The Dust Bowl becomes one of the worst ecological disasters in history. Charles and Anne Lindbergh endure the kidnapping and murder of their infant son.
Lindbergh became the principal spokesperson for the America First Committee, which opposed any US involvement in the war in Europe. Several of the most visible members of the committee, Lindbergh included, displayed Nazi sympathies.
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Playlist:
Fanfare
Opening War Theme
“Livin’ the Dream”
Composed by Stephen Brannan. Public domain.
Performed by Wild Blue Country of the United States Air Force Academy Band. Public domain recording. Source.
“Panama”
Composed in 1912 by William H. Tyers. Public domain.
Performed by the Dixie Players of the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band. Public domain recording. Source.
Closing War Theme
Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.
Nice grab bag of an episode. Liked the mention of Woody Guthrie, any plans to expand on American Folk music? Maybe by the time Dylan enters the scene.
My wife inherited a patch of farmland in north-central Kansas. The fellow that farms it for us raises milo maize, soybeans, and wheat in rotation, the soybeans of course being a crop that restores nitrogen to the soil. He says that the drought in the early 90s in this part of Kansas could have led to another Dust Bowl. A major reason it didn’t is that most farmers have moved to no-till cultivation, where the debris remaining after the harvest isn’t plowed under. Hence the ground is not broken up and exposed, so that it doesn’t dry out. In fact, the plant debris helps hold moisture in the ground.
Surprising how simple changes can have a big effect–
Entertaining episode. Christopher Gorham’s “The Confidante” discusses Anna Rosenberg’s significant involvement in FDR’s decision to issue the executive order banning discrimination in the federal government and among military contractors, a watershed moment in our history. You were scrupulously fair to Charles Lindbergh, listing both his many faults and his positive environmental positions. Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s excellent “Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead” a collection of her diary entries and letters, is a well-written and heartbreaking record of the loss of her child.