On Memorial Day: The Politics of Remembering
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Memorial Day might seem as American as Apple Pie, but it takes on different forms for different people at different times. We hear about memorializing the war dead from Arlington National Cemetery to the Internet. Also, the official beginning of hurricane season could compound the nearby oil spill and Haiti disasters, and in one of the most dramatic comeback stories in business history, the value of Apple has surpassed Microsoft and is second only to Exxon Mobil among American corporations.
Banner image: President Barack Obama after laying a wreath at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois, today, Memorial Day. Official White House Photo: Pete Souza
Making News
Active Hurricane Season Could Compound Nearby Oil Spill, Haiti Disasters ()
Damage from the Gulf oil spill has been slow in coming as the oil slick moves toward beaches and marshes, and the growing plume circulates deep in the ocean. Tomorrow is the official beginning of hurricane season. Barry Keim is climatologist for the State of Louisiana, Professor at LSU and author of Hurricanes of the Gulf of Mexico.
Guests:
- Barry Keim: Louisiana State Climatologist
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Main Topic
On Memorial Day: The Politics of Remembering ()
Since antiquity, fallen soldiers have been memorialized with statues, tombs poems and songs — and, now, with websites. Ruling governments build public monuments to commemorate wars. Families want to honor the sons and daughters who fought and died in those wars. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Washington Mall provides a shared experience for the mourning survivors of a war that divided the nation. On this Memorial Day, we hear about the different ways that America's war dead have been, and are being, memorialized.
Guests:
- Kirk Savage: Professor of Architecture and Art History, University of Pittsburgh
- Jack Colnot: Founder, OurFallenSoldier.com
- Ruth Stonesifer: President, American Gold Star Mothers
- Andrew Bacevich: Retired Army Colonel and Vietnam Veteran
- Jim Mitchell: Editorial Writer, Dallas Morning News
Links:
- Obama, Biden to participate in Memorial Day ceremonies at Lincoln National Cemetery in Chicago
- Our Fallen Soldier
- American Gold Star Mothers
- Savage's 'Monument Wars: Washington, DC, the National Mall, and the Transformation of the Memorial Landscape'
- Savage's 'Standing Soldiers, Kneeling Slaves: Race, War and Monument in Nineteenth-Century America'
- Bacevich's 'Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War'
- Bacevich's Los Angeles Times column on Memorial Day
- Professor Blight on 'The First Decoration Day'
- Blight's 'Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory'
Reporter's Notebook
Wall Street Advances Apple to the Tech's Top Spot ()
In September, 1997, shares of Apple computer were trading at $5.45. Last week's price was $244.11. That 600% increase, during the same period that rival Microsoft was growing by 5%, made Apple America's second largest corporation (after Exxon Mobile) with market capitalization of $227 billion. Microsoft is now third with $219 billion. Was it all due to the return of CEO Steve Jobs? Tim Bajarin is a consultant with Creative Strategies and columnist for PC magazine.
Guests:
- Tim Bajarin: Consultant, Creative Strategies
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