48. Season IV, Episode VII: Charlie Brown’s America (Blake Ball)
Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang are some of the most recognizable characters in American pop culture. From Snoopy’s doghouse to Linus’s blanket to Lucy’s perpetual football prank, the scenes from this iconic comic strip are imprinted in the memories of many Americans even today, more than 70 years after the strip’s debut. However, behind the lemonade stand, amateur psychiatric help, and baseball shenanigans, Charles Schultz placed underlying social commentary on the state of American politics and society. While many people praised Peanuts for its supposedly apolitical nature, Schulz used Peanuts to guide American households through critical issues, including the Cold War, integration, church-state relations, and more.
Our conversation partner this week Dr. Blake Ball, historian and professor of history at Huntingdon College, and author of Charlie Brown's America: The Popular Politics of Peanuts.
Guest:
Blake Ball serves as Assistant Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History and Political Science at Huntingdon College. He is also a writer, public speaker, and comics scholar.
Blake Ball is a historian of American politics, society, and popular culture in the 20th century. After receiving his doctorate in history from the University of Alabama, he taught at Miles College, the University of North Alabama, and the University of Alabama. Currently, Dr. Ball teaches history at Huntingdon College, where he also chairs the History and Political Science departments.
He is the author of Charlie Brown's America: The Popular Politics of Peanuts.
Follow him on Twitter @bsb1945.