American history

Kurt Vonnegut is one of the most prominent of contemporary novelists. His work often contains paradoxes and explores ideas from his science background. Vonnegut was also a P. O. W. in Dresden during the U.S firebombing of the city, an experience that was a subject in his novel "Slaughterhouse-Five." Vonnegut's works have often been banned, and he is active in a movement of writers to defend free speech rights in the U. S. and abroad. He recently traveled abroad as a representative of the organization PEN to report on intellectual freedom in Eastern Europe.

Paul Nitze began his political career in FDR's administration. His research on the nuclear arms race and the Soviet Union has helped shape the US's foreign and military policy over the past several decades.

Japanese-American sculptor has been commissioned to build public art around the world. A new piece, Bolt of Lightning, which celebrates the life Benjamin Franklin, will soon be installed in Philadelphia. He tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about his early success and his gradual process of unlearning his formal training to develop his own unique style.

Fred Friendly joined CBS television in 1950, and eventually became president of CBS news. Friendly worked extensively with famed journalist Edward R. Murrow. He resigned from CBS in protest after executives went against his decision to telecast the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on Vietnam, and instead aired reruns. After leaving CBS, Friendly became one of the architects of public television. Friendly is currently a professor at the Columbia School of Journalism, and his written several books about history and the Constitution.

Journalist and writer Tom Wicker grew up in the South. He joined the staff of the New York Times in 1960 and has worked for the paper since then. Wicker was one of the journalists covering President Kennedy's visit to Dallas in 1963, and his op-ed column "In the Nation," is nationally syndicated. Wicker has written non-fiction and fiction books. His latest novel, "Unto this Hour," is based in part on stories from his grandmother about her life in the Confederacy. The novel is set in the Civil Battle, the Second Bull Run.

Philip Foner is the foremost historian on the labor movement in the U. S. He is the author of over eighty works, including a four volume history of the American labor movement, "Organized Labor and the Black Worker," and "Women and the American Labor Movement." Foner's specialities include labor history, African American history, and the history of women and Socialism. Foner has recently edited a collection of speeches and writings of Irish-American labor organizer Mother Jones.

Historian Paul Fussel has observed nine distinct class categories in the United States. He says that, while belief in social mobility is strong in American culture, few people are able to move out of the class into which they were born.

As the founder of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), which fought for civil rights using nonviolent tactics, Farmer organized 1961's Freedom Rides.

After the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's recent takeover of regional commuter rail systems and a recent strike, ridership of SEPTA's rail lines declined nearly 20%. SEPTA General Manager David Gunn and consultant Vukan Vuchic consider how SEPTA can better manage fares and improve service for commuters outside Philadelphia city limits. Fresh Air callers voice their concerns.

Journalist Fred Kaplan's new book explores the evolution of the United States' nuclear arms policies through the lens of rivalries between the Air Force and Navy and the increasingly theoretical analyses made by political figures and think tanks.