Mainstream Metal, Parental Advisories, and Censorship
How was Heavy Metal involved in the 1980s controversy surrounding the creation of parental advisories for “offensive” music?
20: 1980s America
The Dangers of Rock 'N' Roll: 1985 PMRC Senate hearings
congressional hearing transcript september 19 1985
Transcript of the Congressional Hearing regarding the labeling of music albums
The PMRC vs. Music: How the “Parental Advisory” Sticker Came to Be, and Why it’s Still Important — Firebird.
Short article to provide students with context for document activity related to the PMRC
Frank Zappa defines Fascist Theocracy in 1986 on Crossfire
Terminal Madness (A 1980 Documentary About Personal Computers)
How A Nuclear War Will Start - Minute by Minute
9 minutes animated video that explains the structure of nuclear weapons systems and how they may be employed in a way that is succinct and easy to understand
Boston - getting rid of video game machines in stores
1985-1987 THROWBACK REPORT: "YUPPIES"
10 minutes of news stories about Yuppies made during the time
1970s, 1980s USA, Interview with Yuppie Stockbroker
Just a two minute video of currency traders in their office in the early 1980s - quick insight to give a sense of the environment of the time
RevNJ.org
The 250th Anniversary of the American Revolution in New Jersey: 2026
1980s beyond Reagan’s America | Teaching United States History
It might be interesting for student to read a college professor's rumination on teaching the 1980s
Reagan's Liberal Legacy | Washington Monthly
Why the nuclear arms race is on again | Mapped Out
11 minutes of DW news video to show students how vital the star wars lesson is
1981 SPECIAL REPORT: "SOUTH BRONX"
This 27 minute CBS News special report on the South Bronx serves well to show students that their "culture of the 1980s" isn't representative of all of the United States
Nuclear Matters Handbook - Department of Defense NMHB 2020 [Revised]
Lessons on Star Wars, SDI, the Cuban Missile Crisis should all include some reference to the status of the US nuclear arsenal at it stands today, and the continuously updated plans by various agencies to survive a nuclear attack
False Warnings of Soviet Missile Attacks Put U.S. Forces on Alert in 1979-1980
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) - Nuclear Museum
Rise of Conservatism in the 1980s | DPLA
This teaching guide helps instructors use a specific primary source set, Rise of Conservatism in the 1980s, in the classroom. It offers discussion questions, classroom activities, and primary source analysis tools. It is intended to spark pedagogical creativity by giving a sample approach to the material "
Boston rezones video games in the 1980s
short national news piece on Boston's efforts to rid their corner stores of the nuisance of video games machines
Statement on Signing the Older Americans Act Amendments of 1987 | Ronald Reagan
This is the first "signing statement" to a bill. Those who advance the unitary executive view of the presidency believes that the president has the authority to interpret laws passed by Congress as he sees fit. Others see this as an unconstitutional attack on democracy
Phyllis Schlafly on Women’s Responsibility for Sexual Harassment (1981) | The American Yawp Reader
A Case for Computers, IBM, 1983 - YouTube
Focusing on the lawyers in a Chicago firm, this 15 minute video shows remote work and word processing forty years ago.
Missouri Legislative Library - The Satanic Panic in the Missouri General Assembly
Polished presentation of evidence in a timeline showing connection between Q-Anon and moral panics of the 1980s
Computational analysis of 140 years of US political speeches reveals more positive but increasingly polarized framing of immigration | PNAS
Historians with the computational power to analyze speech in this fashion can test hypothesis in away previous historians never could
American Rhetoric: Mario Cuomo - Keynote Address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention
McMartin Preschool: Anatomy of a Panic | Retro Report | The New York Times - YouTube
Remarks at the University of Michigan Commencement Ceremony in Ann Arbor | The American Presidency Project
This is seen by some as the origin of the movement against "political correctness"
Willie Horton Revisited | The Marshall Project
Students in 2022 learning about the advertising in the 1988 campaign can see hints of issues they confront now. (Note where Lee Atwater looks directly into the camera and says that they do not have an advertisement about crime)