Digital media technology is changing how we access information. The Digital Public Library of America recently launched, and is providing users with access to a wealth of resources that go well beyond Google and Wikipedia. It provides researchers with access to 150 of Minnesota's museums, cultural organizations and libraries. KFAI producer Will Wright has more.

The Firefox browser represents a new way to write software: No giant corporation, just thousands of volunteers around the globe linked via the internet. They are part of an informal revolution called the Open Source movement. By Open Source I mean that their computer code is available to anyone to modify as they wish. This is a stark contrast to Microsoft, for example, that keeps it Windows operating system under tight wraps: Only Microsoft employees know how it does its magic.

Depending on whom you ask in educational circles, MOOCs—massive open online courses—are either all the rage or a source of rage. There are obvious benefits to a course offered online that aims for large-scale interaction and participation driven by open access of learning on the web. It seems tailor-made for non-traditional students who need maximal flex time and space to complete their education, and offers students at lower-tier schools greater access to lecturers at prestigious institutions. But, says Dyson, problems loom with MOOCs as well, and some familiar disparities between well-resourced universities and smaller schools and the education offered at these institutions resurface in the digital space.

The Cloud is something that we constantly hear about these days in advertising, but what does it really mean? What is 'The Cloud' and how can normal users take advantage of it? Ray and Tom have the answers on this week's Ask Deemable Tech. Ask Deemable Tech, produced weekly, is a drop-in for NPR's Morning Edition C segment, or in WESAT or WESUN from the B seg cutaway at 34:20 to headlines at 39:00. We can create an exclusive sign-off for your station to tag onto the end of each segment, or you can use the segment as is. 

IEEE Spectrum's hour long news program exams the democratic process and how technology has played a role.

In 1974, Kanawha County was the first battleground in the American culture wars. Controversy erupted over newly-adopted school textbooks. School buildings were hit by dynamite and Molotov cocktails, buses were riddled with bullets and surrounding coal mines were shut down by protesting miners. Textbook supporters thought they would introduce students to new ideas about multiculturalism. Opponents felt the books undermined traditional American values. The controversy extended well beyond the Kanawha Valley. The newly-formed Heritage Foundation found a cause to rally an emerging Christian conservative movement. This documentary tells the story of that local confrontation and the effect that it had on the future of American politics.

The Documentary                                                                                                                        More than 40 interviews and archival sound of school board meetings, public debates and news reports bring the story of the Kanawha County textbook wars to life. School board member Alice Moore, who led the opposition to the books, describes what she found objectionable, and more broadly, how she felt traditional family values were under attack. Superintendent Kenneth Underwood recalls that a reasonable conclusion felt impossible after the debate was hijacked by a mob of angry fundamentalist Christians. Reverend Henry Thaxton remembers feeling dismissed and disregarded by an arrogant governing class. English teacher Mildred Holt was excited to teach the works of African American writers, but when the KKK began to protest the books, she felt sure the protest was racially based. Their memories describe the charged political environment of 1974, and show how messy and destructive cultural confrontations can be, particularly in a narrow river valley where there is not much room for retreat.

Host Trey Kay was a 7th grader during the textbook protests. He rode the bus into junior high past a crowd of mothers holding picket signs. Telling the story as both the chronicler and a witness, the documentary has the personal tone of a first-person account. Combined with   exclusive interviews and archival sound of national news coverage, the documentary guides the listener through the tumultuous protests that tore this community apart while setting a new course for conservative religious politics.

Praise for Documentary

Trey Kay has produced a riveting, surprising and scrupulously fair-minded documentary about a little-known but extremely important early battle in what we now call "the culture wars." I can't imagine a better, faster way to acquire a solid, visceral understanding of the roots and long-simmering ferocity of today's angry populist right than listening to The Great Textbook War.

-Kurt Andersen, host of PRI’s Studio 360

Although I've written repeatedly about the famous 1974 Kanawha County fundamentalist uprising against "godless" textbooks, Trey Kay's public radio documentary nonetheless opened my ears to details and incidents I didn't know. Now I understand the mentality of the protesters better. It's a superb program and a valuable addition to West Virginia history.

-Jim Haught, editor of the Charleston Gazette, West Virginia’s largest newspaper

This program highlights a moment in history when our society had to face some very difficult decisions.  It’s an evocative hour of radio told from a unique perspective that brings you close to this story in an unexpected way.  I was riveted. 

- Abby Goldstein, Program Director, New Hampshire Public Radio

I really liked this program!  It was well produced, very interesting, had great tape from the time, a good flow and timely with the link to today’s Tea Party activism.  It hooked me in quickly and told a good story.

- Jacqueline Cincotta, Assistant Program Director, WNYC, New York City

The Radio Broadcast

The Great Textbook War premiered on West Virginia Public Radio in October 2009 and has had two encore broadcasts.  In addition, New York public radio WNYC will air the documentary this spring, PRI’s Studio 360 has requested a follow-up segment for their program and APM’s American RadioWorks for inclusion in their fall 2010 season.  

Sample Scenes

The Spark                                                                                                                                 

The textbook selection committee introduces a series of new language arts books at the Kanawha County board of education meeting on April 11, 1974. School board member Alice Moore, who has been concerned that liberal teaching methods are watering down the education system, objects to the introduction of the teaching of non-standard English. In particular, she speaks against the teaching of “dialectology,” a method that the book selection committee hoped would diminish the elitism of English classes and encourage an appreciation of language. Alice feared that incorrect grammar would affirm the practice of “ghetto English.” Since the board faced a deadline to adopt the books or lose state funding, Alice moves to accept the books and later delete materials that the board considered unsuitable. 

After the motion passed, Alice’s husband (who had been reviewing the books during the meeting) presents her with a book and says “Look at what you’ve adopted.” She reads a quote from The Autobiography of Malcolm X: “All praise is due to Allah that I moved to Boston when I did. If I hadn't, I'd probably still be a brainwashed black Christian.” Alice, a life-long Christian, finds this passage highly offensive. She notifies the superintendent that she wants all of the books sent to her home so she can begin a personal review of other material.  After her initial review, she objected to passages by Sigmund Freud, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Eldridge Cleaver and others as inappropriate material for children’s textbooks.

The Violence                                                                                                                              After the school board’s adoption of the books, many local fundamentalist preachers organize a protest campaign. Reverend Marvin Horan calls on parents to boycott the school system until the books were removed.  He opens an “Anti-Textbook Headquarters” in the coal mining community where he lives.  At this office, he and his followers develop a plan to get the books out of the schools. One strategy is to have concerned mothers set up picket lines in front of schools. Since many parents adhered to the coal miner union tradition of never crossing a picket line, families are reluctant to send their children into schools.  Many schools  operate at half (and less than half) capacity. 

Coal miner Butch Wills goes to the protest office every night after supper.  “It was a good place to loaf.  I mean, it was what was going on up here.  There was all the national news media ABC, NBC, CBS.” He says that in those meetings Rev. Horan always said, “Whatever we do, no violence.” 

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne Rich says that in that office, Horan and some of his followers planned and executed dynamite bombings of two schools to discourage parents from bringing their children to school. The bombs exploded when schools were empty and no one was injured. Rich says he grew concerned that things could escalate when he heard of a plot to wire blasting caps into the gas tanks of cars of parents driving their kids to school. He moved to arrest and indict those involved. Rev. Marvin Horan was ultimately convicted of conspiring violence and sentenced to federal prison.

The Production Team                                                                                                  

Trey Kay (host, producer and reporter) has produced segments for This American Life, Marketplace, Weekend America, Day to Day, Morning Edition and Studio 360. In 2005, he shared in a Peabody Award for 360’s “American Icons: Moby Dick” show. He was also an associate producer for “News Wars: Secrets, Sources and Spin,” a two-hour report for PBS Frontline. He is a native of Charleston, where he was a junior high school student in 1974. 

Deborah George (editor) has been an NPR editor for over fifteen years. Deb’s work has received numerous awards, including the DuPont-Columbia Gold and Silver Batons, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and the Casey Award for reporting on children.