Archives On The Air
Archives on the Air takes listeners deep into the archives of the University of Wyoming's American Heritage Center. The AHC collects and preserves primary sources and rare books from Wyoming, the Rocky Mountain Region, and select aspects of the American and global past. Voiced by the AHC's Birgit Burke (previously by Molly Marcuse), each new episode of Archives on the Air reveals a fascinating tidbit from the AHC's vast collection.
Latest Episodes
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The American Committee for Defense of British Homes organized in 1940 to collect donations of arms, ammunition, binoculars and more to supply the British Home Guard as they defended British shores against German invasion.
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The Air Force’s SR-71 aircraft was designed to fly fast and high, while performing reconnaissance missions abroad.
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Residents of Wyoming contributed to the collection of a wide range of materials during the Second World War. Ranging from silk stockings to scrap metals and kitchen fats, the items collected were recycled into parachutes, ships and explosives.
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Wyoming Senator Al Simpson met with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in April 1991. Tensions were high between Iraq and the U.S. as Iraq had recently threatened Israel, gassed the Kurds, and killed a British journalist.
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Foreign correspondent Robert C. Miller risked life and limb to report on stories from the battlefields of World War II.
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Author Gregor Ziemer’s book Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi was based on his experiences in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. The book became the basis for two anti-Nazi propaganda films that were widely distributed in the U.S. in 1943.
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Beginning in the 1930s, increased access to contraceptives and birth control clinics allowed some women to plan their families. But on a more disturbing note, birth control was also touted by the American Birth Control League as a method to promote eugenic birth selection.
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Economist Julian Lincoln Simon proposed using the principles of an auction as the basis for handling passengers on overbooked flights. His proposal led to improved customer satisfaction and was implemented by airlines across the U.S. beginning in 1978.
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The 1985 hit movie Back to the Future bundled comedy, adventure, and science-fiction together. The film garnered multiple awards and was a critical and commercial success.
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The feminist newspaper Majority Report covered topics of interest to women in the 1970s and provides insight into the Women’s Liberation Movement of the same period.