Roundup

African American museum faces budget crisis (4min)

The Charles H. Wright African American History Museum in Detroit is facing a budget crisis. Commentator Lester K. Spence, an assistant professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, calls upon the post-civil rights generation to preserve black history and to develop a black future.

Dan Rather & CBC remember Peter Jennings (17min)

Peter Jennings not only changed the face of North American television news -- in many ways, he was the face of television news. And his death marks the end of an era (1:20-18:14).It was an era where the importance of a news story could be measured by his mere presence on the scene -- when TV news anchors wore flak jackets and trench coats and took their audiences to the most remote regions of the globe. And when the best journalists in the trade had never heard of journalism

Panda-monium (52min)

In 1936 Ruth Harkness, a widowed young socialite, took on her late husband's planned expedition to China in search of a live panda. Diane Rehm and Vicki Constantine Croke, author of The Lady and the Panda, talk about the panda-monium set off when Harkness returned with a baby panda cradled in her arms. Croke is"Animal Beat" columnist for the Boston Globe, contributing reporter for NPR's"Living on Earth," and author of"The Modern Ark: The Story of Zoos -- Past Pr

Nagasaki at 60: The bombers & the bombed (31min)

Sixty years ago today, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. We hear from a survivor of the bombing and the men who flew the B-29 bomber that dropped the bomb.A ceremony in Nagasaki today marked the 60th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of that city. The plutonium atomic bomb caused the death of more than 80,000 people in Nagasaki, coming just three days after an equally deadly uranium bomb devastated Hiroshima. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro K

SNCC activist Ekwueme Michael Thelwell (17min)

On Saturday August 6th, the 40th anniversary of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Amy Goodman spoke with Ekwueme Michael Thelwell, the Jamaican-born novelist and Professor of Afro American studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He was also the former field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). While working for SNCC in Washington DC, Thelwell recruited volunteers for the 1964 Freedom Summer campaign in Mississippi, which sent volunteers into the state to reg

Jane Austen's house (10min)

For eight years between 1809 and 1817, until her death at the age of 41, Jane Austen lived with her mother, her sister Cassandra and their friend Martha Lloyd, in the village of Chawton in Hampshire. In a cottage reminiscent of Barton Cottage, the home of the Dashwood sisters in Sense and Sensibility, she wrote her most famous novels. The cottage is open to the public and has long been a place of pilgrimage for fans of her work.Now, thanks to Lottery funding, the displ

Alison Weir & Queen Isabella of England (7min)

Isabella of France, Edward II’s queen, is one of the most notorious femme fatales in history. The poet Thomas Gray described her using Shakespeare’s epithet ‘the she-wolf of France’ whilst Christopher Marlowe called her 'that unnatural queen'. How did Isabella earn such a reputation? Alison Weir joins presenter Jenni Murray to talk about her biography of Isabella, her marriage to Edward II when she was only 12 years old, her love affair with Roger Mortimer, and the accusation made against her of

Treason & Lord Haw Haw (3min)

How should we define treason? Dr Peter Martland of Cambridge University looks at the case of Lord Haw Haw, the last man to be hanged for treason in Britain.

David McCullough (59min)

David McCullough's newest book, 1776, tells the story of those who marched with George Washington in the fateful year of the Declaration of Independence, including General Henry Knox. Mr. McCullough discusses his life and work as a historian and author of many publications including his most recent book, 1776. Brian Lamb's interview took place at the Montpelier House, home of the General Henry Knox Museum in Thomaston, Maine.

Peter Jennings interviewed by Terry Gross (21min)

Terry Gross replays a November 1th 1998 with ABC reporter and anchor Peter Jennings, who died Sunday at age 67 after a four-month battle with lung cancer. The intrepid journalist had helmed ABC's World News Tonight since 1983. Jennings was born and raised in Canada, began his broadcasting career there, and in 1964 moved to the United States, where he began his long association with ABC News. He became a U.S. citizen in 2003.

Thomas Jefferson -- Misconceptions (57min)

Host Bill Chrystal speaks with Pres. Thomas Jefferson (Humanities scholar and author Clay S. Jenkinson) on the topic of misconceptions about our third President that have come about since his death.Clay S. Jenkinson adopts the persona of Jefferson each week in The Thomas Jefferson Hour: Your Weekly Conversation with America's Third President, to comment on current events and answer questions you may have about Jefferson's thoughts on any and all topics. Clay has portra

David Blunkett remembered by colleague Robin Cook (7min)

Political allies and opponents have reacted to the sudden death of former UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook by fashioning eloquent wreaths of tributes to the man and his contribution to political life. Praise from Tony Blair for his hugely significant contribution to British politics, from Gordon Brown for his great insight and courage, from John Prescott for being the outstanding parliamentarian of his generation and from Michael Howard for what he called an immense contribu

House of Ladies, 1st of 3 (14min)

The political journalist Julia Langdon has reported on events upstairs and downstairs in bother Houses of the Place of Westminster for 35 years. She has watched women parliamentarians with admiration -- but without envy -- throughout that time. For a Sunday Supplement series first broadcast in August 2005 she discusses the changes that she has seen brought about by the introduction of female working peers into the House of Lords -- from trailblazers and mould-breakers to th

Romer's roamings, 1st of 3 (15min)

Egyptologist John Romer reminisces about his early years as an archaeological artist in the Middle East in the 1960s. Arriving in Luxor in the days before Egypt was a popular tourist destination, John and his wife Beth were astonished by the sheer scale of the ancient monuments, and the beauty of the artefacts strewn on the desert floor, untouched for millennia.Aided by his Egyptian assistant, Abdellahi, John slowly began to learn new ways of seeing the ancient past in the r

August 9th 1945 (4min)

In the 7th of a 12-part series marking the 60th anniversary of VJ Day, reporter Chris Lowe recounts two decisive events -- the atomic bombing of Nagaski and Operation August Storm, the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.

August 8th 1945 (4min)

In the 6th of a 12-part series marking the 60th anniversary of VJ Day, reporter Chris Lowe looks back at unfolding events 60 years when another threat to the Japanese Empire loomed on its Manchurian borders.

America as the new Andalusia (29min)

The American Muslim community has grown in size and influence. Its cadre of intellectuals has also expanded and they are increasingly vocal on a variety of national and international issues. Dr. Syyed Hossein Nasr, University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University, explains what is both Islamic -- and uniquely American -- in their perspective.

Audio/Video History

This page lists Internet video, audio and podcast interviews and stories that relate history to current events -- or history that politicians and pundits repeatedly allude to when commenting on current events. Also included: interviews with historians about new books. Prominent audio history sites include Talking History, NPR and BBC Radio 4.Week of 8-1-05 VJ

Roundup

We Surf the Internet So You Don't Have To!

Historians' Take on the News: Archives 3-17-03 to 4-15-03

TODAY, much of the world is convinced that the Bush administration covets Iraq's oil. "Blood for Oil" signs appear in dozens of languages around the globe. This is a serious charge. Even in the Bay Area, where many are skeptical of the Bush administration's motives, we don't want to believe our nation would invade another country for its oil. Americans are not like that, we tell ourselves. We are a moral people. We are a democracy, a nation ruled by law,