In 16 short video clips, scholar Chandra Manning looks at the song "John Brown's Body," the events it relates to, and its evolution over time.

Bibi Gaston, author of The Loveliest Woman in America: A Tragic Actress, Her Lost Diaries and Her Granddaughter's Search for Home, talks about the life of her grandmother, Rosamund Pinchot, actress, socialite, and eventual suicide, and about the research she undertook to uncover Pinchot's life story.

From the Library of Congress Webcasts website:

"The Music Division of the Library of Congress and the American Musicological Society, in joint partnership, presented the third in a series of lectures highlighting musicological research conducted in the division's collections. Jeffrey Magee presented 'Now It Can Be Told: The Unknown Irving Berlin.'

After Jerome Kern famously pronounced that 'Irving Berlin is American music' in 1925, Berlin continued for several decades more to define many of America's most distinctive musical idioms, from Tin Pan Alley to Broadway to Hollywood. Berlin's death 20 years ago at the age of 101 accelerated an ever-expanding cottage industry of commentary, reflection and scholarship on a legendary figure.

In an effort to amplify patterns in Berlin's stage and screen career, the talk will aim to draw connections among unknown (or little-known) materials—including songs, scripts, 'plot treatments,' and other notable documents—and Berlin's better-known work."

Although the video may appear broken, please be aware that it loads slowly, and will eventually start.

Ben Click looks at the National Portrait Gallery's portrait of Mark Twain by John White Alexander and tells the stories of some of Mark Twain's portrait sittings.

In this podcast, Richard Miller describes the first major league baseball game on the West Coast, on April 15, 1958, when the Giants played the Dodgers.

This podcast from the Kansas Museum of History looks at James Dryden, ceramics manufacturer in the 1950s, who cornered the market on souvenir pottery until the highway bypassed his location and Dryden moved his operation out-of-state.

Heather A. Williams of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill discusses the paradox of Abraham Lincoln's legacy in popular culture—the simultaneous desire to "know" Lincoln and the impossibility of reconstructing a totally complete and objective picture of the man.

According to the Key West Literary Society's journal homepage, Historian Eric Foner "explores the social and political implications of historical inquiry, and the role of the imagination in the historian's work. Drawing on sources as diverse as Jane Austen, Friedrich Nietszche, Newt Gingrich, and Diane Feinstein, Foner says society's understanding of history is both reflected in and shaped by contemporary thought. Rebutting a popular claim regarding 'facts' in the historical record, Foner argues that 'the constant search for new perspectives [is] the lifeblood of historical understanding.'"

Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919), the daughter of former slaves, started life as a farm laborer and laundress but finished it as a pioneer of the modern African American hair care and cosmetics industry. A'Lelia Bundles, Walker's great-great-granddaughter, offers highlights of Walker's early life and her career as an innovator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

To listen to this lecture, scroll to the February 13th, 2009, program; and select "Listen now." Part two can be accessed by doing the same with the February 24th, 2009, program.

Using clips from more than 300 of the greatest movies ever made, this series explores film history and American culture through the eyes of over 150 Hollywood insiders, including Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Michael Eisner. In-depth treatments present film as a powerful economic force, potent 20th-century art form, and viable career option. "American Cinema" connects subjects such as history, business, and English with other studies. In addition, it is a perfect vehicle for developing visual and media literacy skills and can be used as a springboard for creative-writing endeavors and media production. This video instructional series on film history for college and high school classrooms and adult learners includes 10 one-hour and three half-hour video programs and coordinated books.