song

JFK airport,NY,NY

the song washes over you, can fall into and see the beauty of America..it should be played in the airports as land coming home .....:)

Mary

To Kill a Mockingbird

Maycomb, Ala.

Set in 1936 during the Great Depression, this novel of small-town, Deep South life has spoken to adults and teens ever since its 1960 publication during Jim Crow segregation. Complex, timeless themes of justice, courage, compassion. An ever-so-human hero, Atticus Finch, who embodies those themes. Part of school curricula everywhere. Made into a film that has also become classic. It unerringly shows America at its worst and best.

Sue

Joel Chandler Harris, Author of the Uncle Remus books

Atlanta, GA

Just listened to Uncle Tom's Cabin and think that my 4th great Uncle, Joel Chandler Harris and his Uncle Remus books about that period in history are relevant to today's radio 360 topic. The Wren's Nest, his home, is now a museum in Atlanta, GA. Born in Eatonton, GA, the town boasts The Brer Rabbit Museum. His works, like Uncle Tom's Cabin, have been misinterpreted as "racist" but, in fact, are anything but!

Annie

Nashville, Robert Altman's 1975 masterpiece

Nashville, TN

Released in 1975, "Nashville" was prescient in depicting the extent to which willful ignorance has had a particularly strong effect on the country in recent decades. It has many characters to illustrate different aspects of that theme. Willful ignorance is hardly one of America's more attractive or commendable traits, so perhaps the film should be considered an American Anti-icon in the way some narratives have anti-heroes.

Michael

"Our Town" by Thorton Wilder

high school stages everywhere

This is a powerful and modern work that speaks to us about life, love and death and Life, Love and Death. It shows us something about poverty and war through an intimate lens. It has been bound and drained by too many sentimental and nostalgic productions. High school kids encountering it today think it is a boring, old fashioned play with archaic language.

Mary

The Burned Over DIstrict

Central and Western New York

The Burned Over District shaped American religion and politics through much of the 19th century and, in someways, continues to do so to this day. Here was a hotbed of the Abolitionist movement, the "birthplace" of Woman's Sufferage, it was where Utopian movements took root, and Mormonism was born. Ideas and aesthetics of this region are still part of American society and have had an impact on not only this country but the world as well.

Margaret

Star Trek

san francisco, ca

John Putman at http://whatculture.com says it way better than I could
Star Trek’s commercial influence—disappearing transporter coffee mugs, replica ships models, action figures, t-shirts, and even the Klingon bat’leth I have hanging on my office wall—would be impressive enough. Yet, even academics ranging from sociologists and physicists to religious studies scholars have produced numerous articles, books, and dissertations scrutinizing the meaning and impact of Star Trek. College students can take anthropology, sociology, information studies, and even history courses like mine that use Star Trek to explore American culture and society. Science fiction shows like Star Trek offer a unique avenue to investigate important issues or ideas because the genre has traditionally attracted authors and artists who wish to offer social and political commentary. Star Trek creator Eugene Roddenberry, for example, consciously developed his series to address important issues like war, race, sex, technology, and the human condition that 1960s television largely ignored.

The Brady Bunch

Los Angeles, CA

They were the iconic American TV family, the transitional ideal between shows like Father Knows Best and the Cosby Show. ,They hinted at some of the raciness and wackiness of the new era that they, in their wholesomeness were a reaction to. Mike Brady was a side burned Atticus Finch- stalwart, just, sensitive and infinitely wise. The show dealt with modern morality issues in a progressive way, they even did an episode about the neighbor’s adopted multiracial kids. Also, one of the first Sitcoms to feature celebrity guest stars playing themselves. For early generation ethnic city kids like me, it showed me a picture of what guys named "Sherwood Schwartz" thought the modern American family should look like, which wasn't like any thing I recognized, yet I accepted that ideal. My dad's middle name was Sherwood, his Yiddish immigrant father thought that sounded American, so in this aspect, the Bradys, is a product of vision similar to the Hollywood moguls and their own top hat, drawing room spectacles showing depression-era America what they all aspired to be.

Holden

The Crucible by Arthur Miller

Salem, MA

This is not a play about witches. It is not a play about McCarthyism. It is a play about the foundation and formation of America, with commerce and opportunism wearing the mask of Puritanism and spiritual self-righteousness. The history of Salem (the town I now live in myself) has been collapsed under this 'mask'. Walk the streets of Salem today and you see a kind of 'Witch Disneyland'. But Salem was a major shipping town, and centre of commerce. Until NYC decided to change that, and 're-brand' the city as 'Witch Tiwn'. The play is populated by deeply flawed people, and yet deeply ambitious people. It is the Greek tragedy of America, and NOT a play about witches...

Matthew

mattigray

Only Yesterday by Frederick Lewis Allen

Libraries, USA

Written while the ashes of the 1929 crash still smoldered, Allen's spot on history of the 1920s identified the new cultural trends that would shape the US from then to now. He zeroes in on the rise of advertising and the consumer culture, emergence of mass media, the changing roles of religion and science, changing sex roles and mores, and even the birth of America's obsession with sports and celebrity.

The book even got the history and economics parts right, something almost impossible so near to the events. It is still relevant and readable, which is why it has been in print for 8 decades.

Only Yesterday would be an excellent choice as it explained 80 years ago the roots of who and what we as Americans embrace as icons today.

Larry

to kill a mockingbird

libraries, us

the work speaks for itself

laura

"What does America mean?: "

it is a book by alexander Meiklejohn

Alexander Meiklejohn was a philosopher and college president. his book "What does America mean?" is offered in contrast to the view that america's growth of information and technology can give more and more people satisfaction and inclusion. this, he argues, will never succeed. instead america must live inside of americans regardless of their present circumstances. someone educated in philosophy will notice how Meiklejohn is drawing from the transcendental idealism of immanual kant. he understands that our present infatuation with science and "reality" is dulling our belief in equality and justice and only when we place science and "reality" in a position of subservience to equality and justice can we regain america's gift. he is quite aware that justice and equality are mushy concepts compared to science and "reality" but to learn how the ideals triumph over science and reality is to learn the transcendental idealism that made america.

Meiklejohn is also famous in legal circles for his concept of "Meiklejohnian absolutism" which is an interpretation of the first amendment supported by Justice Stephen G. Breyer
Meiklejohn

mike

Where The Wild Things Are

It's a book

This is the first picture book that made a lasting impression on me. It still seems revolutionary. Max is unapologetically naughty, he's punished, he runs away, he makes mischief, he roars at his mother. Even though the Wild Things love him, I always thought it a comment on the obsessiveness of some friendships or idolizations. They love him, but when he says he's leaving, they threaten to eat him! It was scary, funny, and while a somewhat nonsensical story for adults, as a child, I found it all perfectly plausible and comprehensible.

Shannon

Orson Welles

heaven

Orson Welles, to me at least, embodies the American spirit of creativity, independence, ingenuity, stubborn tenacity, and being larger than life. He was able to fund the Mercury Theater with proceeds earned from his vocal talent, produced original and inspired reinterpretations of Shakespeare plays (which made him a much talked about figure) and recorded the infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast. And he also produced, directed and starred in Citizen Kane, his first feature, widely considered the greatest film of all time. He was only 25 by the time he achieved all of this.

dave

@djstarsign

Little House on the Prairie and Laura Ingalls Wilder

Walnut Grove, Minnesota

It's a series of fiction books based on a real-life story about the young Ingalls family, who were traversing the prairie as they raised their family. They were seeking opportunity and adventure at a time when Americans were exploring, inhabiting and settling the expansive American landscape. The books (and TV show) captured the imaginations of many children who were fascinated by the adventures of the family as told by inqutive and wide-eyed Laura Ingalls. As someone who grew up in this same landscape in Minnesota, I was inspired to connect their story to my own family's pioneer roots as homesteaders and farmers in the late 1800s. American icon, indeed.

Karleen

Midnight Blue by Kenny Burrell

New York. NY

A classic of the whole spectrum of straight ahead. Blue Note jazz. Cool and also swinging, introspective and also easy to understand.

Paul

The Wright Brothers

Dayton, OH

The Wrights demostrate inventive excellence. There is a misconception that they were "only" bicycle mechanics that stumbled on flight. In reality, the Wrights used the cutting edge technologies of the day including manufacturing, photography, scientific inquiry and printing. The Wrights invented the field of aeronautical engineering and gave us the basis of the airplane as we know it today.

David

Ansel Adams' images

Yellowstone National Park, WY

I chose this work as a representative image of his larger body of photos depicting America's National Parks and the West. Adams won the Medal of Freedom for his black and white photographs of the American landscape, celebrating its diverse and staggering beauty. I can't think of another photographer whose images of the USA are more iconic, or who more deserves to be featured.

Jessica

@silveryjessica

Camden, NJ

Camden, NJ

Camden, New Jersey, final home to Walt Whitman, where he spent years revising Leaves of Grass and hosting countless visitors including Oscar Wilde. It's also the manufacturing site of the Victrola (and recording site of countless albums), birthplace and headquarters to Campbell's Soup, and the world's first drive-in theater. It's also home to a major research university and new medical school. Yet, Camden, perhaps more than any other city in the United States, also symbolizes the results of deindustrialization, suburbanization, racial strife and abject poverty. The city reflects both the hopes and losses of 20th Century America, and perhaps 21st.

B.H.

Comic Books. Must pick one? Romance Comics

My grandmother's cedar chest, Perkasie, PA

American comics' palpable build up of emotional turmoil perfectly encapsulates every coming-of-age story of the American Condition in 22 pages. (Or, by turning up the hoke in the case of Romance Comics, 8!)

Bruce