Smart Talk: The recovery of rust belt cities; Roots

What to look for on Smart Talk Tuesday, May 31, 2016:

How are post-industrial cities dealing with the economic downturn that accompanied the demise of heavy industries like steel and coal? Seen in places like Harrisburg, Steelton, and Pittsburgh, recovery continues to be the first priority.

Associate Professor of History at Shippensburg University, Allen Dieterich-Ward speaks with us on Smart Talk Tuesday about his new book Beyond Rust: Metropolitan Pittsburgh and the Fate of Industrial America, which examines the twentieth-century story of metropolitan Pittsburgh. We’ll discuss how one city’s story of recovery can potentially be applied to the Rust Belt at large.

Also on Tuesday, the late 1970s saw the release of Alex Haley’s Roots. The story captivated American audiences on page and TV alike, successfully integrating the reality of African American life and history into the mainstream of a post-civil rights America. The History Channel is airing a remake of the seminal miniseries this week. Coming in the wake of a reemerging movement for civil liberties and equal treatment for people of color in the form of #BlackLivesMatter, the remade series’ release is poised to be as significant as it was in 1977.

Richard Newton, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Elizabethtown College, joins us Tuesday to discuss his research into Roots‘ impact as a material scripture and how exploring Roots memorials in Tennessee, Maryland, and Georgia help us understand the change the multimedia phenomenon had on our country.