Did someone here post this video about American dialects or did I stumble on it myself this morning?
In any case that video led me down a YouTube rabbit hole this morning where I discovered the fascinating tale of the World Youth Forum. This was a program in the UK and the US wherein children from around the world came to form a sort of model UN by attending schools, televised discussions and debates, political events, etc. from 1947 until 1972 (in the US). Historian
Catherine Bishop has a 2-part blog post about it.
It was funded in large part by the US government and served as a soft-power campaign to win the minds and hearts of allies and potential allies (only a single kid from a Communist country was invited) but there were some great insights into global life.
And make sure you don't miss the girl from South Africa talking about how great apartheid is for everybody!
Mid 20th Century World Youth Forum
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