One of the most under-reported events of this week is C-Span’s online unveiling of a media extravaganza, 25 years of archived programming. For political junkies, there’s the pure nirvana of reliving on video such dramatic moments as the confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas or Oliver North’s testimony in the Senate’s Iran-Contra hearings. For booklovers, there’s ecstasy to be found in the some 9000 programs of author talks about their books now made accessible at will and at no cost. Some are timely, like T.R. Reid’s interview about his book, The Healing of America, in which he samples the cost and quality health care around the globe. Others are memorable, like Robert Caro’s 1990 author talk about Means of Ascent, the second volume in his biography of Lyndon Johnson.
As many of you know, a Book TV crew is here to record author talks many times in a month since we both inhabit the same city. Until recently, if you missed an event or its scheduled airing, the author's talk became past history, but with this seismic digital-media unveiling, all author events filmed by Book TV anywhere will be immortalized in cyberspace.
To access either of these new treasures, click the above links or visit www.c-spanvideo.org/videoLibrary/.