Tap Dancing Genius of John W. Bubbles

Tap Dancing Genius of John W. Bubbles

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

Religious Freedom, Weight Stigma, Black History Month

Episode: Religious Freedom, Weight Stigma, Black History Month

  • Mar 1, 2017
  • 21:26 mins

Guest: Brian Harker, PhD, Professor in the School of Music, BYU Here’s an example of a figure you’ve probably never heard of, who was a major influence on iconic American performers including Fred Astaire. John W. Bubbles was his stage name. He was a singer and tap dancer of great renown in the early 20th Century. BYU’s Special Collections in the Harold B. Lee Library here on campus has a large stash of his personal belongings, including the top hat and cane he used in his dancing. For this month’s installment of “From the Vaults,” we’re going to look at the life work of John W. Bubbles with Professor Brian Harker of BYU’s School of Music.

Other Segments

Why You Should Have (More) Children

16m

Guest: Jonathan Anomaly, Research Assistant Professor in the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, Joint Appointment at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University There are 7.5 billion people on the Earth. But think about this for a second – at the turn of the century – on January 1, 1900 – there were only about one-and-a-half billion people living on Earth. In just over 100 years, the world’s population grew seven-times-over. It exploded – there’s really no other word for it. And that’s led to much doom-and-gloom concern about just how long we can keep this up before the Earth can no longer support all of us. How long until we run out of food, energy, clean water or clean air?  So would you be surprised to hear an academic that we really need people in some parts of the world to start having bigger families?

Guest: Jonathan Anomaly, Research Assistant Professor in the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program, Joint Appointment at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University There are 7.5 billion people on the Earth. But think about this for a second – at the turn of the century – on January 1, 1900 – there were only about one-and-a-half billion people living on Earth. In just over 100 years, the world’s population grew seven-times-over. It exploded – there’s really no other word for it. And that’s led to much doom-and-gloom concern about just how long we can keep this up before the Earth can no longer support all of us. How long until we run out of food, energy, clean water or clean air?  So would you be surprised to hear an academic that we really need people in some parts of the world to start having bigger families?

Should We Still Celebrate Black History Month?

9m

Guest: Dr. Eddie Chambers, Phd, Professor African Diaspora Art History, University of Texas, Austin We’ve come to the end of Black History Month. February was first designated as such in the 1970s, but the commemoration actually dates back to 1926 when an historian named Carter Woodson declared the second week of February “Negro History Week” – that was the language of the time – to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. There’s a perennial debate this time of year over whether or not Black History Month is still a good idea. Do we really need one month designated for mulling over the history of one race? And why confine it to just one month when African Americans are so central to US history? Plus, America elected a black president twice. So can we just call Black History “American history” at this point?

Guest: Dr. Eddie Chambers, Phd, Professor African Diaspora Art History, University of Texas, Austin We’ve come to the end of Black History Month. February was first designated as such in the 1970s, but the commemoration actually dates back to 1926 when an historian named Carter Woodson declared the second week of February “Negro History Week” – that was the language of the time – to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. There’s a perennial debate this time of year over whether or not Black History Month is still a good idea. Do we really need one month designated for mulling over the history of one race? And why confine it to just one month when African Americans are so central to US history? Plus, America elected a black president twice. So can we just call Black History “American history” at this point?