Mike Duncan is an American podcaster and The New York Times. The History of Rome aired between 2007 and 2012 and covered Roman history from its founding to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The History of Rome won best educational podcast at the 2010 podcast awards, and was listed among the best podcasts of 2015 by Apple. “The Storm […]
Is Jesus History? A review
John Dickson has an impressive CV. He was the Founding Director of theCentre for Public Christianity. He has a degree in theology and a Ph.D. inancient history. An ordained Anglican minister, he was a Research Fellow of the Department of Ancient History at Macquarie University, and became a Visiting Academic in the Faculty of Classics […]
It All Begins With A Song: The Story of the Nashville Songwriter
A recent documentary on Dolly Parton showed her performing her 50th anniversary show at the Grand Ole Opry. This is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, which was founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio “barn dance” on WSM. It is the longest-running radio broadcast […]
The Brothers Mankiewicz review: a groundbreaking dual biography
Sydney Ladensohn Stern, The Brothers Mankiewicz: Hope. Heartbreak and Hollywood Classics (USA: University Press of Mississippi, 2019) The writing talent alone of the Mankiewicz Brothers – Herman and Joseph – is overwhelming. Younger brother Joseph won academy awards for writing and directing, particularly for the verbal fireworks of All About Eve, and Herman laid the basis […]
Wow S1gnal
One night in 1977, Ohio radio astronomers discovered a strong, interstellar signal that many argue could be the best evidence of communication from an extraterrestrial civilization or aliens. It is known as the ‘Wow! Signal’ , because of a note left by the astronomer looking over the computer results. In the documentary, director Bob Dawson […]
No more Grapes of Wrath – really?
Jill Lepore’s magisterial These Truths is a fantastic book. It is highly ambitious and delivers a strong narrative history of the United States. Professor Lepore has taken the United States Constitution as a starting point for a highly impressive single volume survey of the history of the USA. Impressive as it is, it is not […]
What place does history have in a post-truth world?
The Knowledge Solution: Australian History Anna Clark, Melbourne University Press, 2019 Book Review When the subtitle of a book reads: “What place does history have in apost-truth world?”, you would think that the book might actually touch upon the topic. Anna Clark has edited this book on Australian historical writing. AssociateProfessor Clark is an Australian […]
‘Change the nation forever’: Shorten invokes Whitlam in final push
https://www.watoday.com.au/federal-election-2019/change-the-nation-forever-shorten-invokes-whitlam-in-final-push-20190516-p51nxz.html By Judith Ireland May 16, 2019 — 1.57pm Add to shortlist Labor leader Bill Shorten has told supporters he wants to “change the nation forever” in his final major speech of the election campaign, vowing to start “from day one” if elected on Saturday. Speaking at a rally in Sydney on Thursday, Mr Shorten said […]
New book on lobbying focuses on Local Government
A new book looks at Local Government as a lobbyist in the Australian political framework. http://www.lgfocus.com.au/editions/2019-04/new-book-on-lobbying-focuses-on-local-government.php Local Government is featured in two articles by Socom’s Managing Director, David Hawkins, and former Local Government Focus editor, Dr Kevin Brianton, who is now a senior lecturer in strategic communication at La Trobe University. The two articles represent […]
Ayn Rand and the Motion Picture Alliance
While the studios were beginning to bring out anti-communist films, the right began to look for other targets. Not content with driving communists out of Hollywood, the right turned its attention to films with liberal messages. Ayn Rand wrote a Screen Guide for Americans in 1947 for the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of […]