WSC 2025 - Speeches that Inspire, Speeches that Spit Fire

Address at American University

• A speech given by John F. Kennedy in 1963

• Announces that he and the U.S. Government want to seek for an everlasting peace that does not come about by war—not a “Pax Americana”

John F. Kennedy

• Former president of the United States

• Delivered the “Address at American University” speech in 1963

Pax Americana

• A period of relative peace in the Western Hemisphere after the end of World War II with the emergence of the United States as the world’s leading superpower

• Generally refers to unipolarity of the United States

The White Man and the Red

• A speech given by Red Jacket in 1805

• Delivered in Seneca

• A response to a request by Jacob Cram to evangelize the Seneca

• Argues that Native Americans and European Americans should each have the right to worship the religion that suits them best

• Countered Cram’s argument of their religion having no basis in literature, by asking why the Great Spirit did not give their forefathers knowledge of the white man’s book

• Iterates that the Iroquois want to keep their own religion, not take others’ religions from them

Red Jacket

• A Seneca orator

• Delivered the “The White Man and the Red” speech in 1805

• Also known as Sagoyewatha

Jacob Cram

• A New England missionary

• Proposed evangelization among the Seneca

• Countered by Red Jacket in 1805

Appeal to the League of Nations

• A speech given by Haile Selassie in 1936

• Delivered in Amharic

• Condemned the Italian military aggression against Ethiopia

• Denounced the use of chemical weapons in Ethiopia

• Called upon the League of Nations to uphold its security promise

• Questions legitimacy of the League of Nations to their promise of collective security

• Resulted in temporary sanctions, ruining the credibility of the League of Nations

Haile Selassie

• Former emperor of Ethiopia

• Delivered the “Appeal to the League of Nations” speech in 1936

• In exile during the speech

League of Nations

• International organization

• Formed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson

• Predecessor to the United Nations

• Promised to maintain world peace through collective security

• Failed to uphold promise in Abyssinia Crisis, leading to the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and the annexation of Ethiopia

• Disbanded in 1946 with the onset of WWII

Abyssinia Crisis

• Period of limited sanctions against Italy in response to their invasion and war crimes in Ethiopia

• Short-lived, showed failure of League of Nations

The Forgotten People

• A speech by Robert Menzies in 1942

• Broadcasted over radio

• Made during war with Japan

• Highlights the middle class as a “forgotten” class, and examines their importance in Australian society

• Sought to distance Menzies from elitism

Robert Menzies

• Former prime minister of Australia

• Delivered “The Forgotten People” speech in 1942

A Tryst With Destiny

• A speech by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947

• Made in English

• Nehru’s inaugural address as Indian Prime Minister

• Captures the triumphant Indian independence movement

• Pays homage to Mahatma Gandhi’s efforts in the movement

Jawaharlal Nehru

• First Prime Minister of India

• Delivered the “Tryst with Destiny” speech in 1947 as inaugural address

They’ll never take our freedom

• A speech made by William Wallace in Braveheart

• Pre-battle speech to rile up Scottish forces against English forces

William Wallace

• Protagonist in Braveheart

• Based on the Scottish knight of the same name

• Delivered the “They’ll never take our freedom” speech

Braveheart

• A film in 1995

• Based on the events of the First War of Scottish Independence

• Protagonist was William Wallace

• Features “They’ll never take our freedom” speech

Today we celebrate our Independence Day

• A speech made by Thomas J. Whitmore in Independence Day

• Pre-battle speech to rile up American forces in fighting the extraterrestrial threat to Earth

• Highlights humanity’s unity and poetic nature of the battle being on the 4th of July

Thomas J. Whitmore

• A fictional U.S. president in Independence Day

• Delivered the “Today we celebrate our Independence Day” speech

Independence Day

• A film in 1996

• Follows a group of people converging in the Nevada desert after an extraterrestrial attack, and their counterattack on the 4th of July

• Features the “Today we celebrate our Independence Day” speech

The streets of heaven are too crowded

• A speech made by Jed Bartlet in The West Wing: Season 4

• Seeks to reconcile the tragic events of two pipe bombs exploding during a college swim meet

Jed Bartlet

• A fictional U.S. president in The West Wing: Season 4

• Delivered the “The streets of heaven are too crowded” speech

We’re a great one too

• A speech made by David in Love, Actually

• Shows David, as Prime Minister of the U.K., standing up to the U.S. president’s overpowering attitude during his visit

• Highlights that David will not give in to the president’s controlling demands

David (Hugh Grant)

• A fictional prime minister of the United Kingdom in Love, Actually

• Delivered the “We’re a great one too” speech

Love, Actually

• A film in 2003

• A Christmas romcom that follows many love stories

Remarks to the People of Mexico

• A speech made by Barack Obama in Mexico City in 2013

• Addresses the Mexican people

• Highlights U.S.-Mexico relations

• Presents four points of collaboration between the U.S. and Mexico agreed upon by Obama and Peña Nieto

Barack Obama

• Former President of the U.S.

• Delivered “Remarks to the People of Mexico” in 2013

Thirteen days of struggle

• A speech made by Volodymyr Zelenskiy in 2022

• Delivered in Ukrainian to the U.K. House of Commons

• Calls upon and thanks the British Parliament in their help fighting the Russo-Ukraine War

Volodymyr Zelenskiy

• President of Ukraine

• Delivered the “Thirteen days of struggle” speech in 2022

Broadcasting

• Transmission of audio or video content to a wide audience

• Term comes from agriculture

• Stems from the first radio signals, whose groundwork was laid by Guglielmo Marconi and Nikola Tesla

• Began as radio transmission, evolved into television airing in the mid-20th century, then cable and satellite television in the late-20th century; finally, the Internet brought streaming and social media

KDKA

• A radio station in Pittsburgh

• Held the first scheduled radio broadcast in 1920 airing the results of the U.S. presidential election

Golden Age of Radio

• A period spanning the 1920s and 1930s characterized by the growth and popularity of radio broadcasting

War of the Worlds

• A radio program

• A series of realistic news bulletins by Orson Welles in 1938

• One of the most iconic radio programs during the “Golden Age of Radio”

Fireside Chats

• A series of evening radio broadcasts given by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt between 1933 and 1944

• Spoke about recovering from the Great Depression, the 1936 recession, the New Deal, WWII, and the Emergency Banking Act, among other things

• Roosevelt became much more personable via this medium

• Helped quell rumours, counter oppositional points, and explain policies directly to Americans

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

• Former U.S. President

• Spoke to the American public via the Fireside Chats

Churchill’s wartime broadcasts

• A series of 33 radio speeches made during WWII by Winston Churchill

• Some were made from the House of Commons, others were specially written

Winston Churchill

• Former U.K. Prime Minister

• Made a series of 33 radio speeches during WWII

• Seen as instrumental for keeping morale up in the United Kingdom high as France surrendered and the Nazis bombed Britain

Apollo 11

• A spaceflight conducted in 1969 by NASA

• Headed by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin

• Broadcasted via slow-scan television (SSTV)

Slow-scan television

• A picture transmission method

• Transmits static pictures via radio

• Used during the Apollo 11 mission

Kennedy vs. Nixon

• U.S. Presidential election in 1960

• First to feature televised debates between Democrat and Republican candidates

• Consisted of four debates, one hosted by CBS, one by NBC, and two by ABC news

Miracle on Ice

• An ice hockey game during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid

• The United States team achieved an upset victory against the four-time defending gold medal-winning Soviet team (4-3)

• In the final seconds, Al Michaels for ABC famously declared “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”

Al Michaels

• Commentator for ABC

• Famously declared “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!” in the final moments of the “Miracle on ice” game in 1980

Neujahrskonzert

• An annual concert of classical music performed by the Vienna Philharmonic in the Musikverein

• The concert consists of three identical performances on the 30th and 31st of December as well as the 1st of January

• Only the 1st of January performance is televised on both radio and television

• Always includes a piece of the Strauss family

• Broadcasts began in 1928

Vienna Philharmonic

• An orchestra headquartered in Vienna

• Plays annually at the Neujahrskonzert

• Founded by Otto Nicolai

Jazz Hour

• A program broadcast on Voice of America beginning in 1955 and until 2003

• Hosted by Willis Conover

• Became Jazz America after folding

• Was prohibited from broadcasting in the U.S. by the Smith Mundt Act; however, a sizable audience was able to receive the shortwave signal broadcasted

• Notable for broadcasting jazz to a generation of Eastern Europeans behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War

Voice of America

• An international broadcasting network funded by the United States

• Ran Jazz Hour

• Founded in 1942 and running until 2025

Willis Conover

• A jazz producer and broadcaster on Voice of America

• Credited with keeping jazz alive in Eastern Europe through the Cold War

• Spoke in Special English (simple english) over jazz during broadcasts

Eurovision

• An international song competition organized annually since 1956

• Developed as a way of putting transnational live television to the test, promoting television, and encouraging the production of original songs

• Eastern bloc countries never competed until after the end of the Cold War

Intervision

• An international song competition organized annually between 1965 and 1980

• Was the Eastern Bloc equivalent to Eurovision

• Russian president Vladimir Putin signed for it to be held in Moscow later in 2025

• Czechoslovakia won an overwhelming majority of contests

• Broadcast via a television network of the International Radio and Television Organization

International Radio and Television Organization

• An East European network of radio and television broadcasters

• Had the primary purpose of establishing ties and securing an interchange of information between lower level broadcasting services