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- [Announcer 2] At IHMVCU we've always been here for you.

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- A history lesson about a war going on right now and the story of an Iowa actress shamed by the FBI in the media, and now remembered by a new documentary to be shown in The Cities.

(bright upbeat music) For some, there seems to be no justification for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but that's not the way Russian president Vladimir Putin's see it.

He says he's protecting his country and Ukraine from Nazis.

And he looks back in history to say, Ukraine has long been a part of Mother Russia, is that so?

We talked with Western Illinois University history professor Dr. Richard Filipink, who has studied post-World War II history and politics.

It's a lesson about Russia, Ukraine, the Cold War and us.

When you're looking at the history of the world, it is kind of interesting how Vladimir Putin kind of rewrites history when it comes to Ukraine in his way.

And for many Russians, I guess the justification for this entire invasion.

- Well, Putin's following in the footsteps of Joseph Stalin and his version of his history, which sees history as something you use to justify your present behaviors.

Stalin took a very narrow view of Ukraine as well.

And Putin is really following right in those footsteps, Stalin suppressed Ukrainian nationalism, and generated a famine in the Ukraine in the 1930s to kill off potential opponents and Putin is picking right up where Stalin left off.

- Well, the fall of Ukraine by Russian forces is inevitable in so many people's minds.

And then the real question is what happens after this and the fighting that will go on by Ukrainians who don't want to be dominated by their incredibly huge neighbor.

What lessons can we learn?

Because history is always, you're trying to learn something especially in Europe, and the end of World War I and the Versailles treaty, making Germany very angry and creating World War II.

Then you have World War II and the Soviet satellite nations one by one now becoming either EU members or NATO members.

And now Russia is almost, I don't wanna say acting like Germany, but I'm trying to make that similarity, I guess.

Are there lessons being learned is what I'm trying to say from World War II that perhaps we should have learned?

- Well, it actually does swing back to World War I, one of the key elements coming outta World War I was Woodrow Wilson's idea of self-determination for ethnic nationalities.

And that's going to create the potential for new nations throughout Central and Eastern Europe.

Ukrainians did actually make an effort to be one of those new nation, but got conquered by the Red Army.

So in the aftermath of World War II, the Soviets in the East were going to make sure that sort of thing wasn't going to happen again and impose communist governments on the nations that were by and large created in the aftermath of World War I.

- Is this more than just a Putin thing?

Is that a Russian thing?

In other words, if Putin is toppled, if he were to leave office, would that really change anything?

- Well, on the one hand, Russian expansionism is sort of has been the case for the last three centuries.

The Russians had been moving into Europe from back as far as the 18th century with Peter the Great.

That said, Putin is a more traditional Russian autocrat, who is willing to use force to hit his goals, if you will.

Another leader might be more subtle and might be more willing to take advantage of economic engagement rather than marching in and conquering.

- Well and marching in and conquering is a short-term victory for Russia.

Then you gotta administer that nation that really sees you as an invader.

I mean, those are two very different things.

- Absolutely, and considering how the Russian economy is not very strong if you are not an oligarch, something that bears watching that even in the areas where Putin initially declared the independence from Ukraine for the Donetsk region, for example, it's not like the standard of living there is suddenly improved because Russia recognized them.

- What about Europe?

They're unified in a way that I wanna it back to Serbia actually, but definitely not this unified for decades.

- No, one of the things about the Cold War and is even worse in the post Cold War period was this sort of sense of complacency that the threat has passed, everything should be fine and that economic engagement.

And this idea was true before World War I as well, that economic engagement will prevent these kinds of military adventurism.

And it was wrong back at the beginning of the 20th century and it was wrong again here at the beginning of the 21st.

- But it is really an underlying factor in so many people's foreign policy plans is that it is all interconnected economically.

And like you said, I think a lot of people believe well that would make us more friends than enemies.

- It did, and it has worked in some cases, if you think about the evolution of Germany, also Japan post World War II and post Cold War, how Hungary and at least up until Viktor Orbán and the Czech Republic and the Slovaks move closer and closer to the west, then yes, economic engagement can work.

But if you are a country like Russia, that can only go so far.

The Russians don't see themselves as a small European nation.

They see themselves as still a great power.

- I kind of look back and when you bring that up, I think of the debate between President Obama and Mitt Romney, where Mitt Romney had mentioned that Russia is a power and then President Obama dismissing that.

And it was almost like, wow, you wonder if that made Putin so angry that thereby he wanted to make sure that Hillary Clinton paid for it.

And now he wants to make sure that Joe Biden pays for it, you know what I'm getting at is that perhaps earlier administrations were far too dismissive of Russia?

- Well, I think really for Putin the turning point is actually back in the Clinton administration.

The Clinton administration had tacitly promised Boris Yeltsin that they would not expand NATO eastward broke that promise which helped Putin come to power and allowed him to take advantage of that propaganda point to try and revive the Soviet Union.

Keep in mind that Putin believes the dissolution of the Soviet Union was a disaster historically, and has been trying to reverse it ever since he came into office.

- We're seeing in Western nations and throughout the world, there is this increased nationalism.

Does that make the world more dangerous?

- It can I mean, again going back to Woodrow Wilson, the idea of providing an outlet for ethnic nationalism in form of self-determination getting to pick your own rulers was meant to sort of placate nationalized, to focus them on developing their own countries, developing their own economies, their own governments, but in the long run, any sort of ethnic hatreds don't just magically go away.

Saw that when Yugoslavia dissolved and ethnic hatreds that have been around for centuries burst back into the open.

- New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman was writing earlier this week that he's referring to World War I, World War II, and calling this one world war wired because of the impact of social media, and communications of all sorts.

This makes this a very different conflict, does it not?

- Yes, it makes it a lot harder to be quite as brutally repressive in the dark.

One of the things that happens during World War II that doesn't come out until much later is the Soviet massacre of Polish officers at the Katyn Forest.

Something that they pawed off onto the Nazis, but was conclusively done by the Soviets.

It's a lot harder to do that sort of thing in a wired world, especially since unlike China, the Russians do not have sort of great firewall status.

And so it's the Ukrainians have managed to keep themselves online and keep those images coming from behind Russian lines.

- You are a great student of Dwight Eisenhower, the general that helped end World War II of course, was part of the eight year presidency in the turbulent '50s, turbulent only because of that was the beginning of Russia and America and the Cold War.

What would Dwight Eisenhower do right now when it seems like only sanctions are in the toolbox for the president?

- Well, keep in mind that Eisenhower believed that the most powerful weapon the Americans had in the Cold War was the American economy.

That in the long run, the American economy would be what ground down the Soviets and won the Cold War, which is essentially correct.

Now, Eisenhower would not have had that tool in his toolbox in the 1950s.

We didn't have any sort of significant economic engagement with the Soviets so sanctions would not have worked.

Would he have used sanctions in a modern world scenario?

I would say probably yes.

Remember Eisenhower did not send American combat forces into the field once he got the United States out of the Korean War.

He did not use American military power for example, when the Soviets repressed the Hungarian Revolution in 1956.

He provided economic support, he provided some degree of allowing Hungarian refugees into the United States, but did not use force.

And so I think yes, Eisenhower would absolutely have used sanctions.

- And so does this create a new iron curtain then for this administration with the expansion into Ukraine by Russia?

- Potentially this all depends upon how this plays out.

Belarus is clearly a satellite state of Russia at this point whether or not the Russians can complete a conquest of the Ukraine and even more so administer that entity is not at all clear, but it does sort of move towards at least a new Cold War.

- Does it say something also about Europe where you have some of the Scandinavian countries now thinking that maybe they'll join NATO, where you have Switzerland that's actually freezing Russian assets which is something that they were not known for because they were always neutral.

What does this say for Europe in the 21st century?

- Well, it says that Vladimir Putin very badly misjudged the situation.

That the things that he didn't want, which is an Eastern moving NATO, he's about to get in spades that the maintenance of this sort of smile and nod relationship with the Swiss in hiding assets and the dependence of Europe on Russian gas and oil could collapse the Russian economy, if you can find alternatives to what Russia provides.

And so this has the potential to be a long term disaster for Putin and Russia, provided the Europeans maintain this level of cooperation with the United States.

- And might it be a case that the only winner in this is China.

That China is not on either side but is somewhat supporting Russia in many ways?

- Well, for China it's at the very least a lesson in how this can terribly go wrong, that the Chinese do have long term plans about suppressing or invading Taiwan, they are getting a lesson in how not to do it.

- All right thanks to Dr. Richard Filipink from Western Illinois University.

In a moment, the documentary that traces an Iowa actress, her attack by the FBI and its tragic consequences.

But first March Madness may mean more than just basketball, especially as the weather gets warmer and we want to all go out and about.

Here's Lora Adams.

- [Lora] This is Out & About from March 25th through 31st.

Spring arrives with the Flower & Garden Show at the QCCA Expo Center, March 24th through 27th.

Let Me Be Myself: The Life Story Of Anne Frank, the traveling exhibit is at St. Ambrose's University through April 2nd in the Lewis Boardroom.

While Playing for Peace: A benefit for Ukrainian Refugees takes place the 31st at Joy Avenue Media in Bettendorf.

Plus the Holocaust film series present Sobibor on the 27th at 4:00 at the Figge Art Museum.

Great White perform at the Wild Road Casino the 26th at 7:00, the Mars Racing Series season kicks off with the ThawBrawl at the Davenport Speedway, March 24th through 26th, and Just Desserts: A Musical Bake-Off continues at Circa '21.

Plus Memories: The Music of Barbra Streisand is also on the Circa Stage for two shows on the 31st.

The drama Rabbit Hole finishes its run at Playcrafters Barn Theater running through the 27th, while Quad City Arts present Jarabe Mexicano at Mercado on Fifth, and intimate VIP experience the 24th and April 7th.

All That Remains The Fall of Ideals 15th anniversary tour at the Rust Belt takes place the 26th beginning at 5:30, and the city of Silvis host a trivia night to raise funds for Silvis Main Street at the Short Hills Country Club the 25th at 6:00.

For more information visit wqpt.org.

(lively adventure music ends) - Thank you Lora, and getting out and about may means seeing more local musicians performing on stages throughout at the cities.

That includes the very original Jenny Lynn Stacy.

We caught up with her performing some of her own original work on the stage of the Black Box Theater in Moline.

Here's Jenny Lynn Stacy with I Prefer It.

("I Prefer It" by Jenny Lynn Stacy plays) ♪ Hello is my name ♪ ♪ My heart was much the same ♪ ♪ Thankfully my mind sort it out ♪ ♪ In time for a better day ♪ ♪ Poise between the takes ♪ ♪ Life will give me breaks ♪ ♪ Thankfully my heart sort it out, ♪ ♪ In time for a better day, ♪ ♪ In time for a better day ♪ ♪ When you found me, I was feeling cold ♪ ♪ What could you do to me?

♪ ♪ Hell I do not know ♪ ♪ But I love you.

♪ ♪ I say it all the time ♪ ♪ And I prefer it this way ♪ ♪ Oh, I prefer it this way ♪ ♪ Oh, I prefer it this way ♪ ♪ And I must be excused ♪ ♪ My mind's going to lose it ♪ ♪ Regretfully I have gone off the trail ♪ ♪ In time for a better day ♪ ♪ In time for a better day ♪ ♪ When you found me I was feeling cold ♪ ♪ What could you do to me?

♪ ♪ Hell I do no know ♪ ♪ But I love you ♪ ♪ I say it all the time ♪ ♪ And I prefer it this way ♪ ♪ Don't you need me?

♪ ♪ Is this way too fast, ♪ ♪ I'm not the easiest to love ♪ ♪ Hell I do know that, ♪ ♪ But I dig you.

♪ ♪ I say it all the time ♪ ♪ And I prefer it this way ♪ ♪ Oh, I prefer it this way ♪ ♪ Oh, I prefer it this way ♪ - Jenny Lynn Stacy at the Black Box Theater in Moline with I Prefer It.

She was an up and coming star making a huge impression in movies featuring stars like Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood and Burt Lancaster, but Jean Seberg of Marshalltown supported groups like the Black Panther organization that drew the attention of the FBI and it ruined her life, literally.

Now a new documentary about Jean Seberg has been made and it will premiere on WQPT on March 27th.

We talked with Kelly Rundle from Fourth Wall Films about Jean Seberg, actress, activist, icon.

So Kelly, what drew you to the story of a Jean Seberg?

- Well, as you know, Tammy and I are making films all the time about Midwestern history primarily and Gary McGee, who's now a good friend approached us with a project he had started in the late '80s on Jean Seberg.

And so it kind of fit into what we look for, which is a story that has some kind of local or regional following, but deserves a wider audience.

And really the more we got into the story, the more interesting it became.

- Well now she was born in Marshalltown so there's your Iowa hook.

And then she starred in movies with some of the greats in the '50s.

And then what happened?

Let's talk about that.

She was an activist, which is actually, part of the title of your documentary.

She was a supporter of the Black Panther organization at a time when the establishment, particularly the FBI thought of them as a very evil part of America.

- Yeah, that's true.

And I'll back up to Marshalltown, just to point out that as we do in the film that Jean's activism began in her childhood.

She recognized inequity specifically for Black People in Marshalltown and at age 14 joined the NAACP.

So I think some people come to activism maybe after they've achieved some notoriety, but in Jean's case it was just a continuation of things that she had pursued even in childhood.

As you say, she did become a supporter of the Black Panther Party, was an initially attracted to them because they were offering a free breakfast program for children.

And as you say, she was targeted by the FBI via a program called COINTELPRO.

That was an operation between 1956 and 1971.

- And from there, the FBI was feeding some information to news media, particularly in this case, it was to the Los Angeles Times.

And the Times went to Hollywood columnist that put what in the paper?

- Well, yeah, and it's not easy to tell, or to know to what extent the paper or the other media outlets knew whether the story was true or not.

But essentially they were implying that Jean was having an affair with a Black Panther leader and was pregnant as a result.

And that was the story that was planted.

- And it's interesting because I did read a recent article by a columnist in the Los Angeles Times taking blame basically saying, Hey, this was not fact checked.

It was just basically put on the paper.

It was picked up later I believe it was Newsweek a few weeks later than that, where it actually named her specifically.

She was pregnant at the time.

The fact that it could have been a black man just ruined her reputation but also she lost the child.

I mean, the tragedy was tragedy upon tragedy and it really made her suicidal let's say.

- Well, it was extremely upsetting for sure.

And Jean Seberg was among a number of prominent people who were targeted by COINTELPRO, but they also targeted more just regular people who might be college professors or that type of person, and then would do similar things to them.

And in some cases, people never knew where it came from, but the idea was just to discredit them in any way that they could in the eyes of the public or their friends and family.

- In your documentary on Jean Seberg how do you see her?

Do you see her heroic or do you see her more as a victim?

- Well, I suppose she's a little of both.

Jean certainly could have chosen not to be an activist.

She could have chosen to ignore racial inequality in America and she chose not to do that.

She also did her activism quietly.

It wasn't a public show kind of thing like it might be for some other people in her situation.

So that caring about other people was just something that was consistent in her life.

And the notion that somebody might be treated differently because of the color of their skin or any other reason was something that really bothered her.

- It is also interesting the time that this was occurring, we're talking about the late 1950s.

This is a period where America had pretty much gone through the Red Scare, it's a little, is it not post McCarthyism, but I mean, those wounds were still very fresh?

- They were.

And I think if you think about that period one of the targets the FBI had was people who were opposed to the Vietnam War early on when it began in the mid-50s, it would've been more of a focus maybe on communism or people interested in socialism.

On the far right end of the spectrum they targeted the Ku Klux Klan as well, but it was mostly what you would think of as left-leaning organizations that they were trying to disrupt in any way they could.

- And it kind of drove Jean Seberg outta the country, did it not?

Did she not spend time in France after most of this?

- She did.

She got to France so pretty quickly after starring in her first film Saint Joan, her second film Bonjour Tristesse was filmed in France.

That's where she met her first husband François.

And he, eventually led her to starring in her most famous film, Breathless through his friend, Jean-Luc Godard.

- Did she ever come back to Iowa or is it that once she left she was gone for good, so to speak?

- Now there's a little bit of a myth that Jean never came back to Iowa.

She did come back.

In fact, we talked to Jean's family and friends about that, and she would come back whenever she was able to do so.

You know she continued to be in Hollywood films up through the late '60, '68, I think.

And then after that, didn't do any more American films.

But it's somewhat remarkable that she became both a star abroad and here in the States, and that's kind of unique for an actress.

- It really very much is.

Do you also see her as a strong person or was she was she fragile?

Because as you say her activism wasn't really that public.

I mean, she had support, she had her beliefs, but she wasn't standing on a stage and espousing those things necessarily.

And then you get hit with the Los Angeles Times article, the allegations of, as you said, her involvement perhaps, and a pregnancy from a black Panther member.

I mean did she become more fragile or do you think she became stronger because of it?

- I really am an amazed all the time when I think about Jean Seberg.

There's an interview she did with Mike Wallace after her performance in Saint Joan was kind of panned by critics.

The film itself is awful.

I mean, Jean's one of the best things about the film, but she's so young and she's so poised.

And, Mike Wallace is interviewing her like she's stole money from the bank of England, you know.

And I think she had that strength, particularly in a public setting but I think it would be troubling to any of us to be harassed in the way she was.

Her phones were tapped and people were following her.

I mean, initially friends and family thought she was just being paranoid but that's really what was happening.

- Yeah, I mean when you hear that you do think that you're just being paranoid and then you look back a couple decades later, and even the FBI saying, "Yeah we should never have done that, we will never do that again."

It's an amazing piece of history, don't you think?

- I think so.

And as we've shown the film around once in a while an audience member will ask, "Don't you think the FBI's gonna take a dim view of your criticism of their program?"

But, you know, they said it was wrong.

They said they did it.

They said it was wrong, and that they weren't gonna do it again.

- How should Jean Seberg be remembered?

- I think she is remembered as a fashion icon primarily, and I hope that that brings some people to her films.

There's four or five really good films that Jean was in.

And she was a working actress and she was courageous in her choices.

She often went with first time directors.

So she really approached it as an art form I think.

- Kelly Rundle from Fourth Wall Films, Jean Seberg, actress, activist, icon can be seen March 27th at 7:00 on WQPT.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device and streaming on your computer thanks for taking some time to join us as we talk about the issues on The Cities.

(upbeat music ends) - [Announcer 1] Wheelan-Pressly, funeral home and crematory, a proud supporter of WQPT has been serving Quad City families since 1889.

They now have livestream capabilities for viewing your loved one's funeral or memorial service.

- [Announcer 2] At IHMVCU, we've always been here for you.

You are, and always will be our top priority.

We care about your financial and physical health.

And we are here.

IHMVCU is a proud supporter of WQPT.