Episode 224: Sesame Street

America at 250 Episode 9: "Sweepin' the Clouds Away: Sesame Street as a product of, and contributor to, American culture." 

Mary Cay carries a lifelong adoration of Sesame Street and is quite familiar with its place on the pantheon of both children's educational TV and public broadcasting.  We had a wonderful conversation about how the show came to achieve that status at a hall of honor, the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago.

I recognize that Sesame Street takes place in New York and not Chicago, but one of the many great points my guest in the Second City makes about the pioneering children's program is that it had an urban setting, something not very common for the era in which it first entered households.

This is the ninth episode of a special season of the Everything is a Primary Source where, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, American pop culture is examined for historical value and for connection to the founding of the country in July of 1776.

**As it occasionally happens when you discuss history on the fly, I make a misstatement in this episode. 1990 is the year of the Americans with Disabilities Act, but I link it to the Bicentennial, 1976.  However, legislation typically is the result of many years of work, and in the case of the ADA, much of that promotion began in the mid 1970s.**

Teaching resources and supplements available soon at everything-history.com/america250

This episode is brought to you by iCivics and their new educational game, Investigation Declaration.

#podcast #popculture #sesamestreet #pbs