Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Brian VanDeMark, professor of history at the United States Naval Academy, to discuss his latest book, Kent State: An American Tragedy. They chat about the context of the divided cultural landscape of America during the Vietnam War and heightened popular anxieties around the country, how the shootings came to take place, the reductive narratives that ensued, the victims of the shooting, and the impact of that day on the Guardsmen who were there. 

Get the book here: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324066255

Show Notes:

Los Angeles Review of Books: Tom Zoellner – “Yelling ‘Fire’ on a Crowded Knoll”

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/yelling-fire-on-a-crowded-knoll/

Los Angeles Times: Chris Vognar – “A meticulous, pain-filled history of the senseless slaughter at Kent State”

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-08-05/brian-vandemark-kent-state-an-american-tragedy

National Review: Paul Baumann – “What Happened at Kent State?”

https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2024/10/what-happened-at-kent-state/

Times Literary Supplement: John McMillian – “Civil unrest”

https://www.the-tls.co.uk/regular-features/in-brief/kent-state-brian-vandemark-book-review-john-mcmillian

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