The Last Archive

In the spring of 1958, when the winter snow melted and the warm sun returned, the birds did not. Birdwatchers, ordinary people, everyone wondered where the birds had gone. Rachel Carson, a journalist and early environmentalist, figured it out — they’d been poisoned by DDT, a pesticide that towns all over the country had been spraying. Carson wrote a book about it, Silent Spring. It succeeded in stopping DDT, and it launched the modern environmental movement. But now, more than 60 years later, birds are dying off en masse again. Our question is simple: What are the birds trying to tell us this time, and why can’t we hear their message any more? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This podcast explores the historical event in which women testified and shared stories about their abortions, leading to changes in women's rights. It discusses the impact of the Women's Liberation Group, the legalization of abortion in New York, and the Women's Convention in Houston. It also touches on the rally against the Equal Rights Amendment, the controversial film The Silent Scream, and the erosion of truth in society.

Discussion on forgotten Congressional hearings about the National Data Center and concerns about data privacy. The reputation of social critic Vance Packard and public opposition towards the Data Center. Covering the conclusion of a house investigation on invasion of privacy and the Senate's decision to hold its own hearings. The story of smallpox eradication and the use of technology in business. The story of Watergate and government surveillance. The issue of data storage and the lack of regulations surrounding it.

In this podcast, the speakers explore the history of the polio vaccine, including the devastating impact of the disease and the race to find a cure. They discuss the challenges of belief and access, as well as the political implications of medical programs. The podcast also touches on the current anti-vaccination movement and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The podcast discusses the 1952 US election, the introduction of technology like television and computers, the invention of targeted political ads, the power of unique selling propositions in advertising, the selling of an inadequate ticket, and the impact of consumerism on politics.

This podcast explores the power of voices in history and literature. It delves into Ralph Ellison's journey as he wrote Invisible Man, the challenge of understanding self-creation in America, the issue of evidentiary injustice, and the connection between Black Lives Matter and capturing evidence.

Delve into the mystery of the Invisible Lady exhibit in 1804 and the theories behind her invisibility. Explore the metaphorical meaning of the Invisible Lady and its connection to Victorian fetish for privacy. Discover how the right to privacy originated from Mrs. Bayard's funeral. Explore the themes of hiding and exposing in works of Warren, Brandeis, psychology, and thrillers. Examine the impact of sound and technology on privacy rights. Reflect on the tension between knowledge and privacy in an exposed world.

In this podcast, James Frye, charged with murder in 1922, puts his trust in a lie detector. The episode explores the lie detector's inventor, William Moulton Marston, and the connection to Wonder Woman. It also touches on the science of testimony, the historical context of social scientists and crime statistics, and Fry's struggle for innocence.

On a spring day in 1919, a woman’s body was found bound, gagged, and strangled in a garden in Barre, Vermont. Who was she? Who killed her? In this episode, we try to solve a cold case - reopening a century-old murder investigation - as a way to uncover the history of evidence itself. What is a clue? What is a fact? What is a mystery? We put the pieces of the puzzle together: photographs, newspaper articles, a private eye’s notebook, the trial record and, last but not least, a trip to the scene of the crime. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jill Lepore, New Yorker writer, author, and celebrated historian, uncovers the mystery of truth through the hidden door labeled 'The Last Archive' at the library, announcing a new podcast about America's arguments on truth and evidence.