Mark Stoler explores the ups and downs of American attitudes toward the future in what has been called “the American Century.” He examines the various challenges to our national optimism, from the depths of the Great Depression in the 1930s through Vietnam and Watergate in the 1960s and 1970s, and our multiple responses to those challenges—responses that often succeeded in restoring optimism.
Recorded at the Vermont Humanities Council's Fall Conference 2018, "The Ebb and Flow of Optimism through American History."