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As Flint, Michigan slowly begins to resolve the water crisis that plagued the city, we take a look at the origin, some lead pipe history and the reality of the toxic water levels. Dr. Amy Pruden of Virginia Tech and the Flint Water Study gives us insight. This interview was recorded January 28, 2016 Highlights:  Highlights of the interview are included for convenient listening. Original purpose of the Flint Water Study (1:39) Cause of contamination (2:24) History and danger of lead pipes (4:16) Water issues around the world  (6:59) Water level and use (11:02) Resolving the water issues (15:42) Lead pipes and alternatives (18:41) Resources:  Flint Water Crisis: Everything You Need to Know, November 2018, NRDC  https://www.nrdc.org/stories/flint-water-crisis-everything-you-need-know The Unfinished Business of Flint’s Water Crisis, January 22, 2021, Pro Publica https://www.propublica.org/article/the-unfinished-business-of-flints-water-crisis How water crisis in Flint, Mich., became federal state of emergency, January 19, 2016, USA Today

The only thing missing is the ‘ding’. Keyboards can be heard in offices around the world, but that’s only half of what was once a ubiquitous tool at home and the workplace. Typewriters were quickly tossed aside in the age of personal computers and the digital age. Yet as Americans recollect and repurchase vinyl, cassettes and other classic devices, typewriters are seeing an increase in sales too; in some cases for very different reasons. Richard Polt, philosophy professor at Xavier University, avid typewriter collector and enthusiast shines light on the latest resurgence in nostalgia and with typewriters. This interview was recorded on November 30, 2015. Highlights:  Richard Polt takes us through the history and role typewriters have played from the technology to the work environment, and why they’re making an ever so small comeback. Highlights of the interview are included for convenient listening. Typewriter security (0:00) Engineering feats (1:49) History of typewriters (2:46) Mark Twain’s experience (5:11) Worth of typewriters (6:25) A Typewriter Revolution book (8:20) Global appeal and impact of typewriters (10:38) Women and the workplace (11:21) Collecting and maintaining typewriters  (12:12) Control and technology (13:14) Link between typewriters and modern technology (15:05) Future of typewriter trend (16:12) Resources:  How the KGB Bugged American Typewriters During the Cold War, January 1, 2020, Popular Mechanics https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/a30370413/typewriter-bugging-cold-war/ Typewriters are making a comeback, July 6, 2019, San Francisco Gate https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Typewriters-making-a-comeback-14076751.php There’s a new demand for old typewriters, February 8, 2015, Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star  https://fredericksburg.com/business/typewriters-are-making-a-comeback-with-millennials/article_f4f0c84f-5960-545c-befe-79af76fbdaf0.html

With the passing of Henry ‘Hank’ Aaron, we look at the legacy of the Negro Leagues.  Bob Kendrick shares his experience with Hank Aaron and the remarkable talent and legacy of Negro League baseball. The Negro Leagues included several independent baseball leagues that were founded by African Americans between 1920 and 1948. The league produced notable players including Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays and Henry Aaron. Bob Kendrick is the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo courtesy of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum) Highlights:  Bob Kendrick expands on the role of the Negro Leagues and the legacy Hank Aaron. The economic, cultural and social justice aspects of the sport, through the lens of the Black experience is discussed. Highlights of the interview are included for convenient listening. Mourning Hank Aaron (0:00) Hank Aaron’s beginnings (1:36) Record breaking character (3:48) Negro Leagues talent (6:14) Decline of African Americans in baseball (9:00) Major League Baseball, Negro Leagues statistics, and social justice (13:46) Negro League attendance, the economy (18:03) The Negro Leagues global influence, Japan (20:12) The Negro Leagues family, Ernie Banks (23:15) East West All-Star Game (28:44) Resources:  Integration Came At A Cost for the Negro Leagues, April 14, 2020, Major League Baseball https://www.mlb.com/news/integration-comes-at-a-cost-for-negro-leagues The Real Story of Baseball’s Integration That You Won’t See in 42, April 13, 2011, The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/04/the-real-story-of-baseballs-integration-that-you-wont-see-in-i-42-i/274886/ This is why baseball is so white, October 24, 2017, Vox https://www.vox.com/2016/10/27/13416798/cubs-dodgers-baseball-white-diverse Co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum speaks at Berry, March 5, 2020, Viking Fusion https://vikingfusion.com/2020/03/05/co-founder-of-the-negro-leagues-baseball-museum-speaks-at-berry/ Interview with Bob Motley with son Byron Motley, April 20, 2016, The Beat with Mike Wesson https://thebeatmedia.com/episode/negroleagues/ Negro League Player Association, Cincinnati Tigers http://www.nlbpa.com/the-negro-league-teams/cincinnati-tigers ‘Gentle Black Giants’: Diplomacy, sport and Japan’s early love for baseball, June 29, 2019, Japan Times https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2019/06/29/books/diplomacy-sport-japans-early-love-baseball/ ‘We Are the Ship’ by Kadir Nelson, 2009 https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/we-are-the-ship-the-story-of-negro-league-baseball-by-kadir-nel/

On the outside, segregation and Jim Crow. On the inside, “only the ball was white”. Black players thrived during the zenith of America’s past time. Baseball provided entertainment, culture and business. Not to be left out of the game were Negro League umpires. Bob Motley late, Negro League umpire shares his experience along with his son, multi-faceted artist, Byron Motley. From Sunday games to excited fans, Motley tells the story of game he remembers and loves. This interview was recorded on April 20, 2016 Bob Motley passed away on September 14, 2017 at the age of 94. Highlights:  Bob Motley and his son Byron take us to the ballgame, sharing memories and insight from a  culture that thrived in the face adversity. Highlights of the interview are included for convenient listening. Take me out to the ball game (1:00) A close play, “do it pretty for me baby!” (4:01) All-Star game, popularity (4:40) Financial impact of Negro League baseball (9:30) Church and baseball (11:00) International influence of the Negro Leagues (13:36) Off the field, in the military (23:48) Resources:  Negro League Baseball Museum https://nlbm.com/ Passing of a legend: Pioneering umpire Bob Motley dies at 94, Kansas City Star, September 15, 2017 https://www.kansascity.com/sports/mlb/article173530016.html Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/discovery-and-publication?locale=en_US  Byron Motley https://byronmotley.com/ The Guiding Light, September 19, 1994, Sports Illustrated https://vault.si.com/vault/1994/09/19/the-guiding-light-buck-oneil-bears-witness-to-the-glory-and-not-just-the-shame-of-the-negro-leagues

Young Americans have always returned home after heading out into the world for the first time. Today, the number of Millennials living with parents are comparatively larger. What are the reasons behind the recent spike? The Great Recession, relationships and the workforce play important roles in this trending, practical living arrangement. Richard Fry, senior researcher at the Pew Research Center takes us beyond the numbers to better understand the reality and what it means for Millennials, and their parents. This interview was recorded on August 4, 2016.   Highlights:  Richard Frye breaks down the statistics around Millennials returning home. Millennials have endured several setbacks in the past decade and continue to return home in record numbers. Highlights of the interview are included for convenient listening. Background, perception and parent/child dynamic (0:00) Reasons why Millennials are moving back home (04:00) Ethnicity and other social factors (9:05) Other living arrangements considered (13:40) Marriage, or the lack of marriage, continued (17:00) Resources:  A majority of young adults in US are living with parents for the first time since the Great Depression, September 4, 2020, Pew Research https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/09/04/a-majority-of-young-adults-in-the-u-s-live-with-their-parents-for-the-first-time-since-the-great-depression/ Millennials living with parents? It’s not just  a weak economy,  May 27, 2016, Christian Science Monitor  https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2016/0527/Millennials-living-with-parents-It-s-not-just-a-weak-economy   The crisis generation: Millennials deal with another financial setback, January 26, 2021, Kansas City Star  https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/personal-finance/article248667865.html

The Dead Sea Scrolls have been hailed the most important archaeological find of the 20th century. From the amazing discovery, careful transportation and preservation methods is just the beginning of sacred documents. Dave Duszynski, Director of Featured Experiences at the Cincinnati Museum Center, guides us through the history and tells us why the Cincinnati stop is a homecoming of sorts. This interview was recorded on December 16, 2015. Highlights:  Dave Duszynski of the Cincinnati Museum Center tells the story of how 2,000 year-old copies of Old Testament and extra-Biblical documents, were discovered, preserved, and the fascinating way they are kept and presented today. Highlights of the interview are included for convenient listening. The big discovery (0:50) New addition to scrolls (1:45) The cave environment(2:43) Most intriguing of the scrolls, group believed to have copied the scrolls (4:30) How the scrolls are transferred (6:05) Regarding safekeeping, Israel, and the Cincinnati connection (7:30) Resources:  6 Things You May Not Know About the Dead Sea Scrolls, May 7, 2013, History https://www.history.com/news/6-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-dead-sea-scrolls Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/discovery-and-publication?locale=en_US   The Scrolls from the Dead Sea, May 7/14, 1955, The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1955/05/14/the-scrolls-from-the-dead-sea Seventy Years of the Dead Sea Scrolls, October 31, 2017, Jerusalem Post https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/seventy-years-of-the-dead-sea-scrolls-510977

Adam Winkler gives important historical and legal principles to the ongoing debate about the Second Amendment in America. He is a specialist in American constitutional law and the Second Amendment, especially as it relates to school and mass shootings. His commentary has appeared in the New York Times, New Republic and the Atlantic. The Connell Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law is the author of Gun Fight: The Battle Over  the Right To Bear Arms In America (2011). This interview was recorded on January 19, 2016. Highlights:  Adam Winkler gives insight, providing important facts on the issue of the Second Amendment.  Using contemporary and past events, along with legal precedence and legislation, Mr. Winkler helps understand the climate of the 2nd Amendment and where it’s headed. Highlights of the interview are included for convenient listening. Obama on 2nd amendment, Newtown shootings (01:00) District of Columbia vs Heller, individuals/states/militias (02:05) National Rifle Association evolution (3:30) African Americans and guns after the Civil War (7:15) Role of the Ku Klux Klan (8:20) Black Panther Party at Sacramento state capitol (10:34) Shared goals from all sides (14:08) 2nd Amendment and privacy (15:42) Resources:  The Secret History of Guns, September 2011, The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/09/the-secret-history-of-guns/308608/   Armed Black Panthers in the Capitol, 50 Years on, April 26, 2017, The Capitol Weekly https://capitolweekly.net/black-panthers-armed-capitol/   The Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871, U.S. Senate https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/EnforcementActs.htm Firearms Control Emergency Amendment Act of 2008, District of Columbia https://os.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/os/release_content/attachments/14303/7-14-08_Firearms_Control_Emerge Obama looks to use executive power curb gun loophole, December 3, 2015, Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/la-na-obama-gun-order-20151203-story.html Here’s A Timeline of the Major Gun Control Laws In America, April 30, 2019, Time https://time.com/5169210/us-gun-control-laws-history-timeline/ The surprising history of the NRA, March 18, 2018, The Week https://theweek.com/articles/761135/surprising-history-nra

Dr. Ronald J. Stephens is professor of African American Studies in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Purdue University. contributor to Ted Talbert’s documentary, Idlewild: A Place In the Sun (1995), Dr. Stephens is the author of Idlewild The Rise, Decline, and Rebirth of A Unique African American Resort Town (2013). This interview was recorded on January 13, 2016. Highlights:  Dr. Ronald J. Stephens takes us into the rich heritage of Idlewild, Michigan. The resort town, in the heart of Manistee National Forest, welcomed Black families throughout the country during the decades of racial segregation. The tranquil setting, and activities like boating, skating, horseback riding and legendary musical acts made Idlewild a booming cultural destination. Today former vacationers and friends of the community have made efforts to preserve and revive the once popular resort town. Highlights of the interview are included for convenient listening. Michigan ‘geography’ (02:25) A day at Idlewild (06:32) Arthur Braggs brings entertainment  (10:04) Chautauqua movement similarity (13:28) Regional Idlewild clubs (15:26) Other historically Black resorts (23:26) An interesting character (26:51) Resources:  Idlewild, Michigan, Atlas Obscura https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/idlewild-michigan  Chautauqua movement https://www.britannica.com/topic/chautauqua-movement Idlewild: Michigan’s ‘Black Eden, WTTW https://interactive.wttw.com/chicago-on-vacation/destinations/michigan/idlewild-michigan-black-eden Michigan’s ‘Black Eden’, A short history of Idlewild https://www.modeldmedia.com/features/Idlewild-mnrtf-series-14.aspx Once A Paradise, Idlewild Hopes To Rise Again, November 30, 2014, Detroit Free Press https://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/john-carlisle/2014/11/30/idlewild-michigan-hard-times/19668773/ The Crisis Magazine, August 1917 https://books.google.com/books?id=PVoEAAAAMBAJ&source=gbs_all_issues_r&cad=1