Looking Forward Into the Past

Fewer than 40% of college seniors know that George Washington was at the Battle of Yorktown, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Historian Dan Roberts, executive producer and host of the award-winning radio show "A Moment In Time," believes that statistic only belabors a conclusion he's long-since reached: we're losing touch with our history.

"These are the future leaders of America," he said, referencing the aforementioned report during a virtual presentation to the Upper School History Club on September 24. "How are they going to make decisions about the future if they live in blissful ignorance of the past?"

Dr. Roberts's program airs each morning on Virginia Public Media and has earned a devout following based on its mission "to make the story of the past and its impact on the world today more accessible to a wide audience." Segments are brief — each no longer than a minute or two — and unpack topics, both notorious and eclectic, from all across recorded history. Recent episodes delve into Andrew Johnson’s impeachment, gas warfare in World War II, and Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

Drew Thompson '21, president of the History Club and former Minimester intern with the "A Moment In Time" team, introduced Dr. Roberts to the History Club and other virtual attendees. Viewers were located in Steeber Commons, in various classrooms around campus, and in their homes during the morning presentation.

"As we all aspire to do here at Steward," Drew said, "[Dr. Roberts] identified a problem in the community and innovated, creating his show with the goal of explaining to the general public the intricacies of history we so often take for granted."

Chief among Dr. Roberts's concerns is the important role history plays in our lives despite its marginalization in contemporary culture. He lamented this fact by quoting the late historian Daniel J. Boorstin, who said, "Trying to plan for the future without a sense of the past is like trying to plant cut flowers."

"Cut flowers have no roots. And that's exactly what happens if you don't pay attention to what has taken place in the past," Dr. Roberts added. He correlated our declining historical consciousness with the rise of a celebrity culture where "the sordid revelations of talk shows make primetime news."

Beneath his critique, however, was the passion and optimism evident of someone who has found a way forward. After all, having produced over 250 unique segments every year since 1994 and broadcasting to millions of listeners in 38 countries daily, the "A Moment In Time" team must be doing something right. Dr. Roberts identifies his show's success primarily as an innovation of form, not content.

"People of all ages respond to compelling and effective ways of teaching history," Dr. Roberts explained. "There is a genuine hunger to learn more about the past, yet at the same time there is resistance to traditional ways of learning it."

What he has discovered in his nearly 30-year radio career is that people learn differently now than they did in the past. Older outreach methods like book-length written scholarship simply can't captivate today's lay audience when so much media vies for their attention. That's why he continues to embrace his program's namesake brevity.

"Short-form delivery of high quality information can help people improve their knowledge," he said.

Dr. Roberts also noted the importance of using all available methods and technologies to make an impact on a mass audience. "To reach that group with a story of the past requires leveraging expertise and creativity with the power of advertising," he explained. "We need to create accurate and compelling historical vehicles for radio, television, and the internet; and interactive multimedia tools to aid parents, students, teachers, and schools as they expand their historical perspective."

He went on to discuss an element he relies on to cast a bright signal in a sea of noise: old fashioned storytelling.

Resurrecting the "narrative tradition," in Dr. Roberts’s vision, is vital to engaging people, a point he elucidated with a quote from writer Robert Harris: "The human brain latches onto stories, not disjointed facts...Get them to imagine being in a particular place at a particular time and they will understand it better than restricting themselves entirely to the facts."

"If you ever have an opportunity to teach someone about the past, never bore them," Dr. Roberts advised. "Enliven their lives with a wonderful story of the past, and people will understand. This is the way information has been conveyed since long before even writing."

It's certainly a parting lesson worth learning for Steward's young historians. We thank Dr. Roberts for taking "a moment" to speak to our students, and we look forward to new episodes of his radio program for years to come.