Roundup

History Channel Documentary Show Casting

We are searching for a lead investigators to host a tv series documentary on the topic of symbology/iconography. All of the details are here: http://www.decodedtv.com As your website and life have brought me here I think that you might be interested in looking further at what we are looking for and perhaps help us find our people or if it is you, we hope that you will sign up! We are also casting for a documentary series on 20

Naughty & Nice: A History of The Holiday Season [podcast 54 minutes 56 seconds]

Christmas may be the big kahuna of American holy days, but it wasn’t always so. It used to be a time of drunken rowdiness, when the poor would demand food and money from the rich. The Puritans banned Christmas altogether. It wasn’t until the 1820s that the holiday was re-invented as the peaceful, family-oriented, and consumeristic ritual we celebrate today. In this episode, the History Guys examine the history of the “holiday season” in America. Has Christmas grown more or less rel

The Pearl Harbor Attack Remembered (”The Back Door to War Theory”) [video 8 minutes, 45 seconds]

Today is Pearl Harbor Day in the United States, when the country remembers the surprise Japanese attack on this day in 1941 that temporarily crippled the U.S. Fleet and resulted in the United States’ entry into World War II. The video below describes the events of that momentous day. But was there a “back door to war,” as revisionist historians have long claimed? According to this view, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, inhibited by the American public’s opposition to d

Niall Ferguson moderated conversation with Kissinger [video 50 minutes, 21 seconds]

The International Republican Institute honors former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger with its 2009 Freedom Award at an awards dinner for his contribution to the security and progress of the United States. IRI Chairman Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) presented the award to Sec. Kissinger, followed by a conversation with Kissinger moderated by Niall Ferguson.

Henry Kissinger On The President's Afghanistan Speech [video]

Richard Nixon’s National Security Adviser and Secretary of State evaluates President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy.

"HappyBirthdaysUSA.com: A Funny Historical Skit on the Happy Birthdays of the USA" [video 10 min]

When is the birthday of the United States of America? July 4th, 1776 any first grader would answer. So how old is the United States of America? Let me see, 2009-1776, we are 233 years old, Happy Birthday United States of America! Typically, the first time one learns that the answer may not be the fourth of July is in junior high school during American history class. Here, students learn that the United Colonies of America actually declared their Independence on July 2nd and not the fourth. Next

Karen Armstrong, religious historian, on the Golden Rule [video 9 minute, 51 seconds]

Weeks from the Charter for Compassion launch, Karen Armstrong looks at religion's role in the 21st century: Will its dogmas divide us? Or will it unite us for common good? She reviews the catalysts that can drive the world's faiths to rediscover the Golden Rule. TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes.

"When FDR Tried - And Failed - To Move Thanksgiving" [audio 3 min 48 sec]

In 1939, the nation was thrown into confusion when Franklin Roosevelt tried to move Thanksgiving back a week, hoping to boost Christmas shopping sales. The move didn't work and Congress moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November permanently in 1941. Melanie Kirkpatrick, author of Happy Franksgiving: How FDR tried, and failed, to change a national holiday, published in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal, shares the story.

Studs Terkel 1912-2008: A Democracy Now! Special Tribute to the Beloved Oral Historian and Broadcasterm [video 59 minutes]

The legendary radio broadcaster, writer, oral historian, raconteur and chronicler of our times, Studs Terkel, died last month at the age of ninety-six in his hometown of Chicago. Today, a Democracy Now! special tribute: We spend the hour on Studs Terkel. Over the years, Terkel has been a regular guest on Democracy Now! We play a wide-ranging interview we did with him in 2005. We also feature a rare recording of Terkel interviewing the Rev. Martin Luther King at the bedside of the gospel singer M

Historian-author Thomas Flagel tells of Hood's charge at Franklin [video 1 minute, 10 seconds]

Historian and author Thomas Flagel spoke for several minutes tonight. He was his usual passionate-self as he talked about how Hood’s charge at Franklin is often compared to Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, but the Franklin-charge was bigger in many ways.

The History of Splurging [video 4 minutes 32 seconds]

Lee Eisenburg, the author of Shoptimism, thinks even the earliest days of shopping left people feeling guilty.

Simon Critchley: To Philosophize Is to Learn How to Die [video 1 hour 23 minutes 12 seconds]

English philosopher Simon Critchley, chair and professor of Philosophy at The New School for Social Research, discusses his 2009 New York Times bestseller, The Book of Dead Philosophers. Starting with Cicero's axiom, "To philosophize is to learn how to die," Professor Critchley leads us to his conclusion that to die is to learn how to live. The Daily Telegraph called the book "rigorous, profound, and frequently hilarious" and described Critchley as "an engag

Fingering Shakespeare's First Drafts [audio 8 minutes 19 seconds]

"There is a history in all men's lives," William Shakespeare wrote, and there are few better places to find out about his life and legacy than the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. Host Scott Simon visits the library with Weekend Edition's literary detective, Paul Collins, for a look into the vaults that hold early Shakespeare folios.

Elisabeth Roudinesco, historian and psychoanalyst, discusses her new book "Back to the 'Jewish Question'" [video 12 minutes, 15 seconds]

Historian and psychoanalyst Elisabeth Roudinesco publishes "Retour sur la question juive" (Back to the ‘Jewish Question’), an inquiry into anti-Semitism, anti-Judaism, and Zionism’s supporters and opponents.

"Stalin's Legacy" debate stirs strong emotions [video 1 minute, 25 seconds]

Over 100 people attended a public debate on “Stalin’s Legacy for Russia”, which was hosted by independent English-language weekly newspaper The Moscow News on November 16. Strong points of view, both criticizing and praising the Soviet-era dictator, were expressed by speakers and members of the audience, in a passionate, yet civilized discussion – which took place at RIA Novosti’s press center. While some participants argued that Russia would have been better off under the Tsars, others said tha

"Rare Darwin Book Found In Guest Bathroom" [audio 28 sec]

Charles Darwin's revolutionary book On the Origin of Species turns 150 on Tuesday. It's the book where Darwin introduced the theory of natural selection and survival of the fittest. To mark the publishing milestone, Christie's will be auctioning a recently discovered treasure: a rare first edition. It had been on a shelf in the guest bathroom of a family in Oxford, England.

"Parking Garages: A Multilevel History" [audio 5 min 48 sec]

Henry Ford was the father of automobile assembly lines. President Eisenhower was the father of the interstate highway system. But the paternity of the parking garage is less clear. Like most inventions, its mother, of course, was necessity. An exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., traces the history of these ever-present structures that dot the American landscape. While the exhibit doesn't pinpoint the actual birth of the first parking garage, it

"* Share this page using one of the following services: * Facebook * Twitter * Stumble Upon * Yahoo! Buzz * Reddit * Digg What is this? An Unlikely African-American Music Historian" [audio 4 min 45 sec]

One hundred years ago this past Friday, a bandleader named Polk Miller put together an unusual recording session. Miller — who was white — recorded seven songs with a black vocal quartet. These groundbreaking records have been reissued, offering a rare chance to hear an almost unknown part of African-American musical history. But the man who led these sessions was no civil rights activist. Engineers from the Edison company hauled their equipment from New Jersey to Richmond, Va., whi

"American as Pumpkin Pie: A History of Thanksgiving" [audio 54 min 55 sec]

When we sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, we think we know what we’re commemorating. But if an actual Pilgrim were to attend your Thanksgiving, chances are he’d be stunned by what he saw there. In this episode, historian James McWilliams discusses why the Puritans would have turned up their noses at our "traditional" Thanksgiving foods. Religion scholar Anne Blue Wills reveals the Victorian origins of our modern holiday, and one woman's campaign to fix it on the national calendar. An a

"The Man Who Made You Put Away Your Pen" [audio 4 min 3 sec]

When was the last time you actually set pen to paper and mailed off a personal letter to someone? It's probably been awhile — and the man to blame is Ray Tomlinson. Back in 1971, Tomlinson was a young engineer at the Boston firm of Bolt, Beranek and Newman — known today as BBN Technologies. He'd been given a task: Figure out something interesting to do with ARPANET, the newborn computer network that was the predecessor of the modern-day Internet.