Wednesday, October 22, 2008

From the Mailbag: Radio Program Looking for Callers

Hello caller! A public radio station is looking for you! Here's an email I just got

Have you checked out the new public radio show “BackStory With the
American History Guys” based at the Virginia Foundation for the
Humanities
? Every week we look at a piece of American history through
the lens of what’s going on in the news. Not surprisingly, we’re hard at
work right now on a show called “Panic!: A History of Financial Crisis.”
Though we also do interviews and features, we’re basically a call-in
show, and we’re currently rounding up callers for our session on Sunday
(10/26) for “Panic!” I thought this might be something your readers
would be interested in.

Here's a short synopsis of what we're going for in "Panic!"
Deregulation…Crash…Recession…Bailout. Sound familiar? Probably. Sound
modern? It shouldn’t. Everyone knows about the Great Depression, but the
crises of 1819, 1857, 1893 and 1907 were all surprisingly similar.
Investors lose confidence in banks, and government has to pick up the
pieces. The structure of the U.S. Treasury is itself a product of the
Panic of 1837, brought on by loose lending and lax oversight. So what
are the social consequences of these panics? How have we responded in
the past? And why do people think we’ll ever break free from this cycle?
What would you like to know about the history of market crashes?

Our hosts, "The History Guys," are three world-renowned historians: Ed
Ayers, Peter Onuf, and Brian Balogh. Each week, they field questions
from callers around the country, so this is an opportunity for the
curious to ask anything they like about the historical context of the
current financial crisis, and stick around for the discussion to follow;
calls take about 10 minutes.

Anyone who'd like to sign up should email me ASAP at
cvmoore@virginia.edu for more details. You can learn more about the
show, sign up for the Podcast, and join the discussion at
www.backstoryradio.org. Hope you'll check it out and help us spread the
word!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I am waiting for your post on Palin's $150,000 wardrobe... ; )