Life. For six years, we traveled to six cities and bringing the book cities. Watch more at cspan. Org cities tour. We are here in the sioux falls Downtown Public library. A few blocks from here on the north end of sioux falls, i am a my booknd my roast is about caesar and i. Julius caesar died in 44 bc. Most of the buildings around their argon and his clothes are gone, even the iron daggers that stabbed him have long ago rusted into dust. About the only thing we have left it of Julius Caesar is his breath, air that came out of his lungs and spread their way around the world. T is not just Julius Caesar you can connect him with anyone you are interested in in history. Relatives, people you like or dont like. Air is one of the very few things that connect all human beings throughout history. Even the people who we do not have anything remaining of their lives and know little about them. We do know that its of their of are still around bits their air are still around and we have that material connection to them. That the titles that it cap the air is this invisible thing and important. We hardly Pay Attention to it and do not think about it. I wanted to show people that there is a hidden and fascinating side to the air and if you look at it you can connect it with a lot about our biology and history, civilization, it is one of the most important things around us, even if we take it for granted. With each of the stories, i want to get people engaged and think about. Not as something abstract and locked away in the lab, but something that touches your life in a direct way. The way to do that is with stories. The human brain works best when it gets information in a story form. If there are heroes and villains, conflict and drama, and all of these great things, in a story, we are good at remembering that. We do that better than we do abstract scientific facts. I tried to spin each of these tales as a story. Some of my favorite stories in the book, if you come to mind, what about the ozone layer in the atmosphere and how a court of the ozone layer is related in an unusual way to the ross well supposedly alien invasion in new mexico in the 1940s. You would never connect the ozone with the roswell alien invasion, but there is a direct link. We know about the ozone layer and it should be important. You would not think to connect it to some sort of alien invasion. A goes through the people who were doing this work and what they learned about the ozone layer. How they tried to take advantage of it. It was basically they thought quirkas a court q in the ozone layer that allowed us to spy on the russians. It channels sound. There is a sound channel which takes sound and magnifies it. We do not know about it down here because we are lower than the ozone layer. When you get higher, you can hear sounds magnified and wouldnt it be great if we can spy on the soviets by floating giant balloons with microphones and here if they are Testing Nuclear weapons. They were suspending these gigantic balloons with this equipment in the atmosphere. Eventually, some came down and they crashed. The equipment they found around the roswell area was things they were sending out to try to spy on the soviets. It connects the atmosphere with this big political thing with the cold war. And then the u. S. Government tried to cover up what was going on. This big connection to Something Like the cold war. A story i hesitate to ring up, about a desk bring up, a performance i hesitate to bring up, and artist, he was a very good at inhaling air through it back to him and do and doions rectum impressions, roosters, dogs, human beings, seeing the French National anthem. Through his backside. Blow out candles and play instruments. He was very talented. The story made me choke on a glass of water. I could believe he existed. I thought about it and said, i have been curious about what is going on. I did not know much about it. I said i will try to see if i can make this a little bit more scientific. Learn more about it. We are all curious about it. It is a fascinating chapter. I learned a lot in addition to laughing a lot. Most people think methane is a part of the gas that smells but nothing has no odor. A lot of different, other gases are smelling and most of it is produced inhouse by bacteria. They are taking the things you eat and breaking them down and making the smelly chemicals. Most of the chemicals have sulfur involved. If you have ever been near a volcano, or some geological hotspot, you may remember there was a smell, usually sulfur related. People want to know, what are the odds that i am still breathing something someone exhaled. The answer is that it depends, you may be breathing in those molecules are usually more reactive, volatile. They will break down for the quickly over time. Whereas the air you are exhaling , mostly nitrogen molecules, those will stay around for a much longer time. The art of you breathing in caesars last breath are much higher than caesars last fart. I knew there would be Great Stories about the atmosphere but it is topical. , something people are worried about and thinking about in some way. Climate change, global warming. The combination of it being a fun topic but important. The current state of our atmosphere. A couple of things going on. Not all doom and gloom. We have been good about cutting down on chlorofluorocarbons. What were eating a hole in the ozone layer which has not recovered yet but has started to build up a little bit. That is a success story. Unfortunately, there have been other problems. With levels of Carbon Dioxide and other Greenhouse Gases rising in the atmosphere. It is getting to the point where simply cutting back on those may not be enough to fit hit pau se on Climate Change and we made more active may need more active solutions to pull things in the air and put them in a solid or liquid form to not attract heat from the atmosphere anymore. I hope people walk away from the book with a couple of things. One, i want people to know to Pay Attention to the atmosphere. To look at it in a different way and think about it. The air really is a cool, interesting thing. Scientists sometimes say the atmosphere is the most complicated system we know of besides the human brain. System, if youg get more information. Even broader, i tried to do with all my books, make people think that science can be fun. You can be touched by science and cry and laugh with science. T is a human activity i want people to know that all of the things we enjoy about the being human are in science. Today, we are at the center for western studies. , southtiful sioux falls dakota. In the southeastern part of the state, near the place where i work, minnesota, and south dakota meet iowa, minnesota, and south dakota meet. I was not born here but got here as soon as i could, age 40. After the financial crisis. That iton i came was was clear to me that south dakotas economy was robust. Investigate why it was so robust. I came to find out by a lot of measures that south dakota has the most entrepreneurial economy in the country. You may wonder how that is, because we do not are over we are not overflowing with Thomas Edison and elon musk. You have to recall that there were a few hundred that 800,000 people, smaller than a of counties back east in terms of population. Not surprisingly have not had the big not surprising we have not had the biggest innovative entrepreneurs. There are three types of october newers, innovative types of entrepreneurs, innovative, authoritative and what native type, bute tony soprano are whatave a lot of are known as replicative entrepreneurs. They take an idea that was developed elsewhere and moves it to a new location. You can measure these things, economists measure these things by various measures, including the percentage of total income that comes from selfemployment, proprietorship, direct ownership in a business, and is higher in south dakota that in other states in the country. In terms of the history of native american ownership entrepreneurship, it starts with the arrival of human beings in the new world. Talking 10,000 bce. 12,000 years ago. It may be a little bit longer than that. Significant numbers in the past 10,000 years. There were people in south dakota before it was ever a thought before south dakota was ever a thought and they were extremely entrepreneurial in terms of evidence of ownership entrepreneurship, a site in presentday mitchell where they found huge numbers of bison bones. And only a small presence of humans. Were eating five membersday, each, the numbers do not add up. There are pieces of pottery that the obvious implication is that they were taking bison, processing them in mitchell, which they would do by turning it into a product known a mix of dried meat, fat and a very berry, and fruit flavoring, and combine them. It is stable and does not rot or spoil. You could package that and put it into boats used from stretch bison skin, floated down the missouri rebel river to the tradesippi and traded it for pottery. Native americans were very entrepreneurial until the government on reservations and began until they were put on reservations and control. Reason the most poorest parts of the United States are in south dakota, which otherwise has a thriving entrepreneurial economy, is because reservations are under a different system of political economy then the rest of the state. They are essentially socialist entities largely controlled from washington, d. C. , specifically the department of the interiors bureau of indian affairs. They have socialized medicine. They have their own educational system, which is substandard. And different sets of sunray galatians that apply to them sets of rules and regulations that apply to them. Robert he writes better Property Rights inferior to those available in the rest of south dakota and nonreservation parts of the United States. Manythem entrepreneurs in Indian Country murderers pod it may preneurs and and they may hire family. It never goes beyond that. Some will have a business to help fix cars. They like to keep them running a long time and get the most value out of them as possible. They do not put a sign up. You have to get approval to get a sign out. It is all done on a cash basis. Under the table. You cannot go to the bank and say, i have been making so many thousands of dollars per year doing this, can i get a loan to buy a formal shop and a sign . Because there is no documentation. Bia andcts of the socialist, political economy imposed on indian reservations is a very low quality of life. Diabetes go up on the reservation. Suicide rates start skyrocketing. Toxicl and other substances are used. And people start blaming the indians for their situation. And the indians blame themselves for the situation. They were once a very entrepreneurial people with no problems, prospered with no problem. Where developing along their own timeline. It is this intercession and jailing them on reservations. Hope, itis any ray of comes from history. And from comparative economics and from what are sometimes called experiments. Korea used to be one country. It was arbitrarily divided into two andy north has a very repressive regime and has had one since its founding. The south had a repressive regime at first but improved over the years. Within a generation, south korea went from a place that we thought of as a place where people eat dogs and barely get 1980s, a major competitor in many fields. It started to outcompete us in some areas and even the japanese. Happened over a 30 year span. By changing the political economy of a place, you can go ofm desolation to a place increasing prosperity. But you have to change the political economy, which means grading me draining the bia. I am originally from new york. When i came to south dakota, i worked on a reservation for 10 years and for three years the director of a Legal Services, the statewide Legal Services program. After 10 years on the reservation and a year of fellowship, i joined the law school. They wanted me to teach in the law and that is my primary area but i also teach criminal law. I have also become a tribal appellate judge for several tribes in south dakota. People who are members of the nine recognized tribes in south dakota probably make up 8 , and i percent, 10 of the state population and western states, native populations, also a very significant part of the state population. Native people live on or off the reservation. You can find native people everywhere. The native people are citizens of three sovereigns, the United States citizens, citizens of the state in which they are our, native people in south dakota, are south dakota state citizens and their archrival citizens are upbeat drive of which they are a member the tribe of which they are a member. Sovereignty. Ve they have the authority from the preconstitutional existence as selfgoverning sovereigns. That is the position they take. Selfgoverning within their territory. However, that collided with the dominant society, with the federal governments point of view. The struggle for Indian Tribes is to maximize their sovereignty, maximize their zone of authority within indian that needs the approval of the United States congress and the United States Supreme Court. Sometimes, both sides seem to be going in the same direction and there has been a recognition and appreciation of tribal sovereignty. At other times, the relationships seem to be going theopposite direction when federal government is and them a call if not actually hostile to tribal is an enema if not toantiof actually hostile tribal sovereignty. One of the initial dilemmas is was going to deal with people who are already here. When they first came here, native people were numerically and militarily stronger than , but overmmigrants time, immigrants began to have more power numerically and they began to have the upper hand. Had to be was there this continual western expansion for native land, and that has motivation tory obtain as much indian land as possible. From the native perspective, what they have tried to do is give up as little land as possible, to retain as much land as possible. One of the problems in that is trying to know what actually anchors that relationship. I have written quite a bit about this. We look to the constitution to anchor and demarcate the relationship the tween these two sovereigns. I think the constitution as originally written tries to do that. Through acts of congress and the United States Supreme Court, they have lost sight of the original relationship as constitution. He native americans have had to struggle to be recognized as , as statetes citizens citizens, and that ought not to have been. You would have thought it some point native people would be welcomed into the constitutional structure both asked federal citizens and state citizens. Across the board, as federal citizens and as state citizens. Which weamendment, generally regard as providing federal and state citizenship to everyone, including africanamericans in the aftermath of the civil war, there was a case decided by the saidme court in 1881 that that because of language in the 14th amendment, the 14th amendment did not make native states citizens or state citizens. These postcivil war amendments that we always talk positively about, as we showed, did not nativedo anything for people to move forward their citizenship as federal citizens and state citizens. Case, a native person was living in omaha, nebraska, living off the reservation, and he wanted to vote in a local election. He attempted to register and he he was neither a citizen of the United States nor a citizen of the state of nebraska despite the 14th amendment, because there is language in the 14th amendment that also appears in article one of the constitution. It includes the phrase, excluding indians not taxed. What did that mean . People did not know. Numbers ofsmall people who lived off the reservation and were technically subject to taxation. The bargain in the constitution was excluding indians not taxed, meaning those people who stayed on the reservation would not be counted. A few Million People had moved off the reservation and were living in small towns. They would be counted for purposes. The language excluding indians and ised repeated in the 14th amendment. So, in the Supreme Court case, the court focused on that language to say the 14th amendment did not change the nativeship status of people. We are getting into the latter part of the 19th century, and native people, with rare exceptions, were not considered citizens of the United States or of the state in which they were living. The major challenges the people had to deal with Going Forward is one of Economic Development in Indian Country. There are nine reservations in south dakota, among the poorest in the nation. Four of the poorest counties in the United States are located in Indian Country insult to go to. Poverty remains extensive. Note that is true, thats all of Indian Country. People seem to know the bad about Indian Country, but they dont know the good. Thats a significant problem for nonnative people to be more aware of the good things that. Ccur in Indian Country there are colleges on reservations in south dakota. Sometimes they are the fastestgrowing colleges in the state. I would venture to say if he raced that question to significant portions of the nonnative population if you raised that question two significant portions of population two significant portions of the nonnative population, they would not know. They continue to struggle. For example, its important for to agree on Common Ground to solve problems. Are there opportunities for Economic Development schemes that would benefit both the state and the tribe to have those in Indian Country . I think there could be. That has been adequately explored in the concept of tourism, for example, to have a statetribal partnership. I think the notion of having opportunities, for example, for members of the state council to meet with tribe members, just more forms to come together. In the absence of coming together, when you have an empty space between two people and you have a history, oftentimes, that empty space filled by stereotypes, by negative stereotypes. It is only when people come together both officially and unofficially that i think they whohave a better sense of people are and develop the respective is talking about before. If you go around the law school the respect ioped was talking about before. The law schoold here, if you go into the courtroom here, you will see all sorts of native artwork and stuff. Traveled most other places in south dakota, i dont think you will see that. Its just a basic saying. Basic saying. There is some cultural respect and native presence here. To underestimate that. When you are a nonnative person, you take for granted that everything reflects the background that you come from, but for native people, its not like that is all. As i is people remain separated and cautious, its problematic for both sides to go forward as long as people remain separated and cautious, its problematic for both sides to go forward. My new novel takes its title from f scott fitzgerald, rate gatsby. You will remember Nick Carraway was from minnesota. Great gatsby. Remember that Nick Carraway was from minnesota. He went to world war i. He thought it would be dull to move back to minnesota, which he saw as the ragged edge of the universe, and he decided to move upnew york, and he got mixed in the roaring 20s on long island with gatsby and all that bookof characters from his. In the end, he begins to see the midwest where he came from as. He warm center of the world that contrast is what i try to draw out, from warm center to ragged edge. The midwest was seen by many commentators as the place where literature was the most active, where there was the most dynamic economy, the place where grow. Cal power was most of the president s after the civil war came from the midwest, seven of eight. , indiana,from ohio iowa. The midwest, in addition to its political and economic clout, had a great deal of cultural clout because of its writers, the cousin of a strong because of a strong regionalist movement. Most of the writers will have been forgotten by most listeners, but at the time, they were household names. James Whitcomb Riley of indiana, whose coffin laid in state in indiana for a week because of the thousands of wellwishers who came through. Was part of the indiana golden age of literature, which featured people like riley, booth turkington, lew wallace, who was the author of ben hur. There were prominent authors like Sherwood Anderson of ohio and Sinclair Lewis of minnesota. Scott fitzgerald of st. Paul, who we talked about a little bit ago. People were making a major mark, from the midwest, in American Literary culture. You could begin to see the effects of the growing clout and power of the coasts on a on american culture, especially with the movies. Many americans went to 3, 4, 5 movies a week. Movies were shot in hollywood, in los angeles. That showed the power of california and the west coast of that time. Soon after that, television. Much of which was produced in hollywood. , most americans, in the span of a decade, had a television set. Began, 2 ofs americans had television. By the end of the decade, 98 plus dead. These local centers of regional production of culture plus did. These local centers of regional production of culture had a growing influence. There was also a growing ideology that looked down on agrarian parts of the country. This was particularly acute in after world war ii when there was a growing dedication to the United Nations and establishing a more prominent role for the United States in the world. The midwest, for many years, had been the part of the country that was most skeptical of entanglingolved in affairs overseas. So lisa actors kind of came together to reduce the prominence of all these factors kind of came together to reduce the prominence of midwestern culture in the 20th century. I think you can see the influence of the diminishment of midwestern regionalism in our politics and the frustration of some people in the middle of the country with other people dominating or controlling the culture. Think there is a real longing in the interior parts of the country for more of an assertive role in our culture. They want to be more of a part of culturalction forms that are prominent in our culture. I think you see this longing for a genuine emma craddick pluralism in the country. People now and can feel genuine democratic pluralism in the country. Whene know and can feel they are dominated and dont have much of a voice, and you can feel those frustrations bubbling up in our politics today. The good news is there have been major developments in the past few years that will allow people to rediscover their own regional and cultural history. Step was was the the formation of the midwestern History Association, which is a National Organization that meets every year in michigan, but it was founded in sioux falls. Midwestern History Association in particular was founded on the principle that the Academic Field of midwestern history had completely collapsed by the mid1990s or so. It was far past time to redevelop the infrastructure of that field. Its an association dedicated to the study of a particular region that meets every year, brings scholars together, gets them on panels talking about the region, and also creates a space for them to publish their work. If midwesterners begin to dig into their own history, they are going to see similar stories. You want to know what your ancestors went through, what they lived through, what shaped them and made them who they are. Thats why people want to rediscover the history of the region. One of the complications of reviving the study of the midwest is there are many midwesterners who are very humble, and some of them think well, we dont have much of a and even if we did, im not going to boast about it. Im trying to shake them out of their complacency and get them to think more about their region, their heritage, where they come from. I think the world could stand a few more stronger midwestern voices out there. Announcer portions of this program contain images some viewers may find offensive. Chiefer shannon was the dakota territory Supreme Court from 18731882. He was admitted to the pittsburgh bar in 1846. He had a very successful law practice there. He served a term as a judge in wassylvania because he also slightlyut antisecessionist. He believed if you seceded from the union, you were a trader, and he dealt with you accordingly. He served his time in the civil war in the pennsylvania cavalry unit. When grant was president , he come to theto dakota territory and serve as chief justice. Because it was something where youd be working in the law, he took the position. He had refused offers from lincoln, but because he wanted to be a judge, he took the offer from u. S. Grant. Before he got there, the judges were incompetent and corrupt. The lawyers were not knowledgeable in the law. It was difficult to get a conviction. In fact, the u. S. Attorney for the dakota territory was forced to write a letter of apology to the u. S. Attorney in washington, d. C. , saying a cant get a jury to convict anybody of anything thiserritory territory, and until and unless peoples attitudes change, its not going to happen. You getlem is, if somebody committing a crime particularly a horse thief. Now, horse thieves were a special kind of criminal on the frontier. If you stole a mans horse, you left him vulnerable to the elements because he would usually lose his life. It was considered a capital crime. Particularly away from ranch country, they would hang you on a cottonwood tree like one of these big ones over here. That happened quite frequently. Was what you call frontier justice or rough justice. Mobsould also argue that commit murder, they are not in any way part of the justice system. It was the and or and code of the frontier that if you stole a , you are guilty, and you could be hung. In the law, and that gave him more credence than elder judges and lawyers who are not educated. On the frontier, if you wanted inu read lawr, his office for a while. Then he would take you to a bar with other judges and if you laugh,awyers and have a member ofre a the bar. Thats why so many were in cobden. Thats why shannon made a difference. He had a leak so many were incompetent. Thats why shannon made a difference. He had a legal education. His difference was considerable and immediate. He brought integrity, competence and good sense to the legal system. Jobot juries to take their seriously, take their oath seriously, and when he spoke in people would come. O listen to them speak trials in those days were entertainment for the community. There was limited leisure time activity. The would come to hear lawyer and watch the trial. Women would sit on one side, men on the other, but they were always focused and very attentive. Once in a while, if something happened that would get their attention, they would burst into applause and the judge would have to gavel them back to silence, but shannon was the who really understood the law and how to apply it. Heard the expression, theres a new sheriff in town. When he came, there was a new judge in town. And newspapers covered trials quite closely. They focused in on him, and the reporting on shannon was positive. It was good throughout the whole territory. ,ithin a matter of months people could see the difference. There were still shooting, gambling, fights and all that but peoplehappened were being more frequently arrested and brought to justice. The trials of the cricket Indian Indian agentsked those two managed all the money, the food, the Farm Equipment that the federal government sent out to the various agencies. They were supposed to manage it and make sure it went to the indians. Theas well understood that indian agents in dakota territory were corrupt. The assets, the money, the cattle, the equipment that was suppose to go to indians, they converted to their own use openly and shamelessly. Everyone knew they were doing it , but they were never came into because theyor were stealing from indians and nobody liked the indians. Although they were all acquitted by white juries, the fact that he convince the cell to heute south dakota convinced the south dakota u. S. Attorney to prosecute these individuals i think was a credit to his sense of integrity and fairness. Wild bill hickok was a celebrity. Efore he got to deadwood he made a splash in to deadwood in a caravan that included people like calamity jane, colorado charlie, and other outlaw luminaries. Wild bill was interested in gold. He was also interested in gambling and drinking. He had acquired a reputation as a quick draw artist and a straight shooter. Jack mccall was kind of a narrative well, a loser a never do well, a loser. Some would call him a dance hall guy. Buffalo, nebraska,nd then ended up in deadwood where he did what he could to stay alive. Bill is stillwild somewhat of a mystery among people who write about wild bill hickok. Some say he was paid by a faction of people in deadwood who didnt like wild bill. I dont believe thats true. I think he got drunk and shot , andn the back of the head paid the price for it. Office was in yankton. Mccall was brought there and , and shannon gave him 12 years. It was a relatively short trial because the prosecution had direct evidence by eyewitnesses. Wild bill was at a poker table with three other guys when he was shot, and one of them was him,ng right across from and the bullet went through while bills head and into this guys right wrist. His name was captain massey, and he would use that to get free drinks. He would run into a bar and say heres the bullet that killed wild bill in my wrist. H that kind of evidence mccall had legal representation. In those days, they appointed for the crime. Out people with subpoenas to bring witnesses for the defense, but they could not find anybody. They had no case. Their only case was that they had no jurisdiction to try him because the crime was committed on indian reservation. That did not hold water with judge shannon. He was tried and convicted. Sentenced to death. , hung on march 1, 18 87. And that was the first legal and decoded territory. Prior to that, there had been lynchings, which was typical in the wild west. The greatest challenge of his judicial career was when he was to aing for an appointment third fouryear term as judge. , too many lawyers had ganged up against him. The entire bar wanted him out. They thought he was too strict. They thought he side did too often with the prosecution sided too often with the prosecution. They wanted a more pliable judge, somebody they could mold. He had a lot of support from , a lotl public figures of support from some of the yankeders, but when they the bar in the yanked the newspapers that supported him, and then chester a arthur appointed somebody else. Challenge. S biggest he was unfortunately not able to succeed. Respect for the and learn about judicial fairness, about fairplay administering justice and in and evenhanded justice in an evenhanded, authentic way, more along the way it was today. That kindnon brought of judicial competence and integrity to the state, to the territory. Helped create a working, competent judicial system. So that is the biggest part of his legacy. Our visit to sioux falls, celtic oda, is a book tv exclusive. South dakota, is a book tv exclusive. Coming up tonight on cspan, attorney general Jeff Sessions speaking at a conference. Followed by white House Counsel donald again. Donald mcgann. And then a discussion about the arrest of 200 saudi government officials on corruption charges and the future Saudi Arabian leadership. Next on cspan, as speech from attorney general Jeff Sessions. Today, he was one of the featured speakers at the federalist societys Natural National lawyers Convection Convention in washington dc. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure to be with you and look at this overflow audience. Foricularly it is an honor me to be able to introduce a gentleman i have known for a long time. He is a good friend and certainly a person i have great admiration for. Appreciate we all the many responsibilities of the attorney general. Course, the chief Law Enforcement officer of the federal government. Legal advise advisor to the executive branch. He has a special responsibility to the people of the country to be sure that the constitution is preserved and protected. , past career, of Jeff Sessions could not have been better to make him such an ideally qualified person for this responsibility. Restarted hisnow, career after private law practice, his Public Service was as an assistant u. S. Attorney. And then he was appointed by Ronald Reagan in his first term as the u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of alabama. He later on was elected as the attorney general of alabama, and then had a distinguished body of service in the United States senate. We could always depend on to put the constitution first as he was considering the legislation before them. Beeng the time that he has the attorney general of the United States, he has already in this relatively short time done a great deal and achieved remarkable results and accomplishments in the department of justice. Is hass time, he restored integrity to the hasrtment of justice, he reasserted fidelity to the constitution, he has adopted or changed numerous regulations and practices in the department based upon sound
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