How Heroes Are Made

How Heroes Are Made

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

Meaning of Freedom, Who is Uncle Sam, Making of Heroes

Episode: Meaning of Freedom, Who is Uncle Sam, Making of Heroes

  • Jul 3, 2017 11:00 pm
  • 22:50 mins

Guest: Ari Kohen, PhD, Schlesinger Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Carl Wilkens was the only American to remain in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. He was an Adventist missionary who ignored evacuation orders so he could help two Tutsis who worked for him, as well as some other refugees hiding from Hutu militias. Why did he stay behind in Rwanda at his own peril when every other American service worker, businessman, and diplomat left the country?  We often think that people have to be born heroes, but Prof. Kohen argues that heroism is a learned behavior.