Podcast appearances and mentions of John Hersey

On August 6, 1945, the United States used the atomic bomb for the first time to destroy the city of Hiroshima, Japan; on August 9, the U.S. used the atomic bomb again on Nagasaki, Japan. Each year local peace activists gather in Albany to read Hiroshima, by John Hersey, which tells the story of the bombing by following the story of six of the survivors. Local poet Dan Wilcox of Veterans for Peace talks with Mark Dunlea of Hudson Mohawk Magazine.

Chapter 1What is HiroshimaIn his gripping book, "Hiroshima," John Hersey transports us into the lives of six individuals who survived the devastating atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Through Hersey's vivid narrative, the reader experiences the horrific moment and its aftermath from the intensely personal perspectives of a cross-section of residents, including a doctor, a clergyman, and a young woman. Hersey masterfully illustrates the immediate and the long-term human impact of nuclear warfare, highlighting not only the physical scars but also the enduring emotional and psychological trauma. Through these poignant stories, Hersey calls on the world to recognize the profound consequences of nuclear weapons and advocates for a future where such devices of mass destruction are abolished, embodied in the powerful plea, "No more." His narrative is a critical reminder of the human cost of war and a plea for peace and humanity in global politics.Chapter 2 Meet the Writer of HiroshimaJohn Hersey's "Hiroshima" employs a straightforward, journalistic style, which enhances the impact of the harrowing content. Rather than using overtly emotional language, Hersey opts for simplicity and clarity, allowing the stark realities of the atomic bomb's aftermath to resonate profoundly. He uses meticulous detail to humanize the victims, focusing on six survivors to anchor the narrative emotionally. Through these detailed personal stories, Hersey emphasizes the shared humanity and the immense suffering of the individuals, rather than abstract numbers. His restrained language serves as a stark contrast to the devastating circumstances described, compelling readers to engage deeply with the emotional and ethical implications of the event. This approach not only respects the dignity of the survivors but also effectively conveys the profound grief and enduring resilience within the community.Chapter 3 Deeper Understanding of HiroshimaThe bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, not only marked a pivotal moment in World War II but also left a profound and lasting impact on global culture, literature, society, and ethics. This event has been a crucial and often revisited subject in various disciplines, influencing how people and nations consider war, diplomacy, ethical conduct in science, and the use of technology. LiteratureIn literature, Hiroshima has been a significant theme and subject, used to explore the dire consequences of modern warfare and its profound moral implications. Numerous works focus on human suffering, the moral dilemmas of war, and reflections on peace. Notable literary works include John Hersey's "Hiroshima," which is a journalistic masterpiece that details the lives of six survivors immediately following the bombing. This book is significant for its narrative style and its raw portrayal of human suffering, playing a critical role in shaping the American understanding of the atomic bombings. Japanese literature also carries many accounts and stories inspired by the events, with authors like Kenzaburo Oe (who wrote "Hiroshima Notes") exploring the implications on Japanese society and individual survivors. These literary explorations have helped to humanize the event, shaping how subsequent generations understand and grapple with the tragedy. Art and CultureIn art and culture, Hiroshima has provoked a wide array of responses, from films and paintings to music and photography. For instance, in cinema, both Japanese films like "Black Rain" and international productions like "Hiroshima Mon Amour" delve into the psychological and societal impacts of the bombing. Artists and filmmakers use these platforms to revisit trauma, often addressing the themes of memory and healing. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and Museum itself serves as a cultural beacon, regularly hosting art exhibitions and...

La realidad de la bomba atómica a través de seis sobrevivientes en la pluma magistral de John Hersey, en la que se considera, la crónica de crónicas del siglo XX. Hoy que los tambores atómicos se templan hasta el paroxismo, es bueno recordar la dimensión humana de esta espada de Damocles que se cierne sobre la humanidad, porque yo, tú, él, nosotros, vosotros y ellos sufriremos miles de veces más, estas condiciones y otras peores, si los pueblos seguimos dormidos ante los líderes del apocalipsis.

Episode 168 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “I Say a Little Prayer”, and the interaction of the sacred, political, and secular in Aretha Franklin's life and work. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-five-minute bonus episode available, on "Abraham, Martin, and John" by Dion. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources No Mixcloud this week, as there are too many songs by Aretha Franklin. Even splitting it into multiple parts would have required six or seven mixes. My main biographical source for Aretha Franklin is Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz, and this is where most of the quotes from musicians come from. Information on C.L. Franklin came from Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America by Nick Salvatore. Country Soul by Charles L Hughes is a great overview of the soul music made in Muscle Shoals, Memphis, and Nashville in the sixties. Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm And Blues And The Southern Dream Of Freedom is possibly less essential, but still definitely worth reading. Information about Martin Luther King came from Martin Luther King: A Religious Life by Paul Harvey. I also referred to Burt Bacharach's autobiography Anyone Who Had a Heart, Carole King's autobiography A Natural Woman, and Soul Serenade: King Curtis and his Immortal Saxophone by Timothy R. Hoover. For information about Amazing Grace I also used Aaron Cohen's 33 1/3 book on the album. The film of the concerts is also definitely worth watching. And the Aretha Now album is available in this five-album box set for a ludicrously cheap price. But it's actually worth getting this nineteen-CD set with her first sixteen Atlantic albums and a couple of bonus discs of demos and outtakes. There's barely a duff track in the whole nineteen discs. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript A quick warning before I begin. This episode contains some moderate references to domestic abuse, death by cancer, racial violence, police violence, and political assassination. Anyone who might be upset by those subjects might want to check the transcript rather than listening to the episode. Also, as with the previous episode on Aretha Franklin, this episode presents something of a problem. Like many people in this narrative, Franklin's career was affected by personal troubles, which shaped many of her decisions. But where most of the subjects of the podcast have chosen to live their lives in public and share intimate details of every aspect of their personal lives, Franklin was an extremely private person, who chose to share only carefully sanitised versions of her life, and tried as far as possible to keep things to herself. This of course presents a dilemma for anyone who wants to tell her story -- because even though the information is out there in biographies, and even though she's dead, it's not right to disrespect someone's wish for a private life. I have therefore tried, wherever possible, to stay away from talk of her personal life except where it *absolutely* affects the work, or where other people involved have publicly shared their own stories, and even there I've tried to keep it to a minimum. This will occasionally lead to me saying less about some topics than other people might, even though the information is easily findable, because I don't think we have an absolute right to invade someone else's privacy for entertainment. When we left Aretha Franklin, she had just finally broken through into the mainstream after a decade of performing, with a version of Otis Redding's song "Respect" on which she had been backed by her sisters, Erma and Carolyn. "Respect", in Franklin's interpretation, had been turned from a rather chauvinist song about a man demanding respect from his woman into an anthem of feminism, of Black power, and of a new political awakening. For white people of a certain generation, the summer of 1967 was "the summer of love". For many Black people, it was rather different. There's a quote that goes around (I've seen it credited in reliable sources to both Ebony and Jet magazine, but not ever seen an issue cited, so I can't say for sure where it came from) saying that the summer of 67 was the summer of "'retha, Rap, and revolt", referring to the trifecta of Aretha Franklin, the Black power leader Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (who was at the time known as H. Rap Brown, a name he later disclaimed) and the rioting that broke out in several major cities, particularly in Detroit: [Excerpt: John Lee Hooker, "The Motor City is Burning"] The mid sixties were, in many ways, the high point not of Black rights in the US -- for the most part there has been a lot of progress in civil rights in the intervening decades, though not without inevitable setbacks and attacks from the far right, and as movements like the Black Lives Matter movement have shown there is still a long way to go -- but of *hope* for Black rights. The moral force of the arguments made by the civil rights movement were starting to cause real change to happen for Black people in the US for the first time since the Reconstruction nearly a century before. But those changes weren't happening fast enough, and as we heard in the episode on "I Was Made to Love Her", there was not only a growing unrest among Black people, but a recognition that it was actually possible for things to change. A combination of hope and frustration can be a powerful catalyst, and whether Franklin wanted it or not, she was at the centre of things, both because of her newfound prominence as a star with a hit single that couldn't be interpreted as anything other than a political statement and because of her intimate family connections to the struggle. Even the most racist of white people these days pays lip service to the memory of Dr Martin Luther King, and when they do they quote just a handful of sentences from one speech King made in 1963, as if that sums up the full theological and political philosophy of that most complex of men. And as we discussed the last time we looked at Aretha Franklin, King gave versions of that speech, the "I Have a Dream" speech, twice. The most famous version was at the March on Washington, but the first time was a few weeks earlier, at what was at the time the largest civil rights demonstration in American history, in Detroit. Aretha's family connection to that event is made clear by the very opening of King's speech: [Excerpt: Martin Luther King, "Original 'I Have a Dream' Speech"] So as summer 1967 got into swing, and white rock music was going to San Francisco to wear flowers in its hair, Aretha Franklin was at the centre of a very different kind of youth revolution. Franklin's second Atlantic album, Aretha Arrives, brought in some new personnel to the team that had recorded Aretha's first album for Atlantic. Along with the core Muscle Shoals players Jimmy Johnson, Spooner Oldham, Tommy Cogbill and Roger Hawkins, and a horn section led by King Curtis, Wexler and Dowd also brought in guitarist Joe South. South was a white session player from Georgia, who had had a few minor hits himself in the fifties -- he'd got his start recording a cover version of "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor", the Big Bopper's B-side to "Chantilly Lace": [Excerpt: Joe South, "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor"] He'd also written a few songs that had been recorded by people like Gene Vincent, but he'd mostly become a session player. He'd become a favourite musician of Bob Johnston's, and so he'd played guitar on Simon and Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme albums: [Excerpt: Simon and Garfunkel, "I am a Rock"] and bass on Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, with Al Kooper particularly praising his playing on "Visions of Johanna": [Excerpt: Bob Dylan, "Visions of Johanna"] South would be the principal guitarist on this and Franklin's next album, before his own career took off in 1968 with "Games People Play": [Excerpt: Joe South, "Games People Play"] At this point, he had already written the other song he's best known for, "Hush", which later became a hit for Deep Purple: [Excerpt: Deep Purple, "Hush"] But he wasn't very well known, and was surprised to get the call for the Aretha Franklin session, especially because, as he put it "I was white and I was about to play behind the blackest genius since Ray Charles" But Jerry Wexler had told him that Franklin didn't care about the race of the musicians she played with, and South settled in as soon as Franklin smiled at him when he played a good guitar lick on her version of the blues standard "Going Down Slow": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Going Down Slow"] That was one of the few times Franklin smiled in those sessions though. Becoming an overnight success after years of trying and failing to make a name for herself had been a disorienting experience, and on top of that things weren't going well in her personal life. Her marriage to her manager Ted White was falling apart, and she was performing erratically thanks to the stress. In particular, at a gig in Georgia she had fallen off the stage and broken her arm. She soon returned to performing, but it meant she had problems with her right arm during the recording of the album, and didn't play as much piano as she would have previously -- on some of the faster songs she played only with her left hand. But the recording sessions had to go on, whether or not Aretha was physically capable of playing piano. As we discussed in the episode on Otis Redding, the owners of Atlantic Records were busily negotiating its sale to Warner Brothers in mid-1967. As Wexler said later “Everything in me said, Keep rolling, keep recording, keep the hits coming. She was red hot and I had no reason to believe that the streak wouldn't continue. I knew that it would be foolish—and even irresponsible—not to strike when the iron was hot. I also had personal motivation. A Wall Street financier had agreed to see what we could get for Atlantic Records. While Ahmet and Neshui had not agreed on a selling price, they had gone along with my plan to let the financier test our worth on the open market. I was always eager to pump out hits, but at this moment I was on overdrive. In this instance, I had a good partner in Ted White, who felt the same. He wanted as much product out there as possible." In truth, you can tell from Aretha Arrives that it's a record that was being thought of as "product" rather than one being made out of any kind of artistic impulse. It's a fine album -- in her ten-album run from I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You through Amazing Grace there's not a bad album and barely a bad track -- but there's a lack of focus. There are only two originals on the album, neither of them written by Franklin herself, and the rest is an incoherent set of songs that show the tension between Franklin and her producers at Atlantic. Several songs are the kind of standards that Franklin had recorded for her old label Columbia, things like "You Are My Sunshine", or her version of "That's Life", which had been a hit for Frank Sinatra the previous year: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "That's Life"] But mixed in with that are songs that are clearly the choice of Wexler. As we've discussed previously in episodes on Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, at this point Atlantic had the idea that it was possible for soul artists to cross over into the white market by doing cover versions of white rock hits -- and indeed they'd had some success with that tactic. So while Franklin was suggesting Sinatra covers, Atlantic's hand is visible in the choices of songs like "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "96 Tears": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "96 Tears'] Of the two originals on the album, one, the hit single "Baby I Love You" was written by Ronnie Shannon, the Detroit songwriter who had previously written "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Baby I Love You"] As with the previous album, and several other songs on this one, that had backing vocals by Aretha's sisters, Erma and Carolyn. But the other original on the album, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)", didn't, even though it was written by Carolyn: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)"] To explain why, let's take a little detour and look at the co-writer of the song this episode is about, though we're not going to get to that for a little while yet. We've not talked much about Burt Bacharach in this series so far, but he's one of those figures who has come up a few times in the periphery and will come up again, so here is as good a time as any to discuss him, and bring everyone up to speed about his career up to 1967. Bacharach was one of the more privileged figures in the sixties pop music field. His father, Bert Bacharach (pronounced the same as his son, but spelled with an e rather than a u) had been a famous newspaper columnist, and his parents had bought him a Steinway grand piano to practice on -- they pushed him to learn the piano even though as a kid he wasn't interested in finger exercises and Debussy. What he was interested in, though, was jazz, and as a teenager he would often go into Manhattan and use a fake ID to see people like Dizzy Gillespie, who he idolised, and in his autobiography he talks rapturously of seeing Gillespie playing his bent trumpet -- he once saw Gillespie standing on a street corner with a pet monkey on his shoulder, and went home and tried to persuade his parents to buy him a monkey too. In particular, he talks about seeing the Count Basie band with Sonny Payne on drums as a teenager: [Excerpt: Count Basie, "Kid From Red Bank"] He saw them at Birdland, the club owned by Morris Levy where they would regularly play, and said of the performance "they were just so incredibly exciting that all of a sudden, I got into music in a way I never had before. What I heard in those clubs really turned my head around— it was like a big breath of fresh air when somebody throws open a window. That was when I knew for the first time how much I loved music and wanted to be connected to it in some way." Of course, there's a rather major problem with this story, as there is so often with narratives that musicians tell about their early career. In this case, Birdland didn't open until 1949, when Bacharach was twenty-one and stationed in Germany for his military service, while Sonny Payne didn't join Basie's band until 1954, when Bacharach had been a professional musician for many years. Also Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet bell only got bent on January 6, 1953. But presumably while Bacharach was conflating several memories, he did have some experience in some New York jazz club that led him to want to become a musician. Certainly there were enough great jazz musicians playing the clubs in those days. He went to McGill University to study music for two years, then went to study with Darius Milhaud, a hugely respected modernist composer. Milhaud was also one of the most important music teachers of the time -- among others he'd taught Stockhausen and Xenakkis, and would go on to teach Philip Glass and Steve Reich. This suited Bacharach, who by this point was a big fan of Schoenberg and Webern, and was trying to write atonal, difficult music. But Milhaud had also taught Dave Brubeck, and when Bacharach rather shamefacedly presented him with a composition which had an actual tune, he told Bacharach "Never be ashamed of writing a tune you can whistle". He dropped out of university and, like most men of his generation, had to serve in the armed forces. When he got out of the army, he continued his musical studies, still trying to learn to be an avant-garde composer, this time with Bohuslav Martinů and later with Henry Cowell, the experimental composer we've heard about quite a bit in previous episodes: [Excerpt: Henry Cowell, "Aeolian Harp and Sinister Resonance"] He was still listening to a lot of avant garde music, and would continue doing so throughout the fifties, going to see people like John Cage. But he spent much of that time working in music that was very different from the avant-garde. He got a job as the band leader for the crooner Vic Damone: [Excerpt: Vic Damone. "Ebb Tide"] He also played for the vocal group the Ames Brothers. He decided while he was working with the Ames Brothers that he could write better material than they were getting from their publishers, and that it would be better to have a job where he didn't have to travel, so he got himself a job as a staff songwriter in the Brill Building. He wrote a string of flops and nearly hits, starting with "Keep Me In Mind" for Patti Page: [Excerpt: Patti Page, "Keep Me In Mind"] From early in his career he worked with the lyricist Hal David, and the two of them together wrote two big hits, "Magic Moments" for Perry Como: [Excerpt: Perry Como, "Magic Moments"] and "The Story of My Life" for Marty Robbins: [Excerpt: "The Story of My Life"] But at that point Bacharach was still also writing with other writers, notably Hal David's brother Mack, with whom he wrote the theme tune to the film The Blob, as performed by The Five Blobs: [Excerpt: The Five Blobs, "The Blob"] But Bacharach's songwriting career wasn't taking off, and he got himself a job as musical director for Marlene Dietrich -- a job he kept even after it did start to take off.  Part of the problem was that he intuitively wrote music that didn't quite fit into standard structures -- there would be odd bars of unusual time signatures thrown in, unusual harmonies, and structural irregularities -- but then he'd take feedback from publishers and producers who would tell him the song could only be recorded if he straightened it out. He said later "The truth is that I ruined a lot of songs by not believing in myself enough to tell these guys they were wrong." He started writing songs for Scepter Records, usually with Hal David, but also with Bob Hilliard and Mack David, and started having R&B hits. One song he wrote with Mack David, "I'll Cherish You", had the lyrics rewritten by Luther Dixon to make them more harsh-sounding for a Shirelles single -- but the single was otherwise just Bacharach's demo with the vocals replaced, and you can even hear his voice briefly at the beginning: [Excerpt: The Shirelles, "Baby, It's You"] But he'd also started becoming interested in the production side of records more generally. He'd iced that some producers, when recording his songs, would change the sound for the worse -- he thought Gene McDaniels' version of "Tower of Strength", for example, was too fast. But on the other hand, other producers got a better sound than he'd heard in his head. He and Hilliard had written a song called "Please Stay", which they'd given to Leiber and Stoller to record with the Drifters, and he thought that their arrangement of the song was much better than the one he'd originally thought up: [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Please Stay"] He asked Leiber and Stoller if he could attend all their New York sessions and learn about record production from them. He started doing so, and eventually they started asking him to assist them on records. He and Hilliard wrote a song called "Mexican Divorce" for the Drifters, which Leiber and Stoller were going to produce, and as he put it "they were so busy running Redbird Records that they asked me to rehearse the background singers for them in my office." [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Mexican Divorce"] The backing singers who had been brought in to augment the Drifters on that record were a group of vocalists who had started out as members of a gospel group called the Drinkard singers: [Excerpt: The Drinkard Singers, "Singing in My Soul"] The Drinkard Singers had originally been a family group, whose members included Cissy Drinkard, who joined the group aged five (and who on her marriage would become known as Cissy Houston -- her daughter Whitney would later join the family business), her aunt Lee Warrick, and Warrick's adopted daughter Judy Clay. That group were discovered by the great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and spent much of the fifties performing with gospel greats including Jackson herself, Clara Ward, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. But Houston was also the musical director of a group at her church, the Gospelaires, which featured Lee Warrick's two daughters Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick (for those who don't know, the Warwick sisters' birth name was Warrick, spelled with two rs. A printing error led to it being misspelled the same way as the British city on a record label, and from that point on Dionne at least pronounced the w in her misspelled name). And slowly, the Gospelaires rather than the Drinkard Singers became the focus, with a lineup of Houston, the Warwick sisters, the Warwick sisters' cousin Doris Troy, and Clay's sister Sylvia Shemwell. The real change in the group's fortunes came when, as we talked about a while back in the episode on "The Loco-Motion", the original lineup of the Cookies largely stopped working as session singers to become Ray Charles' Raelettes. As we discussed in that episode, a new lineup of Cookies formed in 1961, but it took a while for them to get started, and in the meantime the producers who had been relying on them for backing vocals were looking elsewhere, and they looked to the Gospelaires. "Mexican Divorce" was the first record to feature the group as backing vocalists -- though reports vary as to how many of them are on the record, with some saying it's only Troy and the Warwicks, others saying Houston was there, and yet others saying it was all five of them. Some of these discrepancies were because these singers were so good that many of them left to become solo singers in fairly short order. Troy was the first to do so, with her hit "Just One Look", on which the other Gospelaires sang backing vocals: [Excerpt: Doris Troy, "Just One Look"] But the next one to go solo was Dionne Warwick, and that was because she'd started working with Bacharach and Hal David as their principal demo singer. She started singing lead on their demos, and hoping that she'd get to release them on her own. One early one was "Make it Easy On Yourself", which was recorded by Jerry Butler, formerly of the Impressions. That record was produced by Bacharach, one of the first records he produced without outside supervision: [Excerpt: Jerry Butler, "Make it Easy On Yourself"] Warwick was very jealous that a song she'd sung the demo of had become a massive hit for someone else, and blamed Bacharach and David. The way she tells the story -- Bacharach always claimed this never happened, but as we've already seen he was himself not always the most reliable of narrators of his own life -- she got so angry she complained to them, and said "Don't make me over, man!" And so Bacharach and David wrote her this: [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Don't Make Me Over"] Incidentally, in the UK, the hit version of that was a cover by the Swinging Blue Jeans: [Excerpt: The Swinging Blue Jeans, "Don't Make Me Over"] who also had a huge hit with "You're No Good": [Excerpt: The Swinging Blue Jeans, "You're No Good"] And *that* was originally recorded by *Dee Dee* Warwick: [Excerpt: Dee Dee Warwick, "You're No Good"] Dee Dee also had a successful solo career, but Dionne's was the real success, making the names of herself, and of Bacharach and David. The team had more than twenty top forty hits together, before Bacharach and David had a falling out in 1971 and stopped working together, and Warwick sued both of them for breach of contract as a result. But prior to that they had hit after hit, with classic records like "Anyone Who Had a Heart": [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Anyone Who Had a Heart"] And "Walk On By": [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Walk On By"] With Doris, Dionne, and Dee Dee all going solo, the group's membership was naturally in flux -- though the departed members would occasionally join their former bandmates for sessions, and the remaining members would sing backing vocals on their ex-members' records. By 1965 the group consisted of Cissy Houston, Sylvia Shemwell, the Warwick sisters' cousin Myrna Smith, and Estelle Brown. The group became *the* go-to singers for soul and R&B records made in New York. They were regularly hired by Leiber and Stoller to sing on their records, and they were also the particular favourites of Bert Berns. They sang backing vocals on almost every record he produced. It's them doing the gospel wails on "Cry Baby" by Garnet Mimms: [Excerpt: Garnet Mimms, "Cry Baby"] And they sang backing vocals on both versions of "If You Need Me" -- Wilson Pickett's original and Solomon Burke's more successful cover version, produced by Berns: [Excerpt: Solomon Burke, "If You Need Me"] They're on such Berns records as "Show Me Your Monkey", by Kenny Hamber: [Excerpt: Kenny Hamber, "Show Me Your Monkey"] And it was a Berns production that ended up getting them to be Aretha Franklin's backing group. The group were becoming such an important part of the records that Atlantic and BANG Records, in particular, were putting out, that Jerry Wexler said "it was only a matter of common decency to put them under contract as a featured group". He signed them to Atlantic and renamed them from the Gospelaires to The Sweet Inspirations.  Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham wrote a song for the group which became their only hit under their own name: [Excerpt: The Sweet Inspirations, "Sweet Inspiration"] But to start with, they released a cover of Pops Staples' civil rights song "Why (Am I treated So Bad)": [Excerpt: The Sweet Inspirations, "Why (Am I Treated So Bad?)"] That hadn't charted, and meanwhile, they'd all kept doing session work. Cissy had joined Erma and Carolyn Franklin on the backing vocals for Aretha's "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You"] Shortly after that, the whole group recorded backing vocals for Erma's single "Piece of My Heart", co-written and produced by Berns: [Excerpt: Erma Franklin, "Piece of My Heart"] That became a top ten record on the R&B charts, but that caused problems. Aretha Franklin had a few character flaws, and one of these was an extreme level of jealousy for any other female singer who had any level of success and came up in the business after her. She could be incredibly graceful towards anyone who had been successful before her -- she once gave one of her Grammies away to Esther Phillips, who had been up for the same award and had lost to her -- but she was terribly insecure, and saw any contemporary as a threat. She'd spent her time at Columbia Records fuming (with some justification) that Barbra Streisand was being given a much bigger marketing budget than her, and she saw Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, and Dionne Warwick as rivals rather than friends. And that went doubly for her sisters, who she was convinced should be supporting her because of family loyalty. She had been infuriated at John Hammond when Columbia had signed Erma, thinking he'd gone behind her back to create competition for her. And now Erma was recording with Bert Berns. Bert Berns who had for years been a colleague of Jerry Wexler and the Ertegun brothers at Atlantic. Aretha was convinced that Wexler had put Berns up to signing Erma as some kind of power play. There was only one problem with this -- it simply wasn't true. As Wexler later explained “Bert and I had suffered a bad falling-out, even though I had enormous respect for him. After all, he was the guy who brought over guitarist Jimmy Page from England to play on our sessions. Bert, Ahmet, Nesuhi, and I had started a label together—Bang!—where Bert produced Van Morrison's first album. But Bert also had a penchant for trouble. He courted the wise guys. He wanted total control over every last aspect of our business dealings. Finally it was too much, and the Erteguns and I let him go. He sued us for breach of contract and suddenly we were enemies. I felt that he signed Erma, an excellent singer, not merely for her talent but as a way to get back at me. If I could make a hit with Aretha, he'd show me up by making an even bigger hit on Erma. Because there was always an undercurrent of rivalry between the sisters, this only added to the tension.” There were two things that resulted from this paranoia on Aretha's part. The first was that she and Wexler, who had been on first-name terms up to that point, temporarily went back to being "Mr. Wexler" and "Miss Franklin" to each other. And the second was that Aretha no longer wanted Carolyn and Erma to be her main backing vocalists, though they would continue to appear on her future records on occasion. From this point on, the Sweet Inspirations would be the main backing vocalists for Aretha in the studio throughout her golden era [xxcut line (and when the Sweet Inspirations themselves weren't on the record, often it would be former members of the group taking their place)]: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)"] The last day of sessions for Aretha Arrives was July the twenty-third, 1967. And as we heard in the episode on "I Was Made to Love Her", that was the day that the Detroit riots started. To recap briefly, that was four days of rioting started because of a history of racist policing, made worse by those same racist police overreacting to the initial protests. By the end of those four days, the National Guard, 82nd Airborne Division, and the 101st Airborne from Clarksville were all called in to deal with the violence, which left forty-three dead (of whom thirty-three were Black and only one was a police officer), 1,189 people were injured, and over 7,200 arrested, almost all of them Black. Those days in July would be a turning point for almost every musician based in Detroit. In particular, the police had murdered three members of the soul group the Dramatics, in a massacre of which the author John Hersey, who had been asked by President Johnson to be part of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders but had decided that would compromise his impartiality and did an independent journalistic investigation, said "The episode contained all the mythic themes of racial strife in the United States: the arm of the law taking the law into its own hands; interracial sex; the subtle poison of racist thinking by “decent” men who deny they are racists; the societal limbo into which, ever since slavery, so many young black men have been driven by our country; ambiguous justice in the courts; and the devastation in both black and white human lives that follows in the wake of violence as surely as ruinous and indiscriminate flood after torrents" But these were also the events that radicalised the MC5 -- the group had been playing a gig as Tim Buckley's support act when the rioting started, and guitarist Wayne Kramer decided afterwards to get stoned and watch the fires burning down the city through a telescope -- which police mistook for a rifle, leading to the National Guard knocking down Kramer's door. The MC5 would later cover "The Motor City is Burning", John Lee Hooker's song about the events: [Excerpt: The MC5, "The Motor City is Burning"] It would also be a turning point for Motown, too, in ways we'll talk about in a few future episodes.  And it was a political turning point too -- Michigan Governor George Romney, a liberal Republican (at a time when such people existed) had been the favourite for the Republican Presidential candidacy when he'd entered the race in December 1966, but as racial tensions ramped up in Detroit during the early months of 1967 he'd started trailing Richard Nixon, a man who was consciously stoking racists' fears. President Johnson, the incumbent Democrat, who was at that point still considering standing for re-election, made sure to make it clear to everyone during the riots that the decision to call in the National Guard had been made at the State level, by Romney, rather than at the Federal level.  That wasn't the only thing that removed the possibility of a Romney presidency, but it was a big part of the collapse of his campaign, and the, as it turned out, irrevocable turn towards right-authoritarianism that the party took with Nixon's Southern Strategy. Of course, Aretha Franklin had little way of knowing what was to come and how the riots would change the city and the country over the following decades. What she was primarily concerned about was the safety of her father, and to a lesser extent that of her sister-in-law Earline who was staying with him. Aretha, Carolyn, and Erma all tried to keep in constant touch with their father while they were out of town, and Aretha even talked about hiring private detectives to travel to Detroit, find her father, and get him out of the city to safety. But as her brother Cecil pointed out, he was probably the single most loved man among Black people in Detroit, and was unlikely to be harmed by the rioters, while he was too famous for the police to kill with impunity. Reverend Franklin had been having a stressful time anyway -- he had recently been fined for tax evasion, an action he was convinced the IRS had taken because of his friendship with Dr King and his role in the civil rights movement -- and according to Cecil "Aretha begged Daddy to move out of the city entirely. She wanted him to find another congregation in California, where he was especially popular—or at least move out to the suburbs. But he wouldn't budge. He said that, more than ever, he was needed to point out the root causes of the riots—the economic inequality, the pervasive racism in civic institutions, the woefully inadequate schools in inner-city Detroit, and the wholesale destruction of our neighborhoods by urban renewal. Some ministers fled the city, but not our father. The horror of what happened only recommitted him. He would not abandon his political agenda." To make things worse, Aretha was worried about her father in other ways -- as her marriage to Ted White was starting to disintegrate, she was looking to her father for guidance, and actually wanted him to take over her management. Eventually, Ruth Bowen, her booking agent, persuaded her brother Cecil that this was a job he could do, and that she would teach him everything he needed to know about the music business. She started training him up while Aretha was still married to White, in the expectation that that marriage couldn't last. Jerry Wexler, who only a few months earlier had been seeing Ted White as an ally in getting "product" from Franklin, had now changed his tune -- partly because the sale of Atlantic had gone through in the meantime. He later said “Sometimes she'd call me at night, and, in that barely audible little-girl voice of hers, she'd tell me that she wasn't sure she could go on. She always spoke in generalities. She never mentioned her husband, never gave me specifics of who was doing what to whom. And of course I knew better than to ask. She just said that she was tired of dealing with so much. My heart went out to her. She was a woman who suffered silently. She held so much in. I'd tell her to take as much time off as she needed. We had a lot of songs in the can that we could release without new material. ‘Oh, no, Jerry,' she'd say. ‘I can't stop recording. I've written some new songs, Carolyn's written some new songs. We gotta get in there and cut 'em.' ‘Are you sure?' I'd ask. ‘Positive,' she'd say. I'd set up the dates and typically she wouldn't show up for the first or second sessions. Carolyn or Erma would call me to say, ‘Ree's under the weather.' That was tough because we'd have asked people like Joe South and Bobby Womack to play on the sessions. Then I'd reschedule in the hopes she'd show." That third album she recorded in 1967, Lady Soul, was possibly her greatest achievement. The opening track, and second single, "Chain of Fools", released in November, was written by Don Covay -- or at least it's credited as having been written by Covay. There's a gospel record that came out around the same time on a very small label based in Houston -- "Pains of Life" by Rev. E. Fair And The Sensational Gladys Davis Trio: [Excerpt: Rev. E. Fair And The Sensational Gladys Davis Trio, "Pains of Life"] I've seen various claims online that that record came out shortly *before* "Chain of Fools", but I can't find any definitive evidence one way or the other -- it was on such a small label that release dates aren't available anywhere. Given that the B-side, which I haven't been able to track down online, is called "Wait Until the Midnight Hour", my guess is that rather than this being a case of Don Covay stealing the melody from an obscure gospel record he'd have had little chance to hear, it's the gospel record rewriting a then-current hit to be about religion, but I thought it worth mentioning. The song was actually written by Covay after Jerry Wexler asked him to come up with some songs for Otis Redding, but Wexler, after hearing it, decided it was better suited to Franklin, who gave an astonishing performance: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Chain of Fools"] Arif Mardin, the arranger of the album, said of that track “I was listed as the arranger of ‘Chain of Fools,' but I can't take credit. Aretha walked into the studio with the chart fully formed inside her head. The arrangement is based around the harmony vocals provided by Carolyn and Erma. To add heft, the Sweet Inspirations joined in. The vision of the song is entirely Aretha's.” According to Wexler, that's not *quite* true -- according to him, Joe South came up with the guitar part that makes up the intro, and he also said that when he played what he thought was the finished track to Ellie Greenwich, she came up with another vocal line for the backing vocals, which she overdubbed. But the core of the record's sound is definitely pure Aretha -- and Carolyn Franklin said that there was a reason for that. As she said later “Aretha didn't write ‘Chain,' but she might as well have. It was her story. When we were in the studio putting on the backgrounds with Ree doing lead, I knew she was singing about Ted. Listen to the lyrics talking about how for five long years she thought he was her man. Then she found out she was nothing but a link in the chain. Then she sings that her father told her to come on home. Well, he did. She sings about how her doctor said to take it easy. Well, he did too. She was drinking so much we thought she was on the verge of a breakdown. The line that slew me, though, was the one that said how one of these mornings the chain is gonna break but until then she'll take all she can take. That summed it up. Ree knew damn well that this man had been doggin' her since Jump Street. But somehow she held on and pushed it to the breaking point." [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Chain of Fools"] That made number one on the R&B charts, and number two on the hot one hundred, kept from the top by "Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)" by John Fred and his Playboy Band -- a record that very few people would say has stood the test of time as well. The other most memorable track on the album was the one chosen as the first single, released in September. As Carole King told the story, she and Gerry Goffin were feeling like their career was in a slump. While they had had a huge run of hits in the early sixties through 1965, they had only had two new hits in 1966 -- "Goin' Back" for Dusty Springfield and "Don't Bring Me Down" for the Animals, and neither of those were anything like as massive as their previous hits. And up to that point in 1967, they'd only had one -- "Pleasant Valley Sunday" for the Monkees. They had managed to place several songs on Monkees albums and the TV show as well, so they weren't going to starve, but the rise of self-contained bands that were starting to dominate the charts, and Phil Spector's temporary retirement, meant there simply wasn't the opportunity for them to place material that there had been. They were also getting sick of travelling to the West Coast all the time, because as their children were growing slightly older they didn't want to disrupt their lives in New York, and were thinking of approaching some of the New York based labels and seeing if they needed songs. They were particularly considering Atlantic, because soul was more open to outside songwriters than other genres. As it happened, though, they didn't have to approach Atlantic, because Atlantic approached them. They were walking down Broadway when a limousine pulled up, and Jerry Wexler stuck his head out of the window. He'd come up with a good title that he wanted to use for a song for Aretha, would they be interested in writing a song called "Natural Woman"? They said of course they would, and Wexler drove off. They wrote the song that night, and King recorded a demo the next morning: [Excerpt: Carole King, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (demo)"] They gave Wexler a co-writing credit because he had suggested the title.  King later wrote in her autobiography "Hearing Aretha's performance of “Natural Woman” for the first time, I experienced a rare speechless moment. To this day I can't convey how I felt in mere words. Anyone who had written a song in 1967 hoping it would be performed by a singer who could take it to the highest level of excellence, emotional connection, and public exposure would surely have wanted that singer to be Aretha Franklin." She went on to say "But a recording that moves people is never just about the artist and the songwriters. It's about people like Jerry and Ahmet, who matched the songwriters with a great title and a gifted artist; Arif Mardin, whose magnificent orchestral arrangement deserves the place it will forever occupy in popular music history; Tom Dowd, whose engineering skills captured the magic of this memorable musical moment for posterity; and the musicians in the rhythm section, the orchestral players, and the vocal contributions of the background singers—among them the unforgettable “Ah-oo!” after the first line of the verse. And the promotion and marketing people helped this song reach more people than it might have without them." And that's correct -- unlike "Chain of Fools", this time Franklin did let Arif Mardin do most of the arrangement work -- though she came up with the piano part that Spooner Oldham plays on the record. Mardin said that because of the song's hymn-like feel they wanted to go for a more traditional written arrangement. He said "She loved the song to the point where she said she wanted to concentrate on the vocal and vocal alone. I had written a string chart and horn chart to augment the chorus and hired Ralph Burns to conduct. After just a couple of takes, we had it. That's when Ralph turned to me with wonder in his eyes. Ralph was one of the most celebrated arrangers of the modern era. He had done ‘Early Autumn' for Woody Herman and Stan Getz, and ‘Georgia on My Mind' for Ray Charles. He'd worked with everyone. ‘This woman comes from another planet' was all Ralph said. ‘She's just here visiting.'” [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"] By this point there was a well-functioning team making Franklin's records -- while the production credits would vary over the years, they were all essentially co-productions by the team of Franklin, Wexler, Mardin and Dowd, all collaborating and working together with a more-or-less unified purpose, and the backing was always by the same handful of session musicians and some combination of the Sweet Inspirations and Aretha's sisters. That didn't mean that occasional guests couldn't get involved -- as we discussed in the Cream episode, Eric Clapton played guitar on "Good to Me as I am to You": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Good to Me as I am to You"] Though that was one of the rare occasions on one of these records where something was overdubbed. Clapton apparently messed up the guitar part when playing behind Franklin, because he was too intimidated by playing with her, and came back the next day to redo his part without her in the studio. At this point, Aretha was at the height of her fame. Just before the final batch of album sessions began she appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and she was making regular TV appearances, like one on the Mike Douglas Show where she duetted with Frankie Valli on "That's Life": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin and Frankie Valli, "That's Life"] But also, as Wexler said “Her career was kicking into high gear. Contending and resolving both the professional and personal challenges were too much. She didn't think she could do both, and I didn't blame her. Few people could. So she let the personal slide and concentrated on the professional. " Her concert promoter Ruth Bowen said of this time "Her father and Dr. King were putting pressure on her to sing everywhere, and she felt obligated. The record company was also screaming for more product. And I had a mountain of offers on my desk that kept getting higher with every passing hour. They wanted her in Europe. They wanted her in Latin America. They wanted her in every major venue in the U.S. TV was calling. She was being asked to do guest appearances on every show from Carol Burnett to Andy Williams to the Hollywood Palace. She wanted to do them all and she wanted to do none of them. She wanted to do them all because she's an entertainer who burns with ambition. She wanted to do none of them because she was emotionally drained. She needed to go away and renew her strength. I told her that at least a dozen times. She said she would, but she didn't listen to me." The pressures from her father and Dr King are a recurring motif in interviews with people about this period. Franklin was always a very political person, and would throughout her life volunteer time and money to liberal political causes and to the Democratic Party, but this was the height of her activism -- the Civil Rights movement was trying to capitalise on the gains it had made in the previous couple of years, and celebrity fundraisers and performances at rallies were an important way to do that. And at this point there were few bigger celebrities in America than Aretha Franklin. At a concert in her home town of Detroit on February the sixteenth, 1968, the Mayor declared the day Aretha Franklin Day. At the same show, Billboard, Record World *and* Cash Box magazines all presented her with plaques for being Female Vocalist of the Year. And Dr. King travelled up to be at the show and congratulate her publicly for all her work with his organisation, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Backstage at that show, Dr. King talked to Aretha's father, Reverend Franklin, about what he believed would be the next big battle -- a strike in Memphis: [Excerpt, Martin Luther King, "Mountaintop Speech" -- "And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy—what is the other bread?—Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart's bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven't been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying, they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right."] The strike in question was the Memphis Sanitation Workers' strike which had started a few days before.  The struggle for Black labour rights was an integral part of the civil rights movement, and while it's not told that way in the sanitised version of the story that's made it into popular culture, the movement led by King was as much about economic justice as social justice -- King was a democratic socialist, and believed that economic oppression was both an effect of and cause of other forms of racial oppression, and that the rights of Black workers needed to be fought for. In 1967 he had set up a new organisation, the Poor People's Campaign, which was set to march on Washington to demand a program that included full employment, a guaranteed income -- King was strongly influenced in his later years by the ideas of Henry George, the proponent of a universal basic income based on land value tax -- the annual building of half a million affordable homes, and an end to the war in Vietnam. This was King's main focus in early 1968, and he saw the sanitation workers' strike as a major part of this campaign. Memphis was one of the most oppressive cities in the country, and its largely Black workforce of sanitation workers had been trying for most of the 1960s to unionise, and strike-breakers had been called in to stop them, and many of them had been fired by their white supervisors with no notice. They were working in unsafe conditions, for utterly inadequate wages, and the city government were ardent segregationists. After two workers had died on the first of February from using unsafe equipment, the union demanded changes -- safer working conditions, better wages, and recognition of the union. The city council refused, and almost all the sanitation workers stayed home and stopped work. After a few days, the council relented and agreed to their terms, but the Mayor, Henry Loeb, an ardent white supremacist who had stood on a platform of opposing desegregation, and who had previously been the Public Works Commissioner who had put these unsafe conditions in place, refused to listen. As far as he was concerned, he was the only one who could recognise the union, and he wouldn't. The workers continued their strike, marching holding signs that simply read "I am a Man": [Excerpt: Stevie Wonder, "Blowing in the Wind"] The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the NAACP had been involved in organising support for the strikes from an early stage, and King visited Memphis many times. Much of the time he spent visiting there was spent negotiating with a group of more militant activists, who called themselves The Invaders and weren't completely convinced by King's nonviolent approach -- they believed that violence and rioting got more attention than non-violent protests. King explained to them that while he had been persuaded by Gandhi's writings of the moral case for nonviolent protest, he was also persuaded that it was pragmatically necessary -- asking the young men "how many guns do we have and how many guns do they have?", and pointing out as he often did that when it comes to violence a minority can't win against an armed majority. Rev Franklin went down to Memphis on the twenty-eighth of March to speak at a rally Dr. King was holding, but as it turned out the rally was cancelled -- the pre-rally march had got out of hand, with some people smashing windows, and Memphis police had, like the police in Detroit the previous year, violently overreacted, clubbing and gassing protestors and shooting and killing one unarmed teenage boy, Larry Payne. The day after Payne's funeral, Dr King was back in Memphis, though this time Rev Franklin was not with him. On April the third, he gave a speech which became known as the "Mountaintop Speech", in which he talked about the threats that had been made to his life: [Excerpt: Martin Luther King, "Mountaintop Speech": “And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."] The next day, Martin Luther King was shot dead. James Earl Ray, a white supremacist, pled guilty to the murder, and the evidence against him seems overwhelming from what I've read, but the King family have always claimed that the murder was part of a larger conspiracy and that Ray was not the gunman. Aretha was obviously distraught, and she attended the funeral, as did almost every other prominent Black public figure. James Baldwin wrote of the funeral: "In the pew directly before me sat Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis, Eartha Kitt—covered in black, looking like a lost, ten-year-old girl—and Sidney Poitier, in the same pew, or nearby. Marlon saw me, and nodded. The atmosphere was black, with a tension indescribable—as though something, perhaps the heavens, perhaps the earth, might crack. Everyone sat very still. The actual service sort of washed over me, in waves. It wasn't that it seemed unreal; it was the most real church service I've ever sat through in my life, or ever hope to sit through; but I have a childhood hangover thing about not weeping in public, and I was concentrating on holding myself together. I did not want to weep for Martin, tears seemed futile. But I may also have been afraid, and I could not have been the only one, that if I began to weep I would not be able to stop. There was more than enough to weep for, if one was to weep—so many of us, cut down, so soon. Medgar, Malcolm, Martin: and their widows, and their children. Reverend Ralph David Abernathy asked a certain sister to sing a song which Martin had loved—“Once more,” said Ralph David, “for Martin and for me,” and he sat down." Many articles and books on Aretha Franklin say that she sang at King's funeral. In fact she didn't, but there's a simple reason for the confusion. King's favourite song was the Thomas Dorsey gospel song "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", and indeed almost his last words were to ask a trumpet player, Ben Branch, if he would play the song at the rally he was going to be speaking at on the day of his death. At his request, Mahalia Jackson, his old friend, sang the song at his private funeral, which was not filmed, unlike the public part of the funeral that Baldwin described. Four months later, though, there was another public memorial for King, and Franklin did sing "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" at that service, in front of King's weeping widow and children, and that performance *was* filmed, and gets conflated in people's memories with Jackson's unfilmed earlier performance: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord (at Martin Luther King Memorial)"] Four years later, she would sing that at Mahalia Jackson's funeral. Through all this, Franklin had been working on her next album, Aretha Now, the sessions for which started more or less as soon as the sessions for Lady Soul had finished. The album was, in fact, bookended by deaths that affected Aretha. Just as King died at the end of the sessions, the beginning came around the time of the death of Otis Redding -- the sessions were cancelled for a day while Wexler travelled to Georgia for Redding's funeral, which Franklin was too devastated to attend, and Wexler would later say that the extra emotion in her performances on the album came from her emotional pain at Redding's death. The lead single on the album, "Think", was written by Franklin and -- according to the credits anyway -- her husband Ted White, and is very much in the same style as "Respect", and became another of her most-loved hits: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Think"] But probably the song on Aretha Now that now resonates the most is one that Jerry Wexler tried to persuade her not to record, and was only released as a B-side. Indeed, "I Say a Little Prayer" was a song that had already once been a hit after being a reject.  Hal David, unlike Burt Bacharach, was a fairly political person and inspired by the protest song movement, and had been starting to incorporate his concerns about the political situation and the Vietnam War into his lyrics -- though as with many such writers, he did it in much less specific ways than a Phil Ochs or a Bob Dylan. This had started with "What the World Needs Now is Love", a song Bacharach and David had written for Jackie DeShannon in 1965: [Excerpt: Jackie DeShannon, "What the "World Needs Now is Love"] But he'd become much more overtly political for "The Windows of the World", a song they wrote for Dionne Warwick. Warwick has often said it's her favourite of her singles, but it wasn't a big hit -- Bacharach blamed himself for that, saying "Dionne recorded it as a single and I really blew it. I wrote a bad arrangement and the tempo was too fast, and I really regret making it the way I did because it's a good song." [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "The Windows of the World"] For that album, Bacharach and David had written another track, "I Say a Little Prayer", which was not as explicitly political, but was intended by David to have an implicit anti-war message, much like other songs of the period like "Last Train to Clarksville". David had sons who were the right age to be drafted, and while it's never stated, "I Say a Little Prayer" was written from the perspective of a woman whose partner is away fighting in the war, but is still in her thoughts: [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "I Say a Little Prayer"] The recording of Dionne Warwick's version was marked by stress. Bacharach had a particular way of writing music to tell the musicians the kind of feel he wanted for the part -- he'd write nonsense words above the stave, and tell the musicians to play the parts as if they were singing those words. The trumpet player hired for the session, Ernie Royal, got into a row with Bacharach about this unorthodox way of communicating musical feeling, and the track ended up taking ten takes (as opposed to the normal three for a Bacharach session), with Royal being replaced half-way through the session. Bacharach was never happy with the track even after all the work it had taken, and he fought to keep it from being released at all, saying the track was taken at too fast a tempo. It eventually came out as an album track nearly eighteen months after it was recorded -- an eternity in 1960s musical timescales -- and DJs started playing it almost as soon as it came out. Scepter records rushed out a single, over Bacharach's objections, but as he later said "One thing I love about the record business is how wrong I was. Disc jockeys all across the country started playing the track, and the song went to number four on the charts and then became the biggest hit Hal and I had ever written for Dionne." [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "I Say a Little Prayer"] Oddly, the B-side for Warwick's single, "Theme From the Valley of the Dolls" did even better, reaching number two. Almost as soon as the song was released as a single, Franklin started playing around with the song backstage, and in April 1968, right around the time of Dr. King's death, she recorded a version. Much as Burt Bacharach had been against releasing Dionne Warwick's version, Jerry Wexler was against Aretha even recording the song, saying later “I advised Aretha not to record it. I opposed it for two reasons. First, to cover a song only twelve weeks after the original reached the top of the charts was not smart business. You revisit such a hit eight months to a year later. That's standard practice. But more than that, Bacharach's melody, though lovely, was peculiarly suited to a lithe instrument like Dionne Warwick's—a light voice without the dark corners or emotional depths that define Aretha. Also, Hal David's lyric was also somewhat girlish and lacked the gravitas that Aretha required. “Aretha usually listened to me in the studio, but not this time. She had written a vocal arrangement for the Sweet Inspirations that was undoubtedly strong. Cissy Houston, Dionne's cousin, told me that Aretha was on the right track—she was seeing this song in a new way and had come up with a new groove. Cissy was on Aretha's side. Tommy Dowd and Arif were on Aretha's side. So I had no choice but to cave." It's quite possible that Wexler's objections made Franklin more, rather than less, determined to record the song. She regarded Warwick as a hated rival, as she did almost every prominent female singer of her generation and younger ones, and would undoubtedly have taken the implication that there was something that Warwick was simply better at than her to heart. [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer"] Wexler realised as soon as he heard it in the studio that Franklin's version was great, and Bacharach agreed, telling Franklin's biographer David Ritz “As much as I like the original recording by Dionne, there's no doubt that Aretha's is a better record. She imbued the song with heavy soul and took it to a far deeper place. Hers is the definitive version.” -- which is surprising because Franklin's version simplifies some of Bacharach's more unusual chord voicings, something he often found extremely upsetting. Wexler still though thought there was no way the song would be a hit, and it's understandable that he thought that way. Not only had it only just been on the charts a few months earlier, but it was the kind of song that wouldn't normally be a hit at all, and certainly not in the kind of rhythmic soul music for which Franklin was known. Almost everything she ever recorded is in simple time signatures -- 4/4, waltz time, or 6/8 -- but this is a Bacharach song so it's staggeringly metrically irregular. Normally even with semi-complex things I'm usually good at figuring out how to break it down into bars, but here I actually had to purchase a copy of the sheet music in order to be sure I was right about what's going on. I'm going to count beats along with the record here so you can see what I mean. The verse has three bars of 4/4, one bar of 2/4, and three more bars of 4/4, all repeated: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer" with me counting bars over verse] While the chorus has a bar of 4/4, a bar of 3/4 but with a chord change half way through so it sounds like it's in two if you're paying attention to the harmonic changes, two bars of 4/4, another waltz-time bar sounding like it's in two, two bars of four, another bar of three sounding in two, a bar of four, then three more bars of four but the first of those is *written* as four but played as if it's in six-eight time (but you can keep the four/four pulse going if you're counting): [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer" with me counting bars over verse] I don't expect you to have necessarily followed that in great detail, but the point should be clear -- this was not some straightforward dance song. Incidentally, that bar played as if it's six/eight was something Aretha introduced to make the song even more irregular than how Bacharach wrote it. And on top of *that* of course the lyrics mixed the secular and the sacred, something that was still taboo in popular music at that time -- this is only a couple of years after Capitol records had been genuinely unsure about putting out the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows", and Franklin's gospel-inflected vocals made the religious connection even more obvious. But Franklin was insistent that the record go out as a single, and eventually it was released as the B-side to the far less impressive "The House That Jack Built". It became a double-sided hit, with the A-side making number two on the R&B chart and number seven on the Hot One Hundred, while "I Say a Little Prayer" made number three on the R&B chart and number ten overall. In the UK, "I Say a Little Prayer" made number four and became her biggest ever solo UK hit. It's now one of her most-remembered songs, while the A-side is largely forgotten: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer"] For much of the

In this episode of the Inspyre Podcast, host Sharmarke and guest Sharkysensei dive into the impactful book "Hiroshima" by John Hersey. They discuss the historical significance of the Hiroshima bombing, its aftermath, and the resilience of the Japanese people.During their conversation, they also explore the growth of Japanese culture, particularly in the form of anime, and how it has become a global phenomenon. They delve into the influence of anime on storytelling, art, and the representation of Japanese culture worldwide.Tune in to this enlightening episode to learn more about the profound impact of "Hiroshima" and the vibrant Japanese culture. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to stay updated on our latest episodes and connect with us on social media!Guest: SharkysenseiInsta: https://www.instagram.com/sharkysensei/Socials: Twitter: https://twitter.com/inspyreuk?s=21&t=rg7lx-1ptHW_Q0tdGy7wpA Instagram: https://instagram.com/inspyreuk?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA== TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@inspyreuk?_t=8d06fC4KWo9&_r=1 YouTube: https://youtube.com/@InspyreUK Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

FTP Book Club: The Manhattan Project by Al Cimono and Hiroshama by John Hersey

Chapter 1 What's Hiroshima about"Hiroshima" is a non-fiction book written by John Hersey. It was first published in 1946 and provides a detailed account of the experiences of six survivors of the atomic bomb explosion in Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, during World War II. The book follows the lives of these individuals before the bombing, their experiences during and immediately after the blast, as well as their struggles for survival and recovery in the aftermath. Hersey focuses on their personal stories, capturing the physical and emotional toll of the event on the victims and their families. Through their narratives, "Hiroshima" sheds light on the devastating power of nuclear weapons and the profound human suffering caused by the bomb. The book also offers historical context, exploring the events leading up to the bombing and the political climate surrounding it. "Hiroshima" is regarded as a powerful piece of journalism that played a significant role in raising awareness about the consequences of nuclear warfare. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the human impact of such catastrophic events and serves as a reminder of the need for global peace and disarmament.Chapter 2 Why is Hiroshima EducationalHiroshima is considered educational for several reasons: 1. Historical Significance: Hiroshima holds great historical significance as the first city to ever experience a nuclear attack. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 during World War II was a devastating event that changed the course of history and had a profound impact on global politics, warfare, and nuclear arms control. Visiting Hiroshima allows people to learn about the consequences of war and the importance of peace. 2. Peace Memorial Park: Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park is a powerful educational site dedicated to promoting peace and advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons. It features various monuments, including the A-Bomb Dome, which stands as a symbol of the atomic bomb's destructive power. The park educates visitors about the tragedy of the bombing and raises awareness about the importance of peace and nuclear disarmament. 3. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum: The museum provides detailed information about the atomic bombing, its effects on the city and its people, and the subsequent efforts towards reconstruction and peacebuilding. Exhibits include personal accounts, artifacts, photographs, and interactive displays, offering visitors an opportunity to understand the human impact of nuclear warfare and the urgent need for peaceful coexistence. 4. Hiroshima as a Model City: Following the devastation caused by the atomic bombing, Hiroshima has become a model city for post-war recovery and peacebuilding. Its educational programs and initiatives focus on promoting peace education, fostering international cooperation, and advocating for a world free of nuclear weapons. Students and researchers come to Hiroshima to study its remarkable transformation and learn from its experiences. 5. Cultural and Scientific Advancements: Hiroshima is not only known for its tragic history but also for its vibrant culture and scientific advancements. The city is home to prestigious educational institutions, including Hiroshima University, renowned for its contributions to various fields such as science, medicine, and sustainable development. These institutions offer academic opportunities and research programs that attract students and scholars from around the world. Overall, Hiroshima's educational value lies in its...

In the second in our 'BarbieHeimer' series, we turn to the Oppenheimer movie and speak with world-renowned nuclear disarmament advocate and expert, Gareth Evans, about the opportunity the movie missed in re-energising efforts to the nuclear disarmament cause. We speak with him about the need for Australia to return to its former position of influence in arms control, to focus on a policy of 4D's: - Doctrine of no first use; - De-alerting early launch status of nuclear weapons; - reducing Deployments of nuclear weapons; and - Decreasing the number of nuclear weapons. Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC KC FASSA FAIIA is Distinguished Honorary Professor at the Australian National University, where he was Chancellor from 2010-19. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor Governments from 1983-96, in the posts of Attorney General, Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for Transport and Communications and - from 1988-96 - Foreign Minister. During his 21 years in Australian politics he was Leader of the Government in the Senate (1993-96) and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives (1996-98). From 2000 to 2009 he was President and CEO of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, the independent global conflict prevention and resolution organisation. He initiated the Canberra Commission on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, co-chaired the Australia-Japan International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, was founding convenor of the Asia Pacific Leadership Network on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (APLN), and co-authored Nuclear Weapons: The State of Play (ANU, 2013 and 2015).Additional resources:Gareth Evans, 'Nuclear weapons:“Oppenheimer” won't make a difference, but Australia can', The Interpreter, 27 Jul 2023.Other publications by Gareth Evans, available here (see in particular:  Lowering the Nuclear Temperature: Australia's role; Nuclear Weapons: The State of Play;  Revisiting the case for No First Use of nuclear weapons; & Nuclear Disarmament: the global challenge.Australia-Japan ICNND Report Eliminating Nuclear Threats , Report of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, Co-Chair Yoriko Kawaguchi, 2009.George P. Shultz, William J. Perry,  Henry A. Kissinger and Sam Nunn, 'A World Free of Nuclear Weapons', The Wall Street Journal, 4 Jan 2007.John Hersey, Hiroshima, Snowball Publishing, 1946.Ward Wilson Five Myths About Nuclear Weapons, Mariner Books, 2014.Ramesh Thakur, 'Four Myths about Nuclear Weapons,'  Pearls and Irritations - John Menadue's Public Policy Journal, 4 June 2023.

Last time we spoke about the drive to Lae and Salamaua on New Guinea and the mysterious battle of the Pips. The boys on Green Hell were having a hell of a time trying to capture Mount Tambu. The Japanese had made a pillbox nightmare around Mount Tambu and reclaimed Ambush Knoll. Ambush Knoll was once again taken by the allies, by Warfe's commandos to be exact, but Mount Tambu was proving to be a much tougher nut to crack. Then in the frigid northern waters of the Aluetians, the allies had just successfully retaken Attu, but at a horrifying cost. The heavy cost convinced the allies, Kiska would be a similar bloody affair so they sought some Canadian help for its invasion. Yet before the invasion would occur one of the strangest battle of WW2 happened, the mysterious battle of the pips. The Americans found themselves firing at ghosts. But today we are venturing over to New Georgia. This episode is the Fall of Munda Welcome to the Pacific War Podcast Week by Week, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800's until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.  The New Georgia campaign in many ways was akin to Guadalcanal. The Americans had suddenly invaded the island, landing numerous troops before the Japanese could coordinate a way to thwart them. Once the troops were landed, then the Japanese decided to react, and by react I mean tossing troops of their own on the island to dislodge the Americans. But just like with the Guadalcanal campaign, the war of transportation was not one the IJN could seemingly win against the Americans. By 2nd of July US forces led by the US 43rd Division, held an overwhelming advantage of 15,000 troops compared to 9,000 Japanese, who had landed at Zannana with a view to attacking westwards towards Munda Point. It was a battle that took far longer than the Allies had envisaged. Stubborn Japanese resistance and their ability to infiltrate US lines and cut supplies meant an advance at a snail's pace, despite their control of the air and sea. Yet while the Americans were chipping away, bit by bit at the outskirts of New Georgia, the real defensive position was of course, Munda. Up until this point Major General Minoru Sasaki had done a great job of delaying the Americans while pulling his forces back to make a stand at Munda. Indeed the Americans had a terrible time fighting the Japanese and mother nature, as Sergeant Antony Coulis described one advance thus “We alternatively crawled up and down greasy ridges. We forded numerous jungle streams and swam three of them. The repeated torture of plunging into icy streams; the chopping away of endless underbrush and foliage; the continuous drizzle of rain; the days without hot food or drink; the mosquitoes tormenting us at night. It was sheer physical torture …” Sasaki had constructed a barrage of defensive entrenchments around the airport around Munda to halt the US advance. As Admiral Halsey recalled “Rugged as jungle fighting is by now we should have been within reach of our objective, the airfield. Something was wrong.” The now deceased Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's plan to turn the Solomons into a killing machine in order to force the United States to parley for a negotiated peace, seemed to be working. With the battle turning into a stalemate, on 15 July Halsey sent the famously tough Major-General Oscar Griswold, of the 14th Army Corps to New Georgia. Major-General John Hester, who had turned down help from the Marines, was relieved from command of the 43rd Division and replaced by Guadalcanal veteran Major-General John Hodge. A Landing Craft Tank Captain named Jack Johnson  described the operation as a “screw-up. General Hester was army. I had him aboard one time. He was a little fart. He wore these high lace-up boots and carried a riding crop.” However, a lot of the blame would be placed on Rear-Admiral Turner, the commander of the amphibious forces who had insisted that Hester should retain divisional command as well as overall command of the landing operations.It also did not help that the 43rd “National Guard Division” were untested in battle. Griswold would find them in a state of near psychological collapse, prompting him to request reinforcements from the 37th division. The 37th division was led by General Beightler who was manning Reincke Ridge while to the south near the beach were the 43rd division under General Hester's command until the 29th and the 25th division of General Lawton Collins. Additionally Marine tanks of the 10th defense battalion from Rendova were arriving to replace recent losses and they would be critically needed to face the nightmarish Japanese pillboxes the Americans would be facing. In front of the Americans was a complex of camouflaged and mutually supporting pillboxes and fortifications amidst thick jungle. These defenses dominated several high features including Shimizu Hill, Horseshoe Hill, Kelley Hill and Reincke Ridge. They were made out of crushed coral and coconut logs dug several feet into the ground, with just a small portion poking out for their machine gunners and riflemen. It was these types of defenses that had plagued Hesters assaults. Across a frontage of around 3200 yards, Sasaki had established a series of these defenses along a northwestern axis going from the beach to Ilangana. Before the offensive could be kicked off, 161st regiment led by Colonel James Dalton discovered the Japanese held the Bartley ridge due east of Horseshoe hill. Their reconnaissance indicated double-logged pillboxes. Bartley ridge would be the most forward of the defensive positions and thus needed to be seized first.  To meet the enemy Sasaki ordered Colonel Tomonari's forces to launch a second counterattack against whatever allied forces showed up on the northern flank and he also requested the recently landed Yano battalion to reinforce the northern flank. However Tomonari's men had suffered tremendous casualties and he was still trying to rally the scattered men along the rugged highlands. Meanwhile Colonel Yano was only able to send his 7th company to take up a position northwest of the 3rd battalion holding Sankaku hill, because his other men were needed to defend Vila. Because of this Sasaki ordered the depleted 1st battalion, 229th regiment to reinforce the Ilangana line. Colonel Hirata placed the 1st battalion along the line between Sato's 2nd battalion and Kojima's 3rd, which would turn out to be a key position. The offensive kicked off at first light on July 25th. Commander Arleigh Burke took 7 destroyers through the Blanche Channel and bombarded the Lambete plantation for 43 minutes firing more than 4000 5 inch shells. Nearly at the same time, the new commander of AriSols, Brigadier General Than Twining sent 171 bombers and 100 fighters to hit Munda, the largest air strike thus far in the area. As Burke's destroyers were firing 5 inch shells, B-24's and B-17's led the air attack, followed by B-25's, Dauntless and Avengers. It was described by many eyewitnesses as “the greatest show on earth”. The Japanese were only able to toss back 57 Zeros at 9:40am who were intercepted quickly by a Rendova patrol of 29 fighters who shot down 6 zeros and lost 4 of their own. But from 6:30-7am, the 254 aircraft managed to drop 500,800 lbs of fragmentation and high explosive bombs over the target area, a roughly 1500 by 250 yard strip. The result was enormous clouds of smoke hanging all over Munda, but Japanese casualties were considerably light. As the bombardment was quieting down, Griswold unleashed the ground forces supported by the 43rd divisions artillery who were firing more than 2150 105mm howitzer shells and 1182 155mm howitzer shells. Colonel Brown's 103rd regiment advanced upon Ilangana point while the 172nd tried to envelop Shimizu Hill, supported by 5 tanks. The 172nd tossed their 2nd and 3rd battalions around the left and right of Shimizu hill, but by 10am, even with the 5 tanks the Japanese pillboxes had halted them in their tracks. 3 of the tanks were disabled because of vapor lock and a ton of time was wasted by infantry trying to extricate them. THe 3rd battalion on the lefthand side, tried to fight through machine gun and mortar fire, but found it impossible. The men tried to move around the pillboxes but found themselves fired upon by other machine gun positions. The 2nd battalion, 103rd regiment attacked in the center of the 43rd divisions zone and managed to progress 300 yards against lighter opposition. bY 10:40am Company E managed to advance 500 yards and by noon reached a beach near Terere. As Company E tried hastily to create a defendable position, the Japanese moved behind them cutting their telephone lines back to the battalion HQ. Seeing the opening, General Hester tossed in some of his reserves in the form of Ramsey's 3rd battalion, 169th regiment. They were ordered to charge through the same gap made by 3 Company. But as they marched towards the gap they were met with enfilade fire from the southern part of Shimizu hill and from some pillboxes to the south. The 169th were unable to exploit the gap and now E company was forced to pull back lest they be encircled and annihilated. To the north, Beightler kept his 145th and 148th regiments in reserve until Bartley ridge was neutralized. Dalton sent I Company to contain the Japanese pocket by attacking it frontally while the 1st battalion and rest of the 3rd battalion performed a double envelopment. The 1st battalion went around the left while the 3rd took the right, seeing both driving southward and northward for 200 yards. The 1st battalion led by Lt Colonel Slaftcho Katsarky advanced 700 yards with only light opposition, but over on the other side the 3rd battalion of Lt Colonel David Buchanan were halted at the offset by heavy machine gun fire. By the 2nd of the day the 3rd battalion would establish itself in a containing position north,south and east of Bartley ridge. E Company had to be taken out of reserve and sent into the line on some high ground due north of Bartley ridge to secure the right flank of the 161st zone. The 1st battalion advanced a further 400 yards west of Bartley and took up a position on a small rise northeast of Horseshoe hill. With the southern advance stalling somewhat, Colonel Stuart Baxter of the 148th was ordered to help the 161st's efforts at reducing the pocket on Bartley ridge. He performed a limited advance and his 2nd battalion led by Lt Colonel Herbert Radcliffe gained 600 yards without meeting Japanese resistance. Meeting no resistance, the 1st battalion led by Lt Colonel Vernor Hydaker took up the 2nd battalions position as they advanced further, allowing engineers of the 117th engineer battalion to construct a supply trail behind them.  Despite all of this Griswold was frustrated by the failure of his 43rd division performance. Ultimately Griswold blamed General Hester who he wrote about in his diary that night  “I am afraid Hester is too nice for a battle soldier. He is sick and all done in. Tonight I am requesting his relief from the division.” The next day he ordered the exhausted 172nd to hold their position while the 10rd would advance 800 yards from Ilangana for Terere. To support them the artillery bombarded for over an hour, allowed the 103rd to advance with some tanks in the vanguard. A crucial component of their advance would be the 118th engineer battalion led by 2nd Lt James Olds an acting corps chemical officer, whose men were equipped with flamethrowers who went to work spilling fire over enemy pillboxes. This led to the vegetation over and around them being incarcerated in a matter of seconds and many pillboxes were simply wiped out.  As I had said a few times in this series, the flamethrower would be one of the most devastating weapons in island hopping warfare. The flamethrower was gradually employed by both assault and mop up operations. However useful as it was, it did hold some disadvantages. The equipment as you can imagine was quite large and heavy, required the operator to get very close to the enemy positions and thus extremely vulnerable. For flamethrower personnel to be able to close the distance required rifle team protection. But what if you could alleviate these vulnerabilities by slapping a big flamethrower to a tank? Generals like Griswold and Harmon at this point began mounting flamethrowers to tanks and although it would not see the limelight at Munda, the Firetank as they would become known would become the most devastating weapon against Japanese defenses. By the midafternoon, Browns 10rd regiment managed to reduce around 74 pillboxes along a 600 yard front, successfully occupying Ilangana and continuing the coastal advance until Kia. While it was a great victory for Hester, it failed to change Griswolds mind about relieving him. Back over in the north, Beightler ordered another assault of Bartley's ridge. 6 light marine tanks of the 10th defense battalion led the charge at 9am. Companies L and K advanced in columns behind the tanks, tossing heavy fire from .30 caliber Browning automatic rifles (known as BAR's for my Call of Duty world at war veterans) and 2 flamethrowers. Unfortunately for the two guys carrying the flamethrowers, they were not properly protected by their rifle teams and were killed quickly. Very much like the learning of how to perform amphibious landings, it would take time to learn how to effectively use flamethrower units. The man managed to overrun a dozen or so pillboxes, but the terrain soon forced Dalton to frantically order men to extricate stuck tanks. During the morning hours a Japanese soldier burst out of the brush and planted a magnetic mine to one of the stuck tanks disabling it. A second tank was hit in its fuel line by gunfire while the remaining tanks managed to pull back and reorganize by 11am. After 5 hours of combat, Buchanan's 3rd battalion had lost 29 men and only progressed 200 yards and thus was forced to pull back again.  On the 27th, Beightler committed his 2nd battalion, 145th regiment to reduce the defenders on Horseshoe hill. They managed to occupy a knoll connecting Horseshoe hill called Wing Hill, but heavy fire from Horseshoe hill eventually dislodges them. Meanwhile Colonel Tomonari finally managed to rally his men together for an attack against the 148th northern flank, while Sasaki sent a machine gun detachment, which was actually some anti-aircraft gunners to ambush the 148th engineers causing Colonel Baxter to order Companies A and D to rush over to protect them. Further south, General Hester began tossing some more aggressive actions in combination with artillery and mortar bombardments, gradually pushing the Japanese off high grounds. The 43rd division was slowly advancing yard by yard on the right flank, now reaching within 500 yards of the coast, but the 8 tanks of the 9th defense battalion were demolished in the attacks. On the 29th, the 1st battalion, 169th regiment had to be brought over from Rendova to take up a position between the 103rd and 172nd regiments. Alongside 4 tanks from the 10th defense battalion and some engineers wielding flamethrowers, Hester now had enough hardened forces to push the Japanese. Because of the continuous fighting, all the American regiments were becoming veterans. Pockets of Japanese that would have once held back an entire american battalion, possibly even a regiment were not being reducing quickly and efficiently. The technique for reducing pillboxes, whether it be from isolating them or overwhelming them was becoming mastered. Broken down this process began with a complete non-combative reconnaissance of the Japanese defenses. This was followed up by a reconnaissance in force, usually by a platoon with extra units who would uncover a portion of the Japanese positions. The assault consisted of  parts: preparing an artillery bombardment usually consisting of mortars, firing off the bombardment, then storming in. The bombardments usually got rid of the brush and foliage improving visibility so the enemy could be targeted and damaged. If done efficiently, the Japanese would flee their pillboxes to take refuge. Flamethrowers and tanks made the process a lot easier for the finishing touch part. Soon the Japanese were being pushed to the crest of Shimizu hill. However while Hester was definitely picking things up better with the 43rd division, Griswold was determined to relieve him of command, feeling the man had exhausted himself. Now Major General John Hodge would take over the 43rd. Meanwhile to the north, the Beightlers 161st regiment infiltrated abandoned pillboxes on Bartley ridge near its crest. Over on Horseshoe Hill the Japanese were being hit with heavy bombardments while the 2nd battalion reoccupied Wing Hill and Companies G and F crept their way up the crest of the hill. However once near the crest they began to be pinned down by machine gun fire. The 1st battalion was hitting the hill from the southeast meeting heavy fire as well and they managed to reach 15 yards on top of the crest before being halted. By 5:30pm, the 2nd battalion was forced to withdraw to the foot of the hill, but two companies from the 1st battalion dug in on the crest. The americans lost 24 men died with 40 wounded. On the other side, during the night, Tomonari's main forces of 400 men arrived ready to attack at dawn. They attempted to move behind the rear of the 148th as Baxter's troops were advancing to Bibilo Hill. Baxter's force was spread out quite thinly across 1500 or so yards and they happened to be around 800 yards west of their main regimental ration and ammunition dump. The Japanese from a high ground position began firing down upon them with machine guns, rifles and grenades as forward units stormed the rations and ammunition dump. A ragtag group of service company soldiers rush over to defend the dumb returning fire upon the Japanese. Major Frank Hipp of the 148th took command of the force managing to hold back the Japanese. However as a result of this near catastrophe, Beightler ordered Baxter to withdraw on the 29th. Beightler believed the enemy was coming through a gap between the 148th and 161st greatly worrying him.  Back over at Horseshoe hill, Companies G and F reached the crest while E company was hitting its northern side, supported by machine gun crews from H company. The fighting for the north side resulted in hand to hand combat seeing E company make some progress. But by nightfall the 2nd battalion again was again withdrawing down the hill. The actions ended disastrously, as the men were hit hard as they withdrew down the hill taking enormous casualties and gaining nothing in the process. On the 30th, Bartley Ridge and Shimizu Hill remained in Japanese hands as Beightler and Hodge were reorganizing their exhausted forces. That morning, Baxter finally began his withdrawal, miserably under heavy rain, with Tomonari's troops harassing them with ambushes. The ambushes caused Baxter to order the men to dig in around the supply dump and that night saw numerous soldiers dying for water begin to use their helmets as rain catchers. The next day the 148th attempted another break through, but Tomonari's machine gun crews hammered them back towards the supply dump for another night. At this point Sasaki received new orders instructing him to keep the supply lines to Kolombanagara secure. He elected to prepare his men to withdraw to a new defensive line that would be anchored at Kokenggolo Hill to the right, running east of Bibilo hill towards the Munda-Bairoko trail, then it would pass north to Hachiman Hill. Yano and his battalion were ordered to come over from Kolombangara to take up a position at Sankaku hill; Hirata's 229th regiment would hold Kokenggolo Hill and Tomonari would take up a position at Hachiman Hill. These orders came after the Japanese defenders had suffered tremendous losses over days of fighting. In truth the Japanese defensive line was formidable facing the American 14th corps, and indeed the Americans had been held back for a long time. But the Americans brought terrible power, their naval, artillery and aerial bombing was constant and hammered the Japanese. By late July most of the Japanese emplacements near Munda were in shambles. Rifle companies that were typically 170 men strong had shrunken significantly, some down as low as 20 men. The 229th regiment numbered only 1245 effective men. The hospitals could not hope to care for all the sick and wounded as constant shelling rained hell from above. Aside from the sick and wounded, as a major result of the shelling, many men were suffering nervous disorders, to use the old term shell shock, but today we'd call it  Combat Stress Reaction “CSR”. To compensate for the losses, Colonel Hirata simply ordered his men of the 229th to kill 10 americans for every Japanese and to do so to the death. That's the kind of, I guess what the Japanese at the time would call fighting spirit, something that made the Japanese armed forces during WW2 unique, perhaps rather tragically.  General Imamura decided to reinforce Vila with the 3rd battalion, 23rd regiment and six companies to buff up the 1th and 229th regiments. This freed up the Yano battalion to take up their new position on the new defensive line. Yet still in the meantime, Japanese were still defending Shimizu and Horseshoe Hill to give the rest of the forces time to withdraw. On the 31st Major Francis Carberry's 2nd Battalion, 161st charged up Bartley ridge finding no resistance. Then at 4:45pm the 15th field artillery began firing on Horseshoe Hill while the American forces near its crest tried to dislodge the Japanese. Again they were unsuccessful. By the afternoon Japanese were withdrawing from the Ilagana line, covered by fire from Horseshoe hill. During the night Tomonari led his men to withdraw, but a Avenger spotted his force fleeing through a valley overheard and called in an artillery strike. One of the shells hit Tomonari's HQ killing a lot of his staff and nearly him. Tomonari's force had to abandon a lot of equipment, but by dawn of August 1st they had managed to assemble at Kokenggolo and Bibilo Hills. His 2nd battalion alongside Hara's quick fire battalion went into the tunnels of Kokenggolo Hill while the rest of the 1st and 3rd battalions dug in on Bibilo Hill.  Baxter received a message over radio on the 1st of August from General Beightler “time is precious, you must move, get going haste is essential”. The order was to get every man Baxter had and take Shimizu hill. Baxter rallied Companies A, E, B and G into a skirmish line with bayonets fixed and charged at 850am. By 9:30am the exhausted Americans reached Katsarsky's position where they handed the weary men fresh water and some hot food. Shimizu hill was theres. Meanwhile the 103rd regiment began their own attack. Hodge sent Companies E, F and G to march upon Lambeti which they did, finding no opposition. The rest of the 43rd found no opposition as they marched across Shimizu Hill, by 3pm they advanced 700 yards. Beightlers men captured Horseshoe Hill without firing a shot and as darkness fell on the 1st of august, Griswold ordered a general advance for the next day. Admiral Wilkinson brought a convoy bearing fresh troops of the 27th regiment to aid Beightlers right flank, but it took them until August the 3rd to get into combat assembly. In the meantime August the 1st would bring with it a significant increase in artillery bombardment. The 43rd divisions artillery commander, Brigadier General Harold Barker fired 2000 rounds on the 1st, followed by 2000 more on the 2nd, an incredible 7300 rounds on the 3rd and 3600 on the 4th. The Munda area was turned into an inferno. Yano lost the commander and all platoon leaders of the 8th company; 5 officers died atop Bibilo hill; Hara Masao was killed leaving his 1st battalion to be commanded by Sato on August 2nd; the tunnels of Kokenggolo Hill were one of the few safe planes, but a direct hit collapses an entrance to Sato's tunnel, burying him along with 60 men, requiring an entire day to dig them out. The Japanese were forced to take refuge wherever they could, preventing Sasaki from stabilizing his new defensive line. Captain Sugiura Kaju brought reinforcements from the 7th and 8th combined SNLF to Erventa where he loaded up the 3rd battalion, 23rd regiment to head for the Vella Gulf under the escort of Admiral Nishimuras cruisers Susuya, Chokai, Kumano, Sendai and destroyer Amagiri. However the naval force was intercepted by PT boats near the Blackett strait. The PT boats fired torpedoes at the Japanese destroyers, but none hit a target. Sugiura was able to land the reinforcements around Webster Cove, but the Amagiri rammed PT 109 just forward of her starboard torpedo tube ripping away the starboard aft side of the boat. Two men were killed, and one John F Kennedy, yes the future president was tossed around the cockpit of PT 109. Kennedy got the rest of the men to abandon ship around 11 in all. A few of them had serious burns and they were forced to swim for an islet 3.5 miles away known as Plum Pudding Island. Kennedy was the first to reach the island and he proceeded to help tow others to the island. The island was unoccupied, but a company of Sasebo 6th SNLF were nearby on another islet called Gizo. Seeing Japanese barges moving around, the Americans would make their way east to an island near Ferguson passage called Leorava island. It would not be until the night of August 7th when the coastwatch Lt Reginald Evans found them and helped them reach PT 157. For his courage and leadership Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal alongside a purple heart for injuries he suffered. However the medals would pale in comparisons to the story written about the event by John Hersey for the New Yorker and Reader's digest which would give Kennedy a strong foundation politically.  Back to the battle, on August 2nd, Griswold's forces advanced across the entire front and by the late afternoon the 103rd regiment had already reached the outer taxiways of Munda airfield; the 169th were approaching Bibilo Hill; and the 37th division were 700 yards ahead of Horseshoe hill. By the end of the day, the Japanese defensive line was basically Kokenggolo to Bibilo Hill and the Americans were closing in on both. The 103rd and 169th had units around the eastern end of the airfield, many men using wrecked Japanese aircraft as defendable positions. The 145th and 161st were on the eastern ridges of Bibilo hill and the 148th were about to cut the Munda-Bairoko trail. The Yano battalion's position was taken so quickly, the Americans had failed to notice they had overrun it. Thus Yano withdrew northwards. On August 3rd, the general advance continued and with more open terrain present, mortars became a lot more effective speeding it up. The 169th were advancing up the eastern end of Kokenggolo Hill; to the north, the 145th were advancing up the eastern ridges of Bibilo Hill the 161st were breaking through on the right and the 148th were now along the Munda-Bairoko trail. The situation was desperate that night so Sasaki was forced to order the men to withdraw yet again, now towards Zieta. Hirata's 229th regiment was to hold their position until sundown to give everyone time, then act as a rearguard until they could withdraw to Kongo Hill. Sasaki likewise moved his HQ to the Kure 6th Farm at Zieta. The next morning brought further misery upon the Japanese in the form of an airstrike. At 7:20am 25 Dauntless, 24 Avengers and 24 B-25's bombed Gurasai-Kindu Point, which is just due west of Munda airfield were the Japanese had constructed fortifications and emplaced many anti aircraft guns. Griswold did not let up seeing perhaps the final push against Munda before him. Hodge's 43rd division with marine tanks leading the way attacked Kokenggolo Hill. Beightler's 25th division were striking against the Japanese northern flank, freeing up the 148th and 161st to advance west towards the beach. The defenders at Kokenggolo Hill offered strong resistance as they withdrew towards Kong Hill before the 161st managed to break through to the sea. The fiercest fighting would be found on Bibilo hill, where the 145th were fighting against the dug in 229th regiment. By the end of the day, both the 148th and 161st broke through to the sea north of Kokenggolo hill and the 145th nearly cleared Bibilo hill as the Japanese fled along a trail going to the Kure 6th farm. With Bibilo Hill reduced, the Japanese began abandoning Kong Hill to continue retreating northwards.  Griswold's 43rd division tossed mortars, infantry and tanks across Kokenggolo Hill driving away the last of the Japanese from tunnels, bunkers and pillboxes. Their forces soon crossed the western part of the Munda airfield. General Wing grabbed a military telephone and called General Hodge from Bibilo Hill stating “Munda is yours at 2:10 today”. Inturn Griswold radioed the good news over to Admiral Halsey "...Our ground forces today wrested Munda from the Japs and present it to you… as the sole owner…" Halsey then replied with "a custody receipt for Munda… Keep 'em dying." Munda had fallen at long last. The Americans had suffered  4994 casualties since July 2nd, the Japanese had 4683 death with a untold amount of wounded. With Munda captured, Tomonari was ordered to withdraw to Kolombangara to take command of the Vila defenses while Sasaki would move his HQ to Bairoko then move by barge to Vila as well. The 3rd battalion, 23rd regiment was deployed at Baanga island to cover the Japanese withdrawal using mountain guns. Admiral Ota's SNLF marines were to defend Arundel island. While these forces made their retreat, Admiral Samejima elected to carry out another reinforcement run. He would transport the Mikami battalion and on August the 6th with Admiral Ijuin carrying two other companies of replacements to Buin, Sugiura was once again sailing for Kolombangara. Sugiura had the destroyers Hagikaze, Kawakaze and Arashi while Ijuin had the destroyer Shigure. Meanwhile Admiral Wilkinson received reports from a PBY that sighted Sugiura's ships passing by the Buka Passage, so he ordered Commander Frederick Moosbrugger to depart Tulagi and sweep the Vella Gulf. Moosbrugger had the destroyers Stack, Sterret, Lang, Dunlap, Craven and Maury. He sailed south of Rendova to enter the Vella Gulf. He took his time going 15 knots to create as little wake as possible so Japanese floatplanes would not spot him and he was northwest of the coast of Kolombanaga by 11:25pm. Moosbrugger's plan  was to divide his force into two formations; a torpedo division consisting of Dunlap, Craven and Maury, and a Gun division consisting of Lang Sterett and Stack. The torpedo group would attack first once rader contact was made while the Gun group would cut across the bows of the enemy and open fire as the torpedo's were expected to hit. This was to be the first time in the Solomons campaign that the US navy planned to use torpedo's as its primary weapon. All 6 of Moosbruggers destroyers held SG radar, but much more importantly at this time an advancement had been made to fix the idiotic mark 14 torpedoes. The defective magnetic exploder was fixed and the settings that made them run too deep was fixed. Admiral King was responsible for the first fix while Moosebrugger on his own accord ordered the torpedoes to be set at a minimum running depth of 5 feet. Sugiura knew fell well he most likely did not hold the element of surprise, but he was prepared to fight as he entered the Vella Gulf with his destroyer Hagikaze in the lead. Moosebruggers force was passing through the Gizo strait before turning southeast towards Blackett strait. Then the Americans turned north up the gulf with the torpedo group leading the way during the dark hours when at 11:33 Dunlaps radar made a contact, bearing 19700 yards away. Moosbrugger immediately changed course to close in and began to line-up his torpedo attacks. For once the Japanese lookouts failed to spot the Americans, most likely due to a lack of moonlight. At 11:41 at a range of around 4500 yards Moosebrugger fired 22 torpedoes and at 11:46 turned his ships 90 degrees as the Gun group made a course to cross Sugiuras T. aT At 11:42 Sugiura's lookouts spotted the American ships silhouettes and torpedo wakes, but it was too late. At 11:45 7 out of the 22 torpedoes found targets. Two torpedoes hit Hagikaze, 3 hit Arashia and 2 hit Kawakaze. Hagikaze was hit aft her engine room bringing her to a stop; Arashia's machinery spaces were destroyed and Kawakaze was hit under her bridge detonating her forward magazine sending her ablaze. Shigure would be found later to have been hit by a torpedo which failed to explode. The 3 destroyers were disabled and burning wrecks. The Japanese fired 8 torpedoes in return, none finding a target as they frantically tried to turn northwards to escape. The Gun group opened fire sinking the 3 crippling destroyers in the course of an hour killing 820 of the 940 troops on board. The Japanese would later send 4 large barges to try and rescue survivors with around 310 out of 1520 Japanese sailors and soldiers being rescued including Sugiura. The IJN received a night action defeat which also killed and prevented reinforcements for New Georgia. The American torpedoes would soon strike fear into the IJN. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Munda has fallen at last, though it came at a terrible price. Now with the airfield in American hands, the battle for New Georgia would come to a swifter end. The US Navy finally got the chance to deliver a torpedo blow to the IJN and a devastating one it was.

In dieser Episode ist Margit Mössmer mit ihrem neuem Buch "Das Geheimnis meines Erfolgs" bei Petra Hartlieb zu Gast. Es ist kein Lebensratgeber und auch kein Fachbuch. Es ist eine Geschichte, erzählt aus der Perspektive eines ganz besonderen Kindes.Bevor die Autorin aus ihrem neuen Werk vorliest, stellt Ihnen FALTER-Literaturkritiker Klaus Nüchtern zwei weitere Bücher vor.Zu den Büchern:"Das Geheimnis meines Erfolgs" von Margit Mössmer: https://shop.falter.at/detail/9783701182688/das-geheimnis-meines-erfolgs"Hiroshima" von John Hersey: https://shop.falter.at/detail/9783990272794/hiroshima"Visit Beautiful Vietnam" von Günther Anders: https://shop.falter.at/detail/9783863931612/visit-beautiful-vietnam Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Vale a Pena Ler" é uma série de podcasts produzidos durante a matéria de Linguagem e Texto Jornalístico V no semestre de 2023.1, que utilizaram a estrutura da Rádio Ponto para sua gravação. A série tem o intuito de, em cada episódio, falar sobre um livro de não-ficção sobre histórias reais ao redor do mundo, com o público-alvo de estudantes de jornalismo de todo o país Você já ouviu falar em Hiroshima? Não, não da cidade… do livro. Ou melhor, da reportagem. Escrita pelo americano John Hersey, ela ocupou a edição inteira da revista The New Yorker no dia 31 de agosto de 1946, trazendo, na visão dos próprios japoneses sobreviventes, as consequências da bomba atômica. Neste podcast, vamos te mostrar porque essa reportagem é considerada um grande marco no jornalismo e porque você, estudante, não pode deixar de ler. Ficha Técnica: Apresentação por Aléxia Elias, Manuella Wallerius e Roberto Amazonas. Reportagem por Aléxia Elias, Manuella Wallerius e Roberto Amazonas. Trilha sonora por Roberto Amazonas. Arte do episódio e coordenação de conteúdo por Aléxia Elias e Manuella Wallerius. Participação Especial: Áureo Mafra de Moraes. Orientação da professora Tattiana Teixeira 

A recap of the five different competitions that Wisconsin groups attended last weekend, as well as in-depth looks at the Holmen, Janesville Craig and Green Bay Southwest lineups! (Note: I somehow missed Green Bay East picking up a Best Soloist award with Afton Fuson at John Hersey. So it wasn't all in all a bad day for Wisconsin choirs there!)

EPISODE 1351: In this KEEN ON show, THE NOISE OF TYPEWRITERS author Lance Morrow remembers the golden age of American journalists such as John Hersey, Henry Luce and Carl Bernstein (apologies for the poor sound quality of this interview which was recorded on his antique iphone) LANCE MORROW, the Henry Grunwald Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is an American essayist whose work appears regularly in the Wall Street Journal and City Journal. For many years he was an essayist for Time magazine. A winner of the National Magazine Award for essay and criticism, he is the author of ten books. He lives in Upstate New York with his wife, the author Susan Brind Morrow, and is the father of two sons. Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In August of 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Less than a year later, American journalist John Hersey traveled to Hiroshima and interviewed survivors of the bombing. The subsequent article was published by The New Yorker in 1946. Hiroshima was published as a book two months later. MIT Professor Christopher Capozzola discusses why he thinks every American should read Hiroshima. Christopher Capozzola is a professor of History at MIT. He is the author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen and Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Build America's First Pacific Century. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm. Follow us on Twitter @WritLargePod. Join the conversation on the Lyceum app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In August of 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Less than a year later, American journalist John Hersey traveled to Hiroshima and interviewed survivors of the bombing. The subsequent article was published by The New Yorker in 1946. Hiroshima was published as a book two months later. MIT Professor Christopher Capozzola discusses why he thinks every American should read Hiroshima. Christopher Capozzola is a professor of History at MIT. He is the author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen and Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Build America's First Pacific Century. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm. Follow us on Twitter @WritLargePod. Join the conversation on the Lyceum app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history

In August of 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Less than a year later, American journalist John Hersey traveled to Hiroshima and interviewed survivors of the bombing. The subsequent article was published by The New Yorker in 1946. Hiroshima was published as a book two months later. MIT Professor Christopher Capozzola discusses why he thinks every American should read Hiroshima. Christopher Capozzola is a professor of History at MIT. He is the author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen and Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Build America's First Pacific Century. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm. Follow us on Twitter @WritLargePod. Join the conversation on the Lyceum app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

In August of 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Less than a year later, American journalist John Hersey traveled to Hiroshima and interviewed survivors of the bombing. The subsequent article was published by The New Yorker in 1946. Hiroshima was published as a book two months later. MIT Professor Christopher Capozzola discusses why he thinks every American should read Hiroshima. Christopher Capozzola is a professor of History at MIT. He is the author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen and Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Build America's First Pacific Century. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm. Follow us on Twitter @WritLargePod. Join the conversation on the Lyceum app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

In August of 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Less than a year later, American journalist John Hersey traveled to Hiroshima and interviewed survivors of the bombing. The subsequent article was published by The New Yorker in 1946. Hiroshima was published as a book two months later. MIT Professor Christopher Capozzola discusses why he thinks every American should read Hiroshima. Christopher Capozzola is a professor of History at MIT. He is the author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen and Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Build America's First Pacific Century. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm. Follow us on Twitter @WritLargePod. Join the conversation on the Lyceum app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/journalism

In August of 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Less than a year later, American journalist John Hersey traveled to Hiroshima and interviewed survivors of the bombing. The subsequent article was published by The New Yorker in 1946. Hiroshima was published as a book two months later. MIT Professor Christopher Capozzola discusses why he thinks every American should read Hiroshima. Christopher Capozzola is a professor of History at MIT. He is the author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen and Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Build America's First Pacific Century. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm. Follow us on Twitter @WritLargePod. Join the conversation on the Lyceum app. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/japanese-studies

Today's episode was one of my favourites to record – for the first time, we took Breakfast & Beyond on location, and I was lucky enough to spend the most blissful morning walking, listening, learning, swimming and sharing breakfast at the rugged Cornish coast with seaweed artist Julia Bird. Julia co-founded Molesworth & Bird with fellow artist and friend Melanie Molesworth back in 2018, translating their mutual love for art and the ocean into a business, hand-pressing seaweed that they forage from the shores of their local beaches – Julia in Cornwall, and Melanie in Dorset. From the original prints and postcards, Molesworth & Bird now create a range of seaweed-inspired homewares such as cushions, bags, enamelware and cards, along with hosting seaweed pressing workshops helping others to learn from, and be inspired by, the ocean.  Sustainability is etched into each element of Julia's work – from the choice she made to step away from a busy London career as a magazine stylist, to the gentle rhythm of foraging, collecting and pressing seaweed, always with a deep consideration and respect for the natural environment. So for this episode, allow me to take you on a journey to the quiet corner of the Cornish coastline that is Julia's world, and I hope you enjoy - and learn - just as much from her story as I did. Breakfast at the beach consisted of Blackberry and Elderberry Tarlets with coffee, followed by Wild Mushroom & Rock Samphire Omelettes with Seaweed Pickled Veg.  You can find these recipes along with more information about the themes that Julia and I discuss, via the Episode 17 web page.  Huge thanks to photographer and dear friend John Hersey for capturing stunning images from our breakfast conversation, you can find a selection of John's images sharing the visual story via the Episode 17 web page, and do check out John's portfolio and Instagram. Thank you to the Cornish Seaberry Company for supporting this episode!  Please do give their delicious, healthy, zingy drink VitaminSEA a try, and use the code BREAKFAST as you check out for a 10% discount.  Thank you for listening, I'd love to know your thoughts on today's episode.  You can join the conversation by getting in touch - tia@botelet.com or message via Instagram @breakfast_and_beyond.   I hope you can join me for Breakfast & Beyond x Heligan LIVE on Thursday 13th October for a morning of delicious food, great company and rich conversations with my guest speakers on all things sustainability.  Tickets can be found via this link: https://www.heligan.com/events/breakfast-beyond-at-heligan Please do subscribe to the podcast, and I'd be so grateful if you could rate and review this episode, then share it with people in your network who you know would enjoy listening.  Thank you so much, welcome to Breakfast & Beyond.    

It's This Week in Bachelor Nation and we discuss Wells Adams and Sarah Hyland's superstar wedding, Michelle Young's big move, the real reason Katie Thurston and John Hersey broke up, and much more!M E R C Hhttps://www.gameofroses.coBecome a GOR Patronhttps://www.patreon.com/gameofrosesBUY "How to Win the Bachelor"https://www.howtowinthebachelor.com/ Follow Game of Roseshttps://www.instagram.com/gameofrosespod/https://twitter.com/GameOfRosesPodhttps://www.tiktok.com/@gameofroses?https://www.instagram.com/pacecase/https://www.instagram.com/bachelorclues/https://www.instagram.com/graceanneparks/Editor: Nate Flaks Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vanessa Bryant awarded $16 million by jury, Nick Cannon is having another baby, Taylor Swift is being sued, Katie Thurston vs John Hersey and Jason Momoa is an emotional dad!

It's our favorite time of year: the contestants for the upcoming Bachelorette season have been announced! Ben and Ashley share their honest first impressions when they see the men trying to win the hearts of Rachel OR Gabby.  But it's not all excitement, because there have been a few break-ups in Bachelor Nation. We get into the split between Michelle and Nayte, and the surprise end of Katie Thurston and John Hersey's relationship.  Plus, find out why Mike Johnston hopes to see a love triangle on this upcoming season! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Si & Veronica are feeling numb for episode 219! Two big breakups with former Bachelorettes this week. First, Michelle and Nayte shared they will be going their separate ways… but will they be able to keep the house money they were gifted or does it go back to ABC like their ring will go back to Neil Lane. Then, Katie Thurston and John Hersey also shared very different IG story statements on them being split. In happier news, Tia and her fiance, Taylor Mock, are expecting a baby! Tayshia's ex, Zac Clark, came to her rescue when some haters were trying to troll her for bikini pics. Let our girl live!! Nick Viall confirmed what some cruise tracking sites already been knew… the Bachelorettes will be spending part of their season on a cruise ship. Will it give luxury or Suite Life: On Deck?  (Bachelor talk ends at time marker 25m:42s) Drake tried his hand at a house music album in honor of Virgil Abloh… but Beyonce might've out done him with the release of her new single featuring Queen of Bounce, Big Freedia. It doesn't help that Drake featured cheating king, Tristan Thompson, in his newest video. HBO wants more Jon Snow and is in development for a spin-off around him. Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen are split on how they view their 18-year-old daughter Sami starting an OnlyFans. Vee went “Yikes!” and got an irreversible ick for Jack Harlow posting a TikTok of him whining a cringy new Drake lyric. Contextually cute no more! Join us for what is always a good time and leave us a rating and review for a shoutout! Follow us @thefuturebachelor on Instagram! Thanks to you all who have subscribed! -- For fun, great music updated weekly, follow FUTURE BACHELOR on Spotify!   ***SLAPPER OF THE WEEK*** "Gotta Move On" by Diddy, Bryson Tiller -- Follow us on Instagram!

First, it's Bachelor news and gossip: Katie Thurston and John Hersey are living it up at Coachella. Meanwhile Thomas Jacobs reveals how he'd propose to former Bachelorette Becca Kufrin. Then later, we discuss the reality dating shows that we've been obsessed with during the Bachelor hiatus. We recap episode 5 of The Courtship and episode 5 of Temptation Island… complete with archery, Slip ‘N Slides, and everything in between.

Emma Weinheimer and Dr. Joshua Hochschild talk with Dr. John Hersey, Professor of Philosophy at Mount St. Mary's University.Their topic: Plato's Republic.

Host Sarah Hearon breaks down the biggest headlines in Bachelor Nation — from Tayshia Adams' comments about Jesse Palmer hosting 'The Bachelorette' to Blake Moynes' reaction to John Hersey and Katie Thurston's latest interview and more.

If Katie added a 13th day to the “12 Days of Messy,” this episode would be Love Story. Katie and John have saved their story just for Kaitlyn's pod and she has so many questions. Why did Katie send him home so early on The Bachelorette? When did their relationship start? Are they engaged? Bachelor Nation has been trying to figure it all out by searching through LinkedIn and John's mom's Facebook page; so many rumors have circled about them which is why Kaitlyn wanted to just go straight to the source and have these two peas on the pod. Also in this episode, we learn more about John and why he had a difficult time going from a friend to a Lover. Plus, confessions, a game all about K&J, and a name association game with the men of Katie's season! AWAY - Start your 100-day trial and shop the entire Away lineup of travel essentials, including their best-selling suitcases at AwayTravel.com/vine. VIZZY - To find out where you can purchase Vizzy, go to vizzyhardseltzer.com/VINE. TALKSPACE - To match with a licensed therapist today, go to Talkspace.com and make sure to use the code VINE to get $100 off of your first month. EX ON THE BEACH - Catch the premiere March 31st at 8/7c only on MTV. PELOTON - Visit onepeloton.com to learn more.

We're back with another Bachelor news and gossip episode. And boy, is there a lot to discuss. Tayshia and Zac ran the New York City Marathon together, and then, two weeks later they abruptly broke up. Also, two weeks after announcing her split with Blake and jointly requesting privacy, Katie kicked off an Instagram event she called "12 Days of Messy," in which she assigned Taylor Swift songs to men from her season. It began by assigning her recent ex "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and it ended by announcing that she is now dating John Hersey, a contestant who barely made it to week two. The chaos! There's so much to analyze, unpack, critique, and for wild speculation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode, Danielle and Sydney kick things off by sharing their Spotify Wrapped results for 2021. They talk about John Hersey's statement after Katie Thurston revealed they were dating, Bachelorette hometowns, and Clayton's Bachelor promo. They catch you up on the latest and greatest about Kim K and Pete Davidson, and how Kanye is reacting. They wrap things up recapping season 4 of Selling Sunset. Follow us on Instagram @PopofTeaPodast, @DanielleSabulsky & @thesydkid. Follow us on Twitter & Tik Tok @PopofTeaPod, and like us on Facebook.

Time for this week's Pop 3! John Hersey denies Bachelorette Katie Thurston cheated in their new relationship, RHOC's Tamra Judge and Shannon Beador are at war, and Tyler Cameron didn't have the best reaction to the book by The Bachelorette's Hannah Brown (let's see those receipts, Tyler!). And finally, your Deep Dive about Selling Sunset's Christine Quinn pregnancy conspiracy theory and all the ex-boyfriend drama.Pop 3: John and Katie: 3:29Tamra vs. Shannon: 7:10Tyler's response to Hannah's book: 10:00Deep Dive: 14:05

On this episode, Danielle and Sydney recap the second half of Katie Thurston's 12 Days of Messy on Instagram. Katie reveals that she is now dating one of the contestants that was on her season, John Hersey, and the timeline just doesn't line up with her and Blake's break up. They talk about Tayshia and Zac ending their engagement, and do a quick recap of The Bachelorette. They talk about some of their favorite jokes and moments from the Jonas Brothers Family Roast that dropped on Netflix, and then wrap things up with discussing whether or not they think Kim K and Pete Davidson are actually dating or if it's a publicity stunt. Follow us on Instagram @PopofTeaPodast, @DanielleSabulsky & @thesydkid. Follow us on Twitter & Tik Tok @PopofTeaPod, and like us on Facebook.

Si & Veronica are giving Cher for episode 190! Some major breakups happened this week with Shawn Mendes/Camila Cabello, Jacob Elordi/Kaia Gerber, and Zac and Tayshia of Bachelor Nation all calling it quits. Meanwhile, Kim K and Pete Davidson debuted their relationship ~officially~, as well as Katie Thurston and former contestant John Hersey after her “12 Days of Messy” montage of former flames. That quick turnaround timeline from her engagement with Blake def made Vee go “Yikes!” Travis Scott and others might be up against a $2 Billion dollar lawsuit over AstroWorld damages now. Adele's new album “30” made waves for sad girl fall, but it also helped change how Spotify lets us listen to albums! She requested that it didn't default to shuffle and they listened. Iman Shumpert became the first former NBA player to win Dancing With the Stars. BTS and Meg Thee Stallion took home a bunch of AMAs this past weekend. Michelle really whittled down her men this week. The producers really tried to make a case for Clayton's role as the next Bachelor with the tearjerker letters from Miss Young's students after he got sent home. Martin got the boot this week after interrupting our favorite teacher for the last time. For the first time in franchise history, the final four are POCs! We will have to see what issues arise with hometowns next week. Join us for what is always a good time and leave us a rating and review for a shoutout! Follow us @thefuturebachelor on Instagram! Thanks to you all who have subscribed! -- For fun, great music updated weekly, follow FUTURE BACHELOR on Spotify!   ***SLAPPER OF THE WEEK*** “Cry Your Heart Out” by Adele -- Follow us on Instagram!

Host Sarah Hearon gives all the backstories of Zac Clark and Tayshia Adams' breakup and Katie Thurston moving on from Blake Moynes with John Hersey. Hear a complete timeline and how Blake feels amid Katie and John's public relationship. Plus, hear Sarah's thoughts on the final four and finally, Michelle joins to break down her connections with Joe and Nayte, what viewers are missing about Clayton and how her season ends.

Kay, Chris, and Jared are back to recap this week's episode of The Bachelorette, first unpacking the Tayshia and Zac breakup, as well as Katie Thurston's new relationship with former contestant John Hersey. They run through a quick episode synopsis and title roundup, before diving into this week's dates, starting with that one-on-one with Clayton. Next, they discuss the final group date of the season, and Martin's true colors finally emerge (but does Michelle give him a second chance?) Then, it's time for the rose ceremony (including an elimination we've all been waiting for), and Michelle picks her final four for the hometown dates. Finally, they get into their Weekly Categories, including some Would You Rathers, Top Three, Cringiest Moment, and the Will You Accept This Rose Recipient. 

Recap timeeee! Yessiree, here's an overview of the 7 books I read (and 2 x book review from Juan) that was posted in September 2021. The standout for me was Candide by Voltaire, very witty and has obviously stood the test of time (it was published 260 years ago!). Most of the rest were pretty solid books that ranged from philosophy to children's books to religion to suffering (both fictional and in real life). Quite a mixed bag indeed.I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!Timeline:(0:00) - Intro(0:37) - Candide: Voltaire(1:45) - The Little Prince: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry(2:57) - Going Clear: Lawrence Wright(4:18) - Lord Of The Flies: William Golding(5:53) - Hiroshima: John Hersey(7:20) - Discourses & Selected Writings: Epictetus(9:18) - The Death Of Ivan Ilyich: Leo Tolstoy(11:13) - Changes coming up in October 2021Connect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/

Shocking and devastating in every which way.'Hiroshima' by John Hersey details the accounts of 6 survivors from the atomic blast on August 6, 1945 @ 8:15 am. It goes over their injuries, the general chaos, widespread destructive effects, uncertainty of the future, overt heroism on the morning of, and the statistics of the death count. 5 chapters form a timeline of their stories before/during/1 day/3 days and 40 years after their horrific ordeal.I summarised the book as follows. "It's a brief snapshot of an event that changed the lives of so many. This was my second reading and some of the stories were still imprinted on my brain from the first time. Overall it's a short & unemotional recount from individuals, but it will still probably make you as the reader tear up from the sheer tragedy/magnitude caused by one bomb."I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!Timeline:(0:00) - Intro(0:31) - Synopsis(3:06) - Devastation: Severe & overwhelming shock or grief(7:27) - Personal Observations/Takeaways(9:42) - SummaryConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

Shocking and devastating in every which way.'Hiroshima' by John Hersey details the accounts of 6 survivors from the atomic blast on August 6, 1945 @ 8:15 am. It goes over their injuries, the general chaos, widespread destructive effects, uncertainty of the future, overt heroism on the morning of, and the statistics of the death count. 5 chapters form a timeline of their stories before/during/1 day/3 days and 40 years after their horrific ordeal.I summarised the book as follows. "It's a brief snapshot of an event that changed the lives of so many. This was my second reading and some of the stories were still imprinted on my brain from the first time. Overall it's a short & unemotional recount from individuals, but it will still probably make you as the reader tear up from the sheer tragedy/magnitude caused by one bomb."I hope you have a fantastic day wherever you are in the world. Kyrin out!Timeline:(0:00) - Intro(0:31) - Synopsis(3:06) - Devastation: Severe & overwhelming shock or grief(7:27) - Personal Observations/Takeaways(9:42) - SummaryConnect with Mere Mortals:Website: https://www.meremortalspodcast.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/

Subscribe for full episodes and extended interviews at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Lesley Blume is a journalist. She married a journalist. Her father wrote for Walter Cronkite. Her whole community is journalists. So, in 2016, when Trump rose to power, her community was suddenly under attack. “All of a sudden to see your entire community be under assault like that and be designated as enemies of the people was so shocking and demoralizing, and it felt like an all hands on deck moment.” The best way to fight back, she decided, was to write a book that proved to America just how crucial reporters are in democracy, to “reinstate this idea that journalism at its best serves the common good.” “And so,” she explains, “when I came across Hersey's story, which had been shockingly untold, I knew that I had my story.” John Hersey, a Pulitzer-prize-winning pioneer reporter who saw combat to cover World War II, wrote what some consider the most important work of journalism of the 20th century: Hiroshima. In her book, Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World, Blume uses painstaking research to document how the US government obfuscated its role in the deadliest attack in history and comes to the realization that dropping the bomb was not justified, despite what we're taught in school. Plus, future-ex-Governor Cuomo couldn't take the heat from last week's Useful Idiots review, how Trump's big beautiful tax cut actually (surprise) helped the rich, and the world burns from climate change. It's all this, and more, on this week's (gloomy) episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

76 years ago, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Historian Lesley M.M. Blume's book, 'Fallout,' tells the story of John Hersey, the young journalist whose on-the-ground reporting in Hiroshima exposed the world to the devastation of nuclear weapons. "Hersey had seen everything from that point, from combat to concentration camps," Blume says. "But he later said that nothing prepared him for what he saw in Hiroshima."Also, we remember Ron Popeil, the inventor and TV pitchman whose products included the Veg-O-Matic, Mr. Microphone, and the smokeless ashtray.

In the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, journalists struggled to cover the devastation in a way that resonated, much as they do with the Covid-19 pandemic today. In “Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter who Revealed it to the World,” Lesley Blume tells the story of how New Yorker journalist John Hersey cracked the code. On this week's Kicker, Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, and Blume discuss the problem with coverage that focuses too much on numbers, science, and policy, at a time when Covid deaths in the US continue to surge.

In this episode Matt Crawford speaks with award winning journalist, historian and author Lesley Blume about her book Fallout. This is the story of how the U.S tried to hide the true nature of the bombs dropped on Japan. An almost year long cover-up was broken by New Yorker journalist John Hersey in what was the scoop of the century. Hersey detailed the events and aftermath of the bombings through the eyes of six civilian victims in a way that captured the world's attention and compassion. Released on the 75th anniversary of the bombings Blume details why Hersey's piece is even more important now than ever. This shows us yet again, why journalism is so important to a working and free democracy. Required reading for all, I hope you will.

In August of 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Less than a year later, American journalist John Hersey traveled to Hiroshima and interviewed survivors of the bombing. The subsequent article was published by The New Yorker in 1946. Hiroshima was published as a book two months later. MIT Professor Christopher Capozzola discusses why he thinks every American should read Hiroshima. Christopher Capozzola is a professor of History at MIT. He is the author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen and Bound by War: How the United States and the Philippines Build America’s First Pacific Century. See more information on our website, WritLarge.fm. Follow us on Twitter @WritLargePod. Join the conversation on the Lyceum app.

Lesley M.M. Blume interview about her WWII history book John Hersey and his 1946 reporting about Hiroshima Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3jrcwFt Interview Summary Lesley M.M. Blume is an award-winning journalist, historian, and bestselling author. She’s written a huge amount of material and her latest publication, Fallout, is a study of John Hersey’s reporting…

Listen now to WACA's Cover to Cover conference call from Thursday, August 6, at 2:00-2:30 PM ET, featuring Lesley Blume, award-winning journalist, historian, and New York Times bestselling author, on her book Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-Up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World. Just days after the U.S. decimated Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear bombs, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. But even before the surrender, the U.S. government and military had begun a secret propaganda and information suppression campaign to hide the devastating nature of these experimental weapons. The cover-up intensified as Occupation forces closed the atomic cities to Allied reporters, preventing leaks about the horrific long-term effects of radiation which would kill thousands during the months after the blast. For nearly a year the cover-up worked - until New Yorker journalist John Hersey got into Hiroshima and managed to report the truth to the world. Released on the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, Fallout is an engrossing detective story, as well as an important piece of hidden history that shows how one heroic scoop saved - and can still save - the world.

Nesta edição do podcast da Página Cinco: - João Cezar de Castro Rocha aponta semelhanças entre o Brasil de hoje e o de "Menino de Engenho", clássico de José Lins do Rego (Global). - "Os Dois Mundos de Isabel", novo livro da jornalista Daniela Arbex (Intrínseca) - a resenha mencionada: https://paginacinco.blogosfera.uol.com.br/2019/03/19/holocausto-brasileiro-os-horrores-do-hospital-psiquiatrico-de-barbacena/ - "Homo Ludens", clube de leitura de games: https://www.eventbrite.com.br/e/homo-ludens-debate-aberto-sobre-stardew-valley-tickets-115259476196 - Os ensaios de "O Campo Literário Moçambicano: Tradição do Espaço e Formas de Insílio", de Nazir Ahmed Can (Kapulana). - "Dentro do Outro", de Luisa Micheletti (Laranja Original), "Ao Pó", de Morgana Kretzman (Patuá), e "Entre Nós", de Paula Macedo Weiss (Folha de Relva), nos lançamentos. Nesses dias, na Página Cinco, tivemos: - Análise sobre o futuro dos eventos literários no país: https://entretenimento.uol.com.br/colunas/pagina-cinco/2020/08/04/festas-literarias-hora-de-se-conformar-com-o-remendo-que-temos-pro-momento.htm - Resenha de "A Débil Mental", romance da argentina Ariana Harwicz que acaba de sair no Brasil: https://entretenimento.uol.com.br/colunas/pagina-cinco/2020/08/05/perturbador-novo-romance-ariana-harwicz-pode-ferir-leitores-mais-sensiveis.htm - Uma lembrança de "Hiroshima", clássico de John Hersey, nos 75 anos da estupidez com a bomba atômica: https://entretenimento.uol.com.br/colunas/pagina-cinco/2020/08/06/a-bomba-de-hiroshima-o-classico-de-john-hersey-e-os-cidadaos-de-bem.htm O podcast da Página Cinco está disponível no Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6QAoDVp8uQgzklw30rlPgH -, no iTunes - https://podcasts.apple.com/br/podcast/podcast-p%C3%A1gina-cinco/id1495082898 - no Deezer - https://www.deezer.com/show/478952 -, no SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/paginacinco - e no Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClccqes0_XPegOwEJKgFe-A

Guest: Patrick B. Sharp, professor and chair of Liberal Studies at California State University of Los Angeles. Also features clips from Pacifica Radio's radio production of Hiroshima. (Rebroadcast)   The post Changing the Narrative: John Hersey's Hiroshima appeared first on KPFA.

August 6 marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, followed three days later by the bombing of Nagasaki, on August 9th. In this special episode, Nukes of Hazard host Geoff Wilson narrates a selection from John Hersey’s Hiroshima, written in 1946. We also revisit last year’s episode of Nukes of Hazard, an interview with Kathleen Burkinshaw, who tells the story of her mother, who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

A special edition of Press the Button's "In the Silo" series features Lesley M. M. Blume, award-winning journalist and author of the new book "Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World." Blume explores the impact and importance of "Hiroshima," a 1946 article by journalist John Hersey exploring how six survivors experienced the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan, and its aftermath. Find out more at www.lesleymmblume.com/

On 6th August 1945, Colonel Paul Tibbets, flying the ‘Enola Gay’ a B-29 Superfortress named after Tibbets’s mother, dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The bomb, ‘little-boy’, devastated the city; exploding with the energy of approximately 15 kilotons of TNT. The explosion instantly killed thousands of people and in the next few months tens of thousands more would die from the effects of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness and malnutrition. On the 9th August Nagasaki would be the next city to be hit by an atomic bomb. The effects of the atomic bombs shocked even the US military. Even before the Japanese surrender, the US government and military had begun a secret propaganda and information suppression campaign to hide the devastating nature of these experimental weapons. For nearly a year the cover-up worked—until New Yorker journalist John Hersey got into Hiroshima and managed to report the truth to the world.  Hersey’s story would shape the postwar narrative of the atomic bombs, and the US government’s response has helped frame the justification for dropping the bombs which comes down to us today. I’m joined by Lesley Blume author of the excellent Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World.

En el episodio de la semana, hablamos sobre el libro del mes de mayo: Hiroshima de John Hersey. Además las chicas del club de lectura nos dan sus impresiones sobre el que se dice es el mejor artículo del periodismo estadounidense del siglo XX.

In this episode, we see how many scientists in the desert it takes to build an atomic bomb by watching the 1989 movie “Fat Man and Little Boy.” How did scientists and the military both collaborate and clash in the pursuit of the first nuclear weapon? What was the role of women scientists in this endeavor? Could you actually buy a condo in Manhattan even if you had the budget of the atomic bomb project? Tim Westmyer (@NuclearPodcast) and special guests/nuke experts Erin Connolly (@Erin_Conn17) and Kate Hewitt (@BlondNukeGirl) from Girl Security answer these questions and more. Before we started eating our Pentagon cakes, we recommend: -Day One, 1989 TV Movie -Robert Serber, The Los Alamos Primer: The First Lectures on How to Build the Atomic Bomb, 1992 -Richard Rhodes, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, 1986 -Denise Kiernan, Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II, 2014 -John Hersey, Hiroshima, 1946 -Kate Brown, Plutopia: Nuclear Families, Atomic Cities, And The Great Soviet And American Plutonium Disasters, 2015 -GirlSecurity.org -HighlyEnriched.com (coming soon) Check out our website, SuperCriticalPodcast.com, for more resources and related items. We aim to have at least one new episode every month. Let us know what you think about the podcast and any ideas you may have about future episodes and guests by reaching out at on Twitter @NuclearPodcast, GooglePlay, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher Radio, Facebook, SuperCriticalPodcast@gmail.com, and YouTube. Enjoy!

Jeremy Treglown talks to Ivan about six things which he thinks should be better known. Jeremy is chair of Arvon and has written biographies of Roald Dahl, Henry Green, VS Pritchett and John Hersey. He was editor of the Times Literary Supplement between 1981 and 1990. Carn Brea https://www.cornwalls.co.uk/redruth/carn_brea.htm Mozart’s Requiem in D minor with soloists taken from the chorus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiBZ2C725ns John Hersey’s Hiroshima https://www.curtisbrown.co.uk/client/jeremy-treglown/work/mr-straight-arrow Spanish Museum of Abstract Art https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/travel/30overnighter-cuenca.html Ruth Matilda Anderson’s photos of Spain https://hispanicsociety.org/prints-photographs/ The present isn’t so superior to the past https://archive.triblive.com/news/students-write-about-life-100-years-ago/

Have you ever wondered what it's like for a journalist to work with sensitive sources who could get fired or go to jail? We get right into that with our guest Koh Gui Qing (@GQReuters) of Reuters in New York. After Singapore, Australia and China, her latest turn as an investigative reporter in New York was set in motion by an unexpected tip off and is "the kind of story that makes you fall off your chair," as Gui Qing would say. Since then, Gui Qing has become the go-to person you call when you need to send a reporter to investigate far-flung, high-stakes stories. We discuss the hell of a week that she's had (2:00), growing up and studying in Singapore (6:30), joining Reuters and reporting on your home country (13:06), moving to Australia (18:31), the chaos and craziness in China (20:08), her special report on China quietly buying up radio stations around the world (24:37), her Pulitzer finalist story on Chinese students cheating their way through U.S. colleges (32:58), her investigation into a Chinese executive accused of rape in Minneapolis (38:17) and the infamous Lightening Round (45:07).   Here are links to some of the things we talk about: Exposed: China's covert global radio network - https://reut.rs/33qQcVS This industry helps Chinese cheat their way into & through US colleges - https://reut.rs/2Z4Oavj The night a Chinese billionaire was accused of rape in Minnesota - https://reut.rs/2yNhpUB Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 by Stephen Kotkin - https://amzn.to/2KDzHgr NYTimes investigation into Trump's taxes - https://nyti.ms/31tulLx Hiroshima by John Hersey - https://amzn.to/2OYSlVE Scoop by Evelyn Waugh - https://amzn.to/2MRzo4s   Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or tweet about the podcast with #foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC

Dana Allin, IISS Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy and Transatlantic Affairs and Editor of Survival, talks with Dr Kori Schake in this episode of Sounds Strategic.With the resignation of the British Ambassador to the US Sir Kim Darroch weighing heavily on the conversation, Dana and Kori discuss the impact of the episode on the UK's ‘special relationship' with the US, and how this may change in the future with a post-Brexit ‘Global Britain', potentially separate from the EU.Dana challenges the assumed direct link between a state's willingness to use force and its international credibility. As Kori and he explore, this issue came into stark focus with the aborted US strikes against Iran in retaliation for the downing of an unmanned surveillance drone in June 2019.As both an academic and editor of the IISS journal, Survival, Dana also speaks on his other area of expertise, the Israel–US relationship. As a topic covered in his latest book, Our Separate Ways: The Struggle for the Future of the US–Israel Alliance, Dana explains how the agreement around the liberal values that formed a key element of this historic alliance may come under considerable stress in the future.This episode also features a discussion on the enduring importance and impact of John Hersey's 1946 classic, Hiroshima.Favourite Data Visualisation:‘Top 15 defence budgets 2018', in IISS Military Balance 2019, (London: Taylor & Francis, 2019), p. 21‘Top 15 defence budgets 2014', in IISS Military Balance 2014, (London: Taylor & Francis, 2015), p. 21Reading Recommendations:John Hersey, Hiroshima (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, 1946)Dana H. Allin and Steven Simon, Our Separate Ways: The Struggle for the Future of the US-Israel Alliance (New York: PublicAffairs, 2016)Date of recording: 11 July 2019Sounds Strategic is recorded and produced at the IISS in London.Theme music: ‘Safety in Numbers' by We Were Promised Jetpacks. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this 109th edition of the Arlington-Prospect Advice Givers Podcast. Gordy Sisson Principal at John Hersey High School shares the vision for his great school, district 214, current students and future students who are are going to be a part of the rich tradition of Hersey Husky nation. Gordy Sisson has been in the public...

Dan and Eric talk about Dan's recent hosting of Yiyun Li at Bryn Mawr College, and how she knows when a short story is complete; Amy Davidson Sorkin on the Mueller report and the profanity of Trump and his cronies; Rebecca Mead's piece about Airbnb in Barcelona; Greg Jackson's current story, "Poetry," and his earlier story, "Wagner in the Desert"; Nicholas Lemann on a new biography of John Hersey; Amanda Petrusich on a Jewish jazz trumpeter who performed for the Nazis, and spent the rest of his life in gratitude to jazz for saving him, in many ways; and Dan talks about recent reading of short story writer, William Trevor.  Plus, as always, so much more.

In today’s edition of Daily Compliance News: ·      What was behind “Our Man in Havana? (Financial Times)·      Why Ovid is still an inspiration. (New York Times)·       Life of John Hersey. (Wall Street Journal)·      The Best Five. Allison Lurie on heroines over 50. (Wall Street Journal) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Analizamos el libro Hiroshima de John Hersey, uno de los textos periodísticos más alabados en todo el mundo y que cuenta la experiencia de seis sobrevivientes durante la bomba atómica que cayó sobre Hiroshima. Invitado especial: Diego Mazzella.

Encore release November 6, 2018. Encore release July 30, 2017. Ben Affleck's cable-TV clash with Bill Maher and Sam Harris over liberalism and its (lack of) cricitism of Islam overlaps with Reza Aslan's recent criticisms of Maher and Harris. Is Islam a religion of peace hijacked by a handful of extremists, or does the orthodox core of Islam inconveniently overlap with the violent policies enacted by the likes of ISIS and al-Qaeda? Watch the sparks fly here. Also, check out this and this... and this... oh, and this, then see which side is closer to the truth. Plus: SCOTUS declines to hear numerous appeals from states seeking to overturn federal court rulings against same-sex marriage bans. Is this a signal from the Court that marriage equality has won, or is this a strategic pause awaiting the right opportunity for a conservative masterstroke? Meanwhile, SCOTUS hears a ridiculous (but hilarious) case involving the religious infringement ramifications of state prison bans on beards. Is that a tiny revolver in your Van Dyke, or are you just exercising your First Amendment rights? Announcements: NUTS! Here's your opportunity to offer Kickstarter support for a documentary about the controversial fertility quack John Brinkley, could claimed he could cure men's problems by... well, let's not spoil the suprise. Nonfiction book recommendations: John suggests John Hersey's atomic classic Hiroshima, as well as Ann Heller's 2009 (refreshingly non-hagiographic) Ayn Rand and the World She Made.

Norm Cotton, retired Colonel of the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) discusses his career in Civil Affairs and current work for the IDA on Department of Defense policy. Recommended reading from Colonel Cotton includes: A Bell for Adano, by John Hersey, and Clausewitz Delusion: How the American Army Screwed up the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (A Way Forward), by Stephen L. Melton

I was excited this summer to sit down with Scott Casagrande, Director of Bands at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, IL. Scott has some fantastic sounding ensembles, and has been a great help to me when I've reached out with questions about literature selection and teaching techniques.On this episode, Scott discusses his musical upbringing, resources for selecting literature, and assessment in music. Scott also talks about the many resources we have as music teachers, including the National Band Association, which is a particular passion of his. You can find out more about the National Band Association by visiting their website at https://nationalbandassociation.org/. Their recommended music list is especially helpful, and as soon as I said goodbye to Scott after our recording, I started combing through it again in anticipation of next school year.I hope you enjoy and learn from this episode with Scott Casagrande!FULL BIO:Scott J. Casagrande has been Director of Bands at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, IL since 1999. He was previously Director of Bands at Plainfield High School in Plainfield, IL and Stephen Decatur High School in Decatur, IL. A native of Fairfax County, VA, Mr. Casagrande received his B.S. and M.S. in Music Education from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.Ensembles under Mr. Casagrande's direction have been selected to perform at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic (concert and jazz), 19 of the last 20 Illinois Superstate Concert Band Festivals (Honor Band three times) and four National Concert Band Festivals. His bands have been consistent winners in all marching and jazz contests including the Governor's Cup and Field Show Champion at the University of Illinois Marching Festival (45+ bands), Grand Champion at Jazz in the Meadows (90+ bands) and Honor Band at the Purdue Jazz Festival (90+ bands). In 2007, the John Hersey band program was awarded the prestigious Sudler Flag of Honor from the John Philip Sousa Foundation. His ensembles have performed at the French Reeds Festival in the French Riviera, in the Chicago Jazz Festival, at Chicago's Jazz Showcase, at Orchestra Hall in the Chicago Symphony Center (three times) and at Carnegie Hall in NYC (two times). This winter the John Hersey Symphonic Band was selected to perform at the College Band Directors National Association North Central Division Conference.Mr. Casagrande has received 20 Citation of Excellence Awards from the National Band Association, and he has been recognized by Former President Barack Obama, the US Senate, the US House of Representatives, the Illinois Senate, School District 214, Plainfield HS, Stephen Decatur HS, Illinois Chapter of Phi Beta Mu Band Fraternity (2016-2017 Bandmaster of the Year), Quinlan and Fabish Music and Bob Rogers Travel. Mr. Casagrande has the privilege of currently serving the National Band Association as President and has served the NBA as 2nd Vice-President, First Vice-President, High School Representative (twice) and as a member of the Revelli Composition Contest Committee. In 2004, he was one of three conductors in the United States chosen to participate in the NBA International Conducting Symposium in Rome, Italy, conducting the Italian National Army Band. He serves Music for All/Bands of America as a Music Education Consultant and he has served three terms as the Illinois Music Education Association District 7 Jazz Representative. Mr. Casagrande was inducted into the prestigious American Bandmasters Association in 2009. He has been published in The Instrumentalist and the National Band Association Journal.Students in the John Hersey program are very active in IMEA All-District and All-State bands and most Hersey band graduates continue to perform in their college ensembles and beyond. Mr. Casagrande lives in Arlington Heights with his wife, Janice and daughters Mary and Julia.

In this episode we discuss Hiroshima by John Hersey which follows the tragic events of August 6th, 1945 through the eyes of six survivors. It was published in The New Yorker in August 1946 and was put to print as a book shortly after, with a revision after John Hersey followed up with his survivors. It … Continue reading "Awesome! Book Club e06 – Hiroshima Part 1"

In this episode we discuss Hiroshima by John Hersey which follows the tragic events of August 6th, 1945 through the eyes of six survivors. It was published in The New Yorker in August 1946 and was put to print as a book shortly after, with a revision after John Hersey followed up with his survivors. It … Continue reading "Awesome! Book Club e07 – Hiroshima Part 2"

In this episode, I talk about Alain Resnais's 1959 classic "Hiroshima Mon Amour." I combine excerpts from Marguerite Duras's screenplay for the film and portions of John Hersey's "Hiroshima" to explore how the film represents (or resists representing) horror and atrocity. I also look at how it portrays memory and grief. As Duras writes, "Impossible to talk about Hiroshima. All one can do is talk about the impossibility of talking about Hiroshima." Consider making this podcast sustainable by supporting it on Patreon. Subscribe to the Her Head in Films Newsletter. Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. Original artwork by Dhiyanah Hassan

Neste episódio recebemos Thata Finotto pra discutir o New Journalism de Hiroshima de John Hersey. Trilha Sonora Cryptic Sorrow – Atlantean Twilight de Kevin MacLeod está licenciada sob uma licença Creative Commons Attribution (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Origem: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100276 Artista: http://incompetech.com/ Daily Beetle de Kevin MacLeod está licenciada sob uma licença Creative Commons Attribution (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Origem: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1500025 Artista: http://incompetech.com/ Manda um recado pra gente: caixad​ehisto​rias@b9.com.br

Nov. 21, 2013. Author Juan Gabriel Vásquez read from his work and participated in a moderated discussion with translator Anne McLean. Vásquez's latest novel, "The Sound of Things Falling" (El ruido de las cosas al caer) was published in English in 2012. Speaker Biography: Colombian born Juan Gabriel Vásquez is an accomplished novelist, whose work has been received with great admiration and has been translated to several languages. Aside from writing novels, short stories and essays, he has translated works from E.M. Forster, Victor Hugo and John Hersey into Spanish, is a regular contributor to various magazines and journals, and writes a weekly opinion column for the newspaper El Espectador. Vásquez received a Law degree from la Universidad del Rosario in Colombia and his Ph.D. in Literature from the Sorbonne in Paris. For transcript, captions, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6231

Subscribe for full episodes and extended interviews at http://usefulidiots.substack.com Lesley Blume is a journalist. She married a journalist. Her father wrote for Walter Cronkite. Her whole community is journalists. So, in 2016, when Trump rose to power, her community was suddenly under attack. “All of a sudden to see your entire community be under assault like that and be designated as enemies of the people was so shocking and demoralizing, and it felt like an all hands on deck moment.” The best way to fight back, she decided, was to write a book that proved to America just how crucial reporters are in democracy, to “reinstate this idea that journalism at its best serves the common good.” “And so,” she explains, “when I came across Hersey's story, which had been shockingly untold, I knew that I had my story.” John Hersey, a Pulitzer-prize-winning pioneer reporter who saw combat to cover World War II, wrote what some consider the most important work of journalism of the 20th century: Hiroshima. In her book, Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World, Blume uses painstaking research to document how the US government obfuscated its role in the deadliest attack in history and comes to the realization that dropping the bomb was not justified, despite what we're taught in school. Plus, future-ex-Governor Cuomo couldn't take the heat from last week's Useful Idiots review, how Trump's big beautiful tax cut actually (surprise) helped the rich, and the world burns from climate change. It's all this, and more, on this week's (gloomy) episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices