Studio 395 |

STUDIO 395 features brief audio interviews on a wide range of historical topics. Inspired by public radio programs such as Fresh Air, these student-hosted interviews (also available through our iTunes podcast) explore original research conducted by undergraduates in HIST 395, a research methods course in the Department of History at James Madison University.

Featured Projects

Why did the British Support the French in the Algerian War?

Author: Shane McGuire Interviewer: Jacob Williams From 1945-1962, the French Fourth and later Fifth Republics conducted a brutal war in Algeria against Algerian nationalists who wished for independence. From the start of the war, the French had British...

Hip-Hop: Where Did It Come From And What Is The “Struggle”

Author: Nicholas Suk Interviewer: Gohar Tahir Nicholas Suk investigates the origin of hip-hop and how the decaying city of the Bronx helped birth the movement. The Bronx was in the midst of social and economic breakdown, leading to issues such as violence...

How Did the U.S. Government Use Jazz to Promote Itself During the Cold War?

Author: Philip Jackson Interviewer: Kyle Saunders Philip Jackson explores how the U.S. government, beginning in the Eisenhower era, began sending prominent jazz artists overseas to Cold War strategic zones, hoping to represent American culture in...

Can one man save the world?

Author: Charles Rollin Buffington V Interviewer: Drew Holt During October of 1962, the United States came close to thermonuclear war. The Soviet Union placed missiles on the "imprisoned island" of Cuba and Fidel Castro aligned himself with the communist...

The War over Korean Comfort Women Decades After World War II

Author: Alexandrea Riddell Interviewer: Aaron Myers Korean Comfort Women were sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during WWII. The soldiers raped, beat, and tortured the women and once they were free their lives were never the same. Hidden until the 1990's...