Segregation in Post-Civil Rights Era, Nation-building and TV

Segregation in Post-Civil Rights Era (1:58) Guests: Jacob Rugh, Ph.D., Sociologist at Brigham Young University; Douglas Massey, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton  Race is Top of Mind today. President Barack Obama this afternoon delivered the eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney, a South Carolina State Senator gunned down while leading a Bible study in his Charleston church last week. The killings appear to have been racially motivated. The President called on Americans to have the collective will to tackle the “uncomfortable truths about the prejudice that still infects our society.” “Every time something like this happens someone says we need to have a conversation about race,” said Obama. “We talk a lot about race. There’s no short cut. We don’t need more talk.”  Nation-building and TV (51:53) Guests: Stewart Anderson, Ph.D., History Professor at BYU; Melissa Chakars, Ph.D., History Professor at Saint Joseph’s University. Co-Authors of “Modernization, Nation-Building and Television History”  Television is Top of Mind this hour. Viewing is on the decline here in the US, believe it or not – being replaced slowly by the entertainment now ubiquitous on other screens - our computers, tablets, phones.  But wind the clock back to the heyday of television in the 50s and 60s, when only a few channels were available and that seemed sufficient. From Eastern Germany to far-flung Soviet Siberia, television played an important role in developing national cultures – even strengthening governments.