For a brief moment in the summer of 1900, Robert Charles was arguably the most infamous black man in the United States. After an altercation with police on a New Orleans street, Charles killed two police officers and fled. During a manhunt that extended for days, violent white mobs roamed the city, assaulting African Americans and killing at least half a doz ... Show More
Nov 15
Lucy Caplan, "Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera" (Harvard UP, 2025)
Recently, musicologists and others have started writing about Black participation in opera. Lucy Caplan’s Dreaming in Ensemble: How Black Artists Transformed American Opera (Harvard UP, 2025) is a major new publication on this topic. Caplan examines what she calls a Black operati ... Show More
59m 59s
Apr 2025
Succession 1625: James I to Charles I
<p>March 2025 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of King James VI and I, and the succession of his son Charles I. Crowned King of Scotland at just 13 months old in 1567 and later succeeding Elizabeth I in England in 1603, James envisioned a unified United Kingdom. However, ... Show More
49m 3s
Oct 2024
New Orleans Rhythm Kings - 1922-1923
Influential band of white jazz musicians - many from New Orleans - active in Chicago in the early 1920's - Paul Mares (c), George Brunies (tbn), Leon Rappolo (clt), Jack Pettis (ts), Mel Stitzel and Elmer Schoebel (p), Lew Black (bjo), Steve Brown (sb), Frank Snyder and Ben Polla ... Show More
1h 2m
May 2025
Miami Explodes Into Violence (1980)
<p>It's May 14th. This day in 1980, Miami is seeing the biggest racial uprising of the 70s or 80s, as riots and violence erupt with the acquittal of police officers accused of killing a man by the name of Arthur McDuffie.</p><p>Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the violence brok ... Show More
22m 44s