is it p ng >> you did the book on beethoven the what do you run into with academics and the world of history or yanss that say you're not a historian the >> oh, i repeat it myself. i'm not a historian. >> why not? >> i'm a different species of cat. historians deal with more than the individual. a biographer deals with the individual. a biography is the story of writing of life, biography. i'm interested in character, the narrative of character. the strangeness of events. the strangeness of reality. i'm interested in literary matters. history or yaps have to concern themselves with the abstracts -- economics, great social movements, consensus, ideology. these things don't particularly interest me. i like to write about living human beings who live in extraordinary times and whose characters are extraordinary. the factd that i've written about two presidents is not through any particular interest in politics or governmenting, it's fascination with the personalities of these men and the really unique lives they led. >> why a biography on beethoven. >> i've always loved music very much,

. >> bach, beethoven, gershwin, and a boy named j.p. tell you what they all have in common coming up. >> harry introduces us to a young man who not only plays music, he composes it. >> we're going to go over to the piano there. >> okay. >> j.p. and his teacher are arriving for the day's lesson, which is part music theory and part composition. >> the theory part is where you learn what makes the great music work. in the composition class, j.p. will have brought in what he worked on over the course of the week. [ piano playing ] >> i get a lot of inspiration just from improvising on the piano. i write on the piano. and then i put it on the computer. >> these guys are gonna keep repeating, right? >> he'll make suggestions, and sometimes we'll change it or write a little more in the lesson. >> all of these ideas are really beautiful, but you're switching between them so fast that we can't even enjoy them. you get to somewhere really exciting, and then you leave right away. it's like you've driven hours and hours to get to the grand canyon.

. >> bach, beethoven, gershwin, and a boy named j.p. tell you what they all have in common coming up. uh just gonna hang out. with gary and todd? yea. i've been meaning to ask you, is there any drinking going on in this crowd? no. so if any of your buddies ever pressure you to take a drink, just tell them you promised your dad you wouldn't. i'd do anything to keep you safe. ok. i will. i hope this is working. i promise. i love you too dad. they really do hear you. for tips on what to say visit underagedrinking.samhsa.gov it's about inner strength. so i push myself. that's why i serve in the united states coast guard. i train with the best, a team that shares my drive and commitment. we collect intelligence, guard our shores against drug smugglers, and keep our waterways safe. because our nation expects more. if you expect more, maybe you were born ready. find out at gocoastguard.com. >> harry introduces us to a young man who not only plays music, he composes it. >> we're going to go over to the piano there. >> okay. >> j.p. and his teac

tomorrow, today on stage at curtis. , at first,know why especially the last four years, i just hated beethoventhat sonata

during the war, the bbc used the opening refrain of beethoven's fifth. they're using the german composer to signify victory in europe. something that did change between 1940 and 1945 women in the workforce increased by 50%. nearly half of all american women took on some sort of job in world war ii. it wasn't just defense work. women moved into all types of new fields because of a male labor shortage, and amarillo newspaper story was amazed that women were now driving taxis, checking and stocking groceryie selling men's clothes. even management department stores and fixing flat tires. it was a revolution in the type of work that women did. marge, we'll start back with you if you want to tell us more about the war work you did in amarillo where this article was written. >> that's where i became rosie the riveter, it was the first place we moved after basic training in wichita falls. the first thing i had to do was get a job. i worked for a warehouse and learned they were hiring war brides, especially wanted war brides because they figured they'd be better

always been content with small pleasures whether accompanying his mother as they sang the gerhardt beethoven songs, collecting wildflowers in the glades near his home or reading stories about with his twin subpoena after school in the garden. in new york, he'd drink coffee. he ate moderately. he smokes moderately and sad at his desk with a floor fan taking the little relief it offered. he was able to make contact with a few acquaintances who didn't live according to the academic schedule. paul griswold macy's department store met bonhoeffer on his first night in town for drinks at the parkside hotel. another monied manhattanite henry smith leiper showed him around the church is an entire city block filled with ecumenical and hosted a party at in midtown restaurant. he invited bonhoeffer to come at him by train to his country house in the berkshires. bonhoeffer told his parents that the connecticut countryside reminded him a little of the area around fredericksburg where the family had a summer home. he breathed a little easier for a time on the porch of the coffins lakeside home with a cold

sweep streets like beethoven composed music. sweet streets like shakespeare wrote poetry.eets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, here lives a great street sweeper who swept his job well. >> so has charles koch had a late night conversion? not exactly. the way you create those jobs, the ones that celebrate street sweepers, is by cutting the initiatives that help people keep them. writes mr. ek could, costly programs such as paying able bodied people not to work are addictive disincentives. by undermining people's will to work, our government has created a culture of dependency and helplessness. the program to which charles koch hyperlinks in that sentence, federal food assistance, is not only one of the most effective poverty prevention efforts in our nation's history, but it's one that specifically helps people who have jobs. the majority, 58%, of able-bodied recipients of food assistants are employed. even higher for families of children. if charles koch is so deeply troubled by the culture of dependency, he might focus his efforts

he had always been content with small pleasures, whether accompanying his mother as they saying beethoven's songs, collecting wild flowers in the glade near his home, or reading stories aloud with his twin sabena after school in the garden. in new york he drank coffee, he ate moderately, he smoked moderately, and sat at his desk with a floor fan taking the little relief it offered. he was able to make contact with a few acquaintances who didn't live according to the academic schedule. paul griswold, macy, of macy's department store fortune, a steady protestant churchman, matt bonhoeffer on his first night in town for drinks at the park side hotel. and other money to manhattan itinerary, henry smith showed him around a federal council of churches, entire city blocks filled with ecumenical offices, hosting the party at a midtown restaurant. the seminary president invited bonhoeffer to come by train to his country house in the berkshire's. bonhoeffer told his parents the connecticut countryside reminded him a little of the area where they had a summer home. he breathed a little easier for a ti

beethoven's "ode to joy" with, yep, with his nose. >> shall we call it "nose to joy"? joy" could be. he does a great job, listen. his dad says he has been playing the piano a month and decided to instead of his fingers use his nose. >> and note to whoever plays that keyboard afterward. be sure to get the clorox wipes, de-sanitize. i thought of pounding my head on the desk, when i am stressed out. making me stressed out. pecking order. cramping my neck. >>> okay, in tennessee, a bit of a controversy. a high school in dire county. a high school senior, kendra turner, was suspended last weak for saying "bless you" to a classmate. the teacher said "bless you" is an expression banned as part of class rules. the teacher told her, there was not to be any godly speaking in class. so she went to the administrator, raised a bit of a fit there, and other students have come back with "bless you" t-shirts. so what do you think? >> i don't think we have heard the last of that. it's interesting, people say that all the time, out of habit. >> bless you, god bless you, too churchy. hmm

a el era la fruta favorita de beethoven? la banana-na-na-na. >> quÉ malo! >> horrible. y como les dijimos a todos ustedes que mandaron fotos de sus vacaciones, aquÍ estÁn. >> mira, quÉ hermosa princesa tiene. wow, quÉ rico. >> tÚ le das aquÍ y vas a la siguiente foto. >> aver. me iniciÉ! con josÉ noriega. >> la prÓxima. tambiÉn estÁ sonia romero con su familia. >> a todo el mundo le gusta la playa, donde hay sol, agua, arena., >> oigan, la verdad, sigan mandando sus fotos para que su foto aparezca aquÍ, en esta gran pantalla de despierta amÉrica. ¿cÓmo te la estÁs pasando? >> to me la estoy pasando no temos que ir con caciones todos aquÍ. nosotros. >> eso serÍa un batazo. >> sÍ. >> un crucero, o irnos a la playa. seguimos con mÁde ca♪] >> ¿quieres ser parte de nuestrog envÍanos un mensaje por twitter a @despiertaameric y Únete a la conversaciÓn. nosotros te responderemos y sacaremos tus opiniones al aire. >> paul, ¿ahora sÍ lo leíste? >> yo lo sÉ todo. >> y si no, te lo inventas. >> no te voy a hablar de un mono. no. voy a hablar de unas fotos que se han vuelto virales,

¿sabes cuÁl era la fruta favorita de beethoven? la banana-na-na-na. >> quÉ malo! >> horrible.encuesta que dice vota cÓmo te gusta mÁs zuleyka. es la encuesta que tenemos en despiertaamerica.com y pueden ver todas las travesuras que hace ella detrÁs de cámaras. >> tÚ tambiÉn haces travesuras. >> yo me porto bien, ¿verdad? yo me porto muy bien. y como les dijimos a todos ustedes que mandaron fotos de sus vacaciones, aquÍ estÁn. >> mira, quÉ hermosa princesa tiene. wow, quÉ rico. >> tÚ le das aquÍ y vas a la siguiente foto. >> aver. me iniciÉ! con josÉ noriega. >> la prÓxima. tambiÉn estÁ sonia romero con su familia. >> a todo el mundo le gusta la playa, donde hay sol, agua, arena., >> oigan, la verdad, sigan mandando sus fotos para que su foto aparezca aquÍ, en esta gran pantalla de despierta amÉrica. ¿cÓmo te la estÁs pasando? >> to yo me la estoy pasando divino pero no tenemos que ir de vacaciones todos aquÍ. quÉdense conectados con nosotros. >> eso serÍa un batazo. >> sÍ. >> un crucero, o irnos a la playa. seguimos con mÁs de despierta amÉrica. eso! [♪ mÚsica ♪] >> ¿quieres s