HumanMedia.org Podcasts

"The climate change, global warming problem is a moral, spiritual issue and probably the most important one of today. And I think that because I think how we respond is going to define what it means to be human today.What are we leaving for the generations that come after us? What kind of people are we?" --Rev. Sally Bingham Mark Twain has often been quoted as saying "Everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it." Now, a fascinating movement among religious congregations -- liberal and conservative -- is starting to talk a lot about the weather. They focus on the global warming that most scientists believe is precipitating violent storms, extremes of temperature and other changes. And the congregations are coming together to do something about the causes of global warming. They call this movement Interfaith Power and Light, operating in more than twenty states. Reverend Sally Bingham and Steve Macausland, among others, remind usthat we are all stewards of this planet, and as such, are morally obligated to keep it clean.More information can be found at the sites below:The Regeneration ProjectIntergovernmental Panel On Climate Change

"I have to say that, by and large, the scientific community has, indeed, attempted to gain its technical success before asking about the social and moral implications of what that success will bring." ---- Everett Mendelsohn History of Science professor emeritus, Harvard University We consider the moral implications of scientific research, especially when the aim is to develop military arms. Are the scientists involved morally responsible for the use of these weapons on civilians? Author and historian Robert Neer recounts the top-secret research conducted at Harvard in the early 1940s, which yielded the weapon napalm. Use of napalm was widely accepted in WW2 and killed more Japanese even than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But when napalm was used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam war, peace activists decried the substance -- a gasoline-based gel that sticks to human skin and burns to the bone at extremely high heat -- to be inhuman. An iconic photo showed a 9-year-old girl, who was burned severely by napalm. Yet the chief scientist who developed the weapon later disavowed responsibility for its use. We also hear from Harvard science historian Everett Mendelsohn, who signed an anti-napalm petition in 1967 and has since studied and taught about the gap between weapons research and a deep awareness of how weapons development can lead to great human suffering. Complete program length: 29 Minutes

"If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, my testimony to the creed of optimism is worth hearing." Stricken blind and deaf by a fever at infancy, Helen Keller once described herself as "an optimist in spite of all." This truly inspiring biography recounts how Keller emerged from solitary confinement in silent darkness to become one of the 20th century's greatest women and greatest human spirits. Includes readings from her autobiographical reflections and rare audio recordings of Keller and her teacher/friend Anne Sullivan Macy. Comments by Anne Bancroft who won an Academy Award for her performance in "The Miracle Worker" and playwright William Gibson. Hear the amazing tale of how Helen as a child learned to communicate, and her tireless crusade as an adult for the disabled. Also a look at the spiritual philosophy that gave her strength.Duration: ~1 hour

"In the solitude of my spirit, I see clouds of dust raised on the highways of the South; I see bleeding footsteps; I hear the doleful wail of fettered humanity, on the way to the slave-markets, where the victims are to be sold like horses, sheep, and swine, knocked off to the highest bidder. There I see the tenderest ties ruthlessly broken, to gratify the lust, caprice and rapacity of the buyers and sellers of men. My soul sickens at the sight." -- Frederick Douglass, Abolitionist "I think by the end of his life Lincoln had certainly accepted the idea of black citizenship. In fact, in 1862 his Attorney General, Edward Bates, issues a ruling basically saying: The Supreme Court was wrong. Free black people -- not slaves -- are citizens. Absolutely, we're going to recognize all free black people as citizens of the United States. And the Supreme Court just made a big mistake there, and we don't have to listen to it." -- Eric Foner,Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Columbia University historian It's often described as the worst decision ever handed down by the U-S Supreme Court. It was the only time in American history when a justice resigned from the Court in apparent disgust at a ruling by his colleagues. It prompted numerous proposals that the Supreme Court be abolished. And it greatly inflamed America in the tense period leading up to the Civil War. How could a nation founded on a Declaration that "all men are created equal" permit slavery? Nowhere was this contradiction more stark than in federal courts before the nation erupted into Civil War. In this documentary, we consider several historical flashpoints.
In one case, historians, legal scholars and actors re-create the fugitive slave trial of Anthony Burns, a teenager born as a slave in Virginia. After escaping on a boat to Boston, he was apprehended and forced into federal court where under the Fugitive Slave Act he could be ordered back to slavery. The federal court proceedings that followed his arrest provoked the largest abolitionist protest the nation had ever seen. In the end, Burns, then 20 years old, was marched through the city in chains and deposited on a boat, which would take him back to cruel punishment as a slave. The judge, Edward Loring, later faced strong ostracism and was eventually removed from his other post as a state judge. In the second segment, we look in-depth at the most controversial ruling in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court -- the Dred Scott case. In that decision, the Chief Justice ruled that black people have "no rights which the white man was bound to respect." Shortly afterward, a fellow justice resigned in disgust from the Supreme Court. We hear the whole amazing saga in a lengthy dialogue with Eric Foner, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and professor of history at Columbia University. We examine how these cases aggravated national tensions before the Civil War, stirred up abolitionist sentiment and harmed the legitimacy of the courts. Complete program length: 1 hour

How close have we come to nuclear war? What are the dangers posed by "unsecured" nuclear materials? What can we do to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons? "We cannot rely on technology to solve that which is essentially a human problem: which is the requirement that we learn to live together" --Jonathan Granoff, President, Global Security Institute. Do you still worry about Nuclear War? Recent threats from terrorism and conflicts among countries that possess nuclear weapons have brought this all too real problem back into our consciousness. Jonathan Granoff, an attorney from Philadelphia and head of the Global Security Institute, has not forgotten about the threat of Nuclear War. He works to prevent a Nuclear disaster by strengthening the security policies and practices we have in place and at the same time tries to solve the basic problem of the deep divisions among people, that often lead to war. In this episode of Humankind with David Freudberg, Granoff discusses the how close we have come in the past to a nuclear disaster and what we can do as concerned global citizens to avoid it in the future. Complete program length: 29 minutes

"We went building by building, block by block, door by door. We just said: we're here for children. We're going to try to make this a better place for children." --Geoffrey Canada A truly spell-binding speaker, Geoffrey Canada was described by Newsday as "Harlem's Father Figure." His efforts to save inner city youth became the subject of a recent cover story of The New York Times magazine. In 1997, he drew a line on a map around a twenty-four block area in central Harlem where he believed children were woefully underserved. He dubbed it "Harlem Children's Zone" and has proceeded to deploy more than a dozen programs now serving over 8,000 kids (and 5,000 adults).Today, his nineteen million dollar project, supported by foundations, corporations and government funding, brings together a patchwork of agencies serving children. A third degree black belt, Canada is a dynamo of energy and inspiration with a grand vision to reclaim young people one at a time. His wonderful stories of turning troubled youth around humanize the plight of kids hungry for for affirmation and inspiration. Complete program length: 29 minutes

For more information about this special, please check out our Passengers Mini-Site where you can download our four half-hour Passengers documentaries free (mp3 files). World-class experts, colorful personal stories (including winner of the month-long Car-Free Challenge) and cool stereo sounds of trains! iTunes Podcast We also have a 2-CD set of the series available for purchase.

What is the life of a sharecropper like? What did it feel like to be the only black children in an all white school during desegregation? What was like to go to school and suffer the hatred bred by generations of racism? How does a family resist the urge to return the hatred that was directed at them? "I didn't have no hate. Not a day. Hate will destroy you. Hate'll bring you down." --Mae Bertha Carter, former sharecropper Join David Freudberg for a stirring, wrenching, and remarkable tale of human endurance, spirit, and strength. Travel back to the era of civil rights in Mississippi as Mae Bertha Carter, a former sharecropper and mother of 13 children, describes her struggle to have her daughters schooled with white children. This inspiring woman fended off gunshots, harassment, and unrelenting hostility to ensure her children would not be sharecroppers and, amazingly, not grow to hate those who opposed them. Her daughters talk emotionally about how they survived daily torment to become successful professionals, the lessons instilled by their parents that still guide them today, and what it meant to play such a significant, but unknowing role in the changing of a country. Humankind also talks to a white classmate of the Carters and to Connie Curry, the author of a book about Mae Bertha "Silver Rights." Family, fortitude, and the will of the soul...this is an unforgettable half-hour. Complete program length: 29 minutes