Listen Live
Donate
 on air
    Schedule

    KCRW

    Read & Explore

    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Food
    • Culture
    • Events

    Listen

    • Live Radio
    • Music
    • Podcasts
    • Full Schedule

    Information

    • About
    • Careers
    • Help / FAQ
    • Newsletters
    • Contact

    Support

    • Become a Member
    • Become a VIP
    • Ways to Give
    • Shop
    • Member Perks

    Become a Member

    Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

    DonateGive Monthly

    Copyright 2026 KCRW. All rights reserved.

    Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
    Cookie Policy
    |FCC Public Files|

    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    How do we remember 9/11? What should history teach?

    It's been 15 years since the brilliant September morning that upended American life and set George W. Bush on the road to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. This election year, millions of first-time voters will have little or no memory of an event traumatized the country and changed so much about the world.

    • rss
    • Share
    KCRW placeholderBy Todd Purdum • Sep 9, 2016 • 1 min read

    It's been 15 years since the brilliant September morning that upended American life and set George W. Bush on the road to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. This election year, millions of first-time voters will have little or no memory of an event traumatized the country and changed so much about the world.

    View across the south pool of the National September 11 Memorial in New York City

    towards the adjacent National September 11 Memorial Museum.

    Photo by Norman B

    How do we remember the victims and first responders who gave their lives at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania? And the unintended victims: Muslim-Americans who live under the shadow of 9/11, in a presidential campaign when anti-Muslim feeling has once again come to the fore?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Fifteen years later, teaching 9/11 as a lesson in history
    1. 1:52North Korea conducts its fifth nuclear test
    2. 8:53How do we remember 9/11? What should history teach?You’re reading this
    3. 42:21War stories from campaign trails past
    • KCRW placeholder

      Todd Purdum

      Politico

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Jenny Hamel

      KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Katie Cooper

      Producer, 'One year Later'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Evan George

      Director of Content, News

    • KCRW placeholder

      Jenny Pachucki

      9/11 Memorial Museum / Wagner College

    • KCRW placeholder

      Moustafa Bayoumi

      Brookyn College

    • KCRW placeholder

      Robert Cohen

      New York University

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Fifteen years later, teaching 9/11 as a lesson in history
    1. 1:52North Korea conducts its fifth nuclear test
    2. 8:53How do we remember 9/11? What should history teach?You’re reading this
    3. 42:21War stories from campaign trails past
    Back to To the Point