Talking History

December 13, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "Only in America: Program 4. White Christmas: The Story of the Jews Who Created Tin Pan Alley & Hollywood, Part 1"
Segment 1:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 26:07.
Segment 2:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 31.53.
"Only in America" is a documentary series produced by Larry Josephson that traces the migrations, settlement, and lives of Jews in America. This segment of the series, subtitled "White Christmas: The Story of the Jews Who Created Tin Pan Alley & Hollywood, Part 1" focuses on the role of Jews in the entertainment industry, including Holywood. From the producer's description: "Irving Berlin (Israel Baline), the son of a cantor, arrived in New York speaking only Yiddish. After learning his trade as a song plugger on Tin Pan Alley, he eventually created the standards of ur-American popular music including "Easter Parade," "White Christmas" and "God Bless America." George Gershwin (Jacob Gershowitz) and Harold Arlen (Hyman Arluck), also cantor's sons, added jazz licks and blues riffs. Dr. Jack Gottlieb and John Lahr offer many musical examples to show the influence of Yiddish songs and synagogue music on the work of these classic American songwriters. Philip Roth reads from his book, 'Operation Shylock.'"

Segment 2: "From the Archives: Sammy Davis Jr. (1968) [selection]"
Real Media. MP3. Time: 1:12.
Black (his father), Puerto Rican (his mother), Jewish (converted in 1954), Republican -- Sammy Davis Jr. was a hard man to pigeon-hole; he crossed racial, religious, ethnic, and ideological boundaries and never quite fit into any of the simple categories humans construct to sort each other out -- which may have contributed to his many bouts with depression. Here is one of his signature songs, perhaps expressing the frustrations of a man who simply sought to "be me." For a short biography of Sammy Davis Jr., go to: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sammydavis.html.

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December 6, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "A Century of Isaac Deutscher"
Part 1:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 23:24.
Part 2:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 23:42.
2007 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Polish Marxist Isaac Deutscher, one of the 20th century's most important left historians--although his work is better known in Europe and Latin America than it is in the United States. Against the Grains' Sasha Lilley speaks with UC Irvine history professor and radical scholar Mike Davis about Deutscher's classic Trotsky trilogy, his journalism, and his legacy on the fortieth anniversary of his death.

Segment 2: "From the Archives: Norman Thomas on . . . (1963)"
Real Media. MP3. Time: 3:48.
Here are a few selections from a July 1963 interview with American Socialist party leader and six-time presidential candidate Norman Thomas. Thomas offers his opinions on Kennedy, Civil Rights, foreign aid, and more. As a pacifist and anti-Stalinist socialist, Thomas was often called upon to offer his views on the Soviet Union, on U.S. foreign policy, and on domestic issues -- as he did here. For additional information about Thomas, see: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAthomas.htm.

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November 28, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "Only in America: Three Hundred and Fifty Years of the American Jewish Experience (Part 3) ~ The Streets Were Paved with Gold, Part II (Becoming Americans)."
Part 1:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 27:49.
Part 2:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 30.10.
"Only in America" is a documentary series produced by Larry Josephson that traces the migrations, settlement, and lives of Jews in America. This segment of the series, subtitled "Becoming Americans," is the second in an examination of the East European immigrant Jews who settled in the Lower East Side of New York City. Stories are told -- as in previous segments -- using a montage of oral histories, readings of primary source documents, and music from the period.

Segment 2: "From the Archives: Emily Post's Etiquette (1922; 2007) [selection]"
Real Media. MP3. Time: 4:46.
Emily Post (1873-1960) for her work in outlining the rules and rituals of "proper etiquette." Although she wrote travel books, novels, and contributed articles to Harper's, Thh Century, and many other American magazines -- on various topics, ranging from architecture to fiction -- it was in the realm of social etiquette that she really made her mark. Her most famous work, published in 1922, was titled Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home), and has been updated and republished countless times since the decade it appeared. This reading, from LibriVox, comes from chapter 24 of the book -- a chapter that focuses on the rituals and proper behavior surrounding death, bereavement, and funerals. For the full text of Etiquette, go to: http://womenshistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.bartleby.com/95/. To listen to the full reading of chapter 24 -- and other chapters -- go to the LibriVox site, at: http://librivox.org/etiquette-in-society-in-business-in-politics-and-at-home-by-emily-post/.

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Nov. 21, 2007 [Thanksgiving Special: Show Encores from 2002.] Segment 1: "Yiddish Radio Project: 'Round the Family Table."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 12:45.
The seventh of a series of programs produced by Dave Isay, Henry Sapoznik, and Yair Reiner focusing on the golden age of Yiddish radio in the 1930s to the 1950s. 'Round trhe Family Table was the creation of Yiddish playwright, actor, and linguist Nahum Stutchkoff (1893-1965). This is a sample of his work. Round the Family Table, as described by the producers of this restored and translated episode, "portrayed a different fictional Jewish family struggling to adapt to life in America. Only 26 episodes from his long-running series Bei Tate-mames Tish (Round the Family Table) survive. These recordings are as close as we'll ever get to hearing what life was like in the tenements of New York City in the 1930s and '40s."

Segment 2: "Yiddish Radio Project: Levine and His Flying Machine."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 11:21.
The eighth of a series of programs produced by Dave Isay, Henry Sapoznik, and Yair Reiner focusing on the golden age of Yiddish radio in the 1930s to the 1950s. This segment tells the story of Charles A. Levine, the first man to cross the Atlantic in an airplane as a passenger.

Segment 3: Yiddish Radio Project: The Jewish Philosopher."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 12:14.
The ninth of a series of programs produced by Dave Isay, Henry Sapoznik, and Yair Reiner focusing on the golden age of Yiddish radio in the 1930s to the 1950s. C. Israel Lutsky, the "The Jewish Philosopher," broadcast over station WEVD in the late 1940s and 1950s, and offered daily advice to listeners seeking his opinions on a variety of personal issues. This is the story of Lutsky and his show.

Segment 4: "Yiddish Radio Project: Victor Packer."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 12:20.
The tenth of a series of programs produced by Dave Isay, Henry Sapoznik, and Yair Reiner focusing on the golden age of Yiddish radio in the 1930s to the 1950s. From the producers' summary: "From the late-1930s to 1942, Victor Packer served as Jewish Program Director of Brooklyn's low-budget station WLTH. The title and function don't sound unusual until you listen to the discs in Packer's collection and begin to realize that Packer was WLTH's Jewish division. His charge: to fill -- as writer, director, host, and anything else necessary -- four hours of radio a day in 15-minute increments, each distinct from the last. . . . An avant-garde poet turned programming director, Victor Packer experimented with every genre imaginable in a desperate attempt to fill his four-hour slot."

Segment 5: "Yiddish Radio Project: Seymour Rexite."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 6:19.
The final segment of the NPR series of programs produced by Dave Isay, Henry Sapoznik, and Yair Reiner focusing on the golden age of Yiddish radio in the 1930s to the 1950s. This segment looks at the work and career of Yiddish crooning sensation Seymour Rexite. As summarized by the producers, Rexite "starred on 18 half-hour radio shows a week. At its outset his career comprised an all-Jewish repertoire that spanned from liturgical song to Yiddish popular music. But when he took to the Yiddish airwaves, the bill of fare diversified. Whatever song happened to be popular on American radio, his wife, Miriam Kressyn, translated into Yiddish and Rexite sang on one of his shows. He feared nothing, sang everything, and stayed on the air for the better part of five decades."

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November 15, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "Only in America: Three Hundred and Fifty Years of the American Jewish Experience (Part 2) ~ The Streets Were Paved with Gold: A Journey Through The Jewish Lower East Side of New York, Part I."
Part 1:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 27:50.
Part 2:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 30.09.
"The Streets Were Paved With Gold" traces the migrations of Jews from Europe to the United States, and focuses on the community they forged in N.Y. City's Lower East Side. It "begins with the pogroms and poor economic conditions in Europe, driving over two million Jews to America from 1880 - 1921. This hour tells the story of the East European immigrant Jews who found harsh living in the crowded tenements of the Lower East Side. No gold. Jerry Stiller and Zero Mostel read from the 'bintel briefs,' letters to the editor of the Jewish Daily Forward seeking advice on how to adapt to strange American customs. Stories are told using a montage of oral histories, enriched with music from the period."

Segment 2: "From the Archives: Arthur Goldberg (1961)"
Real Media. MP3. Time: 6:55.
Labor lawyer, U.S. Secretary of Labor (1961-1962) under John F. Kennedy, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1962-1965), and United States Ambassador to the United Nations (1965-1968), arthur Goldberg had a long and distinguised career in government. Here, we present an excerpt from a 1961 interview in which Goldberg explains his labor mediation work as John F. Kennedy's Secretary of Labor, and his reputation as an honest broker. For more information about Goldberg, see: http://goldberg.law.northwestern.edu/mainpages/bio.htm.

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November 8, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "The Soviet Century."
Part 1:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 25:21.
Part 2:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 27:43.
On the 90th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, we explore the legacy of the revolution with this conversation with Moshe Lewin, former collective farm worker and eminent scholar of Soviet social history (a Professor Emeritus from the Univ. of Pennsylvania). This segment comes to us from a 2006 broadcast of Against the Grain. Sasha Lilly explores he following question with Prof. Lewin: "What was the nature of the Soviet system? Was it in fact socialist or something else? Did its failure illustrate the futility of attempts to envisage of life after capitalism or was the Soviet experience shaped by other factors specific to the former Tsarist Empire?"

Segment 2: "From the Archives: Alexander Kerensky (1963)"
Real Media. MP3. Time: 3:48.
Alexander Kerensky, head of the provisional government in Russia just before the Russian Revolution of October (Nov.) 1917, recalls the events of those years in this short excerpt from an interview conducted with him in 1963 . For more information about Kerensky, see: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSkerensky.htm.

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November 1, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "Only in America: Three Hundred and Fifty Years of the American Jewish Experience. Part 1 ~ The First Jews."
Part 1:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 27:06.
Part 2:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 30.06.
Larry Josephson produced this six-part documentary series focusing on the history of U.S. Jews, highlighting some of the better and lesser known roles that Jews played in the development of American life and culture. Part 1 of the series. "The First Jews" -- which we present here -- focuses on the arrival of the earliest tiny band of Jews who came to New Amsterdam more than 350 years ago, in September of 1654, after being expelled from Brazil, and then traces the growing American Jewish community through the colonial and national periods. For more information on the series, go to: http://www.onlyinamerica.info/.

Segment 2: "From the Archives: Robert Moses on the 1964-65 New York World's Fair." (1965)
Real Media. MP3. Time: 4:01.
Robert Moses established a reputation as one of the most influential and powerful urban planners in the 20th century. He was also one of the most controversial. Here he describes several problems that he confronted as head of the New York World's Fair Corporation in these edited excerpts from a 1965 interview. For more information on Moses' career, see http://www.rpts.tamu.edu/pugsley/Moses.htm. The best and most comprehesive biography of Moses is Robert Caro's The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970).

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October 25, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "The Weatherman"
Part 1:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 32:35.
Part 2:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 18:53.
From Against the Grain, we bring you this conversation with Dan Berger, the author of Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground and the Politics of Solidarity (AK Press, 2006). Berger is a writer, activist, and a PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the co-editor of Letters From Young Activists (Nation Books, 2005). In this conversation with Sasha Lilly, Berger describes the origins and evolution of the Weatherman and the Weather Underground.

Segment 2: "From the Archives: Herbert Marcuse (1970)"
Real Media. MP3. Time: 13:34.
Herbert Marcuse was a major intellectual influence on the New Left in the 1960s and 1970s. Here, we present a portion of a speech he delivered in October of 1970 at the Ford Hall Forum. The full speech is available on line at the following Web site: www.marcuse.org/herbert/soundvideo.htm. Here is a short biography, also from the previous Web site (http://www.marcuse.org/herbert/): "Herbert Marcuse was born in Berlin on July 19,1898. After completing his Ph.D. thesis at the University of Freiburg in 1922, he moved to Berlin, where he worked in the book trade. He returned to Freiburg in 1929 to write a habilitation (professor's dissertation) with Martin Heidegger. In 1933, since he would not be allowed to complete that project under the Nazis, Herbert began work at the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, a Marxist-oriented think-tank (as we might say today). He emigrated from Germany that same year, going first to Switzerland, then the United States, where he became a citizen in 1940. During World War II he worked for the US Office of Strategic Services (forerunner of the CIA), analyzing intelligence reports about Germany (1942-45-51). In 1952 Herbert began a university teaching career as a political theorist, first at Columbia and Harvard, then at Brandeis from 1954 to 1965, and finally (already retirement-age), at the University of California, San Diego. His critiques of capitalist society (especially his 1955 synthesis of Marx and Freud, Eros and Civilization, and his 1964 book One-Dimensional Man) resonated with the concerns of the leftist student movement in the 1960s. Because of his willingness to engage seriously with (and support) student protesters, Herbert soon became known as "the father of the new left" (a term he disliked and rejected). He had many speaking engagements in the US and Europe in the late 1960s and in the 1970s. He died on July 29, 1979, after suffering a stroke during a visit to Germany."

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October 18, 2007
Segment 1: "W. E. B. DuBois and The Crisis."
Part 1:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 28:10.
Dialogue's George Liston Seay interviews Amy Helene Kirshke, author of Art in Crisis: W.E.B. Dubois and the Struggle for African-American Identity and Memory about DuBois' work on the NAACP magazine The Crisis. DuBois "devoted its contents to building a sense of African-American history. To this end he gave great emphasis to artwork--cartoons, photographs and paintings--as a way of underscoring the meaning of events. This was particularly true of the wave of lynchings that swept the nation from the 1890�s to the mid-twentieth century."

Segment 2: "From the Archives: Walter Gropius."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 3:15.
This is a brief selection from a recording that comes to us from the BBC Archives. Walter Adolph Gropius (1883-1969) was one of the most famous European-born 20th century architects. He was a great espouser of functionalist architecture, characterized by simplicit, minimal decorative elements, and extensive use of glass and reflective surfaces, and was a central figure in the founding of the Staatliches Bauhaus (the "Bauhaus" school), a center of German design and architectural innovation during the Weimar period. The Bauhaus continued to influence design and architecture long after the Nazi regime closed its doors in 1933 (they condemned its influence as "architectural socialism.") Members of the Bauhaus sought to fuse the fine and applied arts, emphasizing an approach to architecture and furniture/product design that sought to link abstract design and technology, advocating the basic principle that form should always derive from function. Walter Gropius, and others in the Bauhaus, were influenced by the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement he initiated in England.
When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Gropius -- as a Jew -- fled to England; he emigrated to the United States in 1937, where he soon joined the Harvard University faculty as a professor of architecture. For his new employer he designed the Harvard Graduate Center the following year (1949) -- and went on to design many more buildings in the United States and throughout the world, including the American Embassy in Athens (1960), the University of Baghdad (1961) and the Pan Am Building (1963). For more information about Gropius, including a bibliography of works about him and his architectural creations, see: http://www.walter-gropius.de/e/index.shtml. For more excerpts from interviews with Gropius, go directly to the BBC 4 on-line interview archive at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/interviews/.

Segment 3: "From the Vault: Langston Hughes interview and recitation."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 26:32.
We bring you the voice and poetry of Langston Hughes in this Pacifica Archives From the Vault production, featuring a 1963 interview and excerpts from poetry recitations that were aired during the 1968 Langston Hughes Memorial, broadcast on Pacifica Radio KPFK�Los Angeles a year after he died. "Langston Hughes, born on February 1st, 1906 published his first poem The Weary Blues in 1926, and went on to become the poet laureate of the African American experience. . . . In addition to poetry, he published fiction, drama, autobiography, and translations. The Academy of American Poets writes that Hughes is known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the Twenties through the Sixties and for his engagement with the world of jazz and the influence it had on his writing. All in all, the life and work of Langston Hughes that helped shape the artistic contributions of black America still resonates today, more than 100 years after his birth." For more information about From the Vault, and how you can obtain a CD copy of the full 1968 memorial broadcast, as well as how you can help preserve many of Pacifica Radio Archives' vast audio collection, go to: http://fromthevaultradio.org/home/.

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October 11, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "Guernica and Total War: A Conversation with Ian Patterson
Part 1:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 26:55.
Part 2:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 23:28.
From Against the Grain, we bring you this conversation with Prof. Ian Patterson of Cambridge University, the author of Guernica and Total War, recently published by Harvard University Press. Here is a summary of the program, from Against the Grain: "Picasso began to paint Guernica five days after the Spanish town of Guernica was obliterated by aerial bombardment. In Guernica and Total War, Ian Patterson writes about Guernica's significance as an unprecedented event and as a cultural symbol. He also examines the history of bombing civilians as well as efforts to express and address what was then a new horror of war."

Segment 2: "From the Archives: James Hoffa Testifies at the McClellan Committee Hearings (1957)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 2:15.
This brief selection from a recording that comes to us from the Vincent Voice Library at Michigan State University features the testimony of James Hoffa before the McClellan Committee. John McClellan, Senator from Arkansas from 1943 till 1977, as chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in the late 1950s (he had taken over from Senator Joe McCarthy), presided over a series of hearings (variously referred to as the "McCellan Hearings" and the "Valachi Hearings," devoted to the investigation of organized crime in America. Robert Kennedy was the Committee counsel. Part of those hearings involved an investigation of the ties between organized crime and the Teamsters Union. IN the course of those hearings, McClellan and other committee members questioned James Hoffa, then about to take the helm of the union. For more information about the McClellan Hearings and its investigations of the Teamsters, see David Scott Witwer, Corruption and Reform in the Teamsters Union (Univ. of Illinois Press, 2003).

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October 4, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "Upton Sinclair on 'Changing America'." (1962 speech; 2007 FTV production)
Part 1:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 29:32.
Part 2:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 28:56.
Pacifica Radio's From the Vault (FTV) is our contributing producer again this week, bringing to us one of their archival treasures, a speech by writer and political activist Upton Sinclair. Here is their description of the program: "Tn 1906, more than a century ago, at the peak of the gilded age, when fat cats with spats, top hats, and tails ruled the world - and industry was king - an unlikely champion upset the balance forever: author Upton Sinclair, who in that year published his novel The Jungle, a graphic portrait of life in a turn-of-the-century American meat-packing factory. Although public response to the book would lead to the establishment of the Pure Food and Drug Act, Sinclair�s main focus � a demand for workers rights, labor reform, and gender protection in the workplace � went disappointingly unrealized. Nonetheless, Upton Sinclair�s contribution to literature and social reform is evidenced in the life and work of men and women like Rachel Carson, Jessica Mitford, Ralph Nader, and Pacifca�s own Amy Goodman. Fast forward to 1962. Now in his eighties, Upton Sinclair took time to lecture on the campus of Pomona College in California before an audience of college students whose book reports on The Jungle were likely still fresh in their minds. Sinclair spoke that day in 1962 with his trademark plainspoken directness of how each and every human being, as an individual among the masses � and often standing against seemingly insurmountable odds � can change a nation, perhaps even the world. This week, on From the Vault, Pacifica Radio Archives proudly showcases its historic lecture recording, Upton Sinclair: Changing America, as an important example of Pacifica Radio�s rich broadcast legacy. From the Vault is presented as part of the Pacifica Radio Archives Preservation and Access Project." For more information about Upton Sinclair, see: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jupton.htm. For more information about From the Vault, how you can obtain a CD copy of this recording, and how you can help preserve many of Pacifica Radio Archives' vast audio collection, go to: http://fromthevaultradio.org/home/.

Segment 2: "From the Archives: John Stuart Mill On Liberty (1858)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 4:12.
This selection from one of the classic statements of 19th century liberalism by John Stuart Mill is still as profound a statement on the rights of the individual -- and the boundaries of those rights -- as you'll find. Here, we bring you a reading from chapter 1 of On Liberty, first published in 1858. The selection is read by David Barnes. To listen to the entire book, go to: http://librivox.org/on-liberty-by-john-stuart-mill/. Our thanks to LibriVox for making this recording available to us and to the world. LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and post them on the WWW for all to hear. Their goal "is to make all public domain books available as free audio books." Visit their Web site for more information about their work and to learn how you can contribute: librivox.org.

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Sept. 20, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "Peace Talks Radio: Ralph J. Bunch - Profile in Peace. (2007)"
Part 1:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 25:21.
Part 2:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 26:28.
. This documentary comes to us from Peace Talks Radio, a radio series about peacemaking and nonviolent conflict resolution strategies. It features a "conversational profile of Ralph Bunche - a sometimes overlooked African-American who excelled in the world of diplomacy. Bunche negotiated tirelessly across the globe for the United Nations for over 25 years after World War 2, winning a Nobel Peace Prize for peacemaking work in the Middle East and helping to bring independence from colonial rule to many Africans and Asians." The documentary includes selections from Bunche's speeches, news reports about Bunche, and conversations with Bunche's UN colleague and biographer Sir Brian Urquhart, William Greaves, a filmmaker who produced a PBS documentary on Bunche, Tonya Covington, a diversity trainer inspired by Bunche, and with Ralph Bunche Jr., son of the late Ralph Bunche. For more information about Bunche, see the references to on-line resources about him in last week's segment.

Segment 2: "From the Archives: President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address (January 17, 1961)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 15:38.
Upon President Dwight D. Eisenhower's departure from office, he delivered this now-classic speech, warning the nation about the temptations and threats of a bloated and rapidly expanding military-industrial establishment. As someone who had a distinguished career in military and civilian life, his speech was especially significant -- and it is as relevant today as it was when he delivered it in January of 1961. For a transcript of the entire speech, see: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/ike.htm.

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Sept. 13, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "Thurgood Marshall Before the Court. (2007)"
Part 1:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 32:44.
Part 2:
Real Media. MP3. Time: 16:29.
"Thurgood Marshall is best known as the first African American appointed to United States Supreme Court and as the lead attorney in the landmark school desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education. Just as remarkable, Thurgood Marshall was an instrumental figure in striking down the legal framework of segregation and establishing the foundation for modern civil rights law. In the 1940s and '50s, Marshall was one of the most recognized black leaders in the country; he was often called 'Mr. Civil Rights.' This comprehensive documentary project highlights contributions made by Marshall and key legal partners, and by the courageous African Americans across the South who risked their jobs and safety to press their grievances in local courts." For more information on this documentary and about Marshal "before the court," see American RadioWorks' Web site: http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/marshall/.

Segment 2: "From the Archives: Ralph Bunche on the Congo Crisis (1963)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 4:24.
Ralph Johnson Bunche (1903-1971) was an African American scholar and diplomat who worked for both the U.S. State Department and the United Nations, achieving the distinction of becoming the first African American (and the first person of color) to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He won it in 1950 for his 1949 diplomatic efforts negotiating armistice agreements between Israel and it surrounding hostile Arab states. Bunche was appointed Undersecretary-General for Special Political Affairs at the United Nations, and became involved in some of the most critical international crises that beset the world in the third quarter of the 20th century. One of those was the Congo Crisis, which is the subject of these edited excerpts from his responses to reporters in a March 1963 interview. For more information about Bunche, see the short biography at: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1950/bunche-bio.html. More details are also available at the following companion Web site to the documentary film Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey http://www.ralphbunche.com/, and especially the following instructional module that accompanies the Web site: http://www.ralphbunche.com/education/pdf_resources/Bunche_module10.pdf. For a short summary of the Congo Crisis of 1960-65, see: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/COLDcongo.htm.

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Sept. 6, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "From the Vault: C. Wright Mills."
Part 1:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 31:03.
Part 2:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 28:08.
Here is another segment of From the Vault, from Pacifica Radio Archives. It features a close examination of the personality and political engagement of American sociologist C. Wright Mills, and includes "historic 1959 audio of C. Wright Mills in his own voice, interwoven with excerpts from a 1962 documentary on Mills by Elsa Knight Thompson and Saul Landau - making for a wonderful trip back to an important study of the structure of power in the United States." For more information about C. Wright Mills, see Lauren Langman's paper on Mills at: http://www.angelfire.com/or/sociologyshop/langmills.html."

Segment 2: "James H. Meredith on Civil and Human Rights (1966)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 5:46.
James H. Meredith (1933-) became the first African American to gain admission to the University of Mississippi. Opposed by state officials, local white supremacist organizations, and many white students, Meredith obtained the support of U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy and his brother, President John F. Kennedy. The two sent in federal marshals to protect Meredith from violence, but the presence of federal troops and Meredith's courageous insistence on pressing for his rights to attend the state university, precipitated riots that led to two deaths and close to two hundred injuries. Meredith graduated in 1964 from the University of Mississippi, and went on to obtain a law degree from Columbia University. Not taking the predictable path of a civil rights activist, Meredity grew increasingly conservative and joined the Republican Party, making several failed attempts at election to Congress. Here, in a 1966 interview, Meredith answers reporters' questions about civil rights struggles in mid-1960s America. For more information on Meredith, see: http://www.answers.com/topic/james-meredith.

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August 30, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "From the Vault: Mississippi Freedom Summer/Fannie Lou Hamer."
Segment 1 ("Mississippi Freedom Summer" ~ 1981):

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 30:01.
Segment 3 ("Fannie Lou Hamer Interview" ~ 1965):

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 24:35.
"In the summer of 1964, black voters in the southern United States were to alter forever the oppressive rule that had dominated their lives since the end of the Civil War� They would march. They would demand. They would desegregate. They would vote... and some would die... but they would overcome."
This week we bring you another selection from Pacifica Radio Archives' From The Vault, a 1981 documentary by Earl Ofari Hutchinson titled, "Mississippi Freedom Summer: A Pacifica Archive Retrospective." The documentary was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. "With its well-polished presentation, this historic recording explores the political, economic, and social impact of the Mississippi Freedom movement in 1964, and substantiates the effect that the movement had on the history of the United States � how it ultimately stimulated social change." Along with this documentary is a 1965 interview of Fannie Lou Hamer, conducted by Colin Edwards in Berkeley, California. In it, "Hamer discusses feminine Black Power at work in the jungle of Mississippi Democratic Party politics." "

Segment 2: "Margaret Chase Smith on This I Believe (1953)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 3:44.
Former senator from Maine Margaret Chase Smith (1987-1995), a moderate Republican, was the first woman elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate. She was subsequently nominated for the presidency at the 1964 Republican Convention, a nomination she ultimately lost to conservative Barry Goldwater. In 1953, she expressed some of her fundamental believes on Edward R. Murrow's "This I Believe" program. The statement was first broadcast on October 27, 1953. For more information about Smith, see: http://www.mcslibrary.org/bio/bio.htm.

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August 23, 2007
Eric Foner: "Abolitionism and the Idea of American Freedom"
Part 1:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 19:22.
Part 2:

Rea Media.

MP3. Time: 22:41.
THIS IS A RE-BROADCAST OF AN AUGUST 2002 PROGRAM. Talking History was pre-empted this week for special programming. Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University and former president of the Organization of American Historians (OAH), talks about the contributions that the 19th century Abolitionist Movement made to the development of American ideas about freedom. Foner is the author of a number of books, including: Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War (1970), Tom Paine and Revolutionary America (1976), Politics and Ideology in the Age of the Civil War (1980), Nothing But Freedom: Emancipation and Its Legacy (1983), Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863�1877 (1988), Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction (1993), The Story of American Freedom (1998), and Who Owns History? Rethinking the Past in a Changing World (2002). Foner delivered this talk in Elizabethtown, New York, on August 11, 2002 as part of the John Brown Lives! lecture series. [Recorded, edited and produced by Talking History ~ University at Albany.]

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August 16, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "New Perspectives on Jamestown, Parts 4 and 5." (2007).
Segment 1 (Part 4 ~ "Jamestown: Primer for Pilgrims"):

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 28:06.
Segment 3 (Part 5 ~ "Global Jamestown and the Poles"):

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 27:51.
We continue and conclude our examination of the history of Jamestown and the establishment of early Anglo-American settlement in the New World with the last two episodes of VHF Radio's production New Perspectives on Jamestown. 4) Jamestown: Primer for Pilgrims: "Early reports from Jamestown tell of hunger, death, disorder and disappointment. Plagued though it was, the Jamestown experiment offered lessons in colonization that contributed to the success of other colonies, including Plymouth. Edward Winslow, a leader of the Plymouth colony, is known to have read John Smith's writings on colonization that drew heavily from his experience at Jamestown. So why does Plymouth get all the ink in history textbooks? Jamestown's disorderly "Animal House" reputation -- partly due to the accusatory style of its competing settlers, partly a result of regional American politics -- led to a loss of status in our national story."
5) Global Jamestown and the Poles: "Captain John Smith and other English adventurers who settle Jamestown are already "worldly" men, some of whom have traveled to the ends of the earth. In the context of the time, Jamestown could be described as a dot on the map in a global pattern of movement, including Baltic, Mediterranean , and Far Eastern trade routes. Thus, when skilled labor is needed to develop the colony's economic potential, the English recruit accomplished tradesmen from wherever they can find the best: Germans to mine, French to establish wineries, and Poles to create pitch and potash. Patrick Griffin, James Horn, and John Radzilowski show how the Polish contribution and experience in Jamestown highlights the settlement's significance not only as the "Birthplace of America," but as a symbol of the emerging, complex global world."

Segment 2: "Judgment of Hans Frank at Nuremberg (1946)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 7:15.
Hans Frank joined the Nazi Party in 1927, and became a member of the Reichstag in 1930. In 1933, he was appointed the Bavarian State Minister of Justice and later that year was made a Reichsleiter of the Nazi Party in charge of Legal Affairs. In that same year Frank was selected President of the Academy of German Law. After World War II began, Frank was appointed Chief Civil Administration Officer for occupied Polish territory and soon afterwards -- on October 12th, 1939 -- Governor General of the occupied Polish territory. Under his harsh administration, Polish opposition was crushed, summary executions became widespread, and the concentration camp system was established with the construction of Treblinka and Maydanek. Frank was one of 160 Nazi leaders who were tried for war crimes in the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1949). On October 1, 1946, at the end of the first series of trials, he was convicted on two of the three charges brought against him: "war crimes" (including abuse of prisoners of war, use of slave labor, and utilization of outlawed weapons) and "crimes against humanity" (genocide). Soon afterward, he was executed for his crimes. Here, in this edited selection, the primary U.S. judge who served at Nuremberg, Pennsylvania law professor Francis B. Biddle, who had earlier served at FDR's Attorney General, offers the court's judgment on Frank. For more information on the Nuremberg trials, see: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/nuremberg.htm.

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August 9, 2007
Segment 1: "Union Activist Dolores Huerta."

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 28:59.
This segment, form the Pacifica Radio Archives series, From the Vault, pays tribute to the life and work of labor organizer and activist Dolores Huerta, co-founder with the better known Cesar Chavez, of the United Farm Workers. From the Pacifica Web site: "It was she, as co-founder of the United Farmworkers who helped awaken the sleeping giant of American food production and give a human face to the anonymous workers in the field." A detailed biography is available at the Dolores Huerta Foundation Web site, http://www.doloreshuerta.org/dolores_huerta_foundation.htm

Segment 2: From the Archives: "Madame Nhu at the Women's Press Club."

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 4:51.
This archival audio is an exerpt from an October 17, 1963 talk by Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu, the defacto first lady of Vietnam (her brother-in-law, President Ngo Dinh Diem was unmarried) shortly before her husband and the President were assassinated in a November 1, 1963 coup. Madame Nhu was in the United States at the time and was not allowed to return to Vietnam; she and her 4 children lived in exile in France. Documents on the National Security Archive Web site, http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB101/index.htm, detail the role of the U.S. government in the coup. A controversial and much vilified figure in her own right, Madame Nhu was widely widely referred to as the "Dragon Lady."

Segment 3: " 1960s Mexican American Activists in Central Colorado."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 25:20.
Much has been written about struggles for equality in the 1960s, particular those of blacks and women. Sarah Parker, of KRZA in Alamosa, Colorado chronicles another story, one of Chicana activists in Center Colorado and their decades long struggle to bring about change in their community, particularly change that would improve educational opportunites for their children. This program was originally distributed by WINGS, Women's International Newsgathering Service.

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August 2, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "New Perspectives on Jamestown, Parts 2 and 3." (2007).
Segment 1 (Part 2 ~ Jamestown: Pirates, Silver and Imperial Ambition :

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 29:15.
Segment 3 (Part 3 ~ Jamestown and the African Experience):

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 27:44.
We continue our examination of the history of Jamestown and the establishment of early Anglo-American settlement in the New World with two more episodes of VHF Radio's production New Perspectives on Jamestown. 1) Jamestown: Pirates, Silver and Imperial Ambition: "400 years ago, the English established their first permanent settlement in the New World at Jamestown. The resulting clash of cultures changed the world forever." The second of this five-part series examines how the Jamestown settlement emerged in the shadow of competition between the Spanish and British empires, and survived.
2) Jamestown and the African Experience: episode 3 examines how slavery emerged and spread in 17th century American.

Segment 2: "Barry Goldwater on Cuba and Communism. (1964)"
Real Media. MP3. Time: 3:55.
Arizona Senator and 1964 Republican presidential candidate Barry Morris Goldwater offered these views about Cuba and communism when questioned by a group of women reporters in 1964 (edited selection).

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July 26, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie." (2007).
Part I:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 29:15.
Part II:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 29:45.
Woody Guthrie was born July 14, 1912 and died on October 3, 1967. In this documentary on Guthrie's life, the Pacifica Radio Archives' From the Vault series brings together excerpts from the Archive's extensive audio collection on Guthrie -- including interviews with Woody's wife Marjorie, longtime friend Will Geer, best friend Beth Lomax Hawes, along with classic music and interviews with Woody himself. For more information on Guthrie, see: http://www.woodyguthrie.org/biography/biography1.htm.

Segment 2: "Alan Lomax and the Black Encyclopedia of the Air."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 3:55.
Alan Lomax (1915-2002) and his father John A. Lomax were two of the most famous ethnomusicologists in 20th century America. Together, they helped discover, preserve, and disseminate the rich diversty of the world's and America's musical heritage. Alan Lomax began recording blues and folk musicians in the 1930s, recording many musicians and singers who later became iconic figures in the world of blues and folk music. He recorded blues musician Leadbelly and made some of the earliest recordings of Muddy Waters. In 1941, he recorded Woody Guthrie's now classic Dust Bowl Ballads. He also joined his father at the Library of Congress, where the elder Lomax served as the curator of the Archive of Folk Song, and took on many recording projects for the Library. During his life, Lomax also extended his musical documentation efforts beyond the U.S.; he made recordings in England, Spain, Italy, and the Bahamas. Many of Lomax's Library of Congress recordings were later distributed by the Smithsonian Insitution on the Folkways label. This recording -- an excerpt of a longer Voice of America interview conducted with Lomax in 1969 by Joel Stone of the Black History Radio Series -- describes one of the projects that Lomax took on in 1968, the "Black Encyclopedia of the Air," a Ford Foundation-funded project devoted "to make up for omissions in school curricula by way of one-minute radio spots covering aspects of Black history and ethnography in the form of 28 basic ideas of Black History." The series was aired on 400 radio stations nationwide.

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July 19, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "5 Days in July: The Newark Riots of July 12-17, 1967." (2007).
Part I:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 28:34.
Part II:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 25:27.
5 Days In July, produced by Chuck Schultz & Esther Podemski, is a special two-part radio production commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Newark Riots of July 12-17, 1967. It merges a radio drama, 5 Days in July, with commentary and a panel discussion that focuses on and re-examines the historical events surrounding the riots in Newark, NJ in 1967. Those riots "set off a tidal wave of racial unrest that swept across our nation's cities in the summer of 1967. In Part One, Award-winning playwright and Newark resident Tracey Scott Wilson dramatizes Newark's five days of intense racial hostility, civil disobedience, and political turmoil. In Part Two, Nancy Giles, essayist and commentator on 'CBS Sunday Morning' moderates a panel of experts' examination of contemporary racial and political issues, placing the Newark riot/rebellion in historical perspective. For more information about the Newark Riots, see: http://www.67riots.rutgers.edu/n_index.htm.

Segment 2: "Riotous Music; Banned Music"
Real Media. MP3. Time: 1:41.
The riots of 1967 and 1968 inspired a number of songs. Here are some segments of a song that emerged from those violents years, Gordon Lightfoot's Black day in July. Lightfoot wrote the song after the 1967 race riots in Detroit. A year later, after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, many major radio stations around the U.S. refused to play the song -- afraid that the lyrics would ignite more violence. The song first appeared on Lightfoot's 1968 album Did She Mention My Name. Similarly, Mick Jagger's Street Fighting Man -- stimulated by Jagger's witnessing of an anti-war rally at the US embassy in London, where mounted police charged into an anti-war crowd of 25,000 and by anti-war and urban riots in the US -- was released in August of 1968 and was banned from Chicago radio stations for fear that it would inspire violence from the protesters at the Democratic Party National Convention held in Chicago of that year.

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July 12, 2007
Segments 1 and 3: "From the Vault: Rachel Carson and Silent Spring." (2007).
Part I:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 26:42.
Part II:

Real Media.

MP3. Time: 23:57.
From the Vault, Pacifica's weekly series that highlights Pacifica Radio Archive's extensive audio archival holdings, paid tribute recently to noted scientist and writer Rachel Carson in this 100th birthday rememberence of her life and legacy. For more information about Carson and Silent Spring, see: www.rachecarson.org.

Segment 2: "Ronald Regan, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), and HUAC."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 3:05.
On October 23, 1947, Ronald Reagan joined a number of other Hollywood actors, writers, and producers to testify as a "friendly witness" before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). He spoke specifically about the Screen Actors Guild, of which he had earlier that year been elected president, and activities of Communist party members within the Guild. This is a short edited selection from Reagan's testimony. For a transcript of his complete testimony, see: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/06/documents/huac/reagan.html. For a good overview of the Screen Actors Guild and the Hollywood blacklist during the early Cold War, see: http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/linkbackups/huac_blacklist.htm.

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July 5, 2007
Segment 1: "Jefferson: Light and Liberty."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 27:43.
Eric S. Peterson, editor of Light and Liberty � Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness, joins Dialogue's host George Liston Seay for a discussion of Jefferson's views on living a virtuous and rewarding private and public life. Peterson's book examines and samples many of Jefferson's reports, state papers, speeches, and letters.

Segment 2: "HUAC and Disney."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 4:59.
In October of 1947, Walt Disney testified as a "friendly witness" before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC). He spoke specifically about his encounter with communist labor activists at his studio. Here are some excerpts from his testimony. For more details on the conflict that motivated Disney's cooperation with HUAC, see: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6458. For a sympathetic view of Disney's testimony, see: http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/exhibits/articles/waltandhuac.

Segment 3: "Mickey Mouse: A History."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 25:57.
In this 1989 documentary on the birth and evolution of the cartoon character Mickey Mouse, the Voice of America examines the changing persona of Mickey over the years.

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