The John Batchelor Show

Sunday 14 July 2013

Air Date: 
July 14, 2013

Picture, above: Prise de la Bastille, by Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houel (Storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789)

Congratualtions: today is Bastille Day.

The Storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris, France, on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. In France, Le quatorze juillet (14 July) is a public holiday, formally known as the Fête de la Fédération (Federation Holiday). It is usually called Bastille Day in English.

       During the reign of Louis XVI, France faced a major economic crisis, partially initiated by the cost of intervening in the American Revolution, and exacerbated by a regressive system of taxation. On 5 May 1789 the Estates-General of 1789 convened to deal with this issue, but were held back by archaic protocols and the conservatism of the Second Estate, consisting of the nobility and amounting to only 2% of France's population at the time. On 17 June 1789 the Third Estate, with its representatives drawn from the commoners, or proletariat, reconstituted themselves as the National Assembly, a body whose purpose was the creation of a French constitution. The king initially opposed this development, but was forced to acknowledge the authority of the assembly, which subsequently renamed itself the National Constituent Assembly on 9 July.

     The storming of the Bastille and the subsequent Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was the third event of this opening stage of the revolution. The first had been the revolt of the nobility, refusing to aid King Louis XVI through the payment of taxes.[1] The second had been the formation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath.

     The commoners had formed the National Guard, sporting tricolour cockades (rosettes) of blue, white and red, formed by combining the red-and-blue cockade of the Paris commune and the white cockade of the king. These cockades, and soon simply their colour scheme, became the symbol of the revolution and, later, of France itself.  Paris, close to insurrection, and, in François Mignet's words, "intoxicated with liberty and enthusiasm," showed wide support for the Assembly. The press . . .   [more]

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

 

Hour One

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 1, Block A: Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To by Sian Beilock (1 of 2)

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 1, Block B: Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To by Sian Beilock  (2 of 2)

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 1, Block C: Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner (1 of 2)

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 1, Block D: Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner (2 of 2)

Hour Two

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 2, Block A:  Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland by Jeff Biggers (1 of 2)

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 2, Block B: Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland by Jeff Biggers (2 of 2) 

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 2, Block C: French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered... by Karen Le Billon

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 2, Block D: Jonah: In the Time of the Kings by Anthony Barbera

Hour Three

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 3, Block A: Poisoning the Press: Richard Nixon, Jack Anderson, and the Rise of Washington's Scandal Culture by Mark Feldstein (1 of 2)

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 3, Block B: Poisoning the Press: Richard Nixon, Jack Anderson, and the Rise of Washington's Scandal Culture by Mark Feldstein (2 of 2)

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 3, Block C: The Science of Liberty: Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature by Timothy Ferris (1 of 2)

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 3, Block D: The Science of Liberty: Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature by Timothy Ferris (2 of 2)

Hour Four

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 4, Block A: Driving on the Rim by Thomas McGuane (1 of 2)

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 4, Block B: Driving on the Rim by Thomas McGuane (2 of 2)

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 4, Block C: Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner (1 of 2)

Sunday 14 July 2013 / Hour 4, Block D: Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner (2 of 2)

..  ..  ..

Music

Hour 1:

Hour 2:

Hour 3:

Hour 4: