DescriptionThe American view of Europe over the past 500 years has had a powerful shaping effect on both societies. To illustrate this point, Professor Kennedy explores the perspectives of Mark Twain and Henry James, 2 major American thinkers who assessed American society's contrast to that of Europe. While Twain saw his countrymen as innocent, vigorous freedom lovers who were far superior to the effete, corrupt, and repressed Europeans, James took the opposite view, finding his native land sorely lacking. Kennedy concludes by describing a series of woodcuts based on Columbus's account of the Americas, and suggests that elements of the American identity were "assigned" to the New World 5 centuries ago.
DescriptionDr. Arjo Klamer: Monetarism emerged in the 1960's under the leadership of Milton Friedman, who received the Nobel Prize in 1976. Friedman taught at the University of Chicago during this period, developing monetarism as a branch of Frank Knight's famous "Chicago School" of economics. Monetarists emphasize the role of money and the government's monetary policy in economic affairs; they vigorously defend the free market in their work. Alan Reynolds: Supply Side Economics, another modern branch of free market economics, emphasizes the harmful role of impediments to production (such as taxes). Robert A. Mundell is often considered the father of this modern school of economic thought. Supply side economics advocates government policies that would stimulate increased overall economic production, rather than to redistribute existing production.
DescriptionHurricane Katrina devastated the lives of thousands of people along America's southern coastline. National attention has focused mainly on New Orleans, on how destructive the flooding was and how slowly the city is picking up the pieces. But 90 miles east, in the coastal city of Biloxi, Mississippi, a dramatically different story is unfolding. Fueled by its expanding casino industry, Biloxi is poised to recover faster than anyplace else on the Gulf Coast. Some say Biloxi will be a better place to live after Katrina. But not for everyone. Rebuilding Biloxi looks at ordinary people trying to rebuild their lives, and a city struggling to reclaim itself. Produced by Kate Ellis and Stephen Smith.
DescriptionThe Brighton Trunk Case In 1934, Norman Birkett defended Mancini, whose case looked black indeed. But with infinite patience, Birkett improved his client's situation, summing up with a speech of matchless eloquence. The Blazing Car Case For this famous 1931 murder, Norman Birkett was prosecuting counsel. His brilliant attack in this complicated trial has been debated ever since.
DescriptionHere it is: the original Bible-versus-evolution trial. In 1925, Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, two of the greatest lawyers ever, joined battle in the case of a young schoolmaster charged with teaching the theory of evolution. An historic and very entertaining trial resulted.
DescriptionThis is the inside story of the infamous Clermont Set: five friends who became the most stylish and exclusive gamblers in 1960s London. They included the Clermont Club's eccentric founder John Aspinall; Dominic Elwes, who was to betray the set's code of silence; the socialite owner of Annabel's, Mark Birley; flamboyant playboy James Goldsmith; and the infamous Lord "Lucky" Lucan. The charisma and wit of these dastardly but debonair millionaires made them invincible in their own eyes, but John Pearson shows how their code led to tragedy, and to one of the great unsolved mysteries of the 20th century: the disappearance of Lord Lucan.
DescriptionOne of our most influential anthropologists reevaluates her long and illustrious career by returning to her roots - and the roots of life as we know it. When Elizabeth Marshall Thomas first arrived in Africa to live among the Kalahari San, or bushm…
DescriptionThis panel discussion about the war on terror was recorded live at the 2006 New Yorker Festival in New York City. Bradford A. Berenson served as associate counsel to President George W. Bush from January 2001 to January 2003. He worked on a wide…
DescriptionUlysses S. Grant represented everything that Marie Antoinette disdained: he was for the people, democratically patriotic, and a loutish drunkard, to boot. A meeting with the 2 of them, and Sir Thomas More and Dr. Karl Marx, can only make for scintillating conversation, to say the least. Steve Allen masterminds this great gathering in the second volume of the classic PBS show, with Joseph Earley as Grant, Jayne Meadows as the Queen of France, Bernard Behrens as the pious More, and Leon Askin as Marx, the dogmatic revolutionary. The questions and arguments fly, but comic genius Allen maintains the peace so that no one loses his - or her - head.
DescriptionCharles Darwin and Galileo may have some things to talk about. But Emily Dickinson and Attila the Hun? Surprisingly, they all get their say, and Attila turns out to be more astute than you'd think...even when he has an ax to grind. Steve Allen hosts these historic figures in this third volume of the classic PBS television series, featuring Murray Matheson (Darwin), Katherine Helmond (Dickinson), Alexander Scourby (Galileo), and Khigh Dhiegh (Attila). And as appropriate, it's Allen himself who moderates this outrageously stimulating exchange of ideas.
