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People, Places & Issues in the News Across America

25 December 2008 

Today from VOA:

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Talking History

Talking History is a 30 minute weekly radio program produced by the Organization of American Historians.  Join host Bryan Le Beau as he separates fact from fiction and myth from reality through interviews with nationally recognized historians and writers.

Whether it is the dramatic history behind the building of the first transcontinental railroad, or an intriguing examination of the American romance with Robert Kennedy, Talking History has something for everyone.

The show is available to more than 400 stations nationwide on the Public Radio Satellite System and internationally on the Voice of America Web page.

The Organization of American Historians is the largest learned society devoted to the study of American history.

Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural



Abraham Lincoln

 

 

 

 

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 On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address. It was short, and to the point... a mere 703 words. In it, he uttered one of his most memorable phrases, when he called on Americans to proceed from the Civil War "with malice toward none, with charity for all." Ronald White, author of Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural, discusses the speech and its impact withTalking History's Fred Nielsen.

After that Fiona Beattie will tell us about a web site that includes the text of Lincoln’s second inaugural address as well as a large collection of related documents.

And for our commentary Andrew Cayton offers us his thoughts on the ambivalence he sees in American attitudes toward war. Cayton is Distinguished Professor of History at Miami University of Ohio and the author, along with Fred Anderson, of The Dominion of War: Empire and Liberty in North America: 1500-2000.




After the White House: Former Presidents as Private Citizens



Presidents

 

 

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 An interview with Max Skidmore who joins Talking History's Fred Nielsen to discuss the role played by America's former presidents. Skidmore is professor of political science at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and author of After the White House: Former Presidents as Private Citizens.

After that Michael Farquhar presents the ninth of a ten part series of readings adapted from his book, A Treasury of Deception: Liars, Misleaders, Hoodwinkers, and the Extraordinary True Stories of History's Fakes and Frauds.




The Crash of 1929





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In October 1929 what many people thought would be an unending period of prosperity in America came to an end. A decade of unbridled optimism gave way to the collapse of the stock market and its devastating effect on the national economy.

Talking History’s Fred Nielson, of the University of Nebraska, revisits the October 1929 stock market crash, which ushered in the Great Depression. His guest is Prof. Maury Klein of the Department of History of the University of Rhode Island, author of Rainbow's End: The Crash of 1929.

Commentary: Lewis Gould will join us to point out what he believes is wrong with the American presidency and how we might fix it.




1491: America Before Columbus





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According to John Herron's guest this week, Charles C. Mann, the Americas before Columbus were very different from the commonly perceived unpopulated pristine wilderness awaiting Manifest Destiny.  He explains that new evidence presented in his book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, suggests that before it became the New World, it was more populated and sophisticated than previously thought.  Mann is an award winning author and correspondent for Science and The Atlantic Monthly.

And Michael Farquhar joins us in the readings adapted from his book, A Treasury of Deception: Liars, Misleaders, Hoodwinkers, and the Extraordinary True Stories of History's Fakes and Frauds.





Henry Ford





Henry Ford

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Bryan Le Beau and his guest Steven Watts, discuss the life of Henry Ford and his role as the man who recognized American society for what it had become: one of abundance and consumerism. Steven Watts is the author of The Peoples Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century.