Donald Kraybill on “The Amish”

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GUEST: DONALD KRAYBILL

[REBROADCAST] The Amish population in the United States is just about a quarter of a million people today, but they are among the nation’s most recognized groups. The largest quiet, rural populations are in Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania, though the Pennsylvanian community has been diminishing in recent years. Our guest, Anabaptist scholar DONALD KRAYBILL and co-authors Karen Johnson-Weiner and Steven Nolt, report at least 40 different subgroups within the community after over 25 years of research. Their recent book, “The Amish,” a history and analysis about the insular and private people, is based on hundreds of interviews of Amish people, oral history and archival material reveals. “There are 2,070 ways of being Amish,” according to Kraybill. As much as an Amish hallmark is to reject modern technology, the authors document the variances within the community.  “The Amish” was also a PBS American Experience film in 2012.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2200745636/

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