U.S. History 2

Optional Extra Credit – Due

11:59 PM

Purpose:  Podcast extra credit. (I also added a video lecture option below, WITH ME giving a lecture, and I added the notes that go with that lecture, ideal for visual learners or those who want to know about Cold War covert ops and why we invaded Iraq really.)

The goal of NPR’s podcast “Throughline” (<– that’s the link to click) is to take a timely issue and trace its history in the American past, so that we may better understand the topic through the evolution of its history to the present today.  There are two narrators, and they interview historians and field experts to tell the story, and it’s usually quite enjoyable for the listener.  This exercise will help build your listening, comprehension, analytical, and writing skills, and potentially inform your Final Project, if you choose well.  ⚠️ Only 1 (one) extra credit option will be granted, unless your Final Project passes. Thus, I will grade only ONE podcast or lecture option, and any more submitted beyond that will not be graded until after one’s Final Project is in and passes with at least 70% C- ⚠️  (That’s to make sure no one chooses extra credit instead of the final project ?)  Three options maximum (with separate submissions) regardless.

Tasks:

• Choose an episode (or more than one) of the podcast called “Through line” on NPR from those listed below, listen to the entire podcast, ideally taking light notes while you do. You might choose to just listen the first time while relaxing, driving, working out, or cleaning, and then listen again and/or read the transcript too in order to take notes. And/or you can choose the video lecture I added.
• Summarize the key events in the history conveyed in the podcast topic in about three paragraphs (min. 300 words of non-repetitive, accurate, focused, relevant content). I need to be able to tell you listened to the entire thing and understand the key history presented. This is not about giving opinions, but rather about learning some history.

Here are your options (click links or search title online):

Student Loans: The Fund-Eating Dragon (2022)

At the start of the 20th century, only the most privileged could afford to go to college. Today, millions of students pursue higher ed — and owe $1.7 trillion in debt.  (April 6, 2023 episode)

The Mystery of Inflation (2022)

Rising interest rates. Layoffs. A shrinking dollar. Over the past year, the US economy has been squeezed: The same amount of money gets you less stuff. It’s inflation: a concept that’s easy to feel but hard to understand. Its causes are complex, but it isn’t some kind of naturally-occurring phenomenon — and neither are the ways in which governments try to fight it.

The Whiteness Myth

In 1923, an Indian American man named Bhagat Singh Thind argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that he was a white man and was therefore eligible to become a naturalized citizen. He based his claim on the fact that he was a member of India’s highest caste and identified as an Aryan and therefore white. His claims were supported by the so-called Indo-European language theory, a controversial idea at the time that says nearly half the world’s population speak a language that originated in one place. Theories about who lived in that place inspired a racist ideology that contended that the original speakers of the language were a white supreme race that colonized Europe and Asia thousands of years ago. This was used by many to define whiteness and eventually led to one of the most horrific events in history. On this episode of Through line, we unpack the myths around this powerful idea and explore the politics and promise of the mother tongue. (Feb. 2023)

The Monster of We (2021)

Are most modern problems caused by selfishness or a lack of it? Ayn Rand, a Russian American philosopher and writer, would say it’s the latter — that selfishness is not a vice but a virtue — and that capitalism is the ideal system. Everyone from Donald Trump, to Alan Greenspan, to Brad Pitt have sung Ayn Rand’s praises. The Library of Congress named her novel Atlas Shrugged the second most influential book in the U.S. after the Bible. Ayn Rand wasn’t politically correct, she was belligerent and liked going against the grain. And although she lived by the doctrine of her own greatness, she was driven by the fear that she would never be good enough.

The Real Black Panthers (2021)

In 1968, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover said the Black Panther Party “without question, represents the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.” And with that declaration he used United States federal law enforcement to wage war on the group. But why did Hoover’s FBI target the Black Panther Party more severely than any other Black power organization? Historian Donna Murch says the answer lies in the Panthers’ political agenda: not their brash, gun-toting public image, but in their capacity to organize across racial and class lines. It was a strategy that challenged the very foundations of American society. And it was working.

AND OTHER OPTIONS….

–“The Land of the Fee”  (On the belated and unlikely–and originally un-American–addition of a culture of “tipping” in the United States.) March 25, 2021 episode

—“The Everlasting Problem“  (On the unusual American health system that could’ve been socialized like in Canada, Europe and most of the work, but we didn’t get that and have employer based instead. How did that happen?  It was not supposed to be.)  Oct. 1, 2020  episode

—“The Evangelical Vote”  (The history of the evangelical Christian vote and involvement in politics. It changed greatly over time unexpectedly!)  Sept. 24, 2020 episode

—“The Postal Service”  (Pretty self-explanatory and interesting)  (Sept. 10, 2020 episode)

—“Reframing History: Mass Incarceration”  (Why do Americans have more people in prison than any other nation in the world?  It has a long history with specific reasons.)  Sept. 3, 2020 episode

–-“Remembering Bayard Rustin: The Man Behind the March on Washington” (About Civil Rights Movement and the famous gay man who helped make it happen, usually hidden from history) Feb. 25, 2021 episode

–“The Electrical Grid” (Dec. 30, 2021) Where did our electrical grid come from, why is it split into three regions, and what did this have to do with a battle between Tesla and Edison?  This is the tale.

—“Before Stonewall”  (2019 and 2021) Some famous LGBT history for those unaware.

—“The Supreme Court”  (2021)  Where did this court come from and come to be what it is with so much say over our lives.

–“Policing in America” (April 2021) Why the unusual violence against African American citizens in the context of history.

–“Impeachment”  (January 2021) A look back at President Johnson and the first ever impeachment of a President.

–“The Spotted Owl” (Nov. 2020)  How the Endangered Species Act went from beloved by all, passed by Republicans, to a political wedge issue related to big timber.

If you wish to do a different one, you must get permission from me FIRST, or no credit given. That’s become some are too short or not related to US history or in our time period.

OR! Another option: PROF’S LECTURE THAT CONNECTS THE COLD WAR TO WAR ON TERROR (specifically WHY we invade Iraq):

Open the notes attached and watch after reading OR pause video as you skim notes.  Here is the link to the video lecture:

https://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/c3f30ZVYrJc

Link to video lecture in new window

In a bare minimum of 300-400 words (to pass, more for perfect score), share what you learned in the lecture or found interesting or surprising, and be sure to include why the U.S. actually invaded Iraq, according to lecture, mandatory to get any credit at all, whatever else you wish to emphasize or comment upon. I offer more points for this option.

Keep in mind that this is not political and that both Republicans and Democrats presided over hot and covert wars, like Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson Admin. starts the Vietnam war and Republican George W. Bush Administration launch the invasion of Iraq. Feel free to opine if you wish, but that should be separate from the core word count minimum on the history you wish to emphasize. In other words, sharing opinions should not take the place of sharing key content. I’m thinking of adding a Part 2 that includes the Iran-Iraq war, the Spring Revolutions in the Middle East, rise of ISIS and why exactly, and more, so let me know if you are interested in that.  I could post that for more/double points in this section.

⚠️ Again, beyond one single submission from the options above, no additional extra credit here will be counted if one does not pass the final project. In other words, this board may be used to make up points on past work or quizzes, but one may not fail or skip the final project and get any extra credit here beyond one podcast/lecture submission. ?

Enjoy!  ?