The Silver King's War

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This episode introduces The Silverfields of Northbrook, a trilogy of plays about the Silver King's family from 1955 to 1960 in the burgeoning suburbs north of Chicago.  The plays: 1)The Suburbs, 2) Wrigley Days and 3) The Sievers, follow Stanley, Shirley, Michael & Cindy Silverfield through their lives in a new home & neighborhood on Gregg Road, a kids-filled cul-de-sac in Northbrook East. This trilogy concludes The Silver King’s War podcast series with stories about what became of our hero, Stanley Silverfield. 

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This episode is Stanley's transition finale from soldier to civilian.  It begins in 1946 and explores his new job as a production engineer for Acme Paper Box Manufacturing in Chicago.  Lee Bernstein, his brother-in-law, owns the company. The Silver King is now a member of the country's Reserve Officers Corps at the behest of President Harry Truman.  Michael G. Sievers, Stanley's son, reviews the tension of those post-war years as the Korean War continues and describes what's ahead for the King and his family during the 1950s through a trilogy called The Silverfields of Northbrook.

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This episode completes Stanley's transition from soldier to civilian. It's December 1945. The Silver King has arrived in Chicago to live with the Bernsteins as he begins his job as a production engineer at the Acme Paperbox Manufacturing Co.  Michael G. Sievers, the writer, producer & creator of The Silver King's War podcast series, reviews the confluence of the lives of Robert Gottlieb, Robert Caro, Joseph Heller, Sammy Singer and Stanley Silverfield.

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This episode continues following Stanley's transition from soldier to civilian. It's November 1945.  Stanley's enjoying his Birmingham return as an Air Corps veteran, and prepares for life in Chicago as a production engineer for the Acme Paperbox Manufacturing Company, owned by Lee Bernstein's family.  Michael G. Sievers, the writer, producer & creator of this podcast series, reflects on his father's return, his choices for post-war life, and how history shapes a man's future. 

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This special bonus episode is about Phyllis M. Gordon, the family's famous & most-favorite aunt.  She was a Red Cross volunteer who served in Europe during World War II. Born in April 1913, Phyllis graduated from Northwestern University and lived a full life in Chicago. Kelly Sievers reads excerpts from Phyllis' war letters.  Michael G. Sievers, the writer, producer & creator of The Silver King's War, discusses his favorite aunt.

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This bonus episode about The New Yorker magazine, its context & history, is part of Stanley's transition from soldier to civilian.  It's October 1945. Michael G. Sievers, the writer, producer & creator of The Silver King's War podcast series, reviews how the magazine influenced his life & writing. His favorite aunt, Phyllis Gordon, introduced Michael to The New Yorker in 1958. 

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This bonus episode continues Stanley's transition from soldier to civilian with an April 1982 New York Times Magazine  story about Dame Rebecca West.  Stanley was 59; Dame West was 89.  Michael G. Sievers, the writer, producer & creator of The Silver King's War podcast series, shares background on the context for those who wrote about World War II.  Dame Rebecca West died in 1983.  Stanley L. Silverfield died in 1990.

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This bonus episode includes a New Yorker Magazine (October 26, 1946) story by Dame Rebecca West about the Nuremberg Trials. Dame West traveled to Nuremberg, Germany, to cover & write about the conclusion of the first major trials. Published one year after Stanley's train ride home to Birmingham, Alabama, it completes an important context discussion about world events related to The Silver King's War. 

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This bonus episode continues Stanley's transition from soldier to civilian.  As Stanley leaves active duty in October 1945, and rides the train home to Birmingham, Alabama, the Nuremberg Trials begin in Germany.  The trials, conducted in Nuremberg's Palace of Justice, prosecuted the Second World War's war criminals. Four allied nations (Britain, France, the Soviet Union & the United States) provided two justices each to preside throughout each trial.  Michael G. Sievers, the writer, producer & creator of The Silver King's War podcast series, explains the context for the trials as an important & relevant parallel to the end of his father's war. 

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This episode begins Stanley's transition from soldier to civilian. He rides a train home from Ft. McPherson, Georgia, to Birmingham, Alabama.  He completes a ride that began on a train from Birmingham to Nashville, Tennessee, on January 10, 1943.  Now, thirty-three months later, it's mid-October 1945.  Michael G. Sievers, the writer, producer & creator of The Silver King's War podcast series, reviews his father's life in the U. S. Army Air Corps as a B-26 Bombardier and what followed during his post-war years.

• Contact us: [email protected]
• Please review The Silver King's War on Apple Podcasts
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