Historian Peniel E. Joseph on How 1963 ‘Cracked Open and Remade’ America

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For historian Peniel Joseph, the year 1963 — the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation — is the defining year of the Civil Rights Movement. “America came undone and remade itself in 1963, a year of miracles and tragedies, progress and setbacks,” he writes in his new book, “Freedom Season.” It profiles how events of that year affected Americans like Rev. King, Malcolm X and James Baldwin — and inspired their parts in the Black freedom struggle. Joseph joins us. Tell us: What does 1963 symbolize to you? Guests: Peniel E. Joseph, author, "Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed America's Civil Rights Revolution" - professor of history and founding director, Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, University of Texas at Austin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, boated the number one wellness resort and spa by readers of travel and leisure magazine in 2024.
0:09.7	In August, three or four people sharing a cassita enjoy special vacation packages that include hiking, mindfulness, and fitness classes, in a garden setting on 4,000 verdant acres of nature preserve.
0:22.4	Check in to summer at Rancho LaPorta, Rancho LaPoerta.com.
0:26.6	Support for Forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:34.4	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:40.6	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused of an
0:46.3	unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and
0:53.2	devotion.
1:02.1	The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orpheum Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th.
1:06.4	Tickets on sale now at Broadway, sF.com.
1:09.0	From KQED.
1:39.2	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Nina Kim. Coming up on forum, as America finds itself in a politically volatile and polarized state, we take a closer look at another time when, quote, America came undone and remade itself.
1:50.5	1963, according to historian Pineal Joseph, who calls it the defining year of the civil rights movement, quote a year of miracles and tragedies, progress, and setbacks.
1:53.6	So how did America find the courage to transform?
1:59.4	We learn more from Joseph, whose new book is called Freedom Season, after this news.
2:12.1	Mina Kim here.
2:14.5	We've got a short pledge break going on right now,
2:19.0	so you on the Pledge Free Stream or podcast or nighttime replay get a little bonus that I like to call behind the scenes. We get a lot of questions about the show from listeners,
2:25.1	like how do you pick the show topics or choose your guests, or what happens when a guest doesn't
2:30.3	show up since it's a live show? Well, we had that happen not too long ago with R.L.
2:36.5	Stein, the writer of the mega-popular adolescent horror series, goosebumps. Maybe you know him.
2:42.2	Maybe you know that show. Well, what you didn't know was that at 9.59 a.m. that day,
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 2 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.