Historian, blogger, and author Gil Troy, speaking at the Organization of American Historians 2009 meeting, talks about his experiences as a historian blogging during the 2008 presidential election. He discusses his views on the role historians should play when contributing or responding to the media, providing studied, nonpredictive information and analysis, even in the face of demands for sound bites and snap judgments.

Historian and chair of the Division of Politics and Reform at the National Museum of American History, Harry Rubenstein, beginning a talk at the Organization of American Historians 2009 meeting, mentions the challenges of being a historian during the 2008 presidential election.

University of Iowa professor of history Marshall T. Poe interviews historian and author Giles MacDonogh on his book After the Reich: The Brutal History of the Allied Occupation, which examines Allied atrocities in Germany following the end of World War II, including atrocities committed by Russians, Americans, British, and French.

Donald L. Miller, along with a range of other historians and presenters, overviews contemporary U.S. history, from 1972 to 2000, briefly touching on the Cold War and its end, economic ups and downs, and the rise of AIDS and of personal computers. The presentation ends with a discussion on interpreting events as they happen, and on the difficulties of remembering history and engaging with the present in a media age.

Donald L. Miller, with Waldo E. Martin, Jr., and Virginia Scharff, looks at the 1960s in the U.S., including the taking-off of the Civil Rights Movement, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson's views of the movement, the Vietnam War and protest that arose against it, and the Watergate scandal and Richard Nixon's resignation.

Donald L. Miller, with Douglas Brinkley and Virginia Scharff, look at the war against Japan in the last years of World War II, including the fighting on Okinawa, the fire-bombing of Japan's main islands, and the development of the atomic bomb and the decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The presentation then examines life after the war—Bill Levitt and mass-produced housing and the growth of suburbs; Eisenhower and the beginning of the Cold War; the emergence of teenage culture; Elvis Presley's popularity; and the swelling of the civil rights movement.

Donald L. Miller looks at World War II and the United States' experience of it, on the home front; in the air; and, finally, on the ground in Europe.

Donald L. Miller and Douglas Brinkley look at the United States from 1929 to 1937—the time of the Great Depression. The presentation discusses FDR's presidency and his New Deal; the work of journalists such as photographer Dorothea Lange; the establishment of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Agricultural Adjustment Administration (AAA), and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC); Eleanor Roosevelt; criticism of FDR; the re-invigoration of the labor movement; and the Social Security Act.

Donald L. Miller, with Waldo E. Martin, Jr., and Virginia Scharff, looks at the Progressive era (from 1890 to 1926) as it was experienced by minority groups, including women, African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian and Mexican immigrants.

Douglas Brinkley, with Donald L. Miller, examines the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, focusing on their views of the United States' place in the world. Brinkley and Meyer also look at Socialist Eugene Debs's campaigns for the Presidency from 1900 to 1920.