The Great American Road Trip – Allen Pietrobon
Smithsonian Associates Artist Interview Series
Welcome to The Not Old Better Show. I’m Paul Vogelzang, and this is episode #460.
As part of our Smithsonian Associates, Art of Living Streaming Series, our guest today is historian, academic, Dr. Allen Pietrobon. Dr. Allen Pietrobon will be presenting via Zoom at the Smithsonian Associates Streaming program, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, and the title of his presentation, and the subject of our conversation today is The Great American Road Trip. Details are available on our site about Zoom.
Just in time for the summer road trip season, Dr. Allen Pietrobon, an assistant professor of global Affairs at Trinity Washington University and an award-winning historian, takes us on a literary journey that explores the nature and impact of American travel stories.
Perhaps no genre of story is so typically American than the travel story narrative. From chronicles of the settlement of the West to the modern cross-country road trip, travel story narratives have infused American history and popular culture. Many of these stories are written from the perspective of travelers who found themselves to be outsiders along the way. From Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi to John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charlie to Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, in most of these stories, the protagonist is positioned as an explorer in a new and unfamiliar landscape (whether that be Jim Crow-era Alabama or the American West) on a journey of self-discovery to encounter the “real” America. What is so compelling about travel stories? What can they teach us about American history, culture, and society? Dr. Allen Pietrobon will answer those questions and more during our interview.
Dr. Allen Pietrobon is a historian and academic. Dr. Allen Pietrobon will be presenting via Zoom at the Smithsonian Associates program, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, and the title of his presentation is The Great American Road Trip. Details are available on our site about Zoom. Thank you to the Smithsonian, for arranging today’s interview and for all they do to support the show. My thanks to you, my wonderful Not Old Better Show audience. Please practice smart social distancing, be well, be healthy, and Talk About Better. The Not Old Better Show.
For more information about Smithsonian Associates Streaming Series, via Zoom, please check here>
https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/tickets/great-american-road-trip