About this episode

This episode explores the evolving meanings of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building in American culture, featuring insights from historian Dr. Vaneesa Cook.

The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building loom large in the American imagination, symbolizing the conflicting ideas of liberty and empire; their meanings and characters have shifted over time as the American ethos has shifted. Joining me in this episode is writer, historian, and freelance editor, Dr. Vaneesa Cook , author of Empire and Liberty: The Tied Histories of Two American Landmarks . Our theme song is “ Frogs Legs Rag ,” composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode audio is “ Hail to the spirit of liberty ,” composed by John Philip Sousa and performed by Prince’s Orchestra in New York City on January 11, 1912; the audio is in the public domain and is available via the Library of Congress National Jukebox. The episode image is a photograph of NASA’s prototype space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905 , during a flyover of New York City on Friday, April 27, 2012; the photographer was Bill Ingalls, and the government image is in the public domain. Additional Sources: “ Body of Iron, Soul of Fire: The Statue of Liberty ,” by Jessie Kratz, National Archive Pieces of…

People in this episode

Host: Kelly Therese Pollock

Guest: Dr. Vaneesa Cook

Topics covered

• Statue of Liberty
• Empire State Building
• American history
• liberty
• empire
• cultural symbolism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Library of Congress National Jukebox, National Archive Pieces of History, Statue of Liberty, National Park Service

Books & works: Empire and Liberty: The Tied Histories of Two American Landmarks, Frogs Legs Rag, Hail to the spirit of liberty

Places: New York City

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