Kagan Visits Capitol Hill
May 17, 2010
Supreme Court justice nominee Elena Kagan called on senators on Capitol Hill this last week. You can see these brief courtesy calls by just typing in Kagan in the search box. We also using a keyword for all programs about Kagan that may not feature her. The general Kagan search will bring these up as well. Don’t miss any of the many programs surrounding this nomination.
NASA and the Video Library
May 14, 2010
Yesterday’s hearing on the future of human space exploration reminded us of all the programming related to NASA in the Archives. It is a treasure trove for anyone who wants to study the evolution of U.S. space policy. C-SPAN also covered the launches and landings of many of the shuttle flights. Just type in NASA launch and you will see many of them. NASA rover brings up coverage of the rover mission to Mars.
Type in NASA Columbia Launch and you can see the launch of Shuttle Columbia which exploded on reentry February 1, 2003. Type in Shuttle Columbia Explosion and see all the programming related to the explosion. The accident occurred during a live call-in and C-SPAN remained with the programming all day.
There is a lot there. Don’t miss the many speeches by astronauts. There is wenty-three years of public policy related to NASA including coverage of some of the actual in-flight maneuvers. Try searching and see what you can find.
Debates on C-SPAN
May 13, 2010
This is the season of state primaries and C-SPAN has featured candidate debates from a number of states. You can find them easily by going to advanced search and then choose format: debate. This brings up all the recent debates C-SPAN has covered.
Booknotes in Video Library
May 12, 2010
Booknotes, C-SPAN’s popular book interview program that ran from 1988-2004, is archived in the Video Library. Just go to Browse at the top of the page and Booknotes is listed under popular programs. You will find 799 programs featuring many authors whose interviews are as engaging now as they were when first conducted. And each author has a book you can still read.
One of the more entertaining was with Clifford Stoll who jumped up and hid behind the chair in feigned embarrassment at not being able to name the capital of North Dakota. It is just one of many to revisit.
Glass-Steagall Act Repeal 1999 Debate
May 11, 2010
Yesterday’s Washington Journal program on the securities industry and the efforts to reinstate Glass-Steagall motivated us to see if we could find the 1999 debate on the repeal. It is as easy as typing in Glass-Steagall in the search box. Others of you may have had the same idea because the search term comes right up as as suggested term that has been searched on before.
Yesterday’s program comes right up as well as many more programs including hearings. Two tricks helped me narrow the search down. On the left navigation bar, clear all the categories, and then select Senate and House proceedings. Then reorder the programs by least recent. The Senate took up the bill on May 4, 1999 and the House on July 1, 1999. In the left margin of the timeline you can click on the bill number and get this useful history of the Senate bill with links into the video. Listen to Senator Gramm (R-TX) and Senator Wellstone (D-MN) for two very different perspectives on the bill.
The Video Library makes it very easy to find significant historical debates such as the repeal of Glass-Steagall.