Smart Talk Top Stories of 2013: Gettysburg 150

Thursday’s Smart Talk is the first of witf’s Top Stories of 2013 programs.

Thursday’s show looks back and provides a few of the highlights from the Gettysburg 150 commemoration.

Smart Talk broadcast live from Gettysburg a total of six times — twice in the weeks leading up to the 150th anniversary of the Civil War Battle of Gettysburg and then once each on the actual days of the conflict July 1, 2, and 3.  Our final broadcast of the year was on November 19 — 150 years ago to the day of President Abraham Lincoln’s iconic Gettysburg Address.

On Thursday’s broadcast, we’ll hear about the start of the battle from the Grand Opening of the Seminary Ridge Museum.  The museum was part of the Lutheran Seminary in 1863 and played a key role when the battle began.  From the building’s cupola, Union Gen. John Buford spotted the first Confederate troops and made decisions that influenced the remainder of the battle.

Also joining us are living historians playing the parts of Confederate commander Gen. Robert E Lee and Union Lt. Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.  To explain how one family was impacted by the battle, Nancie Gudmestad, owner of the Shriver House appears on the program.

America’s most-respected documentary filmmaker Ken Burns was a Smart Talk guest to discuss Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.  Perhaps the segment of the program that generated the most buzz was National Park Service Ranger Troy Harman’s dissection of the speech.  You won’t want to miss it! 

Listen to the program:

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