War By Other Names

We might think of times where the United States waged war by other means, but recently Kyle and I sat down to talk about what happens when war gets another name.

Does the War Powers Act apply in Libya? is our starting point. From there, we talk about what war means to the United States -- the Neutrality Acts of the 1930s, the Kellogg-Briand Pact and the "outlawry of war", and the original issue of War Powers, LBJ and the Gulf of Tonkin.

Jump to the Ozarks at Large audio from this July 29, 2011, edition of We're History.

Summer Travels Can Be Historic

Don't laugh at the old "hysterical markers" that line our highways. There is plenty of history in the airports most folks will use for their summer trips and vacations. Kyle and Bill talk about who was Butch O'Hare, what there is to see at the Fort Smith and Las Vegas airport museums and the prehistoric connection at Dallas-Fort Worth International.

Jump to the summer travel audio from our July 11, 2011, from Ozarks at Large.

More on Steve Martin, Twitterist and Historian

Steve Martin proves the point that you can reinvent yourself as long as you have talent and are willing to put in the work. Thus, his new career as a blue grass banjo player, writer of American history songs (check out a review on the single and iTunes for Me and Paul Revere) and most of all for this space, Twitter maven.

That a stand-up comedian would build a 1.3 million follower list is not a surprise, nor that his 140 characters are funnier than yours. (BTW - the link takes you to @SteveMartinToGo)

What I see as refreshing - and the soul of the artist coming out - was his comments about Twitter in USA TODAY on June 30:

"it's funny to be walking down the hallway and have a tweet appear in your mind . . . and not really knowing where it comes from. That unpredictability to myself might mean it's unpredictable to the audience in the same way."