American Childhood, Presidential Inaugurations
The History of American Childhood Guest: Paula Fass, PhD, Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley, author of “The End of Childhood in America: A History of Parenting From Life on the Frontier to the Managed Child”; Rebecca de Schweinitz, PhD, Associate Professor of History, BYU No matter how old you are, you’ve surely had a moment when you’ve looked at kids today and thought, “Boy, things were different when I was growing up.” Maybe they were harder, maybe easier. But you’re not wrong – things were different when you were young. The experience of childhood has changed dramatically as America’s politics, economy and values have evolved. Today we’re at another turning point in the American childhood experience: respected economic research shows young people can no longer count on being more financially successful than their parents were. The American Dream that each generation will do better than the last, is fading. Presidential Inauguration History Guest: Jim Bendat, author of “Democracy’s Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President 1789-2013” Presidential Inaugurations are a lot of pomp and circumstance and they tend to be fairly predictable, aside from the occasional naked streaker, jumbled oath or bout of bad weather. But there’s a rich history to the way America swears-in its presidents, which Jim Bendat captures in his book, “Democracy’s Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President: 1789-2013.”