Videos

Grammy Award winner and Public Enemy co-founder Chuck D discussed the music of social change and his “Songs That Shook the Planet” project. The National Museum of African American History…

The archives at Elvis Presley’s Graceland contain over 1.5 million artifacts from the singer’s personal life and music career. Archivist Angie Marchese showcased some of their more unique items.…

Historian Michael Stewart Foley argued that Johnny Cash was the most important political artist of his time. The author relayed that the musician didn’t fit into one political party and instead…

Musician Gloria Estefan and broadcasting and recording executives testified before the House Judiciary Committee about compensating recording artists for their work. The hearing focused on…

The Washington Post hosted a virtual discussion on the impact of hip hop on culture. Joining the conversation were Kevin Young, the National Museum of African American History and Culture director, and Dwandalyn…

Musician Tim McGraw and Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham provided a history of American history through song.

United States Marine Band director Lieutenant Colonel William F. Santelmann provides a musical history of the band by conducting portions of historic songs with ensembles using vintage…

This film sets out to define jazz by looking critically at white America and arguing that the music form could only have been invented by Blacks as an expression of African American life. This independent…

America’s Creative Economy: The Impact of COVID-19 was one of the second prize high school central division winners in C-SPAN Classroom’s StudentCam documentary contest. Sean Baker, a sophomore at Lincoln…

Flagler College Professor Michael Butler taught a class about music in the post-civil rights era, highlighting artists such as James Brown, Marvin Gaye, and George Clinton. He described how…

Ohio University American history professor Kevin Mattson looked at the Reagan administration through the critical lens of the punk rock movement of the 1980s. This was a virtual event…

A panel of music scholars discussed the life of Ludwig van Beethoven and his popularity in the United States from the 19th century to the present day. The National Archives hosted this…

Author and former classical musician Jonathan Rosenberg discussed his new book, Dangerous Melodies: Classical Music in America from the Great War through the Cold War, which explores the…

Haverford College English professor Gustavus Stadler looked at the life of activist and folk singer Woody Guthrie. This was a virtual event hosted by Left Bank Books in St. Louis.

A Senate Commerce subcommittee held a hybrid hearing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the live event entertainment industry. Witnesses represented the wide range of industries…

The C-SPAN Cities Tour explored the American story on a tour across the United States to examine the music of a nation, visiting historic venues and cities that spawned their own unique…

Rev. Moose, executive director and co-founder of the National Independent Venue Association, discussed the economic impact of coronavirus on independent music venues.

Indiana University history professor Michael McGerr talked about women and feminism in 1960-1970s popular music. This class was from his course titled “Rock, Hip Hop and Revolution: Popular Music…

U.S. Air Force Academy instructor Captain Jeffrey Copeland talked about the use of American Jazz musicians as State Department-sponsored “ambassadors” in Africa during the Cold War. He…

Deana McCloud gave a tour of the Woody Guthrie Center and talked about the folk singer’s life and career. The center’s archives contain Mr. Guthrie’s music, lyrics, sketches, and journals. C-SPAN’s…