|
Program Menu
|
Aural History Productions
The Radio Archive ~ July - December, 2001
 December 27, 2001
Segment 1: "The Collaborator: The Trial and Execution of Robert Brasillach."
Alice Kaplan, literary critic and historian, is the author of The Collaborator: The Trial and Execution of Robert Brasillach, which was nominated for a National Book Award.
It is the story of a talented writer put to death in 1945 for publishing hundreds of articles
justifying the Nazi regime in France. The execution of Brasillach, one of the most polarizing events in modern
French history, raises the question of whether the expression of ideas can constitute a crime against humanity. Kaplan is Director of the Center for French and Francophone Studies at Duke University; her April 2001 University at Albany talk was sponosored by the New York State Writer's Insititute. Time: 30:59.
Segment 2: "The Greatest Generation? Part II: The Civil War"
From Creighton University, in this segment of a four-part series on that explores the greatest generations, James McPherson talks about the Civil War generation. Princeton University professor McPherson is a leading historian of the Civil War and the author of several books including The Battle Cry of Freedom, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Time: 17:34.
~ ~ ~ ~
December 20, 2001
"Timbuctoo and the Origins of an Integrated America."
|
|
PART I - 26:07
|
|
| | PART II - 24:15
|
In 1846, the abolitionist Gerrit Smith resolved to give away 120,000 acres of his land, most of it in the Adirondacks, to 3,000 African American men from nearly every county in New York State. The "Smith Land" project was partly a response to a prohibitive $250 property requirement for black New Yorkers wanting to vote. In this talk, Professor John Stauffer talks about Timbuctoo as an idea and a place and the importance of Smith, Frederick Douglas, John Brown and others in its formation. Presented by John Brown Lives! - a grass roots freedom education and human rights project, Stauffer delivered his lecture August, 200l as part of a lecture series, "Dreaming of Timbuctoo."
~ ~ ~ ~
December 13, 2001
"How the Other Half Was Incarcerated: Prison Life in the Age of Riis"
|
|
PART I - 25:59
|
|
| | PART II - 27:36
|
Historian Timothy J. Gilfoyle, Loyola University of Chicago, draws on his most recent research to present "How the Other Half Was Incarcerated: Prison Life in the Age of Riis." Gilfoyle is best known for his book City of Eros, a richly detailed work on prostitution in New York City. He delivered his talk on November 17, 2000 at the 2nd Annual Researching New York Conference sponsored by the University at Albany History Department and the New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust. Gilfoyle discusses how his chance discovery of a pickpocket's diary in the archives opened up new directions in his research. He is introduced by Professor Richard Hamm, University at Albany History Department.
~ ~ ~ ~
December 6,2001
Segment 1: "The Paradox of American Patriotism."
Bryan Le Beau interviews Cecelia Elizabeth O'Leary, University of California at Monterey Bay history professor and author of To Die For: The Paradox of American Patriotism. Drawing on her new book, they ask—among other questions—"What is patriotism and who gets to claim the flag?" Time: 17:38.
~ ~ ~ ~
November 29, 2001
"New York Governor Al Smith: Creating A Life."
|
|
PART I - 22:55
|
|
| | PART II - 25:49
|
On November 16, 2001, Robert Slayton, Chair of the Chapman University History Department gave the keynote address at the 3rd Annual Researching New York Conference sponsored by the University at Albany History Department and the New York State Archives and Archives Partnership Trust. Slayton is the author of the recently published biography of New York Governor Al Smith, Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith. He talked not only about Smith, but also about his research and on the challenges of writing history and biography. He is introduced by Professor Richard Hamm of the University at Albany History Department.
~ ~ ~ ~
November 22, 2001
Segment 1: "The Greatest Generation, Part I: Joyce Appleby."
Part 1 of a four-part series from Creighton University that asks what were the Greatest Generations in American history? In this segment Joyce Appleby, professor of history at UCLA, talks about the generation of the founding fathers. Appleby is the author of Inheriting the Revolution: The First Generation of Americans. Time: 17:41.
Segment 2: "Cheerleading: An American Tradition."
A look at the distinctly American tradition of cheerleading and how it has evolved
over the years. From Creighton University, Mary Ellen Dugan talks with Mary Ellen Hanson, University of New Mexico and author of Go! Fight! Win! Cheerleading in American Culture. Time: 17:14
~ ~ ~ ~
November 15, 2001
Segment 1: "A Social History of Cattle."
From Dialogue, George Liston Seay talks with Laura Winn Carlson about a little considered aspect of social history -- that of cattle. Time: 27:58.
Segment 2: "Louisa May Alcott on the Chautauqua Circuit."
Chautauqua III -- Louisa May Alcott: For the conclusion of our Chautauqua series, a talk with
writer Louisa May Alcott...as performed by Anne Howard. Time: 28:56.
~ ~ ~ ~
November 8, 2001
Segment 1: "The
Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex."
From Creighton University, Nathaniel Philbrick, director of the Egan
Institute of Maritime Studies recounts the tragic story of the Essex, the ship that
inspired the climactic scene in Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Philbrick is author of the In The Heart of the Sea: The
Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, winner of the National Book Award. Time: 17:38.
Segment 2: "Race and Reunion."
A look at myths and legends surrounding one of the most closely examined events in American history -- the Civil War,. Creighton University's Fred Neilson talks with Amherst College professor David Blight, author of Race and Reunion: The Civil War in
American Memory. Time: 18:16.
Segment 3: ""
Robert Gellately considers how much ordinary Germans may have known
about the Nazi persecution of Jews during World War II. Gelletely is the Strassler Professor of
Holocaust History at Clark University, and author of Backing Hitler: Consent and Coercion in Nazi
Germany. Time: 3:42.
~ ~ ~ ~
November 1, 2001
Segment 1: "Slave Petitions."
From Creighton University, historian Loren Schweninger talks about his latest project, The Southern Debate Over Slavery: Petitions to Southern Legislatures, 1777-1864. Schweninger is a professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. William Freehling comments on southern anti-Confederates, black and white, who contributed to the defeat of the South. Freehling holds the Singletary Endowed Chair in the Humanities at the University of Kentucky. Time: 19:28.
Segment 2: "American Places: Memphis and Graceland."
This segment from the series drawn from the book American Places includes an interview with historian Kenneth Jackson on his chapter about Main Street, Memphis. Jackson is the Jacques Barzun Professor of History and Social Sciences at Columbia University. The commentary by Joel Williamson is discusses Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley. Williamson is the Lineberger Professor in the Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Time: 23:48.
~ ~ ~ ~
October 25, 2001
Segment 1: "The Rise of an American Gun Culture."
Emory University historian Michael Bellelisle, winner of the Bancroft Prize for Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture, explores the prevalence of gun ownership in the United States through history. [NOTE: Since the original broadcast of this program, Prof. Bellelisle's book has been criticized for errors of documentation and fact. On December 7, 2002, his Bancroft Prize was rescinded. Here -- in part -- is the statement by the board of trustees of Columbia University concerning the rescinding of the Prize: "Columbia University's Trustees have voted to rescind the Bancroft Prize awarded last year to Michael Bellesiles for his book Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture. The Trustees made the decision. Based on a review of an investigation of charges of scholarly misconduct against Professor Bellesiles by Emory University and other assessments by professional historians. They concluded that he had violated basic norms of scholarship and the high standards expected of Bancroft Prize winners. The Trustees voted to rescind the Prize during their regularly scheduled meeting on December 7, 2002 and have notified Professor Bellesiles of their decision....
Columbia's Trustees considered the report of the Emory investigating committee and Professor Bellesiles' response to it. They also considered assessments by professional historians of the subject matter of that report.
After considering all of these materials, the Trustees concurred with the three distinguished scholars who reviewed the case for Emory University that Professor Bellesiles had violated basic norms of acceptable scholarly conduct. They consequently concluded that his book had not and does not meet the standards they had established for the Bancroft Prize. In making their decision, the Trustees emphasized that the judgment to rescind the Bancroft Prize was based solely on the evaluation of the questionable scholarship of the work and had nothing to do with the book's content or the author's point of view."]
Time: 17:45.
Segment 2: "Fenway Park and the Polo Grounds"
From Creighton University, part of the mult-part series based on the book American Places this segment includes an interview with John Demos talking about Fenway Park. Demos is the Samuel Knight Professor of History at Yale University. The commentary by Jules Tygiel talks about the Polo Grounds. Tygiel is a professor of history at San Francisco State University and is the author of Baseball's Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy. Time: 21:50.
Segment 3: "Barre Massachusetts and Hollywood, California."
Another installment from contributors to the book American Places, this segment includes an interview with T.H. Breen about a monument in Barre, Massachusetts. Breen is the William Wrath Professor of American History at Northwestern University. The commentary by Kevin Starr takes us to the Musso and Frank Grill in Hollywood. Starr is the State Librarian of California and a professor at the University of Southern California. Time: 16:47.
~ ~ ~ ~
October 18, 2001
Segment 1: "Robert Dykstra: The Myth of Western Violence."
Historian Robert Dykstra discusses, and challenges, many assumptions about the widespread presence of violence in the US West. Recorded at the University at Albany; produced and edited by Gerad Zahavi. Time: 30:27.
Segment 2: "Romanticizing the American Family"
Author and historian Steven Mintz talks about how Americans tend to romanticize the past when it comes to perceptions of the "traditional" family. Mintz is senior associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and Moores Professor of History at the University of Houston. He's the author of Domestic Revolutions: A Social History of the American Family. Time: 16:20.
~ ~ ~ ~
October 11, 2001
Segment 1: Nancy Cott: "Public Vows."
A look at government's influence on both the private and public institution of marriage with Nancy Cott, professor of history and American Studies at Yale University. Her latest book is Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation. Time:18:00.
Segment 2: "Don McNeill and His Breakfast Club"
From its advent in the 1920's radio established a direct connection with the listening public that both reflected and revolutionized society; successful programs became an important part of American popular culture. Dialogue host George Liston Seay talks with John Doolittle author of Don McNeill and His Breakfast Club and Associate Professor of Journalism at American University about the work of Don McNeill whose "Breakfast Club" lasted for 35 years. Time: 28:00.
~ ~ ~ ~
October 4, 2001
Segment 1: Linda Gordon: "The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction."
In 1904 40 Irish orphans from New York were adopted by Mexican families. From Creighton University, Linda Gordon, professor of history at New
York University, explores the conflict that followed. Gordon is the author of The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction, winner of the Bancroft Prize, the American Historical Association's highest award. Time: 16:18.
Segment 2: "James Reston: "Warriors of God"
The five Crusades in which the West attempted to gain control of the Holy Land from Arab forces were violent and bloody episodes. In the third of these encounters Richard the Lionheart battled Saladin. James Reston, Jr., author of Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade, talks with Dialogue host George Liston Seay about this clash of cultures, temperament, and leadership. Time: 28:00.
~ ~ ~ ~
September 27, 2001
"Coming From India."
|
|
PART I - 25:59
|
|
| | PART II - 27:36
|
Produced in 1997, this documentary takes us into the East Indian community in in New Jersey, third in population after California and New York. Through wide-ranging interviews with diverse members of the community, we learn of the great diversity within this community. "Coming From India" was written and produced by Marty Goldensohn and David Steven Cohen for the New Jersey Historical Commission and New Jersey Network Radio.
~ ~ ~ ~
September 20, 2001
Segment 1: "Tossing Away the Keys: The Louisiania State Prison at Angola."
It used to be that a life sentence in Louisiana meant a maximum of ten years and six
months behind bars. But, in the 1970s, the state's politicians changed the definition. A
life sentence in Louisiana now means just that. Unless they're pardoned by the
Governor, inmates today know they will never again see the outside world -- that they
will die inside Angola prison. Tossing Away the Keys is their story. Dave Isay produced "Tossing Away the Keys" in 1990 with Rideau and Ron Wikberg. Time 25:26.
Segment 2: "Remembering Eleanor"
From Dialogue, George Liston Seay talks with Allida Black, Director of the Eleanor Roosevelt and Human Rights Project at George Washington University about how Eleanor's life is tied to three centuries. She was born into an age and class governed by Victorian morals, yet she championed many of the most progressive causes of the 20th century and her work on human rights continues to influence the 21st century. Time 28:11.
~ ~ ~ ~
September 13, 2001
Segment 1: "The Struggle Within: 30 years After the Attica Rebellion." (2001)
This half-hour documentary was produced by Claude Marks of The Freedom Archives/Real Dragon Productions to mark the 30th anniversary of the Attica prison insurrection of September 1971. The five-day rebellion sparked a major prison reform movement in the late 20th century. Time: 29:00.
Segment 2: "Jeffe Kaye interviews Former Attica Inmate Dalou Asahi" (1975)
Jeffe Kaye interviewed former Attica inmate Dalou Asahi about the Attica insurrection of early September 1971. The interview was originally broadcast on KPFK on April 11, 1975. Source: Pacifica Radio Archives. Length: 30:00 minutes. This is one of many recordings contributed to Talking History by the Pacifica Radio Archives for our forthcoming WWW multimedia archive on Attica, Attica Revisited.
.
~ ~ ~ ~
September 6, 2001
Segment 1: "A History of American Public Education."
Documentary producer and director Sarah Mondale talks about her latest project, Schools: The Story of American Public Education, which aired on PBS during the first week of September. This segment was produced by Creighton University.
Segment 2: "Battles Over School Reform"
In this interview from Creighton University historian and policy expert Diane Ravitch discusses the long history of reform in public education. Ravitch was an assistant secretary at the U. S. Department of Education from 1991-93 and currently holds the Brown Chair in Education Studies at the Brookings Institution. She is the author of Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms.
Segment 3:Stefan Kanfer: "The Radical Comedy of Groucho and the Brothers Marx."
Author Stefan Kanfer, Groucho: The Life and Times of Julius Henry Marx on how Groucho Marx and his brothers were able to succeed with their radical form of comedy.
~ ~ ~ ~
August 30, 2001
"The Investigator."
|
|
PART I
|
|
|
PART II
|
|
|
PART III
|
|
|
| PART IV.
|
Reuben Ship's celebrated satire of the work of the US House Committee on Un-American
Activities (HUAC) and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and
its chairman, Joseph McCarthy, was first aired in Canada by the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation (CBC) on May 30, 1954. For the most part, the drama was reviewed
favorably in Canada. In the USA, it was reviewed in a positive light by the
New York Times and by the left-wing press (including New Masses),
but it was excoriated by the right wing as anti-American propaganda. By mid-June,
tapes of the broadcast were circulating in the USA where some attempts to broadcast
the CBC production raised objections from the American Legion and private individuals.
For an extended discussion of the story behind this unique radio play by Gerald
Gross of Concordia University, Montreal, visit the Journal for MultiMedia History.
Our thanks to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Archives for permission
to air and archive "The Investigator." Recently, the CBC has begun
making its archived dramas and documentaries available to the public on analog
cassettes. Individuals wishing to obtain a copy of The Investigator should contact
the CBC directly at: http://cbc.ca. To facilitate listening, we have divided
the original one-hour production into four parts.
~ ~ ~ ~
August 23, 2001
Segment 1: "The Letters of Natalia Shelikova."
Dialogue host George Liston Seay talks with Alexander Petrov, a research scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and independent historiographer Dawn Lea Black about Natalia Shelikova.
Segment 2: "Mildred Harnack and the Red Orchestra"
From Creighton University, historian Shareen Brysac talks about the only American woman executed, on Hitler's orders, for treason during World War II. Mildred Harnack's heroism was once well known, but after the war her story was forgotten. Brysac is the author of Resisting Hitler: Mildred Harnack and the Red Orchestra."
Segment 3: "The Education of Laura Bridgman"
Helen Keller's efforts to overcome lack of sight and speech are well-known. In this comment from Creighton University Colby-Sawyer professor Ernest Freeberg tells another tale—that of Laura Bridgman. Freeberg's remarks are drawn from his recent book The Education Laura Bridgman: First Deaf and Blind Person to Learn Language.
~ ~ ~ ~
August 16, 2001
"The Life and Times of Frank Hague."
|
|
PART I
|
|
|
PART II
|
|
|
PART III
|
|
|
| PART IV.
|
|
|
| PART V.
|
|
|
| PART VI. |
The Life and Times of Frank Hagueis a look at 30 years of local and political history in Jersey City, New Jersey, from 1917 to 1947, seen through the career of it's mayor. Viewed by some as a hero and seen as a scoundrel—"a dictator American style" by others, Frank Hague's tale is of one of rough and tumble politics, of a time before media packaged candidates.
Frank Hague's story is told in six parts:
Part I: The Organization.
Part II: The Reformer.
Part III: Inner Workings of the Organization.
Part IV: The Power Broker - The Depression Era.
Part V: Hague vs. the CIO.
Part VI: Out of Touch, Out of Power.
This project was written and produced by Marty Goldensohn and David Steven Cohen with narration by Malachy McCourt. It is a co-production of NJN Radio and the New Jersey Historical Commission, Department of State.
~ ~ ~ ~
August 9, 2001
Segment 1: "Studs Terkel: Born to Live."
Author, radio host, and oral historian Studs Terkel, in collaboration with Jim Unrath, produced this now classic radio documentary on the psychological legacy of the 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings -- and the Cold War that followed them -- back in 1961. "Born to Live" is a montage of voices opening with an interview of a Hibakisha, one of the Hiroshima maidens as they were called who survived the August 9th atomic bombing. The montage includes comments from Pete Seeger, James Baldwin, Miriam Makeba, Einstein, and Bertrand Russell; voices of children, and snippets of music. More background on "Born to Live" including comments by and an interview with Studs Terkel is available at http://www.transom.org/shows/2001/20010725.terkel.borntolive.html.
Our thanks to Studs Terkel for permission to air "Born to Live" and to archive it on our Web site. And also our thanks to the folks at transom.org—Jay Allison, Sydney Lewis, and Helen Woodward for making this possible.
~ ~ ~ ~
August 2, 2001
Segment 1: "The Bay of Pigs Declassified."
Peter Kornbluh is a researcher from the National Security Archive, a non-profit library of declassified US government documents at George Washinton University in Washington, D.C. He is the Director of the Chile Documentation Project, author of The Pinochet File, and editor of Bay of Pigs Declassified: The Secret CIA Report on the Invasion of Cuba. On April 17, 2001, the 40th anniversary of the failed CIA-backed invasion of Cuba he spoke at the University At Albany about his recent trip to Havana where he organized a conference that brought together US government officals, CIA officers, Cuban counter revolutionaries, and the defenders of Cuba's sovereignty.
Segment 2: "Historical Documentary Editing"
Historian Fredrika Teute talks about the process and the rewards of her career as an editor of documentary editions and of other historians' works. Dr. Teute is a member of the faculty at the College of William and Mary and also works as an editor at the Institute of Early American History and Culture. Here she speaks with University at Albany professor Graham Barker-Benfield about the establishment of Omihundro, the process of editing documentary editions, and her most recent project that centers on the life of Margaret Bayard Smith, a major figure in early Federal Washinton. (Society in the Early Republic: Writings of Margaret Bayard Smith, by Margaret Bayard Smith, Fredrika Teute and Joyce Appleby, eds. Forthcoming)
~ ~ ~ ~
July 27, 2001
Segment 1: "Stolen Harvest."
Contrary to what many people still believe, some southern slaves did own personal property prior to Emancipation. Beginning in 1871 the Federal Southern Claims Commission investigated freedman's allegations that their no insignificant personal property was lost to foraging raids staged by Union soldiers during the Civil War. Supported by the testimony of former slave holders, and following oblique common law assumptions about what constituted property ownership, the SCC examined these claims in the decade after the War. Federal notions about the southern economy came up short and the United States ultimately paid limited compensation to some of the petitioners. Stolen Harvest examines the claims of freedmen in the Low Country of Liberty County Georgia in the words of testimony given before the SCC—material taken from the National Archives. Marianne Rahn-Erickson produced Stolen Harvest for the Producing Historical Documentaries course, spring 2000.
~ ~ ~ ~
July 20, 2001
"Dreaming of Timbuctoo: Recent Findings."
Real
Media.
MP3. Time: 38:36.
Amy Godine, Curator of the Exhibition and Lecture Series "Dreaming of Timbuctoo" presents a little known piece of New York history, reformer Gerrit Smith's land grants to black New Yorkers. This lecture was recorded live on July 16, 2001 at the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York and details Godine's new findings surrounding the history of Timbuctoo, a small colony founded by black settlers in North Elba, New York.
~ ~ ~ ~
July 12, 2001
Segment 1: "Smashing Crime and Campaigning On It: Governor Thomas E. Dewey and Organized Crime."
This radio documentary—drawing upon archival
footage of campaign films, newsreels, radio shows,
Hollywood movies, and interviews with historians—reveals how Thomas E. Dewey mobilized legal tools and manipulated the media in his fight against organized
crime in New York City, launching Dewey�s political
career. Produced at the University at Albany by Richard Hamm, Jane Ladouceur, and Lizzie Redkey based on a project developed in the Producing Historical Documentaries course, spring 2000.
Segment 2: "Heavy Metal Music: Popular Culture and History.
Produced at Creigton University, this interview with Robert Walser, Chair of Musicology at UCLA and author of Running With the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music, offers an historical perspective on the evolution of heavy metal music.
~ ~ ~ ~
July 5, 2001
Segment 1: "His Name Was Mihail"
Radu Ioanid, Assoicate Directory of International Programs at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, talks with Dialogue host George Liston Seay about the Romanian Holocaust and the journal of Mihail Sebastian, a Jewish intellectual. Sebastian's journal described the atmosphere in Romania and the particularly brutal local persecution of Jews and gypsies.
Segment 2: "American Popular Culture and Stephen Foster."
From Creighton University, an interview with Ken Emerson, author of Do-Dah: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture.
~ ~ ~ ~
Top of Page
Copyright © 1997-2021 Talking History
|
