CSPAN2 is airing a BookNotes lecture tonight, 3/16/03 – I caught it just as it was starting at 9:30 EST. (I’m sure they’ll air it again in the wee hours if you want to roll tape.)
Nat Brandt is discussing and reading from his new book, Chicago Deathtrap: The Iroquois Theater Fire of 1903. As with most tragedies of this type, Brandt maintains the fire should never have happened. It might not have if the owners not been so anxious to open their new showplace in time to cash in on the holiday crowds that they ignored every fire precaution in the book.
He’s very interesting. Check it out when it repeats if you can.