Showing results for "Recordings" in History & Theory

How did communism become such a pervasive economic and political philosophy? Why did it first take root in early 20th-century Russia? These and other questions are part of a fascinating story whose drama has few equals in terms of sheer scale, scope, or human suffering and belief. These 12 lectures invite you to go inside communism’s journey from a collection of political and economic theories to a revolutionary movement that rocked the world.

Trace the growth of communism from Stalin’s consolidation of power to the establishment of communist regimes in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, Vietnam, and elsewhere in Communism in Power: From Stalin to Mao. These 12 half-hour lessons shed intriguing light on a revolutionary movement that played an outsized role in the 20th century and continues to shape 21st-century geopolitics.

The promise of America is that the country is based on an idea, one where everyone is created equal and equally free to chart their own course. From 13 newly independent states ratifying a national constitution to the heated debates in the halls of Congress today, American politics is about negotiation over what our country is—and where we are going.

Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 - December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as vice president from January to April 1945 under FDR and as a US senator from Missouri from 1935 to January 1945. In these recordings from the 1960s, Truman discusses the establishment of Israel in 1948, the bravery of Jewish soldiers, and his view of the Jewish-Arab conflict in Palestine.

Henry Cabot Lodge (May 12, 1850-November 9, 1924) was an American Republican politician, historian, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served in the United States Senate from 1893 to 1924 and is best known for his positions on foreign policy. The following recording documents his successful crusade against Woodrow Wilson's Treaty of Versailles and ensured that the United States never joined the League of Nations and his reservations against that treaty influenced the structure of the modern United Nations.

Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 - November 7, 1962) was born in New York City and was a niece of President Theodore Roosevelt. She would have a long and distinguished career as an American political figure, diplomat, and activist, making her one of the most admired women of the twentieth century. She served as the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office, making her the longest-serving first lady of the United States.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (November 30, 1874-January 24, 1965) was born in Oxfordshire, England, of mixed English and American parentage. He would become a statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945—during the Second World War—and again from 1951 to 1955.

Hear the actual recording of "The Price of Free World Victory" speech given by Vice President Henry Wallace at a dinner of the Free World Association in New York City on May 8th, 1942.

David Ben-Gurion was the primary national founder of the State of Israel as well as the state's first prime minister. Born in Płońsk, Poland, he immigrated to the Palestine region of the Ottoman Empire in 1906. Adopting the name of Ben-Gurion in 1909, he rose to become the preeminent leader of the Jewish community in British-ruled Mandatory Palestine from 1935 until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The following 1967 recording is a fascinating and spirited discussion by Ben-Gurion about the events that lead to the creation of the Jewish state of Israel.

Politics is the second half of a single treatise by Aristotle (384 B.C.E - 322 B.C.E.), Ethics being the first. Both deal with one and the same subject: what Aristotle calls the philosophy of human affairs. He also refers to it as political science and social science. Aristotle collected and studied the constitutions of over 150 city states before writing his Politics.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." These stirring words from the Declaration of Independence are a powerful statement of the importance of human rights in Western civilization. But many of the freedoms we enjoy today were not so "self-evident" to lawmakers throughout much of our history.

American history is often presented as a tale of dynamic movers and shakers who subdued an untamed wilderness on the way to forging a great nation-all the while leaving philosophy for their European counterparts.But this history neglects the philosophical underpinnings of America. As these 36 lectures demonstrate, America has borne the imprint of influential thinkers from its earliest days, from the Reformation theology of John Calvin to the Enlightenment philosophy of John Locke.

Some refer to Donald Trump as the American success story. While expanding his interests in real estate, sports, and entertainment, he made a decision to run and, ultimately, won the office of president of the United States. Speeches include those made before and after entering politics - announcing his candidacy, on the campaign trail, nomination acceptance, inauguration, and more.

Avec une grande liberté de parole, au travers d'anecdotes révélatrices et de confidences inédites, ces entretiens entre Michel Rocard et Claude Imbert retracent la vie d'une figure majeure de la gauche, qui a marqué le XXe siècle, et dévoile les coulisses de notre histoire politique.

A collection of 1992 presidential campaign addresses.

Now adapted for an immersive audio experience exclusive to Audible, American Dharma is the third installment in Academy Award-winning documentary torchbearer Errol Morris' trilogy of documentaries probing polarizing political figures.

Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 - November 18, 1886) was the 21st President of the United States (1881-85); he succeeded James Garfield upon the latter's assassination. At the outset, Arthur struggled to overcome his reputation, stemming from his beginnings in politics as a politician from the New York City Republican political machine. He succeeded by embracing the cause of civil service reform.

British statesman Benjamin Disraeli delivered this commanding speech in 1872. His imperialistic ideals informed his Conservative political platform as he advocated for maintaining the British Empire. He asked his audience if they were content to be a “comfortable England,” or if they preferred the glory of remaining “a great country - an imperial country - a country where your sons, when they rise, rise to paramount positions, and obtain not merely the esteem of their countrymen, but command the respect of the world.”