| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (50 min. 23 sec.) ; 304777325 bytes |
| Summary |
After 9/11, Katrina and Baghdad, the robustness of American optimism is struggling to reassert itself against the sobering reality of military frustration and domestic anxieties. This is an America grappling with an un-American sense of its own limits. Eminent historian Simon Schama turns to fascinating moments in American history to understand the present. In the first episode of the series he explores how American optimism about the infinite possibilities of its land and resources is in danger of coming to a grinding halt. Nowhere is this more evident than the American West, which has always been a symbol of opportunity and freedom. Oil at $4 a gallon may be dominating the headlines, but here it's the lack of water that's an even bigger threat to the American future. The West is in the grip of a nine-year drought. America's optimism about its natural resources has always been spiced with clashes over conservation, going back to the first man to navigate the Colorado River, John Wesley Powell. American ingenuity made farming on an industrial scale possible in the early years of the 20th century but at the cost of making Oklahoma a dustbowl. The building of the Hoover Dam, a modern American miracle, which provided essential irrigation for farming and for the new city of Las Vegas, now no longer supplies enough water for both. In 1980, Ronald Reagan's optimism about American plenty defeated Jimmy Carter's campaign for self-restraint but in the 2008 election, neither candidate could ignore the challenges facing America as it enters an era of limits.PRODUCTION DETAILS:The American Future is an Oxford Film & Television production for BBC. Writer/Presenter: Simon Schama; Executive Producer: Nicholas Kent; Producers /Directors: Sam Hobkinson & Ricardo Pollack. 4 x 50mins |
| Notes |
Closed captioning in English |
| Event |
Broadcast 2010-05-27 at 21:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: G |
| Subject |
Discovery and exploration, American.
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Environmental sciences -- Methodology.
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Global warming -- Environmental aspects.
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Irrigation farming.
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Natural resources.
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United States.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Hobkinson, Sam, director
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Schama, Simon, host
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