[inaudible conversations] >> the explorer coming out tonight on a beautiful spring evening. take of minute to silence your cellphone while the author is speaking. to have a question and answer portion it is

important to come to the audience microphone as well as the author answers than last at the end take of moment to fold up your chairs to help us get back to bookselling. >> i read all of the events in the stores you are not familiar plays take a moment to sign up for e-mail or pick up a calendar of events we now have three locations around town so we're doing more in than ever and we do not want you to miss out on any of that. we are happy to have him back with us to talk about his book 1920.

this is not the typical history book to bring the journalist dai to the topic end but as the former post as news watch so he strips away the glamour of the 1920's to show what every day life is like talking for people who don't remember as much but were important in their days so i will tell you more but we're happy to have him back here at politics & prose. eric burns is. [applause] >> i don't drink coffee. i don't like coffee i thought the reason was the taste.

but instead it may be my lack of coordination. [laughter] i would like to ask your forbearance because if i stumble somewhere i may have just been done in by coffee. 1920 was a remarkable year in and of itself because of the events of that year but because they were harbingers of the events that what happened later in the decade or later in the century or two events that have been in this century, to major events of this century. thursday and september 20 -- 16, 1920 trinity church on

wall street the final bell sounds the noon hour and at the precise instant a horse standing in front of the jpmorgan bake across the street explodes it explodes into so many pieces that men could ever be found. qdoba i will not be questioned. [laughter] it was attached to a cart that was the equivalent of 100 pounds of dynamite in addition to the 500 pounds of cast-iron which when the explosion occurred had the effect of shrapnel. it was lunch hour that had just begun and up on wall street was full of hungry men and women in the financial institute who went to the park bench to sit and

eat their lunch. 38 killed, 400 injured and a few of those would die in the hospital within one week. it was the first terrorist attack ever in the united states and the worst and tell timothy mcveigh detonated by if in oklahoma city 1995. legislators in 1920 to talk to bauhaus homeland's security. they did not call it that they talked about making it more difficult to pass through the portals of ellis island. who set off the bomb? why? were they ever caught? in 1920 was the only year in which to amendments to the constitution of the united

states that to affect that makes it illegal to sell or buy or manufacture but curiously enough not to drink alcoholic beverages. is started junior teesixteen at 12 '01 a.m. and ended for all practical purposes january 16, a 12 '02 a.m. [laughter] many people made their own version of what they used to know so well which is of the year that people called home brew so prohibition was the greatest do-it-yourself project in the history of this country. and it brought the family closer together than it ever had before.

[laughter] mothers in the kitchen the sister is is the pantry the father in this southern mixing bellhops johnny is on the front porch watching for the cops. [laughter] americans still respected the law generally but this specifically was to contrary to human nature on a widespread basis and of those were the rotary club presidents, a doctor's or veterans of the great war and on one bizarre occasion inner nation's capital a lawmaker himself. to in the lobby of the office building of the house of representatives in congressman named le courtier invited friends

newsreel cameramen and the capitol hill police force to watch a demonstration this is how it was described. laguardia blended two-part malts tonic easy to obtain and the drug store to one part near beer it was legal under prohibition although some reports say the taste was something like dishwater left in the sink overnight. but allowing a few seconds to pass he licked his lips the camera would soon and a

brewmaster was standing by to sample the mixture he pronounced it delicious i think he was on the of the party as a payroll so to pass around the samples he even said the police should try it to pass this back to the police who were compounded if they should arrest this man he was a congressman and they did not know what to do so they fled chances are some of them ended at bin the speakeasy to drown their embarrassment that he caused them with a better quality of beverage.

industrial alcohol's were legal because they're used in various manufacturing process and were indispensable but as a beverage additive they were poison they were blended with real alcohol to increase quantity and increase profits but in addition they would increase death to sell blue lake to people was to commit murder and in the words of some people government sanctioned murder. one of the many destructive products used at the time concocted by gangsters was

called jake origin make ted chin -- jamaica gen if you drink too much you would not die but the and you could not walk normally it would be as selfhood you had a clubfoot and was called a jake stepper. steadying of various recipes american scientists learned some of the principles that the german scientists to develop your gas during world war ii. the second amendment was surprisingly controversial and long overdue. despite drives to the contrary write-up took the

last minute there were occasions in the middle of the aisles of various legislative houses, you could see a lobbyists give a handful of bills to a legislator who would then nodded his head that the opposition was bought and paid for. in the summer of 1928 erotically a few months before the daschle election that's women could vote and they would join to vote out of office the first female president of united states. and the only female president. she was not really president

but she was defacto and most did not even know about it. most americans do not know about it today but the political committee in washington knew about the woman in the white house senator fall from new mexico was enraged we have petticoat government. >> said diplomatic community the french ambassador that he was dealing with mademoiselle. >> the greatest offenders -- misunderstanding the most carefree and wealthy decade we have never had. but americans still lived

under the shadow of the great war which is one of world war i was called. if we could not fear to break out again and is in the case of the exploding course demonstrated it could break out on our own soil. as it demonstrated maybe it already had. . .

>> greater in 1920 and it yesterday might branch through the film in new york plaza hotel drunk soaking wet and laughing hysterically but the men who worked and is steel mills and coal mines were a few dollars a week the women who worked in sweatshops for a few coins a day the invoice you got up in the middle of the night deliver blocks of ice with the girls who worked sewing colors on the blouses forced to stand up anything •-ellipsis so that they could keep working. these people were the tour

symbols of life in america in 1920. ben scott and the fibers carlo pietro giovanni guillermo tebaldi ponzi otherwise known as charles ponzi pleasant immigrant to is an immigrant to the united states command he was determined not to live the kind of life i describe command he didn't . a few people actually made money from ponzi's financial machinations which by the way were legal when he began to offer his financial product. and the initial ponzi scheme was misunderstood and several other ways which are

mentioned in a few minutes. before long so much money was being made if you people that will will always best that made his dealings a criminal activity edwin ponzi cap selling is now worthless paper he became a clerk in the ponzi scheme became a reality. late in the 20th century the scheme was reborn and in 2,008 made off went to jail for the rest of his life. i suspect i don't know i don't know, but i suspect that his name might have been in the newspaper more in 2008 than it was in 1920 now, most of us think that the ponzi scheme is a kind of chain letter, but in its original form it is not federal. it is much more complicated and involved different

countries in different parts of the world. i don't really understand it completely command i wrote about in the book. so if you buy the book and come to that section you may be assured that what i wrote is true. it it is just that you will be confused, to. bernie made off's off version of the ponzi scheme lasted almost a decade. carlo ponzi did not even last year. early early in 1920s he was a smalltime hoodlum trying to impress his mama who he loved dearly. his italian mama back home. he wrote home. he wrote letters saying that he was doing so well in america. doing better, becoming more successful all the time. figuratively the streets are really were paved with gold if you knew was traced to take. in fact, by the fourth of july in 1920 ponzi was a

multimillionaire. before the year was over he was a jailbird. things move very quickly for this most famous of scam artists. but i have the surprise for you. you won't believe it now, but just wait. if you read 1920 the unit made the decade war by the time you finish you will not despise charles ponzi, you will sympathize with them feel friend. charles ponzi's. charles ponzi's story is one of the saddest tales of a crook while the man ever put to paper. in 1920 warren gg harding, a republican senator from ohio defeated james cox democratic senator from ohio and some years later harding was voted the 29th best president in the

history of the united states you see what's coming don't you. half the time america had had 29 presence. none,. none however, had presided over an administration as corrupt as harding's. one member of the administration was perhaps -- and this was a fellow a fellow whose office was next to that of the attorney general, he was perhaps the leading provider and washington and he committed suicide when he feared that he might be exposed. a cabinet officer a friend of harding's command command is michael man was put in charge of veterans affairs, and he stole supplies from veterans hospitals this is a year or two after the war veterans hospitals were full and needed their supplies as much as ever. he stole them sold them for

his own profit, and then with harding's approval escaped to europe. he was never prosecuted. his top assistant feared prosecution. he committed suicide. the attorney general was indicted for fraud. and albert fall fellow petticoat government was appointed secretary of the interior whereupon for a kickback he sold military oil reserves to friends of his for private profit. the scandal was called teapot dome because of the shape of the rock formation under which most of the oil resided. teapot dome was probably the most ignominious transgression against justice and the american government until 1972 when the first and greatest of the scandals ending in gate

was revealed. meanwhile, harding was setting records for adultery that would not be eclipsed until john kennedy camelot. abcaseven one day a tour of the white house with being conducted in the visitors heard something that sounded like to people banging off the walls of attorney janitors closet next to the president's office. lots office were sliding on the walls buckets were tumbling over. a male voice joined a female voice in a course of lustful panting. usually janitorial services do not inspire that the enthusiasm. [laughter] the tour guide asked his group to walk a little faster. they were happy to oblige. now, now, the most important event of 1920, in my opinion was also the most important event of the 20th century

in my opinion, and it took place in a small shack on a roof of the factory just outside pittsburgh pennsylvania. in that shack the american mass media of which there is no force more influential began. what radio station k dka did the first tuesday night was broadcast of his event live. it had never been done before. the harding cox election returns. neither the country nor the world whatever be the same again. few people could have imagined radio was one day lead to something called television and no one could have imagined keeping up with the kardashian's. small towns were always thought of as the whole of virtue.

and and then in 1920 sinclair lewis wrote our town and american literature was never the same again. the stage was usually the home of entertainment that was fluffy and moralistic and then in 1920 eugene won the first of his four pulitzer prizes but beyond the horizon, and the theater was never the same again. poetry was the home of romance and bucolic scenery and then in 1920 ts eliot and carl sandburg camelot, and verse was never the same again. with the exception of some of irving berlin's work popular songs were insipid. they had titles like daddy you've been a mother to me

when the moon shines on the moonshine, and eight napoleons with josephine when napoleon was away. [laughter] real titles real songs. then in 1920 out of nowhere a woman who virtually no one had ever heard of named mimi smith bessie, but mimi smith released a record crazy blues. it became against all odds number one song in the country and the jazz age had officially begun. and with the harlem renaissance having already begun music and literature poetry and prose alike changed all the more revealing than that a great many of the country's priorities have changed. and would never change again

the roaring 20s are the most famous decade in the history of the united states they are the only decade that has its own name its own adjective but without these and other events of 1920 to jumpstart the decades engine it might have been quite a while yet before history heard so much as a spotter. and that is the end of what you will hear from me tonight about 1920 the unit made the decade war. [applauding] thank you. >> time for questions. >> i was going to say, say that is not true, that is not for us to here from me but now it will be up to you to decide what you hear. >> very interesting. i thought that there were terrorist attacks or at

least one by the anarchists before 1920. wasn't there some there some anarchist who threw a bomb into the carriage in new york with elegant ladies coming back from shopping. said something like what you pay for your down i could support my family for a whole year clicks yes. warren their anarchist attacks in this country before 1920. in 1919 there was a wave of package bombs sent. one person died and it was the person who was delivering the package. the worst injury beside that was a made handling the package lost her hands. these these package bombs were sense to mayors, judges members of the establishment. i don't know about the case you're talking about but,

yes, there were on a small scale a lot of individual incidents. there had never, however, however, been anything that killed and injured as many people as the attack that i told you about. >> i -- my aging hearing i will be 90 on thursday may account for this, but this, but i did not hear you mentioned mrs. woodrow wilson the second woodrow wilson as the unelected president you refer to. obviously it was she clicks well, i'm sorry you brought that up. i was being cute. i was -- this is not an analogy and crazy about but this was basically a serious talk. the format was like jokes

without punchlines which was the voice of commerce in my year saying make them buy the book so that they will find out. you you have come up to the microphone and ruined. fortunately you have just run one of the questions that i did not answer. >> the second one is -- >> no good. >> with regard to ponzi this may be oversimplistic, but i studied his game many, many years ago. i reduced it to what his appeal was i understood, sales appeal was that he was engaging in what we would call international postal rate arbitrage right? >> that is a good term for it. it is. a very good term. >> you said you did not even understand it. >> i don't. i mean, that's a good term but i don't think that it explains exactly what he was

doing. >> he. >> he was collecting far more money than he could pay out. the appeal was the sales talk was look, the postal rates are different in like a hundred different countries around the world and i am able to buy these postal certificates from various countries and entry them off in another country where the postal rate is different. i make i make a profit and you get the benefits. that was that was his pitch. >> my understanding -- and i am not sure. and. in my reading i have not seen this. he more he more than likely did not go into that kind of detail for fear of confusing people. >> and maybe never even engaged in it but i thought that was his sales pitch. >> his primary sales pitch was that i will give you a 50 percent return. it is. whenever you whenever you want your money i give you a 50 percent return.

>> thank you. >> he did not do too much damage. >> i apologize for blowing your teaser. >> that's all right, sir. >> i would i would like to make a correction, i believe command in a question. >> okay. >> you said that sinclair lewis wrote our town. i think you are referring to main street. >> can't. >> no, for heaven's sake. >> and jordan wilder, of course, our town clicks this gentleman, a foolish mistake my saying that sinclair lewis wrote our town. of course you have main street. >> okay clicks now for the question. >> absolutely right. >> did you watch boardwalk empire by any chance? >> no. >> okay. my question okay. my question was how realistic did you think it was, but you don't know. >> i have no idea. i'm sorry. >> i have a question. i think i read somewhere not

too long ago that it may have been 1920, although maybe it was not exactly a year that in the midst of all this turmoil i think you have one of the largest if not the largest demonstration actually down on the mall today at the time. is is that correct? was that maybe a slightly different year? there were so many convening things, veterans, you know, anger about, anger about the work, prohibition from all these things. is that come out too much? >> of the to the best of my knowledge nothing like that happened in 1920. what was the reason for the demonstration? the bonus army, that would've been later. >> 1930. clicks quite a bit later bit later. >> i was wondering. okay. clicks yes, it was. protests did not occur much.

and interestingly enough i did not go into -- there was not time to go and everything. i i did not go into labor unrest and strikes. there were, in 1920, 3,000 strikes. twenty years before that there would have been none. it was a massive change command an indication of how terrible the working conditions were that the strike became a staple of the american workplace. clicks yes sir. >> probably a naïve question, but i will ask it anyway were the political forces arrayed against women voting. voting. people are giving money because of what fears? >> i have no idea. i have no idea. there is no logical reason for. i can tell you that a great number of the people who opposed suffrage or women

and explanations that i have read about women in particular opposing suffrage had to do with their roles. i mean, they sounded like the worst of chauvinistic men that it is not our place to be in the voting booth. we have are places. our husbands and government have their places. and this is not a good idea. affected would have used a term like this but it's not a good idea to confuse the roles. i was a general idea behind it. again,. again, this is coming from women and certainly from them. sure. go on. >> actually, followed question. the 18th and 19th amendment. you had on the one hand you are saying a lot of women opposed suffrage will also among also among the women

who were the most diehard activists for suffrage. you had an awful lot of them -- a lot of the prominent leaders who seems to be making deals. very active in the temperance movement and very much supportive of the 18th amendment as well. do you talk about that in the book? the sort of political bargaining that seems to be going on? >> i have written at length in another book about the 18th amendment and it is my feeling that that was a very, very minor factor. and so the answer is no i don't. i don't think that have much to do with the basic problems of the 19th amendment. yes, sir. >> could you talk a bit about the harlem renaissance and maybe the state of race

relations in 1920 and its connection with the harlem renaissance which was very popular among certain why people. >> the harlem renaissance was a glorious thing commanded is wonderful to read about the effect that it had on whites generally was nonexistent. the harlem renaissance was funded for the most part by jewish merchants from manhattan who would drive up to their limousines and night and enjoy the pleasure of an exotic culture. it was not by any means the tourist attraction. it did not draw people from other places. the people that duke ellington was playing for at the cotton club or almost exclusively new yorkers. by the way, at the cotton club although blacks sang

and played they were not allowed in the door to be customers. and duke ellington was asked about that. as you might imagine he had a very unsatisfactory answer as powerful a man as he was committee could have said something about it. then again the cotton club was owned by a man named tony the killer man who was in jail at the time for various murders. the harlem renaissance was not particularly widespread in terms of how it changed music in terms of have a chance literature, yes it

had an effect. in terms of how the average white look at the average black did not have much of an effect unfortunately. it is just a wonderful time. i don't know if you people share my adoration almost for hl mencken who to me is the most interesting journalist to read that this country has ever produced believe it or not he was a leading figure of the harlem renaissance because he was somewhat anti-semitic. jews were among his best friends. he was prejudiced against african-americans but he worked very hard with african-american writers. and what they say about him james weldon him james weldon johnson, i don't know

if you're familiar they idolized mencken. he more than anyone else took upon himself to make sure that literarily the harlem renaissance succeeded much more than us clicks thank you. >> is that it for questions? okay. [applauding] quakes thank you all for coming. if you if you not have a chance to get a copy of the book there going to be signing. [inaudible conversations] ♪ is on twitter and facebook

command we want to here from you. tweet us. twitter .com/. ♪ : post a comment on on our facebook page. facebook .com/. ♪ ♪ recently visited capitol hill to _-dash members of congress what they're reading the summer. >> well, i love to read but the senate has long hours and late nights. i've come up with a system. i go back and forth to indiana every weekend. i have a book by bedside in indiana and the book on my bedside here in washington and that i have a book that i carry back and forth and read on the plane. i have three i have three going at any one time. i am just finishing in indiana on the light we cannot see. a pulitzer prize-winning book and i really enjoyed it a lot of the world war ii. secondly 40 pages to go on

an 1100 page 1100 page book in the third volume of churchill's the last lion one of my favorite writers command i'm just wrapping up and have wrapped up a book american retreat by stevens that goes to politics and what is happening here with foreign policy. the three policy. the three books i had lined up to replace these three are a little bit lighter. the boys in the boat about the 36 olympics and americans taking up the dream of participating in that. i served as ambassador to germany, been to the olympic stadium. that is interesting to me. i am also lined up to read that wake the sinking of the lusitania world war i i love history, and the last one is my try to work in a murder mystery.

dennis lane is my favorite author and is written another book. i'll get his next book coming out. it's a good murder mystery. some people would some people would think that is light reading, but it is escape reading. that is my lap right now. i think i've come up with at least a a system where can keep three going at the same time and have something to look forward to. ♪ wants to know what you're reading this summer. tweet us your answer posted on our facebook page. clicks on sunday sunday july 5. ♪ his life with best-selling author peter schweitzer on a live monthly call-in show, the author of nine books which often take critical except government and politicians. the founder of the government accountability institute and a senior editor at large for by

partners looks at the money made by bill and hillary clinton. other written titles include extortion in which he argues that presidents and congressmen solicit donations in exchange for public affairs. he also wrote architects of growing where he contends liberal politicians cause the 2008 financial crisis. she examined he examined how members of congress used their position to financially benefit themselves and throw them all out. his previous his previous books cover topics such as liberal hypocrisy, profiles of the bush family and ronald reagan's fight against communism. peter schweitzer live on. ♪ on sunday, july 5 command you can participate by sending questions or comments to facebook .com/. ♪ on twitter or:.

clicks next pulitzer prize-winning reporter judith miller talking about her experiences as a journalist the new york times and the scandal surrounding her reported on weapons of mass destruction. >> let me say by way of introducing our guest this evening and journalist as a general have an aversion to becoming a story. they prefer to keep the focus on the stories that they are covering. that certainly has been judy miller's preference as a veteran journalist. a decade ago judy ended up the subject of not one but two controversies one involving the question of her alleged possession and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and the other involving the disclosure of valerie has a cia operative.