Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia.

My name is Jody Avergan.

This day February 8, 1915, at Kloon's auditorium in Los Angeles, the premiere of

D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation.

Birth of a Nation, of course, one of the most famous films in American history from a filmmaking

standpoint considered a masterpiece using techniques and shots for the first time

that would help advance filmmaking in this country from an editorial and

creative and historical standpoint a fiasco. from an

creative and historical standpoint, a fiasco, an embarrassment.

The birth of a nation famously rewrote the story of the post- Civil War South

that contains all sorts of inaccuracies and embellishments

about the war-torn south suffering

from the effects of northern aggression

and the Ku Klux Klan as saviors

of white pride and southern pride and southern society.

So let's talk about this moment,

this premiere of Birth of a Nation,

and in particular, you know, it is such a famous movie.

Maybe we can get into some of the lesser known details

about the film and the reaction and

some of the myths and realities around birth of a nation. Here to do that as always are

Nicole Hemmer of Columbia and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley.

...