A Reagan Forum Podcast

On a train to Auschwitz, 17-year-old Heinz Geiringer told his sister Eva that he hid the paintings and poetry he created during his time in hiding beneath the attic floorboards. Heinz made Eva promise if he should die in the camps, she would retrieve the artwork. Eva survived the camps, and Heinz did not.  After the war, Eva became the posthumous stepsister of Anne when her mother married Anne’s father. Heinz’s story sits in the shadow of the better-known DIARY OF ANNE FRANK. Director Steve McCarthy and Producer Susan Kerner created a documentary, called “Eva’s Promise” to introduce the world to Heinz and to share his sister’s efforts to find and share his remarkable legacy. They came to the Reagan Library on August 8, 2023 to screen the film and then share their thoughts about the project. 

Just this summer, in June of 2023, tragedy struck when the Titan Submersible, on its way to explore the Titanic, imploded under the ocean, immediately killing all of those on board. One of the first authorities to discuss the matter was Dr. Robert Ballard, the man responsible for discovering the Titanic in 1985. With his name back in the news, we thought it might be fun in this week’s Reagan Forum podcast to dust off our program with Dr. Ballard from 2017. So please enjoy this podcast, which originally broadcast on April 19, 2018.

In this week’s “A Reagan Forum” we go back to March 1, 2017 when former United States President George W. Bush came to the Reagan Library to discuss his brand-new book, Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors. President Bush was so moved by the sacrifices of our wounded American warriors, that he began the challenge of capturing and immortalizing their courage on canvas. Through his paintings he was able to take their strength, their dignity, their perseverance and their patriotism, and lift it up for all of us to see on a much deeper and intimate level.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back to our in-person event with Holocaust Survivor Celina Karp Biniaz and author William Friedricks for Bill’s book, Saved by Schindler: The Life of Celina Karp Biniaz. This event was part of the programing for our current exhibition, Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. Celina Karp was just eight years old when the Germans invaded her homeland of Poland in 1939. After spending time with her family in hiding, and then a ghetto, she and her family were sent to a slave labor/concentration camp. Celina even spent several terrifying weeks at Auschwitz where she faced down the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele before ultimately landing on Schindler's list.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back to May 24 and May 25, 2023 when the Reagan Institute held their annual Reagan Institute Summit on Education conference, otherwise known as RISE. RISE 2023 examined policy and practice from early childhood through postsecondary education and beyond. The imperative for education reform is even more salient as the United States emerges from the global pandemic and it is important to answer the call to modernize our education system and prepare for the challenges of the 22nd century. The two-day hybrid conference convened a number of thought leaders, current and former administration officials and members of congress, state leaders, students, and educators both in-person and virtually. The featured speaker on May 25 was First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, who spoke on the Future of Education. During her address, Dr. Biden spoke about the Biden-Harris Administration’s work towards bridging the gap between learning and earning. She spoke about the Administration’s education pathway which starts with free universal preschool, transitioning to a high school experience that properly prepares students, finally moving onto 2-years of affordable community college, and available avenues to a 4-year degree.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back to July 4th, 2023, when the Reagan Foundation and Institute unveiled a statue of Sally Ride – the first female American astronaut. Sally Ride’s first flight into space was on June 18, 2023, during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. As she is also a California native, we thought it fitting to include her statue at the Reagan Library.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back to our virtual event with Eva Schloss which was held on June 12 – the birthday of Anne Frank. Eva is the stepsister of Anne. The virtual program covered the legacy of Anne Frank, as well as the promise Eva made to her brother, Heinz, and what she’s doing now to make good on that promise. Eva Schloss is an Austrian-English Holocaust survivor, memoirist and stepdaughter of Otto Frank, the father of Margot and diarist Anne Frank. Eva speaks widely of her family's experiences during the Holocaust and is a participant in the USC Shoah Foundation’s Visual History Archive project to record video answers to be used in educational tools.

Marian Kolodziej was on the first transport into Auschwitz on June 14, 1940. He was given number 432. He survived and never spoke of his experience for 50 years. After a serious stroke in 1993, he began rehabilitation by doing pen and ink drawings depicting the experiences he and others endured in the concentration camp. These drawings, in their skeletal detail, are a gripping depiction of the pain, death, and horrors of the camp. While most of the drawings represent the memories of a young man’s hellish experiences in Auschwitz, some tell stories of small acts of kindness and dignity. Marian’s story of survival, of persistence, of life before, during, and after Auschwitz are a testament to the human spirit. Marian’s drawings and art installations, which he called The Labyrinth, fill the large basement of a church near Auschwitz and draw visitors into the horrific reality of the Holocaust. On June 14, 2023, we held a documentary screening for The Labyrinth. Following that screening we were joined in conversation with the film’s producer, Fr. Ron Schmidt. Today’s Reagan Forum podcast is of that conversation.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast, we go back one week to June 15, 2023 for our in-person event with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who was a speaker in the Reagan Foundation’s Time for Choosing Speaker Series, a forum for leading voices in the conservative movement. Mayor Suarez was first elected with a mandate of 86 percent and then re-elected with a mandate of nearly 79 percent. Under his leadership, Miami has cut crime and cut taxes to one of their lowest points in over fifty years, spurring a broad-based economic expansion across Miami. His father, Xavier Suarez, was Miami’s first-ever Cuban-American mayor. During his Time for Choosing speech at the Reagan Library, Mayor Suarez addressed additional critical issues facing the future of the Republican Party.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back to our virtual event with bestselling authors Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee for their latest book, The Long March Home, a riveting coming of age tale of friendship, courage and sacrifice set in the true story of WWII, the Bataan Death March, and the life as a POW. This is our third event with Marcus – we’ve previously held events with him for his books A Bright and Blinding Sun and Blaze of Light which were both biographies of war veterans. In The Long March Home, Marcus and Tosca remind readers that freedom isn’t free.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we go back to our in-person event held on Memorial Day – a day to honor and mourn our service men and women who have died while serving in the United States. Last year, the Reagan Foundation held its first ever program on Memorial Day and the feedback from the community was so positive, that we knew we needed to make it an annual event. This year’s program included live musical entertainment, an honor guard, and remarks by Major Cole Lapierre of the US Marine Corps, Captain Michael Meno, Jr., the Commodore of Naval Construction Group One, and remarks by Gold Star Family Members Melanie House and Michelle Carranza.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we back to our in-person event with bestselling author Larry Loftis, for his book, The Watchmaker’s Daughter. In 1953 Israel’s Parliament unanimously passed the Yad Vashem Law, which established the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, in order to document and record the history of the Jewish people during the Holocaust as well as to acknowledge the countless non-Jewish individuals who risked their lives to save Jews. In 1963, Yad Vashem began to award the title “Righteous Among the Nations” which awards non-Jews who risked their lives, liberty or positions to save Jews during the Holocaust. Since that time, over 22,000 rescuers from 44 countries have been acknowledged for their efforts. On December 12, 1967, Corrie Ten Boom was recognized with this award for her efforts in saving nearly 800 Jewish lives during WWII, as well as for her arrest and deportation into the camps, for which not everyone from her family survived. Enter New York Times and international bestselling author Larry Loftis. His book tells the story of the Ten Boom family, who risked lives – their free lives – to do what they could to save the people who were being targeted by the Nazi Regime.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast, we go back just three days to May 22, 2023 for our in-person event with United States Senator Shelley Moore Capito, who was a speaker in the Reagan Foundation’s Time for Choosing Speaker Series, a forum for leading voices in the conservative movement. Senator Capito has served as the Senator of West Virginia since 2014, the first female Senator in West Virginia’s history. When re-elected in 2020, Senator Capito won with the largest margin of victory for a Republican in state history – winning more than 70% of the vote and all 55 counties. During her Time for Choosing Speech at the Reagan Library, Senator Capito addressed additional critical issues facing the future of the Republican Party.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast we back to March 29, 2023 for our in-person event with New York Times bestselling author Raymond Arroyo for his new family book, The Unexpected Light of Thomas Alva Edison. Raymond Arroyo sat down in conversation with Reagan Foundation and Institute Chief Marketing Officer Melissa Giller.

In this week’s Reagan Forum podcast, we go back 10 days to May 1, 2023 for our in-person event with Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who was a speaker in the Reagan Foundation’s Time for Choosing Speaker Series, a forum for leading voices in the conservative movement. Glenn Youngkin is an American businessman and politician, currently serving as the 74th governor of Virginia since January 15, 2022. Prior to entering politics, Glenn Youngkin spent 25 years at the private-equity firm the Carlyle Group, where he became co–CEO in 2018. During his Time for Choosing Speech at the Reagan Library, Governor Youngkin addressed additional critical issues facing the future of the Republican Party.