Luciano Pavarotti sings “La donna è mobile” from Verdi’s Rigoletto.

The story of how a united Italy was born in the nineteenth century.

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Fanfare

Overture to La Forza del Destino (“The Force of Destiny”)
Composed in 1862 by Giuseppe Verdi. Public domain.
Performed by the University of Chicago orchestra and used pursuant to a Creative Commons license. Details

“La donna è mobile” (“The Lady Is Fickle”) from Rigoletto
Composed in 1851 by Giuseppe Verdi. Public domain.
Performed by Enrico Caruso. Public domain recording. Source.

Overture to Nabucco (“Nebuchadnezzar”)
Composed in 1841 by Giuseppe Verdi. Public domain.
Performed by the DuPage orchestra and used pursuant to a Creative Commons license. Details

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are
© and ℗ 2016 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

We return to the United States this week to examine more of the issues confronting Theodore Roosevelt’s administration: Are American soldiers committing war crimes in the Philippines? The signing of a treaty with Nicaragua Colombia Panama to build a canal across Central America. A coal strike that threatens to leave Americans in the cold during the 1902 mid-term election. And the burning question of whether Theodore Roosevelt is really all that great a hunter.

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Transcript.
Transcript provided by listener Josh.

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Fanfare

Opening Theme

Symphony No. 9 in E minor (“From the New World”)
Composed in 1893 by Antonín Dvořák. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Coro di zingari (“Anvil Chorus”) from Il trovatore
Composed in 1853 by Giuseppe Verdi. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

“The Teddy Bears’ Picnic”
Composed in 1907 by John Walter Bratton. Public domain.

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are
© and ℗ 2016 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

King Leopold’s claim to the Congo is recognized by the Western nations, and he sets to work to extract as much money from the Congo as possible, with no regard for the lives or welfare of the people living there, until he is exposed by Roger Casement, the British consul in the Congo.

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Transcript.
Transcript provided by listener Josh.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Trois Odes Funèbres (Three Funeral Odes)
Composed in 1866 by Franz Liszt. Public domain.
Performed by Mauro Tortorelli, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons license. Details.

Closing Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are
© and ℗ 2016 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.