Historic Voices: Global History and Culture

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(Bonus) Biography of President John F Kennedy Nov 22, 2021

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(Bonus) John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination near the end of his third year in office. Kennedy served at the height of the Cold War, and the majority of his work as president concerned relations with the Soviet Union and Cuba. A Democrat, Kennedy represented Massachusetts in both houses of the U.S. Congress prior to his presidency.

(Bonus) Transcript, President Kennedy, Space Exploration Nov 22, 2021

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(Bonus) A theme of the talk by President Kennedy is summed up in one of the quotations from the speech, "all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage." He explains why it is worth the cost to go to the moon.

President Kennedy - Space Exploration - 1962 Nov 22, 2021

Show notes

S03-E17 We feature President John F Kennedy and his speech on America's Space Program delivered at Rice University on September 12, 1962. At this stage of the space race with the Soviets, the U.S. has successfully placed several astronauts into space. A theme of the talk by President Kennedy is summed up in one of the quotations from the speech, "all great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage." He explains why it is worth the cost to go to the moon.

In addition to this audio episode, I also provide several PDF documents: first, a transcript of this speech, second, a short biography of JFK's life, and finally, an overview of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida which was renamed in honor of the president for his vision of the space program.

This audio recording comes from the American Rhetoric online database. This website provides more than 5,000 speech transcripts, audio recordings, and videos of public speeches, sermons, lectures, interviews, and more. Check out the website at http://americanrhetoric.com

The following links allow you to subscribe: iTunes and Apple Podcast, Amazon Music/Audible, Castbox.fm, Deezer, Facebook, Gaana, Google Podcast, iHeartRadio, Player.fm, Radio Public, Samsung Listen, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Twitter. and Vurbl. Automatically available through these podcast apps: Castamatic, iCatcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RSSRadio, and more.

Please post comments to the individual episodes at http://historicvoices.org, podcast review and rating section within iTunes and other apps, or email to me, arendale@umn.edu You can also check out my other four podcasts and other social media at www.davidmedia.org

(Bonus) Space Race between U.S. and Soviets Nov 19, 2021

Show notes

Bonus: The Space Race was a 20th-century competition between two Cold War adversaries, the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States of America (USA), to achieve superior spaceflight capability. It had its origins in the ballistic missile-based nuclear arms race between the two nations following World War II. The technological advantage demonstrated by spaceflight achievement was seen as necessary for national security, and became part of the symbolism and ideology of the time. The Space Race brought pioneering launches of artificial satellites, robotic space probes to the Moon, Venus, and Mars, and human spaceflight in low Earth orbit and ultimately to the Moon.

(Bonus) Mercury 7 Astronauts Nov 19, 2021

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Bonus: The Mercury Seven were seven astronauts selected to fly spacecraft for Project Mercury. They are also referred to as the Original Seven and Astronaut Group 1. Their names were publicly announced by NASA on April 9, 1959. These seven original American astronauts were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton. The Mercury Seven created a new profession in the United States and established the image of the American astronaut for decades to come.

(Bonus) History of Space Flight Nov 19, 2021

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Bonus: Spaceflight began in the 20th century following theoretical and practical breakthroughs by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Robert H. Goddard, and Hermann Oberth. The first successful large-scale rocket programs were initiated in 1920s Germany by Fritz von Opel and Max Valier, and eventually in Nazi Germany by Wernher von Braun. The Soviet Union took the lead in the post-war Space Race, launching the first satellite, the first man and the first woman into orbit. The United States caught up with, and then passed, their Soviet rivals during the mid-1960s, landing the first man on the Moon in 1969. In the same period, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and China were concurrently developing more limited launch capabilities.

(Bonus) Biography of John Glenn Nov 19, 2021

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Bonus: John Herschel Glenn Jr. (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016) was a United States Marine Corps aviator, engineer, astronaut, businessman, and politician. He was the third American in space, and the first American to orbit the Earth, circling it three times in 1962. Following his retirement from NASA, he served from 1974 to 1999 as a Democratic United States Senator from Ohio; in 1998, he flew into space again at age 77.

Before joining NASA, Glenn was a distinguished fighter pilot in World War II, China and Korea. He shot down three MiG-15s and was awarded six Distinguished Flying Crosses and eighteen Air Medals. In 1957, he made the first supersonic transcontinental flight across the United States. His onboard camera took the first continuous, panoramic photograph of the United States.

John Glenn Describes His Flight in Space - 1962 Nov 19, 2021

Show notes

S03-E16 John Glenn describes his historic space flight in 1962 at a press conference immediately after his return.bMr. Glenn answers questions from the national press about orbiting the earth three times. Some of the topics of the nearly 50-minute press conference included experiments he conducted, malfunctions of the equipment, his impression of seeing the earth and stars from the spacecraft, and other topics.

In addition to this audio episode, I also provide several PDF documents to provide a broader context for Mr. Glenn's and NASA's achievement: first, a bibliography of John Glenn would go on to eventually serve as a distinguished U.S. Senator, second, a history of space flight, third, an overview of the Mercury 7 astronauts of which Mr. Glenn was a member, and finally an overview of the space race between the Soviets and the U.S.

The following links allow you to subscribe to this podcast: iTunes and Apple Podcast, Amazon Music/Audible, Castbox.fm, Deezer, Facebook, Gaana, Google Podcast, iHeartRadio, Player.fm, Radio Public, Samsung Listen, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Twitter. and Vurbl. It is automatically available through these podcast apps: Castamatic, iCatcher, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RSSRadio, and more.

Please post comments to the individual episodes at http://historicvoices.org, podcast review and rating section within iTunes and other apps, or email to me, arendale@umn.edu You can also ch

(Bonus) America the Beautiful song Nov 15, 2021

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(Bonus) At various times in the more than one hundred years that have elapsed since the song was written, particularly during the John F. Kennedy administration, there have been efforts to give "America the Beautiful" legal status either as a national hymn or as a national anthem equal to, or in place of, "The Star-Spangled Banner", but so far this has not succeeded. Proponents prefer "America the Beautiful" for various reasons, saying it is easier to sing, more melodic, and more adaptable to new orchestrations while still remaining as easily recognizable as "The Star-Spangled Banner". Some prefer "America the Beautiful" over "The Star-Spangled Banner" due to the latter's war-oriented imagery; others prefer "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the same reason. While that national dichotomy has stymied any effort at changing the tradition of the national anthem, "America the Beautiful" continues to be held in high esteem by a large number of Americans, and was even being considered before 1931 as a candidate to become the national anthem of the United States.

(Bonus) Biography of Mr. Paul Harvey Nov 15, 2021

Show notes

(Bonus) Paul Harvey Aurandt 1918 – 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast News and Comment on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous The Rest of the Story segments. From 1951 to 2008, his programs reached as many as 24 million people per week. Paul Harvey News was carried on 1,200 radio stations, on 400 American Forces Network stations, and in 300 newspapers.

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