This episode explores the breakneck pace of innovation that transformed the American landscape from 1890 to 1910, reshaping cities, industries, which invented the very idea of modern life. Yet beneath the shining steel and electric lights lurked fractures that would erupt into the existential catastrophe of World War I. As an audio feature, I’ve incorporated music from Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, whose violent rhythms and dissonant harmonies seemed to predict the cultural and political convulsions to come. Also included are firsthand testimonials from World War I soldiers describe the horror and confusion of trench warfare, offering stark evidence that the world was sleepwalking into disaster even as technology promised progress and expanded civil rights reshaped the American experience. The winners in this period? Women, who gained the constitutional right to vote in 1920.
