American Soundcheck - The JAS Podcast

The 2013 JAS Annual Lecture, given at BAAS 2013 on Thursday April 18th, is a fascinating insight into the ideals of John F. Kennedy as a Senator during the 1950's. The lecture was given by Professor Anders Stephanson,  Andrew and Virginia Rudd Family Foundation Professor of History at Columbia University. In this wide-ranging podcast, Professor  Stephanson challenges us to reconsider the relationship between John F. Kennedy and one of the most important issues of the post-1945 era: the collapse of European imperialism and the onset of decolonization. Kennedy's approach to this matter, Stephanson argues, has to be considered from an intellectual standpoint. Rather than merely rejecting the claims of newly independent nation-states to forge their own position on the world stage, Kennedy took these processes seriously and recognised that, ultimately, the United States would need to be seen to be on the side of those seeking to assert their newly won freedom. As Stephanson's lecture demonstrates, Kennedy