Lectures in History

How did a rebel nation establish a federal court system? Utah Valley University professor Matthew Brogdon shows how the U.S. court system formed during the Revolutionary War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bancroft and Pulitzer Prize winning historian Gordon Wood delivered a talk titled "The Revolutionary Roots of the Civil War." Professor Wood discussed the Founders views on slavery and argued that the Civil War was inevitable. The James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation hosted this event Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Garrett Graff discussed his oral history of the allied invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. This event took place at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nebraska history professor James Garza teaches a class on H.H. Holmes, described as "America's First Serial Killer," and his crimes during the Gilded Age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edda Fields-Black and other scholars gathered by the Abraham Lincoln Institute explored Lincoln and the paths leading up to the Civil War. The event took place at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hear another collection of memorable 2026 commencement speeches from campuses across the country featuring Erika Kirk, Ron DeSantis, Muriel Bowser, Scott Bessent, and bestselling author James Patterson. This edition of C-SPAN’s Commencement Addresses podcast features reflections on leadership, faith, creativity, public service, curiosity, and navigating an uncertain future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Highlights from the 2026 commencement season featuring speeches from Hilary Duff, Gretchen Whitmer, Hugh Jackman, Nancy Pelosi, and Jalen Rose. Hear advice and reflections on leadership, creativity, resilience, and public service from campuses across the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Iowa professor Richard Priest traces the history of the oil business from rudimentary drilling to John Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company and how competition grew across the globe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, history professor Tore Olsson discussed what the video games Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 get right and wrong about American history. This event was hosted by Union Ave Books and the East Tennessee Historical Society Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, Lectures in History is taking a break— So we’re bringing you Booknotes+. Hosted by Brian Lamb, this episode features  Bob Crawford—of The Avett Brothers—on his book America’s Founding Son. Bob Crawford plays upright bass, bass guitar, and violin with the Grammy nominated Americana band, the Avett Brothers. He's been with the band for 25 years. Since 2016, Mr. Crawford has had his own podcast called The Road to Now, along with Ben Sawyer. Their focus is about history. Six years ago, during his band's tour, Mr. Crawford received his master's degree online from Arizona State University. The focus again was history. Now comes his first serious book titled "America's Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, from President to Political Maverick." Bob Crawford spends a significant amount of time discussing the 17 years Adams spent in the House of Representatives, after he was president, trying to stop the spread of slavery in the United States Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian and Yale University Professor Beverly Gage joined David M. Rubenstein to discuss her Pulitzer Prize winning biography of former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and her road trip across the U.S. to visit historic sites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

USC lecturer Nora Lessersohn looks at how racial classifications were used during the naturalization process throughout American history. This lecture takes place at University of Southern California's campus in Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Florida professor Allen Guelzo teaches a class on Abraham Lincoln's intellectual interests and how the 16th president was more than just a talented politician. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seth Harp is a lawyer and an Iraq war veteran and an investigative writer and journalist. His first book, "The Fort Bragg Cartel," is about drug trafficking and murder in the Special Forces. Near the end of his book, Harp writes: "Between January 2017 and September 2022, a total of 15,293 active duty service members suffered drug overdoses, and 322 of those were fatal. The Defense Department data showed that Fort Bragg had far more overdoses than any other military base in both absolute and per capita terms." Fort Bragg is located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and is the largest populated army base with close to 50,000 soldiers. It is headquarters of the secret Delta Force. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The October 2002 speech by George W. Bush making the case for military action in Iraq was the topic of a class taught by University of Kansas political communication professor Robert Rowland. The University of Kansas is in Lawrence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gonzaga history professor Robert Donnelly argues that Jimmy Carter's role in ending the Cold War has largely been overlooked. He looks at how the 39th president's policies weakened the Soviet Empire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Sirota, who is based in Denver, Colorado, has some very strong views about money and politics. His book is called "Master Plan: The Hidden Plot to Legalize Corruption in America." There are 11 chapters which reflect the 11 episodes of his podcast, "Master Plan." In order to tell his story, he points his finger at the 1971 Powell secret memo. That's former US Supreme Court Associate Justice Lewis Powell, who served on the Supreme Court from 1972 to 1987. He died in 1998 at age 90. Author Sirota, who is 50, writes that the Powell memo laid out a comprehensive step-by-step strategy for corporate America to regain control, protect its interests, and reshape the political and legal system of the United States to favor business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gonzaga University professor Veta Schlimgen chronicles the history of Hawaii and how it maintained its culture after becoming a U.S. state in 1959. Gonzaga University is located in Spokane, Washington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

History professor Lawrence Cappello analyzes Supreme Court cases that address the right to privacy, focusing on police and phone wiretaps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Louisville history professor Matthew Goldberg chronicles the 1898 Spanish-American War, fought primarily in Cuba, Guam, and the Philippines. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brigham Young University professor Grant Madsen examines supply-side economics which was termed "Reaganomics." Brigham Young University is located in Provo, Utah. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brown University professor Marion Orr lectures on the life & legacy of Congressman Charles Diggs, Jr. The Michigan Democrat founded the Congressional Black Caucus and was the only federal official to attend the trial of Emmett Till's killers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1957, the beeps from Sputnik, a small Russian satellite, sent the USSR & US into a space race. Teasel Muir-Harmony of the Air & Space Museum chronicles the history of space travel and how the U.S. landed on the Moon and how we're going back in 2026. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

William & Mary lecturer Robyn Schroeder discusses the Williamsburg, Virginia, site where colonial troops built an encampment ahead of the 1781 battle of Yorktown during the Revolutionary War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boise State history professor Jill Gill lectures on Martin Luther King Jr.'s political strategies in the Civil Rights Movement up until his assassination in 1968. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tulane professor Blake Gilpin discusses three Reconstruction-era Supreme Court cases and how they led to the establishment of Jim Crow segregation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Kentucky in 1792 became a state, it had a choice; keep slavery or abolish it. University of Kentucky professor Melanie Goan teaches a class on the state's relationship with the institution of slavery until the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Park Service and other groups held a ceremony in Boston marking the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Carroll College professor Jeanette Fregulia chronicles the Barbary pirates' conflict with American ships during the 18th and 19th centuries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Northwestern professor Ken Alder presented an image of an 1851 Colt Navy Revolver and asked why the gun was one of the first mass produced technologies in the United States. Professor Alder chronicled the origins of American mass production through gunmaking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vassar College professor Robert Brigham discussed his upcoming memoir about his search for his biological father, who served as a Marine in Vietnam. This event was part of the 2025 LCpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt Symposium on War, Conflict, and Society at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chef, humanitarian, and author Jose Andres discussed his career, his global relief efforts with World Central Kitchen, his books, and his love of food with David M. Rubenstein. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In September 1975, 17 days apart, two women, one in Sacramento and the other in San Francisco, attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford. The first attempt on September the 5th came from Annette Squeaky Fromm. The Charles Manson follower spent over 30 years in prison, is out on parole, and is 76 years old. The other attempt came on the non-entrance side of St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco on September the 24th, 1975. The shooter, Sara Jane Moore, served 32 years in prison and died almost 50 years to the day on September the 24th, 2025. Author Geri Spieler wrote the book "Housewife Assassin" in 2009. She talked to and exchanged letters with Sara Jane Moore on several occasions. Here's her up-to-date story about the woman who tried to kill President Ford Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 1967 Six-Day War, 1973 Yom Kippur War, and 2023 Israel-Hamas War have all garnered the United States' diplomatic involvement. Trinity College Professor James Stocker looks at the history of the U.S. negotiating ends to Israeli-Arab conflicts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author David Grann joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss his books, including "Killers of the Flower Moon" and "The Wager," and visits the vault of the Folger Shakespeare Library. This is an episode of C-SPAN's new series America's Book Club. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On September 14, 1847, Winfield Scott's Army marched into Mexico City, marking the final stages of the Mexican-American War. University of Texas professor Aaron O'Connell chronicles the war's causes, the divisions it inflamed, and its aftermath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During Reconstruction, a campaign to overthrow the South Carolina government succeeded, triggering a constitutional crisis. University of North Carolina professor and author of "Sedition," Marcus Gadson, analyzed the history behind this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the Lectures in History podcast: The mystery of the Roanoke Colony’s disappearance. In 1587, English settlers established a colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of present-day North Carolina — only to vanish without a trace soon after. Gettysburg College Professor Timothy Shannon explores what we know about the lost colony, the people who lived there, and the theories behind one of early America’s greatest mysteries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What happened when General Custer and Crazy Horse faced off in battle? Stetson University Professor David Morton chronicles the 1876 Great Sioux War in the South Dakota Black Hills. Stetson University is located in Deland, Florida. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

United States Army War College history professor Michael Neiberg discusses Vichy France and the Anglo-American relationship during World War II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Kentucky in 1792 became a state, it had a choice; keep slavery or abolish it. University of Kentucky professor Melanie Goan teaches a class on the state's relationship with the institution of slavery until the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

William & Mary Bray School Lab director Maureen Elgersman Lee discusses the history of the 18th-century Williamsburg Bray School for Black children and the legacies of the 300 to 400 scholars it enrolled. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 1992 Republican National Convention speeches by former President Ronald Reagan and Pat Buchanan - who had run for the GOP nomination that year against incumbent President George H.W. Bush - was the topic of a class taught by University of Kansas political communication professor Robert Rowland. The University of Kansas is in Lawrence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sir Richard J. Evans has been writing about Germany and Adolf Hitler for his entire professional life. He was knighted in Britain in 2012 for his service to scholarship. From 2003-2008, Professor Evans published a trilogy of the Third Reich with a total of over 2,500 pages. His latest book is titled "Hitler's People: The Faces of the Third Reich." In his preface, Sir Richard, a former professor at Cambridge University writes: "The individuals who stand at the center of this book range from the top to the bottom, from Hitler all the way down to the lowest of the Nazi party." There are 22 chapters. Learn more about your ad choices.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor James Broussard taught a class on the lead-up to the American Revolution. He described actions by the British government, such as the Stamp Act and stationing British troops in Boston, that American colonists began to view as an overreach of power Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Utah Professor Eric Hinderaker taught a class about western settlement before, during and after the American Revolution. Using the Kentucky territory as an example, he described the conflicts and relationships between the new federal government, settlers and Native Americans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Law professor and author Joyce Lee Malcolm discussed Benedict Arnold's triumphs as an American army general in the Revolutionary War and questioned whether his legacy as a notorious American traitor is entirely accurate. Professor Malcolm is the author of, The Tragedy of Benedict Arnold: An American Life. This one hour talk was hosted by the University of Mary Washington as part of their Great Lives Lecture Series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Historian Garrett Graff discusses his oral history of the development, testing and deployment of the atomic bomb in August 1945. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gene Allen Smith, a Texas Christian University history professor, taught a class about George Washington's character. He examined how the first president interacted with his contemporaries, how he viewed himself, and how he is remembered. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ithaca College professor Michael Trotti discussed the escalating tensions between colonists and the British government before the American Revolution. Ithaca College is located in New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices