Viewpoints Radio
Award-winning reporting on current issues featuring America's leading experts.
Imagine being born into slavery in the South. You don’t have a dime to your name, received no education and all you know are the surrounding fields of the plantation you worked on. What would you do after the abolishment of slavery? How would you start over? February is Black History Month – and as we remember the past and the period of slavery in America, …
For decades, science fiction was a genre written almost exclusively by white males. Now, the genre is flourishing with diverse voices, thanks in part to the trailblazing writer Octavia E. Butler. Historian Gerry Canavan discusses the obstacles Butler faced and her legacy on one of the most popular genres in American literature.
Statues commemorating the Confederacy remain in some towns in the US South, though its principles promoting slavery and oppression of blacks are in disrepute. Some towns have removed these statues in the face of heavy opposition. A former Mayor of New Orleans describes how his thinking evolved toward a decision to remove the statues in his city, and the …
Slavery is alive in the United States and around the world in the 21st century. That’s hard to believe, but all over the world people are being forced to work long hours as laborers or in the sex trades, in horrible conditions for little or no money – and there’s no way for them to get out. We talk to two specialists in human trafficking about the issue and …
Researching your ancestors is popular these days. It can be exciting if your ancestors were famous or if they had some connection to a historical event. However, it can be painful if your family played a part in one of the darker periods in our history, such as slavery. We talk to a man whose family held slaves and hear how he went back in history and to his …
