Drafting the Past Episode 90: Matthew Delmont Works on Pacing and Character
In this episode, Kate is joined by Dr. Matthew Delmont. Matt is a professor and associate dean at Dartmouth University, and he is the author of six books. His two most recent books are Half American: The Epic Story of American Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad, which came out in 2022, and Until the Last Gun is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America's Soul, which just came out this year. Matt has also worked on numerous digital history projects, and he is the winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship and National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar award.
In Until the Last Gun is Silent, Matt pairs the story of Coretta Scott King's antiwar activism during the Vietnam War with that of Dwight "Skip" Johnson, who received the Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam before his life ended tragically after his return to Detroit. It's a combination that illuminates the meaning of the Vietnam War for Black Americans. We talked about how Matt has worked on his voice and narrative style to reach new audiences, as well as how the intriguing historical narrative pairing in this book came to be.
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Mentioned in this episode:
- Matthew F. Delmont, Until the Last Gun is Silent: A Story of Patriotism, the Vietnam War, and the Fight to Save America's Soul
- Matthew F. Delmont, Half American: The Epic Story of American Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad
- Matthew F. Delmont, Black Quotidian: Everyday History in African American Newspapers
- Matthew F. Delmont, Making Roots: A Nation Captivated
- Matthew F. Delmont, Why Busing Failed: Race, Media, and the National Resistance to School Desegregation
- Matthew F. Delmont, The Nicest Kids in Town: American Bandstand, Rock 'n' Roll, and the Struggle for Civil Rights in 1950s Philadelphia
- Tiya Miles
- Annette Gordon Reed
- Jeanne Theoharis, The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and King of the North: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Life of Struggle Outside the South
- Peggy Pascoe, What Comes Naturally: Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America
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