History: A format for radio programming

If I had my own program on, for example, a local public radio station, and were free to discuss whatever ideas appealed to me, I would find it interesting to create a show intended to overcome the general public disdain for history, to show how history can be of practical use, and to inform the audience about what professional historians actually do. To accomplish this, I would hope to recruit two lively history teachers from local colleges, and have them engage in discussion during the show, so that there would be an exchange of viewpoints and a sharpening of focus. It would be important that the guests be both popular, effective teachers and practicing historians who are respected by their colleagues within the field of history.

The type of topics to be discussed would include the following. The precise order in which they would be covered, or whether they would be covered at all, would have to depend on the evolution of the dialogue between the two guest speakers. However, this list could serve as the script on which to fall back should there be any lull in the discussion.

Discussion might be set off by quoting and commenting about George SantayanaÆs well-known dictum, ôThose

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ng of geniuses in Periclean Athens. Also, the point could be made that a well-written book of history can be as enjoyable and exciting to read as a novel, with the advantage that the reader knows he or she is gaining real information, not a fictive fantasy. Next, the guests could be encouraged to discuss their own work as historians: what they study, how they study it, and especially why they believe their work to be important. Perhaps the guests will deal with this in terms of the potential social benefits their research may have. They may have other reasons for why they pursue their research. In any event, the audience may find it enlightening to hear this sort of autobiographical description from actual practicing historians. The other approach to history that most people find distasteful is that of patriotism and apologetics. The guests could discuss why it is counterproductive in the long run to teach history as the official, politically correct, glamorized version of all events, which is the approach normally, and understandably, used for teaching U.S. History in high school. They will probably feel that this is a bad practice both professionally and pedagogically, and may make recommending for better teaching methods.
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Approximate Word count = 1573
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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