Tennessee’s Unlikely Role in Ratifying the 19th Amendment (0:30)

Guest: Carole Stanford Bucy, Professor of History, Volunteer State Community College; Davidson County Historian

August 18, 1920–exactly 100 years ago–Tennessee became the final state needed to ratify the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote nationwide. That a Southern state would play that part is surprising. The vote was so close it came down to one young lawmaker and a letter he’d just received from his mother urging him to change his mind and vote for suffrage.

 

The Tennessee Mother’s Letter That Pushed the 19th Amendment Over the Finish Line (19:01)

Guest: Tyler Boyd, Great Grand-Nephew of Harry T. Burn, Author of “Tennessee Statesman Harry T. Burn: Woman Suffrage, Free Elections and a Life of Service”

As we mark the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women across the country the right to vote, let’s hear about the Tennessee lawmaker who cast the vote that pushed the 19th Amendment to victory. Harry T. Burn is his name.

 

#WhyIDidntReport (34:51)

Guest: Jason Whiting, Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy, Brigham Young University

College students are returning to campuses across the country at the same time new federal guidelines take effect regarding how universities handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment. The US Department of Education says the changes are necessary to “restore due process” and protect students from false accusations. Opponents say the rules will discourage victims from reporting sexual assault.

 

Teachers Switching to Online During Pandemic Risk Copyright Pitfalls (52:46)

Guest: Peter Midgely, Director of the Copyright Licensing Office, Brigham Young University

Teachers at all grade levels are in new territory going back to school during a pandemic. As they juggle both in-person and remote class activities, teachers may be unwittingly breaking copyright law. But really, who’s going to sue a teacher for copyright infringement during an emergency like this? Don’t be so sure.

 

What to Do with Dead Trees in a Tree Epidemic (1:10:11)

Guest: Sasa Zivkovic, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Cornell University

Ash trees around the country are decaying. An insect has killed hundreds of millions of these trees in the last couple of decades. But while scientists try to figure out how to slow or stop the spread of the infection, something has to be done with all the dead trees. A team of architects at Cornell University have come up with a creative way to use these infested trees to make buildings.

 

The Little-Known Truth About Japan’s Mistreatment of POWs in WWII (1:27:36)

Guest: Sarah Kovner, Senior Research Scholar, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University, Author of “Prisoners of the Empire: Inside Japanese POW Camps”

75 years ago, the US had just dropped two atomic bombs–the first and only ever deployed against a country in war–and Japan was weeks away from surrendering to end World War II. By then the horrors suffered by allied troops on Japan’s Prisoner of War camps were already well-known. Famous accounts like the best-selling book Unbroken and movies like The Bridge on the River Kwai have memorialized the systematic humiliation and abuse Japanese guards visited on prisoners. But historian Sarah Kovner says “there was no overarching policy or plan by Japan to make POWs suffer, or starve them or work them to death.” So why were Americans and other allied troops treated so terribly in Japanese prison camps?