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HISTORY NEVER SOUNDED SO GOOD!

This Groundbreaking Radio Series Comes to Public Radio Stations Fall 2005.

UNFINISHED JOURNEY: THE LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION is an innovative, 13-part radio series commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition that urges listeners to explore the profound impact the expedition had on American history … and most interestingly, how it greatly affects our lives even today. Each one-hour program is fresh, entertaining and thought-provoking – ideal for public radio’s curious, smart audience. Presented by Oregon Public Broadcasting and Lewis & Clark College and distributed by Public Radio International (PRI), UNFINISHED JOURNEY will also feature a DVD containing the complete series, along with additional audio and video and educational materials.

UNFINISHED JOURNEY gives voice to historians, musicians, Native Americans, storytellers, poets and re-enactors. Period "newscasts" point to the program's theme and set the context of actual events. Featuring in-depth interviews with historians, writers and other experts; sound-rich reports from locations across the United States; original essays connecting Lewis and Clark's story to modern issues; original music and dramatic interpretations; and regular features that explore how history might have changed as a result of different decisions made along the trail – UNFINISHED JOURNEY is a truly original radio series.

Here's a sneak peek at what you will hear in UNFINISHED JOURNEY:

• Meriwether Lewis: Captain of the Corps
  President Thomas Jefferson handpicked Meriwether Lewis to lead the Corps of Discovery into the western reaches of the young United States. Jefferson instructed Lewis to make the journey one of scientific discovery as well as diplomatic contact. The journals Lewis kept reveal the inquiring mind of an Enlightenment-era thinker, but they also hint at the troubling and premature death of Meriwether Lewis. Victoria Murden, a modern-day explorer and the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, will discuss the psychological effects on people who have gone beyond the limits of common human experience and then tried to return to a so-called normal life.
• William Clark: An American Hero?
  William Clark always gets second billing when the Corps of Discovery is mentioned. But Clark was much more than a "faithful sidekick," an able assistant. His wilderness skills and military background contributed greatly to the success of the expedition. Clark was also a father, slaveholder and Indian re-locator. What lessons can modern-day Americans learn from a man who engaged in both heroic and historically troubling actions?
• Sacagawea's Story: Truth Meets Myth
  From only a handful of written references, Sacagawea has become an icon in American history and culture. But what do we really know about her? Do we even know how she pronounced her own name? Sacagawea's story explores the perspective of the young woman who made the 7,689-mile trek across the country with a baby on her back and why statues, parks and even a newly minted coin have been created in her image.
• Law and Sovereignty: The Political Agenda in the American West
  Lewis and Clark may have been recording scientific data and mapping the West, but their journey was a clear extension of the power and influence of the new United States government into territory that the British, Spanish and Russians were also very interested in occupying. But what rights do aboriginal peoples have when an invading power arrives? That question is as relevant today as it was in the imperialist era of the early 19th century. Lessons from the outcome of Lewis and Clark's expedition are relevant to today's debates about the relationship between the government of the United States and the sovereign tribes living within its borders. And those lessons may signal the dawn of a new era of tribal rights in many nations.
• Getting Along and Going Along
  The 30-plus members of the expedition provide a kind of laboratory for interpersonal relationships. How did they get along with each other? What did they do when they weren't making their way through the landscapes of the West? And how did they interact with Indians they encountered? You'll hear about music and games along the trail, find out how Indians lived and learn what it was like to travel thousands of miles on foot with a 19th-century military expedition.
• The Boundaries of Knowledge
  The Enlightenment's scientific imperative to catalog the world played a major role in defining the expedition. President Jefferson specifically instructed the expedition leaders to add to the nation's scientific knowledge in the course of their journey. At the same time, the Indians who lived in the West already had a significant store of information about their environment. We'll dig into what the two groups learned from each other, and find out how the expedition's scientific achievements advanced America's intellectual movement.
• Encounters of the Expedition: Landscapes, People and Self
  The Lewis and Clark expedition provides a fascinating case study of the psychology of encounters between peoples, with landscapes and with the inner person. Encounters require processing new information, unfamiliar terrain and culture and potentially disturbing self-revelations. This program examines how the Lewis and Clark expedition handled its encounters. And we'll learn about how the tribes they met responded to these visitors who seemed determined to impose a new way of life on the land and people of the West.
• Unsolved Mysteries of Lewis and Clark
  Two hundred years have passed since the expedition. Millions of pages have been written about it. Yet significant questions remain unanswered. There are three big mysteries: why President Jefferson apparently lost interest in the expedition after their return in 1806, what drove Meriwether Lewis to commit suicide shortly after his return, and what is actually known about Sacagawea. In addition to those, there are hundreds of little mysteries not addressed in recorded history. So, when we can't tell the whole story with certainty, how should we interpret the gaps? Will all of the mysteries ever be solved?
• The First Space Race
  The mix of science and militarism at work in the Corps of Discovery reflected a carefully calculated geopolitical strategy on President Thomas Jefferson's part. Lewis and Clark were racing against British, Spanish and Russian explorers who also had designs on the rich resources of the Northwest. Jefferson's strategy for success has been replicated several times in American history, most recently in the race to the moon. This program compares the Lewis and Clark expedition to the 20th-century space race. And as we examine the subject of exploration, we'll remind listeners that discovery works in both directions... the people who were being "discovered" were also discovering the explorers.
• Traditions of Medicine Meet in the American West
  We'll compare the European medical knowledge carried by expedition members with the tribal medicine the Corps encountered on its trek across the continent. The expedition offers a useful perspective on the relative merits of distinct medical traditions.
• The Journals of Lewis and Clark - An American Epic?
  We view the story of the expedition's journey through a literary lens. Like The Odyssey and other great epics, the journals of Lewis and Clark fit a model that permeates Western culture. The story is filled with heroic characters and tension-filled encounters with the unknown. It's based on a written record that cries out for a saga-length movie. We'll examine how the expedition journals relate to the classic epic form and imagine it as a modern-day epic.
• The World of Lewis and Clark
  The history of the expedition has lured hundreds of thousands of Americans to significant sites along the Corps of Discovery's trail, and to books and events digging into every element of the expedition. Many have become academic and armchair experts on the subject. We'll meet a number of them and find out why they've chosen to enter the world of Lewis and Clark and how they share their enthusiasm for the story.
• Legacies of the Corps of Discovery
  Some two hundred years after the expedition, we are still examining the consequences of Jefferson's decision to send the Corps of Discovery to the Pacific Ocean. We conclude our series by exploring the immediate aftermath of the expedition and its influence on native cultures that Lewis and Clark encountered. We ask what lasting legacies the expedition has had on culture, geography, the environment and politics. Sculptor Maya Lin talks about how she is meeting the challenge of preserving the legacies of Lewis and Clark in a historic project stretching across hundreds of miles of the expedition's trail. And in the end, we learn that Lewis and Clark left an indelible mark on the West and set American history on a new course.

Series Credits:

Series Producer: Eve Epstein
Executive Producer: Clay Jenkinson and Morgan Holm
Director of Lewis & Clark College's Bicentennial Programs: Sherry Manning
Original music composed and performed by Aaron Meyer and Bill Lamb.

Major funding for this series is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the NEH.