When I first read his classic text A People's History of the United States a good number of years ago, I had trouble finishing it because I kept giving it away, saying, "You need to read this."
Film critic Roger Ebert said the following about the 2005 film Crash:
Not many films have the possibility of making their audiences better people. I don't expect 'Crash' to work any miracles, but I believe anyone seeing it is likely to be moved to have a little more sympathy for people not like themselves.
Likewise, I feel watching a Howard Zinn lecture can also inspire similar self-improvement.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/8/24/be_honest_about_the_history_of
See also the 2004 documentary You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, about Zinn's life and narrated by actor Matt Damon.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416825
