Segment 2: "From the Archives: Major John Wesley Powell's Explorations of the Colorado River and Grand Canyon"(1939)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 29:59.
John Wesley Powell is best remembered for his role in exploring the American West and his famous 1969 geographic expedition down the Green and Colorado rivers, which included the first river run through the Grand Canyon. Here, we bring you a 1939 documentary produced by the Department of the Interior -- as part of their "What Price America" series -- focusing on Powell's explorations of the Green and Colorado rivers. In 1871, Powell revisited the rivers in a second exploration, this one more concerned with mapping, photographing, and studying the region in depth. For more information on Powell and his work, see: http://www.nps.gov/archive/grca/photos/powell/pages/career.htm and :http://www.powellmuseum.org/MajorPowell.html.

Segment 3: "The Last Civil War Widows" (1998)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 11:37.
From Talking History contributing producer Joe Richman, we bring back The Last Civil War Widows, originally produced and aired on National Public Radio's All Things Considered in 1998. "On July 1, 1863, Union troops clashed with Confederates at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The fighting at Gettysburg would mark the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. At that same battlefield on July 1, 1997, Daisy Anderson and Alberta Martin first met. They had come to Gettysburg to be honored as the last known living Civil War widows. Both women married in their early 20s. Their husbands were near 80. Alberta Martin and Daisy Anderson were of course not alive during the Civil War, but they married into history. Producer Joe Richman visited both women and put together an oral history of these two Civil War widows."

February 12, 2009
Segments 1 and 3: "Tell Me a (Radical) Story: 20th Century Radical Children's Literature" (2009)
PART 1: Real Media. MP3. Time: 31:35.
PART 2: Real Media. MP3. Time: 11:32.
Julia Mickenberg is the author of Learning from the Left: Children's Literature, the Cold War, and Radical Politics in the United States (Oxford U. Press, 2005); she is also co-editor, with Philip Nel, of Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Radical Children's Literature (foreword by Jack Zipes; New York University Press, 2008). Pacifica's Against the Grain's C.S. Soong interviews the two, discussing an often neglected body of left-wing children's literature promoting nonviolence and social justice, and attacking bigotry and war.

Segment 2: "L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1900; recent LibriVox recording)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 7:29.
Here -- from LibriVox -- is a reading of a selection from chapter 5 of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, one of the most famous Englsh language children's books written in the 20th century. The book was published in 1900 and has been the subject of much scholarly speculation about the allegorical and symbolic meaning of many of its central characters and events. For a short overview of some of these speculations -- linking Baum's work (including the many Oz books that followed The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) to economic depressions, labor and populist uprisings, and late 19th century/early 20th century feminism, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_interpretations_of_The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz.

Segment 4: "Victoria Woodhull: The First Woman to Run for President." 2008.
Real Media. MP3. Time: 7:20.
"Victoria Woodhull: The First Woman to Run for President" is produced by Joe Richman and Radio Diaries. It was first aired last fall by NPR, as part of tbeir political Contenders series. With Richman's permission, we bring it to you once again. "In the 19th century, Victoria Woodhull was many things: a clairvoyant, a businesswoman, an advocate for women's rights and sexual freedom, and a magnet for media attention and scandal. Her 1872 campaign came at a time when most women did not even have the right to vote."

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February 5, 2009
Segments 1 and 3: "Good Friday, 1865: Lincoln's Last Day" (2007)
PART 1: Real Media. MP3. Time: 26:26.
PART 2: Real Media. MP3. Time: 31:55.
Today, we bring you this gem from Quicksilver Radio Theater, "Good Friday, 1865: Lincoln's Last Day," a dramatic radio play based on documentary sources reconstructing the last day of Abraham Lincoln's life. "The character of a country, and its President, are revealed -- as a traumatic war winds down, and eerie events presage Abraham Lincoln's own end. Produced before a live audience at The Museum of Television and Radio (Paley Center for Media) in New York, this original audio docudrama by producer Craig Wichman is the recipient of a National Audio Theatre BEST SCRIPT "GRAND PRIZE." Mr. Wichman plays the 16th President, and Katie Nutt is Mary Todd Lincoln, in a cast that includes John O. Donnell, Emma Palzere, Vito LaBella, Derek Lively, Dan Renkin, Bernadette Fiorella, and John Prave. Directed by Jay Stern (Independent Feature, THE CHANGELING); Music by TONY AWARD-winning Composer Mark Hollmann, with Kathy McDonald and Darren Wilkes; Sound Effects by Sue Zizza and David Shinn (Sue Media); Engineering by Dominick Barbera, with John Kiehl (Soundtrack NY.)"

Segment 2: "O Captain, My Captain!" (1865; 2008 Librivox Recording)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 2:11.
Soon after Abraham Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865, Walt Whitman wrote this poem about him and the crises through which he navigated the nation. For more about Lincoln's assassination and the poem, see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_assassination and http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm013.html.

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January 27, 2009
Segment 1: "Joshua David Hawley on Theodore Roosevelt as a Preacher of Righteousness" (Dialogue, 2008).
Real Media. MP3. Time: 27:13.
Dialogue's George Liston Seay interviews Joshua David Hawley, author of Theodore Roosevelt Preacher of Righteousness: "From his birth in 1858 to his death in 1919 the United States was engaged in an accelerated process of maturation. Settling its vast interior, welcoming hordes of new immigrants and rapidly urbanizing; the country was preparing for a 20th Century role as a world power. Theodore Roosevelt�s own maturation paralleled his country�s. He raised his commitment to a muscular Christianity and belief in righteousness to the level of a political philosophy. Eventually, his vision of the state as moral arbiter for the people became the theme of his progressivism. Joshua Hawley explains the strengths and flows of Roosevelt�s vision."

Segment 2: "Theodore Roosevelt Speaks During the 1912 Election: On Social and Economic Justice and the Courts (1912)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 3:45.
In this brief speech recorded during the 1912 presidential campaign on an Edison wax cylinder -- and copie and circulated around the country in what some have called the first first audio "media campaign" -- Theodore Roosevelt criticized the courts and spoke about social and economic reforms that he felt should be implemented in the nation. Beginning roughly with the landmark case, Lochner v. New York (1905) -- actually much earlier -- the Supreme Court had begun to aggresively challenge state intiatives in regulating conditions of labor, asserting that the 14th Amendment's due process clause restricted state action as interference with the right of contract. In Lochner v. New York, Joseph Lochner, owner of a bakery in Utica, NY, who had been fined $50 for violation of the 1896 state law limiting bakery workers to a 10-hour day, 60-hour work week. Lochner had lost in state courts but won his Supreme Court appeal. For more information on Theodore Roosevelt's view of state power and the need to restrict activist courts -- and on the Lochner case -- see: http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/ and Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography (1913), available on line at: http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/3335 and through Google Books.

Segment 3: "Alice: Stacy Cordery on Alice Roosevelt Longworth" (Dialogue, 2008)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 26:56.
Stacy Cordery, author of Alice: Alice Roosevelt from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker (2007), joins Dialogue'sGeorge Liston Seay in a discussion of the life and career of Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Theodore Roosevelt's daughter. Alice Roosevelt "carved out a unique place in the social and political life of Washington D.C. As first daughter she was 'Princess Alice'; for decades she was a magnet for the political elite of the nation, who competed for a place at her elegant dinners. But at every point of her life she fought fiercely for the 'Bull Moose' principles of her father."

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January 22, 2009
Segments 1 and 3: "Backstory: From Whales to Wind ~ A History of Energy"
Real Media. MP3. Time: 32:33.
Real Media. MP3. Time: 18:52.
Backstory's Brian Balogh, Peter Onuf, and Ed Ayers look at U.S. energy history: "Three decades after Jimmy Carter donned his famous cardigan and asked Americans to go on an energy diet, the U.S. is consuming more energy than ever. But "energy independence" was a major issue in the recent presidential race, and with a consensus emerging about the risks of global warming, there are signs we might finally be on the brink of a change. Join the History Guys as they reflect on our energy past. How did Americans think about their fuel sources two hundred years ago? Was scarcity a concern back then? When it comes to the search for new energy technologies, how willing have we been to embrace change, and how have those changes shaped the rest of our lives? And � when did we become such energy gluttons?"

Segment 2: "Jimmy Carter on U.S. Energy Policy (1977)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 24:33.
Soon after taking office in 1977, Jimmy Carter spoke on radio to the American people about the need for conservation and the imperative to dramatically address the nation's energy woes. He spoke about these matters and his plans to create a new cabinet-level department to address energy issues in general: the Dept. of Energy.

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January 15, 2009
Segment 1: "First Fireside Chats: FDR in Albany" (2008).
Real Media. MP3. Time: 20:21.
On March 12 1933, eight days after taking the oath of office, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took his place behind national radio network microphones to deliver what is commonly considered the first of his celebrated "Fireside Chats." His paternal, colloquial style, which helped soothe a troubled nation's fears, was not a sudden, propitious addition to his political war chest. Rather, Roosevelt had spent four years crafting and refining his broadcasting skills. Though many have acknowledged Roosevelt's mastery of the medium and the significance of his judicious use of the airwaves during his presidency, his early employment of radio as a political forum has been largely overlooked. Drawing upon archival research conducted primarily at the Schenectady Museum and the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library, Geoffrey Storm, a doctoral student at the Univesity at Albany, SUNY, produced this radio documentary examining Roosevelt's use of radio during his two terms as Governor of New York State. During this period, Roosevelt used Schenectady radio station WGY and its statewide network as his primary venues for "taking the issues to the people" to skirt an obstructionist Republican legislature. The piece provides analysis of the content of Roosevelt's radio addresses to trace the development of his broadcasting style and features expert commentary from University at Albany professors of history and communication. Public reaction from Capitol Region residents (performed by readers) illuminates Depression-era conditions and indicates an early instance of the intimate bond established between Roosevelt and his listeners. The documentary locates the origins of Roosevelt's Fireside Chat technique in his gubernatorial addresses and places New York State and its Capitol Region at an important intersection in the history of American political broadcasting.

Segment 2: "From the Archives: Robert F. Wagner, Jr. on Service and Politics" (1973)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 6:13.
Here is a short edited excerpt from a 54 minute interview by Don Swain of former New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr., conducted back in 1973. For more information about Wagner and his equally famous father, New York Senator Robert F. Wagner, go to: http://www.nyc.gov/html/nyc100/html/classroom/hist_info/mayors.html#wagner, the New York Times obituary of Wagner Jr., and this short biography of Robert F. Wagner (Sr.). See also J. Jospeh Huthmacher, Senator Robert F. Wagner and the Rise of Urban Liberalism (New York: Atheneum, 1968). For the full interview with Robert F. Wagner Jr., which we are restricted from providing on our own site, go to: http://wiredforbooks.org/robertwagner/index.htm.

Segment 3: "Ten Cents a Dance (2008)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 29:53.
From VFH Radio's series With Good Reason, we present this examination of popular music during the Great Depression and a look at the New Deal. Here is a short show summary from With Good Reason: "During and despite the Great Depression, the entertainment industry was working overtime. Listen to some of the gems and the stories behind them. During and despite the Great Depression, the entertainment industry was working overtime. The roughest years in American history produced what many consider the greatest era of popular music. Elliot Majerczyk looks at the songs that became the soundtrack of the �lost generation� and helped pull America through the hard times. He says that given the state of the economy, we may get to hear more songs like these in the near future. Also: Historians Nigel Sellars and Eric Rauchway explain that Roosevelt�s New Deal originally focused on regulation and stimulating the industrial economy. It was not until 1935 when the Second New Deal began putting millions of people to work that most Americans felt relief from the Great Depression.

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January 8, 2009
Segments 1 and 3: "Backstory: Panic ~ Financial Panics in History. (2008)"
Real Media. MP3. Time: 31:26.
Real Media. MP3. Time: 18:54.
Here's another recent production from Backstory, focusing on financial panics in America's past: "Speculation... deregulation... crash... bailout. Sound familiar? Probably. Sound modern? It shouldn�t. Everyone knows about the Great Depression, but the crises of 1819, 1837, 1857, 1893 and 1907 were all surprisingly similar. Each time, ordinary Americans got used to the good times, overextended themselves, and were left holding the bag when the bottom fell out of the market and the banks called in their debts. And yet, every generation brings a newfound confidence that we�ve finally beaten the business cycle. On this week�s show, the History Guys explore the long history of financial collapse. They find that while the causes of financial panics tend to be strikingly similar, the crises have generated very different responses, and spawned many of the major social, religious, and political movements of the past 200 years. So, what does history have to teach us about our current financial crisis? In a market-driven system, are there any other paths we could take? Or are we bound to repeat the mistakes of the past?"

Segment 2: "Jim Garland's "I Don't Want Your Millions Mister" (1966)."
Real Media. MP3. Time: 3:17.
Here is a musical selection by Jim Garland, from his appearance on the television show Rainbow Quest in 1967, just a few weeks before the termination of that TV series. Garland performs one of the classics that he wrote: "I Don't Want Your Millions Mister." The song was written during the Great Depression, one of many songs that captured working class resentments and hopes during that era. Garland was part of a gifted Appalachian musical family -- one that included his older half sister, Aunt Molly Jackson. Garland had been a a member of the Communist party in Kentucky in the 1930s, and was actively involved in organizing miners and textile workers in that state as part of the Workers Alliance. He often relied on songs to publicize and focus workers' attention on the injustices all around them and to galvanize their activism. In the mid-1960s, he appeared on Pete Seeger's UHF television show, Rainbow's Quest, which Seeger had begun after years of being blacklisted. As one on-line source (http://www.richardandmimi.com/rainbowquest.htmll) explained: "Back in the mid-sixties Pete Seeger had an educational TV show called Rainbow Quest. In 1962 the Court of Appeals had ruled that the House Un-American Activities Committee was faulty in its charges against Seeger and dismissed the case against him. With his newfound freedom, Pete was anxious to appear on TV again and promote the cause of folk music. But in spite of the court ruling, networks and sponsors were still wary. The producers of the new show Hootenany claimed that they wanted Seeger, but that the sponsors weren't willing; and the sponsors claimed they wanted Seeger on the show, but that the public wouldn't stand for it. Following the do-it-yourself ethic of folk music, Seeger finally decided to start his own show, Rainbow Quest. It began on UHF channel 47 in New York and had only been picked up by seven stations when Seeger began to run out of funds. During its brief run of 38 episodes, Pete talked and strummed with such guests as Elizabeth Cotten, Patrick Sky, Donovan, Judy Collins, and Buffy Sainte Marie. . . ."

~ ~ ~ ~ January 1, 2009
Segment 1: From the Archives: "David Ben Gurion on the Jews and Palestine" (1947). [PAST BROADCAST]
Real Media. MP3. Time: 6:17
London Speech by David Ben Gurion (1886-1973), probably delivered before the Jewish Agency for Palestine, and used on the jointy produced ABC/Town Hall New York radio forum titled "America's Town Meeting of the Air" (it migrated to television in 1948). This address was broadcast on June 12, 1947, as part of series of broadcasts on the "Palestine problem." In his address, Ben Gurion argues the case for a Jewish homeland. The following year, the state of Israel was established. At the time he delivered this address, Ben Gurion was the Chairman of the Exectuive Committee of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, an organization founded in 1929 and devoted to promoting and protecting the rights of the Jewish community in British-occupied Palestine. When Israel became a nation in 1948, many of the leaders of the Jewish Agency became overnight leaders of the new state. For a short biography of Ben Gurion, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ben-Gurion. For more information about this recording contact Talking History/University at Albany, or the National Archives' Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Records LICON, Special Media Archives Services Division, College Park, MD.

Segment 2: "From the Archives: 'Abba Eban on Intolerance and Prejudice' ~ Selections from an interview on Ladies of the Press (3-17-1964)." [PAST BROADCAST]
Real Media. MP3. Time: 2:13.
Cambridge-educated Abba Eban was one of Israel's most highly respected and astute Israeli statesman of the 20th century. He served as Israel's first ambassador to the UN from 1949 to 1959, and foreign minister between 1966-1974. In the interim, he served as Minister of Education and Culture from 1960 to 1963, during which he confronted some of the racial and ethnic hatreds that were perpetuated in many of the Jewish and Arab schools of the nation. In these short selections from an interview conducted with him on the "Ladies of the Press" television series in 1964, Eban addresses the perpetuation of anti-Jewish and anti-Arab prejudics.

Segment 3: From the Archives: "Senator Robert F. Kennedy on the Plight of the American Indian (April 19, 1968)." [PAST BROADCAST]
Real Media. MP3. Time: 28:44.
This interview with Senator Robert F. Kennedy -- conducted less than three months before his assassination -- was produced and distributed by the National Educational Radio Network (NERN) in 1968. It was first aired as a segment of the series "NER Washington Forum." Vic Sussman, at that time National Educational Radio's Public Affairs Director, conducted the interview. For more information about this audio recording, contact Talking History/University at Albany, or the National Archives' Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Records LICON, Special Media Archives Services Division, College Park, MD.

Segment 4: From the Archives: "Albert Einstein Speaks on World Government to Northwestern University Students (May 9, 1946)." [PAST BROADCAST]
Real Media. MP3. Time: 12:36
An address by Albert Einstein on the necessity of world government. Recorded and broadcast over radio on May 9, 1946. For more information about this audio recording, contact Talking History/University at Albany, or the National Archives' Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Records LICON, Special Media Archives Services Division, College Park, MD.

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