December 19, 2007

Taxing Maine

Through different historical characters, humor, little known facts, and thought-provoking stories, Taxing Maine explores what taxes mean for Maine communities, the state government, the Maine landscape, and Mainers’ wallets. The performance, featuring David Greenham and Dennis A. Price from the Theater at Monmouth, encourages us to consider how history and a range of opinions and beliefs about taxes have influenced our current taxation system. Thanks to Jon James of TheVoiceGuy.net for making this recording.

We welcome your comments!

December 7, 2007

Jennifer Gilmore

Spanning the first half of the twentieth century, Jennifer Gilmore's Golden Country tells the intertwining stories of three immigrants seeking their fortunes. Gilmore’s reinvention of the Jewish American novel, captures the exuberance of the American dream while exposing its underbelly—disillusionment, greed, and the disaffection bred by success. It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Gilmore's work has appeared in magazines, journals, and anthologies, including Alaska Quarterly Review, Allure, BookForum, CutBank, Nerve, Salon, and The Stranger. She works in publishing and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

This reading was part of the Portland Public Library’s Brown Bag Lecture Series, sponsored by Martin’s Point Health Care.

Thank you for listening. Please leave your thoughts and questions in a comment on this blog post.

November 30, 2007

Joseph Wensink

Jack Burden and the Limits of Political Idealism

Joseph Wensink is a PhD candidate in English at Brandeis University, where he teaches writing. He has written on the links between intellectual history and the modern American novel, and is particularly interested in studying Warren’s Jack Burden as a failed idealist. In his talk, he offered a close reading of several passages from the book that shed light on Burden’s character.

Tricia Welsch

Filming American Politics

Tricia Welsch is Associate Professor of Film Studies at Bowdoin College. Welsch used clips to compare the 1949 film version of "All the King’s Men" starring Broderick Crawford and the 2006 re-make starring Sean Penn. Since those clips are protected by copyright, this excerpt from her talk includes only the background material she gave on Hollywood’s treatment of politics and film adaptations of novels.

Ray Arsenault

The Huey Long-Willie Stark Connection

Ray Arsenault is Professor of History at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg. He is an expert on contemporary Southern politics, notably the phenomenon of the political demagogue. He appeared as part of the Organization of American Historians’ Distinguished Lecturer series, which honors major scholars who are also outstanding teachers. Here, he discusses the life and times of Huey Long, Louisiana’s governor and U.S. Senator in the depths of the Depression, and a potential rival to FDR as a presidential candidate.
Link

Share Our Wealth

In 1934, Huey Long organized the Share-Our-Wealth Society, which advocated a populist program for redistributing wealth. In this April 1935 radio address, Long sharply criticized FDR and the New Deal and then sketched out his alternative program. (From the collection of Andy Lanset – used with permission.)

November 16, 2007

Bill Roorbach

Like other authors in this podcast, Bill Roorbach has written about a very personal part of Maine. Temple Stream (Dell, 2005) considers the stream that borders the fields below his house in Farmington; it won the nonfiction Maine Literary Award. His stories and novels deal with equally real and natural people. And he produces “teacherly tomes” on memoirs, essays, and Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: The Art of Truth (Oxford University Press, 2001).

This interview with Roorbach by Charlotte Albright was included on the Council’s 30th Anniversary CD, “Maine Writers Speak.”

You can leave your feedback in the comments section, below.