The 1915 silent film, The Birth of a Nation, is about as controversial as a film can get. Why? Because racism. What you might not know is that the film is based in part on a novel - a historical romance, really - written by Thomas Dixon. The name of the book is The Clansman...and it is some of the most vile racist propaganda of its day. Today we talk to historian Lynn Lyerly, who is currently working on a book about Dixon, and sort through the heritage of racism and its legacy. Listen...and pay attention. This shit is important, yo.