

PART II

From contributing producer Charles Hardy, a cultural, social, and environmental history of the the Delaware River Valley.

 

~ ~ ~ ~

November 2, 2000
Segment 1: "Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, John Anderson, and the Election of 1980."
Was there a Reagan revolution? In this 4th and final segement of Creighton University's series on significant presidential elections McGill University historian Gil Troy, author of See How they Ran: The Changing Role of the Presidential Candidate discusses the candidacy and presidency of Ronald Reagan.

Segment 2: "Conventions and Elections, 1842-1960" (audio to be added)

 

~ ~ ~ ~ October 26, 2000
Segment 1: "Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The Man and His Politics in Historical Perspective."
In Part 3 of Creighton University's series on significant presidential elections Dennis Mihalek speaks with University of North Carolina historian and Roosevelt scholar William Leuchtenberg about the campaigns and the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Segment 2: "Comment: The Presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson"
Boston University historian Bruce J. Shulman, author of Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism : A Brief Biography With Documents, draws parallels and notes differences between the experiences of FDR AND LBJ.

Segment 3: "Meet the Union Printer."
A 1948 discussion of the Taft-Hartley Act by striking printers, this first aired on WCFL (then owned by the Chicago Federation of Labor) on January 23, 1948.

Segment 4: "Reuben Sonderstrom: An 1948 Address to the Illinois Federation of Labor."
This September 1948 speech on Taft-Hartley was delivered at Plumber's Hall in Chicago at the 66th Annual Illinois Federation of Labor Convention.

Segment 5: "Truman vs. Dewey: Excerpts from a 1948 Union Radio."
This piece from Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg at WBAI's Building Bridges features a then Progressive Ronald Reagan discussing labor and union issues in the the 1948 election. Additional commentary by historian Eric Foner.

~ ~ ~ ~ October 19, 2000
Segment 1: "Presidential Leadership."

In 1978 Pulitzer Prize winning historian James MacGregor Burns published Leadership, a book that offered a standard for evaluating political success based on a theory of transactional and transformational leadership. Burns placed the highest value on the transformational leader who is able to inspire a society. In this interview with Dialogue host George Liston Seay, Burns discusses how late 20th century centrist politics jeopardizes the emergence of transformational leadership.

Segment 2: "The Election of 1860 & 1864."
From Creighton University, Part 2 of a 4 part series on significant presidential elections . A talk with historian Matthew Pinsker, author of The Race of Ambition: Abraham Lincoln and the Pursuit of Power, 1832-1864 (forthcoming). Bryan Le Beau talks with Pinsker about the 4 political parties and their candidates in the election of 1860 that resulted in Lincoln's election to the presidency in 1860 and Lincoln's subsequent run for re-election in 1864.

~ ~ ~ ~ October 12, 2000
Segment 1: "The Elections of 1800 & 1824."
The first of a 4-part series from Creighton University that examines notable presidential elections. In this segment Professor Paul Finkelman, University of Tulsa College of Law, looks at the evolving electoral process, under a new Constitution, that marked the elections of 1800 and 1824.

Segment 2: "Raising Cain"
Professor William Lhamon talks about the history of American blackface minstrel performances.

Segment 3: "Comment."
John David Smith, author of Black Judas: William Hannibal Thomas and "The American Negro" discusses the work of William Hannibal Thomas.

Segment 4: "Weegee."
From David Isay and Sound Portraits Productions.
 

Segment 5: "Dinosaur Gardens."
Recorded in Moscow Texas in 1993 by Sound Portraits Productions and David Isay, this segment chronicle one man's dream and determination to create a dinosaur theme park in the heart of Texas.

~ ~ ~ ~ October 5, 2000
Segment 1: "Secret Armies."
Originally broadcast on Talking History on June 3, 1999, Secret Armies examimines the rise of an anti communist and fascist movement in early 1930s Depression-era Australia. It was produced in 1997 by Hindsight, a radio program devoted to presenting historical documentaries on Australian social history. Secret Armies and other documentaries broadcast on Hindsight are produced by the Social History and Features Team of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Our thanks to producer Jane Connors, of ABC and Hindsight, for making this program available to us. ~ ~ ~ ~ September 28, 2000
Segment 1: "Slaves in the Family."
Writer Edward Ball searches for the descendants of the slaves his family once owned. Produced in 1994 by David Isay and Sound Portraits Productions.

Segment 2: "The Modern Olympic Movement"
From Creighton University, Dennis Mihelich discusses the ideals and evolution of the modern Olympic movement with Skidmore College Professor Jeffrey O. Seagrave—co-author with Donald Chu, of The Olympic Games in Transition.

~ ~ ~ ~ September 21, 2000
Segment 1: "Austria and the Ghosts of Memory."
Widespread charges that Austrian politicians engaged in willfull amnesia about Austria's possible role in Jewish persecution have circulated since the end of World War II. Dialogue's George Liston Seay talks with historian Richard Mitten, Central European University, Budapest, about recent scholarship that explores complex patterns of complicity, surprising partners, and the role of US foreign policy in Austria's actions.

Segment 2: "The Political Cartoons of Theodor Suess Geisel"
Children and adults alike happily recall the many books of Dr. Seuess, but few know of his earliest work, World War II political cartoons for the New York newspaper, PM. Creighton University's Eileen Dugan discusses these early works with U. Mass. Amherst history professor Richard Minear, author of Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel.

Segment 3: "Comment: Charles Schulz, Peanuts, and Popular Culture."
As the 50th anniversary of the first Peanuts cartoon strip approaches, M./ Thomas Inge reflects on the contribution of creator Charles M. Schulz's contribution to American popular culture.

~ ~ ~ ~ September 14, 2000
"Sex, Religion, and Society in Early America; or, a 17th-Century Maryland M�nage a Trois and its Consequences"

PART I

PART II

Mary Beth Norton, Professor of American History at Cornell University delivered this talk, titled "Sex, Religion, and Society in Early America; or, a 17th-Century Maryland M�nage a Trois and its Consequences" on April 27th, 2000 at the University at Albany as part of the Fossieck Lecture series.
A specialist in early American and women's history, Norton has written The British-Americans: The Loyalist Exiles in England, 1774-1789 (1972); Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800 (1980; 1996); and Founding Mothers & Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of American Society (1996). She has coauthored the basic American history textbook A People and a Nation (now in its 6th edition), has coedited two volumes of original essays and one compilation of reprinted articles and documents on American women's history, and served as the general editor for the American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature (3d ed., 1995). Her most recent book, Founding Mothers & Fathers, was one of three finalists for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in History.

~ ~ ~ ~ September 7, 2000
Segment 1: "Race, Class, and Labor in America."
In this 1997 interview Dialogue host George Liston Seay talks with historian Bruce Nelson about the complexities of race stratification and class in American history, and particularly the effect on the US labor market.

Segment 2: "Comment: Shifts in Attitudes Towards Welfare"
Historian Linda Gordon, Florence Kelley Professor at the University of Wisconsin and New York University, notes the origins of aid to children and the elderly in the 1935 Social Security Act and comments upon the shifts in public perceptions and attitudes towards each.

Segment 3: "Trash: Waste and Want."
Professor Susan Strasser, University of Delaware, author of Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash discusses the evolution of trash from the late nineteenth century to the present.

~ ~ ~ ~ August 31, 2000
"Marching to Union Square: A Labor Day Play"

PART I

PART II

This new play for Labor Day, written by Cornell University Professor Dorothy Fennel, comes from Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg at Building Bridges, WBAI in New York City. The play, about the birth of the modern trade union movement and the first Labor Day, is based on historical material, including speeches and memoirs, from 1880s labor Day parades and the 1886 mayoral campaign of labor candidate Henry George. The play is preceded by a discussion with Professor Fennel about the importance of culture in labor struggles and labor history.

~ ~ ~ ~ August 24, 2000
Segment 1: "Viewing 20th Century History Through the Lives of 26 Individuals."
British author Martin Walker, author of America Reborn: A Twentieth-Century Narrative in Twenty-Six Lives, review 100 years of American history as reflected in writings by and about key figures of the century. Walker explains to Dialogue's George Liston Seay how these individual biographies offer a springboard to understanding larger issues and ideas in American society.

Segment 2: "Gas Stations: Pop Culture Icons of the American Landscape"
Keith A. Sculle, Illinois Historical Agency, and contributor to The Gas Station in America (Creating the North American Landscape) examines the meaning of cultural icons in history. In this discussion with Creighton's Bryan , Sculle takes a close look at the the changing role of gas stations in America. Le Beau

Segment 3: "The Patriot in History and Film."
Gregory Kaster, Gustavus Adolphus College comments on the recent popular film, The Patriot, noting its focus on one individual patriot while ignoring the ideology and underlying issues of the American Revolution.

~ ~ ~ ~ August 17, 2000
Segment 1: "Free Market Ideology in Historical Perspective."
From Dialogue, George Liston Seay talks with Princeton History professor Daniel Rodgers about the revival of free market ideology, and its effect upon the economic and political landscape of the 1980s.

Segment 2: "Vacations and the American Work Ethic "
Creighton University's Dennis Mihalek talks with historian Cindy Aron, University of Virginia, about the influence of the American work ethic on vacations and liesure since the 19th century. Aron is the author of Working at Play: A History of Vacations in the US.

Segment 3: "Comment: Civil War Historic Sites Reflect New Historical Interpretations."
National Park Service Sites now reflect and acknowledge the role of slavery as a cause of the Civil War. This comment from the Chief Historian of the National Park Service explains how and why the National Park Service is devloping interpretive exhibits that offer more than a celebration and commemoration of battles.

~ ~ ~ ~ August 10, 2000
Segment 1: "Vikings: the North Atlantic Saga."
Prompted by the anniversary of the first Viking landing in North America 1000 years ago, scholars are offering new evidence and new insights that demonstrate a more comprehensive view of old Norse people and their culture. Archaeologist William W. Fitzhugh, Director of Arctic Studies Center, National Museum of Natural History, enlarges our view of the Vikings in the New World in his discussion with Bryan Le Beau.

Segment 2: "The Great Shame and the Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking World."
Bryan Le Beau talks with author (Schindler's List)Thomas Keneally about his most recent book, one that chronicles the lives of Irish men and women who were dispersed all over the world at the time of the Famine. The heart of this work of historical fiction draws on the history of Keneally's own family who were transported to Austrailia in the 19th century.

Segment 3: "A View From Albania: Pyramid Schemes, Financial Collapse and Revolution."
Mark Boyle explores how social conflict and economic turmoil in Albania led directly to armed insurrection. He talks with "Adam," a young Albanian student, about the collapse of Albania's economy in 1997 due to a series of failed pyramid schemes that plunged Albania into anarchy. Mark Boyle, a graduate student in the University at Albany History Department, produced this piece for History 530R, Producing Historical Documentaries for Broadcast and Internet Radio.

~ ~ ~ ~ August 3, 2000
Segment 1: "The Making of Japan's Economy."
One Hundred years ago Japan was a nation wrestling with the contrasting claims of 20th century modernism and 19th century feudalism. Laura Hein, Associate Professor of Japanese History talks with Dialogue host George Liston Seay about six men who, beginning as young economists, collaborated for six decades advocating a modern, scientific, and internationally-oriented economy—an economy that also emphasized the social welfare of the Japanese. Hein explains their methods and long-lasting impact despite political persectuion and the dislocations of a lost war.

Segment 2: "The Beach: A History of Pardise on Earth"
From Creighton University, Lena Lencek looks at the history of the beach.

Segment 3: "The Asphalt Nation."
In this commentary from Creighton University, Jane Holtz Kay considers how the automobile took over America and suggests how we can take it back

~ ~ ~ ~ July 27, 2000
"Unsealing Mississippi's Past:
The Sovereignity Commission, Racism and State Terrorism."

PART I

PART II

After a 21 year court fight Mississippi unsealed 124,000 pages of secret files from a state agency that used illegal methods against civil rights workers from the 1950s to 1970s. The story of what Mississippi withheld from public view and the retrial of former KKK Imperial Wizard Samuel Bowers for murder and arson based on information contained in the files is interwoven with Frederick Douglas' 4th of July oration read by Ossie Davis. Produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg for Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report in the WBAI studios in New York City. To facilitate listening, this program is presented in 2 parts.

~ ~ ~ ~ July 20, 2000
"The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction:
Women, Race and Citizenship on the Mexican Border."

PART I

PART II

Drawing from her most recent work, The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction (Harvard University Press, 1999), historian Linda Gordon, University of Wisconsin, Madison, delivered this lecture on March 6, 2000 as part of the series "Voices of Public Intellectuals: Feminisms and the Practice of Democracy." Sponsored by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University, the series was produced by Laura Roskos. To facilitate listening, this program is presented in 2 parts.

~ ~ ~ ~ July 13, 2000
Segment 1: "A History of Cocaine: From Miracle to Menace."
Long viewed as a social menace and a threat to society, cocaine is a major target of the ongoing war on drugs. A fashionable stimulant in the 19th century, however, cocaine's history is mixed. In this interview Paul Gootenberg, Professor of History at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, describes the extra-ordinary transformation of the now much-condemned narcotic to Dialogue host George Liston Seay.

Segment 2: "The Scopes 'Monkey Trial' Trial Revisited."
Bryan Le Beau, Creighton University talks with Edward Larson, University of Georgia professor of history and law and author of Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion (Harvard University Press, 1998). Larson examines the ongoing clashes between creationists and evolutionists and explores how these debates have influenced both popular religion and constitutional law.

Segment 3: "Teaching Evolution: The Debate that Won't Die."
From Creighton University and the History News Service: Neil Jumonville, Professor of History at Florida State University offers further comment on the still heated debate—fifty years after the Scopes "monkey trial"—over teaching evolution in schools.

Segment 4: "Is There a Catholic Voting Block in the United States?"
Professor Matthew Redinger, Department of History, Montana State University, Billings, answers the question as he looks at selected elections in US history. A commentary from Creighton University and the History News Service.

~ ~ ~ ~ July 6, 2000
Segment 1: "The Declaration of Independence: American Scripture."
From Creighton University, Bryan Le Beau talks with Pauline Maier, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of American History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence (1997)

Segment 2: "Benedict Arnold"
In this commentary from Creighton University James Kirby Martin, author of Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered, asks us to take another look at whether Benedict Arnolds' reputation as a traitor is fully deserved.

Segment 3: "Catfish Culture."
Dan Collison, a regular contributor to Talking History, looks at the special place that catfish holds in culture, in song, in history and in the lives of Mississippi Delta workers dependent on catfish for their livelihood.

Segment 4: "Catfish Taster."
In this vignette from Dan Collison's American Worker series, Stanley Marshall, "supervisor of flavor" for Delta Pride Catfish explains how he decides just what catfish is good enough for Delta Pride.

Segment 5: "Catfish Grabbers."
Also from the American Worker series, the Harrington family describes how they catch gigantic catfish by hand on the Ross Barnett Reservoir in Mississippi.

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