You can't really think about one without thinking about the other. I talked with Lemelson Center director Art Molella about the origins and expectations of the upcoming symposium.Īrthur Molella: Well the idea came about in connection with the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth, and he becomes a very appropriate person for the kind of thing that we are trying to accomplish at the Lemelson Center, which is to show that invention, technology are an integral part of American history, and not something separate from American history.

The program will continue November 3rd and 4th at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, with the conference co-sponsored by the university and Monticello.

He will join us on the podcast momentarily to tell us more about what he'll discuss at this along with the archivist of the United States, Alan Weinstein. Isaacson is the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute and former chairman and CEO of CNN, and managing editor of Time Magazine. It will feature a presentation from journalist and historian Walter Isaacson, author of 'Benjamin Franklin - An American Life', and that will take place on November 2nd at the National Archives. In our fall symposium at the Lemelson Center in November, we will be taking a look at the interplay between democracy and technology from the time Franklin, Jefferson, and the other founders got the United States booted-up in the 18th century, until today. While electronic technology was not directly on the minds of the founding fathers, they did create a system of government that not only established freedom of speech and freedom of religion, among others, they established a nation that saw technology as essential to its growth. Here is a question to think about: 'Was Benjamin Franklin the nation's first blogger?' Here is another one: 'Would Thomas Jefferson have used the internet and fax machines to run his political campaigns?' What would they both think about electronic balloting? We are at the National Museum of American History in Washington. Paul Rosenthal: Welcome to 'Prototype Online: Inventive Voices,' a production of the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Tell us what you think! Take our podcast survey. Walter Isaacson was originally interviewed on 11 October 2006 by Paul Rosenthal. 'Prototype Online: Inventive Voices' is a production of the Smithsonian's Lemelson Center. Lemelson Center director Art Molella talks more about the symposium. The 2 November 2006 program at the National Archives featured Isaacson and Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States. Walter Isaacson, author of Benjamin Franklin: An American Life and president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, opened the Lemelson Center's fall 2006 symposium by examining the history of communications technology in democracy.

Benjamin franklin walter isaacson