With change in the air; shifting politics, new leaders and new interpretations of the past, we explore, this week, why history matters. Brian sits down for a lively conversation with historian Margaret MacMillan. Brian also talks with CBC Washington correspondent Michael Colton about covering the Presidential race that noone can take their eyes off.

We live in historic times. Perhaps all eras are later seen that way, but today's global scene looks especially challenging. Across the border, we have a Presidential election that could change the direction of US foreign policy and influence. And everywhere else, shifting international politics require a wisdom and sense of historical perspective from leaders, or  at least, that's the hope. It doesn't always happen that way, as historian Margaret Macmillan well knows. She is a Canadian, formerly with the University of Toronto and now teaching at Oxford. She's known for her lively and popular historical writing. Her topics are diverse; the First World War, Mao and Nixon, and India under the Raj. She has also written an interesting polemic called "The Uses and Abuses of History" (2008)  which explores how politicians, governments, but also all of us, often use or distort history to suit contemporary ends. We think we know history, she writes, and yet we know less and less about it.

In the second part of the program, Brian explores how the US Presidential race seems to have all the makings of an historic watershed; because of the candidates and issues. But the campaign is also turning out to be unpredictable in ways that analysts never anticipated. Most agree, though, that America is at a crossroads.The Bush era is over and the superpower must now redefine itself. Michael Colton is the CBC's radio correspondent in Washington and has covered two Presidential elections there. His reporting is distinctive for its keen analysis and an eye for that telling detail. He talks to Brian about covering this exciting, dramatic and exhausting election.

==============================================================
Name.............: OurWorld.HistoryOnTheRun.EpicBattle.xvid.avi
Filesize..........: 399 MB (or 409,312 KB or 419,135,488 bytes)
Runtime.........: 00:22:47 (40,971 fr)
Video Codec...: XviD
Video Bitrate...: 2288 kb/s
FPS...............: 29.970
Audio Codec...: 0x0055(MP3) ID'd as MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio Bitrate...: 156 kb/s (78/ch, stereo) VBR LAME3.97
Frame Size.....: 640x448 (1.43:1) [=10:7]
Frame Quality..: 0.266 bits/pixel