War

In 1871, the composer Giuseppe Verdi staged a savage war as a backdrop for a romantic story. He set his opera Aida in the glory days of the pharaohs. Aida premiered in Egypt to mark the unveiling of Cairo’s opera house and the opening of the Suez Canal. Produced by Judith Kampfner.

What do we know about a particular war, after we’ve seen it reenacted dozens of times in dozens of different films? The U.S. pulled out of Vietnam in 1975, and we’ve been watching movies about it ever since. Film historians Larry Suid and Frank McAdams help us sort through them. Produced by Jonathan Mitchell.

As the operations in Iraq shift to peacekeeping, reflecting on the war is a tricky business. Art may seem like a strange mission for the Defense department, but in fact the US military sends trained artists into to combat to document the experience and feeling of conflict. Studio 360’s Michele Siegel talked to two combat […]

People have been telling tales of war since before Homer wrote the Iliad. But rarely has war been documented first-hand by the people fighting. A new program launched by the National Endowment for the Arts is aimed at changing that. In the coming year, a series of writing workshops will be held at military bases […]