As the U.S. endured the Great Depression in the 1930s, productions on Broadway like George Gershwin's"Of Thee I Sing" and Marc Blitzstein's"The Cradle Will Rock" showcased stories criticizing corporate greed and political elections.
While the plays had short lives on Broadway, the music lived on in cultural entities like Gershwin's "Great American Songbook."
Host Frank Stasio talks with Tim Carter, professor of music at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, about the messages behind these political musicals.
Carter gives a lecture called "Let 'Em Eat Cake: Political Musical Theater in 1930s America," on Thursday, April 7 at 6:00 p.m. at the National Humanities Center in Durham.