beverly gage, if you want to start?> right, well, in terms of polls you didn't really have the same kind of polling mechanisms you have today so these things are a little bit harder to gauge in the 1920's. you know, which percentage cares about war and the electorate. it's tough for historians, actually not knowing that much about the electorate. on the international question it's really interesting because, yes, there was a lot of attention paid to this and it came in the wake of two trials as well that really raised these questions about america's national character. the first was the scopes trial in 1925, and the second, the trial had happened earlier but the second was the execution of sacco and venzetti, two italian immigrants, italian anarchists, that happened in 1927. so these questions of what the united states' presentation to the world in terms of race, in terms of immigration policy, in terms of its attitudes towards radicalism and political tolerance, all these were really out there already by the time smith

and historian beverly gage of yale university. she is author of "the day wall street exploded," a look at a bombing on wall street in 1920. sarah van gelder, i'll start with you. what do you think is going on here? what are these protests tapping into? >> well, i think they've managed to name the essence of what's going on for the 99% right now. for the last couple of decades middle class and poor people have seen wages stagnate. at first we were able to make up for it by working multiple jobs, by both mom and pop in the family working, by working longer hours. then we were able to make up for the stagnating wages by going deeper into debt, borrowing against the value of our house. but with the 2008 collapse we couldn't do that anymore. we started really feeling the pain of losing jobs, losing our homes in many indications, losing access to health care. i think at first a lot of americans really hoped that the washington establishment would come up with solutions. that hasn't happened. especially this summer. we saw how much gridl

beverly gage, if you want to start? >> right, well, in terms of polls you didn't really have the same kind of polling mechanisms you have today so these things are a little bit harder to gauge in the 1920's. you know, which percentage cares about war and the electorate. it's tough for historians, actually not knowing that much about the electorate. on the international question it's really interesting because, yes, there was a lot of attention paid to this and it came in the wake of two trails -- trials as well that really raised these questions about america's national character. the first was the scopes trial in 1925, and the second, the trial had happened earlier but the second was the execution of sacco and venzetti, two italian immigrants, italian anarchists, that happened in 1927. so these questions of what the united states' presentation to the world in terms of race, in terms of immigration policy, in terms of its attitudes towards radicalism and political tolerance, all these were really out there already by th

we are also joined by beverly gage. she is a history professor. if you could, set the scene for us to begin. 1928 -- the united states. what was going on in this country? what are some of the issues we will be discussing? >> the 1928 election is one of the most interesting and also what of the most vicious elections in american history. we have two candidates who really embodied two different americas that are coming into conflict in the election. al smith is urban, he is from new york city. he is an irishman. he is catholic. he represents a kind of immigrant, urban a barakat that has come of age in the last 30 years. on the other side, we have herbert hoover who in many ways can hardly be more different than al smith. he is from the midwest. he is from iowa. he is very straitlaced. he is not our bid. if he is pious. he wears starchy colors. these two mena really encapsule some of the most important cultural class is of that moment. clashes over prohibition. to some degree, clashes over the economy. in many ways, this turns out to be a cultural se

we are also joined by beverly gage of yale university.d also one of the most vicious elections in american history. we have two candidates who really embodied two different americas that are coming into conflict in the election. so we have al smith, the subject tonight. al smith is urban, he is from new york city. he is an irishman. he is catholic. he represents a kind of immigrant, urban america that has come of age in the last 30 years. on the other side, we have as a republican candidate herbert hoover who in many ways can hardly be more different than al smith. he is from the midwest. he is from iowa. he is very straitlaced. he is not urban. he is pious. he wears very starchy colors. these two men really encapsule some of the most important political and cultural clashes of that moment. clashes over prohibition. to some degree, clashes over the economy. in many ways, this turns out to be a cultural selection that hinges on which of these two americas is the america that will be voted into office. >> it was said that the three p's infl