Surrender and Occupation of Japan After WWII: American Narrative and Archival Footage

DocuEra: How Japan survived and was rebuilt after WWII. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUn07eYE45M

Japan In 1960 Was At A Crossroads. It Chose Democracy

Spectacles YouTube Channel describes itself as a "love letter to democracy...a new way of seeing politics and the world by sharing the stories that matter to democracy. We hope our work may help you better understand how democracy works, its biggest challenges, and why it's worth treasuring. brought to you by Harry and Philip, two …

‘True Believer: Hubert Humphrey’s Quest for a More Just America’

Peter Juul: "America could use a lot more Hubert Humphrey—and more Hubert Humphreys—these days. That’s the main thought that kept running through my head reading James Traub’s excellent new biography, True Believer: Hubert Humphrey’s Quest for a More Just America. As a native Minnesotan, I may of course be biased; Humphrey stands alongside Prince, Bob Dylan, …

The Jim Crow Era: A Stain On America’s Past

Wondrium: "An African American named Homer Plessy predated Rosa Parks' famous refusal to comply with racist transportation laws by more than 60 years. The Supreme Court upheld his conviction for sitting in a whites-only train car in Plessy v. Ferguson, leading to the Jim Crow era. Discover hard history and how "separate but equal" was …

When History Doesn’t Do What We Wish It Would

In Ed Park’s new novel, Same Bed Different Dreams, "the past is slippery, elusive, and alive," writes Krys Lee in The Atlantic. Lee is a professor at Underwood International College in South Korea and the author of How I Became a North Korean. She received a MFA from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. Park is …

JFK: A Mini-Course Re-Examining Fateful Decisions

The fate of the United States was intertwined with that of John F. Kennedy, as are the lives of all of us alive today whether we realize it or not. Judging from the many comments of readers on last week’s free post, those of us born so long ago that we can remember JFK’s assassination …

Racial Realignment: Origin of the GOP Southern Strategy in the 1950s, Solidifying in Barry Goldwater’s 1964 Campaign

Excerpt from the 2006 documentary, "Mr. Conservative: Barry Goldwater," filmed mainly during the 1964 campaign for the presidency. There are many interesting comments on this video's YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJyWWM9OHKA Related to this, Prager "University" (not really an accredited university but a mostly right-wing shill factory), posted a video to Twitter, now X in 2017: "The …

60 Years of Presidential Attack Ads, From 1952 to 2012, in One Video

The Atlantic: "A revealing montage of six decade's worth of negative campaign ads, compiled from a retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image.  (Sept 2012) Subscribe to The Atlantic on YouTube: http://bit.ly/subAtlanticYT" The reductive nature of the messages on deficits and taxes; everyday costs; flip-flopping, and changing positions, doesn't seem to change. Nor do the …

Was the News Ever Unbiased?

Ryan Chapman, author and educator, tells the story of the " 'golden age' of news" -- when three television networks based in New York -- CBS, ABC, and NBC -- framed if not controlled national narratives -- rising in the 1950s, and beginning to decline in the 1980s to the point where they are simply …

How Jimmy Carter in 1952 Helped Divert a Nuclear Disaster

Rachel Maddow tells the story of a young Navy lieutenant from Georgia named Jimmy who played a key role in helping prevent a nuclear catastrophe in 1952.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e0ClyvdfNc Jim Guyton: "Some people enter politics for power and fame. A few enter to try and help the world. It's pretty clear Jimmy Carter was not in …