Professors David Thorburn, Thomas Pettitt, Lewis Hyde, and S. Craig Watkins discuss the present-day phenomena of media editing and remixing. Following Thorburn's main lecture on current examples, Hyde presents Benjamin Franklin as an early "intellectual pirate," through his bringing export-forbidden printing technology from England; and Watkins discusses the oral history and exchange tradition in African American music, relating it to voice-sampling in modern rap and hip-hop.

In this lecture originally given at the New-York Historical Society, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Laurel Thatcher Ulrich discusses her book The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth. Thatcher provides an overview of her research process and discusses the material artifacts she selected to include in her book.

Most Americans know George Washington's December 1776 crossing of the Delaware from the famous painting by Emmanuel Gottlieb Leutze, which depicts Washington standing bravely in a rowboat on stormy waters. David Hackett Fischer, author of Washington's Crossing, looks beyond the famous painting to the events of that tumultuous month. One of Washington's great strengths was his ability to lead men from different regions and walks of life. He was also known for his humane treatment of British prisoners—treatment that the British did not reciprocate with American prisoners.

According to the Gilder Lehrman website, "Award-winning historian Jean Strouse discusses her research into the life of J.P. Morgan, America's most influential banker. She looks at the reasons for his success and delves into his inscrutable personal life. Strouse's extensive scholarship offers many insights into her subject, whose name is in the financial news headlines once again."

From the Library of Congress Webcasts site:

"On May 1, 1893, the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago opened its gates to an expectant public eager to experience firsthand its architectural beauty, technological marvels and vast array of cultural treasures gathered from all over the world. Among the most popular of the fair's attractions was the Woman's Building, a monumental exhibit hall filled with the products of women's labor, including more than 8,000 volumes of writing, by women and collected by women—the first important library of its kind. Hundreds of thousands of women visited the library and took what they learned to develop local libraries."

From Colonial Williamsburg: Past and Present Podcasts—

"Many West African cultures make landfall in colonial Virginia, where they adapt and adopt traits that will form the basis of a new African American culture. Historian Rose McAphee describes the blend."

Interested in learning more about Colonial African Americans? Click here to discover more about the African American experience in Virginia.