Historically Speaking Podcast
Uncommon history with an unconventional pair. Join married hosts Rebecca Robbins (a Broadway actress) and Kim Kimmel (her college history instructor) as they delve into topics that run the historical gambit. A gifted storyteller, Kim taught history at the collegiate level for 29 years while as a student, Rebecca always sat in the front row of his Western Civilizations class soaking up every word he said. For the record, she made an A in his class. She went on to pursue a Broadway career (The Phantom of The Opera, A Tale of Two Cities) while he continued to teach at her alma mater (Curtis Institute of Music). Though you couldn't get more different than these two with their 23-year age difference, together they bring history to life with their unique perspectives, entertaining banter, and shared love of the past. Sometimes quirky, sometimes obscure, this is the kind of history you’ll actually want to remember. Now in our Second Season. New episodes bi-weekly on Wednesday mornings.
Historically Speaking Podcast
The Scopes Monkey Trial
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Rebecca Robbins & Kim Kimmel
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Season 2
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Episode 38
Imagine sitting in a 97-degree court room in the middle of July while you’re being prosecuted for a crime you’re not even sure you committed. This is exactly the situation twenty-four-year-old John T. Scopes found himself in during the summer of 1925. Almost overnight this trial became a national sensation and put the small town of Dayton, Tennessee on the map. It would involve two of the most famous attorneys of the day going head-to-head over a newly passed Tennessee State law called the Butler Act. What was the crime? Teaching evolution in the classroom.
Books:
- The Memoirs of William Jennings Bryan by William Jennings Bryan and Mary Baird Bryan
- Trying Biology: The Scopes Trial, Textbooks, and the Antievolution Movement in American Schools by Adam Shapiro
- Six Days or Forever? Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes by Ray Ginger
- Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion by Edward Larson
Film:
- Inherit The Wind (1960) with Fredrich March, Spencer Tracy, and Gene Kelly