Secularization of our society. Host where did that come from . How did it come about . Guest it came about, its origins really emanate from europe. After world war i, and even somewhat before but especially after world war i, europe decided that everything it believed in was nonsense because of the massacres of world war i. The atrocious loss of life for no apparently good reason. Thats a very important point. Everybody understands world war ii was morally necessary. Not be everybody believed world war i was, and they certainly didnt believe it afterwards despite the versailles treaty and blaming germany and so on. Nevertheless, there was a feeling everything we believed in led us awry, so we will drop religion, and we will drop national identity, we will just become secular citizens of the world. America took its ph. D. S from european universities starting in the late 19th century before world war i, but nevertheless continuing. And i think thats where it developed where, if youre in
Left. The reason i say it it was beautifully scary is because while i absolutely loved walking out of prison, i realize that we were in a lot of trouble in this country when it comes to men and women coming home because we are not preparing them properly for reintroduction into the world. E so i had to learn a lot of stuff relatively quickly. Fortunately im a relatively smart person but the scary partm is that i know a lot of the men and women incarcerated have sc thirdgrade reading and math skills so that is a scary thing when he think about preparing people for life after prison. Host i want to correct one thing you said. You said you are relatively smart person, you are brilliant. Youre brilliant. Not just intellectually, but also spiritually to eve all the way that you have. One concern that some people reformers had that we spent a lot of time thinking about nonviolent drug crimes and a lot of people are on board with treating those folks differently, but a lot of these ideas abou
Live coverage of the lost Angeles Times festival of books on the campus of the university of southern california. A couple more hours of live coverage ahead. You can get our full schedule at book tv. Org and you can follow us on twitter or facebook to get the behindthescenes photos and other photos of the festival. We are now joined by Bob Streisand are who has written this book, incarceration nation a journey to justice and prison around the world. In your book you write america is the Worlds Largest largest jailer . Guest we are and it is a title we should wear shamefully. We have 5 of the worlds population, but 25 of the world prison population, 2. 3 Million People incarcerated. We spend over 50 billion a year on corrections and when it comes to the Racial Disparities that our system there are more africanamericans under correctional supervision today than there were slaves at the height of slavery in 1850. Host how did we get there . Guest its all really goes back to the war on dru
Country. Its also part of the what was good and bad about colonialism. So shakespeare of the u new world. Yes, he was when he wrote the tempus he pretty clearly read a pamphlet ab ship wreck in bermuda but he made reference to stories about the u new world that were coming back and so he never visited it. He probably didnt have great information about it. But when he uses a phrase like brave, new world. Hes saying theres a place that we havent explored or overturning expectation of what human beings are like and what nature is like, and thats something thats just kind of firing his imagination. So that was just a portion of the tour that booktv took of the Folgers Shakespeare Library. You can watch the full tour online at booktv. Org. Now book tv on cspan2 will be live from Folgers Shakespeare Library at noon on saturday april 23rd, this is to commemorate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeares death. Or and joining us here on our set is radio talk show host and author of 7 books
Coverage before we wrap up this years festival. And joining us here on our set is radio talk show host and author of seven books, Dennis Prager. His most recent book is called the Ten Commandments still the best moral code. Dennis prager, whats on your mind . Guest oh, thats a very good opening question. And ill answer you completely honestly. Whats on my mind and its not totally germane, but quite germane to the Ten Commandments, is what i believe is the undoing of the american revolution. And the decline of my beloved country, the greatest experiment in liberty and decency in human history. And i do believe that a big part of the reason is the radical secularization of our society. Host where did that come from . How did it come about . Guest it came about, its origins really emanate from europe. After world war i and even somewhat before but especially after world war i, europe decided that everything it believed in was nonsense because of the massacres of world war i. The atrocious