All Episodes
My History Can Beat Up Your Politics — 333 episodes
ZUNE MEMORIES: Talking to My History Can Beat Up Your Politics Listeners - Billy Paige
LONELY MIDTERM, 1970
ICH BIN AMERIKANER: Tales From The Very German United States
VOTES DURING WARTIME: THE 1942 MIDTERMS
RONALD REAGAN TWELVE: FINALE - WHERE'S REAGAN?
DID REAGAN WIN THE COLD WAR? - RONALD REAGAN PART ELEVEN
RONALD REAGAN PART TEN: First Term Cold War Moves
THE FORGOTTEN FOUR WORDS IN THE 10TH AMENDMENT: "or to the people"
"LEFT AND RIGHT" IN POLITICS, THE UNUSED PART OF THE 25TH and Other Thoughts
VANCE AND ORBAN in CONTEXT
RONALD REAGAN PART NINE: SHOCKWAVE 1981
Q&A: Lincoln's Cooper Union Speech, Richard Oakes AIM Alcatraz Takeover & Sources, David Sirota Reaction
THE IRANIAN SIDE OF IRAN CONTRA And other stories
DESERT ONE / EAGLE CLAW - 1980 IRAN RESCUE EFFORT - THE STORY AND POLITICAL EFFECTS
RONALD REAGAN PART EIGHT: Iran-Contra
CRAZY POLL TAX STORIES: The Way The 24th Amendment Was Passed, Why Some Loved Paying The Tax, and Three Words to Watch.
DAVID SIROTA On George W. Bush, Reagan and The Rise of Presidential Power
RONALD REAGAN PART SEVEN: Tax Reform, Amnesty, Bitburg and Banking
RONALD REAGAN PART SIX: Hands Across America
DONALD TRUMP'S 1987 NEW YORK TIMES AD Attacking Oil Ship Escorts and More
24TH AMENDMENT AND POLL TAXES in The Context of The "Save America" Bill
RONALD REAGAN PART FIVE: THE 1976 CONVENTION
RONALD REAGAN PART FOUR: Central America, Lebanon, Poland and Grenada
RONALD REAGAN PART THREE - Rubik's Cube: Two Reagan Mysteries
RONALD REAGAN PART TWO: A Taxing Year - Deficits, Unions, Taxes. Compromises
RONALD REAGAN PART ONE: "RAWHIDE IS OK"
IRAN-IRAQ WAR - PART TWO - "THIS WAR WILL NOT BE IGNORED"
THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR - PART ONE "THIS WILL BE EASY"
GORSUCH'S ROLLERCOASTER, BARRETT'S BABYSITTER, SUPREME COURT AND TARIFFS
RONALD REAGAN REDUX: Thoughts Before I Re-Run The 12 Part Reagan Series
MCMXCIII: Bill Clinton's Year One (2nd part)
MCMXCIII: Bill Clinton's 1993 - Part One
BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, WONG KIM ARK, THE CHARMING BETSEY AND THE SAND LOT PROTESTS
THOMAS WOLFE TURNS AGAINST TOTALITARIANISM
LBJ 's "CELL PHONE" AND HIS DECISION TO JUMP ON THE TICKET IN 1960
WHY TALK ABOUT LBJ TODAY?
RUSHING PELL-MELL INTO MADNESS?: The Twenty-Fifth Amendment and its Critics
"YOU ENSLAVED ME!" - LEFTOVER NOTES FROM THE ZACHARY TAYLOR SERIES
ZACHARY TAYLOR - Part 3 - What Could Have Been
ZACHARY TAYLOR PART 2 - We May Have to Reconsider Him
ZACHARY TAYLOR - Part 1 - Soldier Goes To Washington
WAR POWERS,AND WHY IT COULD BE BROKEN
ASHAMED IN THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT - Resistance to Jackson Indian Removal Policy in its Time
EVEN MORE 90's EPHEMERA: CNN Find My Missile, Are We Falling? Japan Upended, Grunge Tragedy (Not The One You Think)
1990'S EPHEMERA: Howard Stern Saved My Life, France Misbehaves? What Happened to Bush? Those Nutty Gen Xers
NIXON IN FULL: Part 2
NIXON IN FULL, Part 1
MORE ABOUT THE KEN BURNS AMERICAN REVOLUTION DOCUMENTARY AND BEN FRANKLIN
KEN BURNS AMERICAN REVOLUTION DOCUMENTARY - A FEW THOUGHTS
ATTACK ON SCIENCE - ANDY JOHNSON OPPOSES THE TELEGRAPH, AND OTHER STORIES
SOME ODD PRESIDENTIAL ASSISTANTS AND AIDES "Separated By a Swinging Door"
GENERATION "T" - WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE BORN IN 1869
CHESTER ARTHUR - PART 5: "HE IS NOT ARTHUR ANYMORE, HE IS THE PRESIDENT!"
CHESTER ARTHUR - PART 4: THE PISTOL AND THE TRANSOM
CHESTER ARTHUR PART 3: I WILL ACCEPT THE NOMINATION
CHESTER ARTHUR PART 2: I AM A STALWART!
CHESTER ARTHUR PART 1: THE EARLY YEARS
DEATH BY LIGHTNING: My Opinion of the Netflix Series, and Other Thoughts
KING KOCH: 1989 MAYORAL PRIMARY, IN NEW YORK CITY, AND TODAY
TALKING BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S NEBRASKA ALBUM (WITH MUSIC REWIND PODCAST)
THE SURPRISING HISTORY OF RANKED CHOICE VOTING
1977 NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL RACE
TRENTON TREND: NJ OFF-YEAR GOVERNOR ELECTIONS - COINCIDENCE OR PATTERN?
MOVE MY BILL, NOW! - A History of Discharge Petitions
CARTER 1981
CARTER 1979
CARTER 1977
FRIENDLY SKIES - The Story of Airline Deregulation
BECOMING NATIONS AGAIN, w/ Adam Crepelle
THE HEADSHAKE THAT CHANGED HISTORY And Other Stories
ALCATRAZ AND THE AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT OF 1969
A SECOND LOOK AT THE EVENTS of 1776 w/ Tom McMillan, Author of "The Year That Made America"
KENT STATE 1970: AFTER THE SHOOTINGS
GROVER CLEVELANDS THREE WARNINGS ABOUT TARIFFS
FEDERAL JUDGES AND PRESIDENTS
"REGO" - AL GORE'S REINVENTING GOVERNMENT 1993
SKOKIE, NEO-NAZIS, FREE SPEECH AND SAFETY
THE FINAL DAYS OF THE 1968 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
THE ARK OF COMMERCE - AN "INDUSTRIAL SELMA"
THE ARK OF COMMERCE - MAKE IT STOP (Stopping Commerce with Embargoes, Takeovers and Other Methods)-
THE ARK OF COMMERCE: MEASURE EVERYTHING
THE ARK OF COMMERCE - DOLLARS IN THE AIR
THE ARK OF COMMERCE: SHOPPING WITH MRS. LINCOLN
ARK OF COMMERCE: LOCO -A HISTORY OF LAND COMMERCE
THE ARK OF COMMERCE: TERRIBLE TUESDAY 1987 ("It Was Almost as Bad as Black Monday") THE ARK OF COMMERCE
THE ARK OF COMMERCE - IF BY SEA
ARK OF COMMERCE: BLACK MONDAY
THE "ARK" OF COMMERCE - CRASH PARTY 1929
VALLEY FORGE: MYTH AND REALITY - Interview with Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
JIMMY CARTER EPHEMERA
THEY WILL JUBILATE! - WHAT IT WAS LIKE AFTER CLEVELAND'S SECOND NON-CONSECUTIVE ELECTION, NOV 1892.
The Forgotten Forage War of 1777: Realities of the Revolution
WHAT I SAID BACK IN 2016 ABOUT THAT ELECTION: SEEMS SUPRISINGLY RELEVANT?
HISTORY OF SHUTDOWNS (from 2013)
THE MYSTERY OF IMPEACHMENT - HOW IT WORKS, WHAT HAPPENED in 1868 AND MORE
VICE PRESIDENTS AS CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT: A LOOK AT HISTORY WITH DAVID PRIESS OF CHATTER PODCAST
THE 1848 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: PART 2 - PENNSYLVANIA IS THE "BONE AND SINEW"
THE 1848 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: PART 1- RUN, ROUGH AND READY
GROVER CLEVELAND'S NON-CONSECUTIVE SECOND TERM: Undeniably Un-consecutive, The Election of 1892
INFLATION VS. SPACE: How The Cost of Things Limited the Space Program
DRINKING WITH FDR
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS, DISINFORMATION and Other Things That Have Been Around a While. Also- 25th Amendment and Other Points
OVER NIAGARA IN A PICKLE BARREL, TALKING BIRDS AND HIDDEN SUBWAYS - Bruce on Useless Information Podcast
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION and America with Will Clark of "Grey History: The French Revolution and Napoleon Podcast"
WHAT WOULD CICERO SAY? Interview with Professor Rob Goodman of Ryerson University on Speech Issues, Modern and Ancient
100 YEARS AGO TODAY - A Look at 1924 With Jon Blackwell
TRUMAN VS. STARK PRIMARY
EXTRAS from the Airline Deregulation Story
2004: SWIFT BOATS AND PALM PILOTS: Part II of our Two-Part Series
2004: BUSH AMWAY OHIO IDEA - Part I of Two-Part Series
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT w/ Richard Lim of "This American President" Podcast
YOU BREAK EVERYBODY'S BACK: The 1988 Presidential Election - Part 6, Theoretical Dukakis
YOU BREAK EVERYBODY'S BACK: The 1988 Presidential Election - Part 5, Squishy Lead
YOU BREAK EVERYBODY'S BACK: The 1988 Presidential Election, Part 4 - Showdown In New York
YOU BREAK EVERYBODY'S BACK: The 1988 Presidential Election, Part 3 - Attack Videotape
YOU BREAK EVERYBODY'S BACK: The 1988 Presidential Election - Part 2 [You Slayed My Dragon]
YOU BREAK EVERYBODY'S BACK: The 1988 Presidential Election, Part 1 - Anybody's Race
The UK GENERAL ELECTION 2024, w/Steve Byrne
VACCINES THEN AND NOW
ONCE UPON A TIME IN WESTMINSTER: A Tale of British Politics
HIGH NOON IN TRENTON - John Adams Takes a Stand w/ Jerry Landry of The Presidencies of The United States Podcast
Why Do NEBRASKA AND MAINE Vote for President The Way They Do? And Other Esoterica of The 2020 Election
STUDENT LOANS; A History of Ed Financing in the United States
1980 - HOSTAGE MOM GOES TO IRAN
WHISTLESTOP TRAIN CAMPAIGNS w/ Edward Segal
Update on UK Politics with Stephen Byrne
THE JACKSONIANS and Their Role in Today's Politics - John Ellis
TRUSTBUSTING, A HISTORY
FLORIDA MAN; The Go-Go Governorship of Claude Kirk - Part III: A Certain Kind of Hari-Kari
JEFFERSON AND ADAMS
FLORIDA MAN: The Go-Go Governorship of Claude Kirk - Part II: Boo Me!
FLORIDA MAN: The Go-Go Governorship of Claude Kirk - Part I: Flashbulbs
BLACK HAWK 'WAR' and Chief Black Hawk - Part Two
BLACK HAWK WAR and Chief Black Hawk - Part I
Mississippi Bans Sesame Street (From the Useless Information Podcast)
BENEVOLENT POLICEMAN: THE HISTORY OF CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEES
LEBANON 1983 and Other Stories
SECRECY AND DEMOCRACY, with Dr. Katlyn Carter of Notre Dame
JOHN QUNICY ADAMS w/ Bob Crawford of The Road to Now Podcast
Running For President From Prison
Eyewitness Accounts of COLUMBINE, JONESTOWN and Other Events with Josh Cohen of "Eyewitness History Podcast"
THREE POINT TWO: The Story of NEW DEAL BEER, Science, Government and Common Sense
Playing Cards With the Signers of The Declaration w/ Jason Petri
Extras from the "Undeniably Unconsecutive" Grover Cleveland Episode
W.E.B. DuBois and The Wounded World w/ Chad L. Williams
Introducing - Founding Son: John Quincy's America
FALL OF USSR: Bonus "Bloknot" (Notebook) Episode
FALL OF USSR: Part 6 - Two Bears in a Cave
FALL OF USSR: Part 5 - I Cannot Forsake Principles!
FALL OF USSR: Part 4 - Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears
FALL OF USSR: Part 3 - Athens vs. Sparta
FALL OF USSR: Part 2 - The Steam Bath of History
FALL OF USSR: Part 1: Wake Up, Cassandra!
"WRONG FOREVER ON THE THRONE!" - William Jennings Bryan and the Democratic Party in His Later Years
THEY COULDN"T STOP DYING - THE ODD STORY OF THE 72nd CONGRESS AND HOOVER'S DISASTER MIDTERM
LEAP TO FREEDOM: Hans Konrad Schumann's Story
SOCCER and Repression: The 1978 World Cup in Argentina
Close Encounters of the CONGRESS KIND: The (Relatively Few) Times When the House Was Close Between the Parties
YOU CANT ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT: The 2022 Midterm Result, and Listener Questions
SOMETHING HAPPENED: Eugene McCarthy's 1968 Primary Run
1970's EPHEMERA: Dylan Gets a Troll, Ford Gets Shot, Skylab Falls, Howard Cosell Talks Politics
SAVINGS AND LOAN Crisis
And to the Republic: Thoughts about Everything Going on in Politics
WILLS ON DUTY: The Story of Watergate Security Guard Frank Wills
GEORGE B. MCLELLAN, JUNIOR Would Like a Word
FREE SPEECH IS EASY AND HARD w/ Lynn Greenky of Syracuse University School of Law
Nine Kings, One Room: Introducing the Everything Everywhere Daily Podcast
In The Arena - Adlai Stevenson and Other Losing Candidates w/ Peter Shea
UKRAINE and History w/ Ben Sawyer of Middle Tennessee State and "The Road to Now Podcast"
MILLIONS FALL: The Destruction of Trees During The Civil War / Taft and Television
The War in the Former Yugoslavia (Bosnian War) and the Dayton Accords, w/ Alex Hastie of "Ohio v. The World" Podcast
The Anguish of Calvin Coolidge ( w/ David Priess )
Abyssinia: The Italian-Ethiopian War and its Consequences
Congressional Stock Trading and The Pan-Electric Scandal
Judge Lincoln, Orval Faubus and Bill Clinton, Millard Fillmore
The History Behind a Holiday: Martin Luther King Day
Drug Legalization Before it Was Cool: The Story of Kurt Schmoke
I AM JAMES BUCHANAN
Shooting Behind Trees? Realities of The Revolution
Harris and the Vice Presidency in a Historical Context
The 1890's Part IV: Imperialism Just Happened
The 1890's Part III: No, Not That Winston Churchill
The 1890's Part II: Tin Man
The 1890's: Part I : Mauve Decade
Inflation Gardens and Other Stories
News Stories From 1921 That Matter Today - with Jon Blackwell
Elephant in the Room: Former Presidents and Their Parties
Biden, Crime Bill, How and Why He Was Elected and More: Interview w/ The Political Darkside Podcast
Snack, Dessert, Dinner, Supper: The Paris Peace Accords
Mike Duncan on The Marquis de Lafayette and His Two Worlds
Saigon Comparisons: The Events of April 29th and 30th 1975 and Today
Richard Bey of "The Richard Bey Show" on Cancel Culture, Iraq War, The Alamo and The Truth - 15th Anniversary Episode Part II
15th Anniversary Show Part I: Speaking w/ Listeners, Reviewing Clips of Past Episodes - James Monroe and Lyndon Johnson and More
Dennis Kucinich on Public Service, Public Power and His Book - "The Division of Light and Power'
The Man in the Cave and Other Stories of the Signers of The Declaration of Independence
The Man Behind the UN Who Never Got Credit - Edward Stettinius, Jr. w/Bill Scher
Golden Beauty Boss: Madame Sara Spencer Washington w/ Cheryl Woodruff-Brooks
1921 - One Hundred Years Ago
The 25th Amendment, Section Four Explained, w/ Brian C. Kalt
Cholera and Benjamin Harrison
Elvis Meets Nixon - The Insider Story
16 Obscure Facts About Presidents w/ Jeremy Anderberg of The Art of Manliness and Readmorebooks.co
The Power to Pardon
Democracy w/ Dr. Paul Cartledge of Cambridge University: The Life, and Hopefully Not Death, of Democracy (2017)
Masks Then and Now, 1960 Election Presidents Leaving and Not Leaving Oval, Also 14 Years of My History Can Beat Up Your Politics
Geeks, Orcs and Herbert Hoover
Etiquette and Social Media: Where are Our Manners? Social Etiquette from Ben Franklin to Dale Carnegie to Today, w Jessica Weisberg
Pirates and America, w/ Rebecca Simon, Author of "Why We Love Pirates"
Did Nixon Win the Popular Vote in 1960? And Other Stories
Notes of 1884: Thoughts on That Election, and the Current One
The 1880 Election and The Morey Letter: a Tale of October Surprise, Immigration, Memes and Counter Memes and Nothing to Do with Today's Politics
George Washington's English Ancestors, Coolidge's Electric Horse and Other Stories
King Corn, Story of Ethanol (from 2013)
Operation Eagle Claw and the 1979 Iran Embassy Storming
Partisanship, 1850's Style w/ Josh Mensch, co-author of The Lincoln Conspiracy
A Powder Keg About to Explode: Newark, NJ 1967
The Cabinet, George Washington's Creation, with Lindsay M. Chervinsky
History's Nine Most Insane Rulers w Scott Rank of "History Unplugged" Podcast
Rules of Political Debate: Godwin's Law is Not a Law
Eyewitness to Kent State Shootings: Paula Stone Tucker
Rum, Romanism and Rebellion - The 3 Words That Changed Presidential History
The Spanish Flu of 1918 and Its Aftermath - Conversation with Laura Spinney
Iowa, Impeachment and the Universe
Truman's Mild Support of JFK
Impeachment - Conversation with David Priess and Bruce Carlson
A Deep Dive into The Emancipation Proclamation
Butterfield: Nixon’s Watergate Frenemy
Beam Me Up: The James Traficant Story w/ Alex Hastie of The Ohio v. The World Podcast
Brexit, Boris and UK and Irish Politics w/ Steven Byrne from What am Politics
Holden Caufield and Xerox: The Corporate Personhood Debate (from 2013)
How to Rank The Presidents, with Susan Swain and Brian Lamb of C-SPAN
Third Parties: The Moped and the Maserati - Why Third Parties Haven't Won in American Politics
Woodrow Wilson Has No Friends: Wilson, His Politics and His Image Today with Patricia O'Toole
Interview with Sidney Blumenthal - Putting Lincoln in a Political Context, Stephen Douglas, Jefferson Davis, The Whigs and More
Mexico's Contribution to World War II and Other Stories
Investigating the Executive Branch: The Trial of Thomas Jefferson, Governor
Searching for Eisenhower: Ike on War, Civil Rights, Big Government and Political Moderation (with William Hitchcock)
Economy and Jobs: Debunking "The Good Old Days" Argument with Gregg Easterbrook
Curtis LeMay, Warrior, Candidate - with Alex Hastie of Ohio v. The World Podcast
LBJ and The Creation of Medicare - 50 Years Ago
The Craziest Speaker of The House Election, Indian Removal Petitions and Other Thoughts
Saturday Night Nixon: The Firing That Sealed Watergate
George H.W. Bush, 03 30 81
Presidents After Midterms with Matt K. Lewis
David Priess on the Realities of Impeachment and the History of Presidential Removal
Posse Comitatus and Billy The Kid
Thomas Paine, Common Sense and The American Mind
War: 1983 and How Close We Came to Nuclear War w/ Marc Ambinder
RFK Anniversary: Chris Matthews on Bobby Kennedy and the Missing Element in Today's Politics
GERRYMANDERING: Gerry and His "Mander" (from 2013, with an Update on Gerrymandering Supreme Court case)
Russia: Everything You Know About The Russian Revolution is Wrong - Russian Journalist Mikhail Zygar on 1917, History, Putin, Democracy and More
Civil War Bonds - The Importance of Commerce to the Civil War
Soccer and Repression: 1978 and the World Cup in Argentina
Tariffs: Taft Walks Away - The Payne-Aldrich Tariff of 1909
Infrastructure: The Bad Side and Good Side of Infrastructure - Robert Moses and Other Tales with Greg Young of the Bowery Boys NYC Podcast
US Intelligence Services: The Secret Intelligence of All The President's Men: Interview with David Priess on CIA Briefings, History, Trump, Mueller and More
1944 VP Nomination Craziness
America and Rome: w/ Mike Duncan
Presidential Power: Democracy's Diet? The Two-Term Presidential Limit of the 22nd Amendment
U.S.-Mexico Relations w/ Bob Crawford and Ben Sawyer of "The Road to Now " Podcast Live in Mexico
President by Accident: Truman, Atomic Warfare, Russians and Trump w/ A.J. Baime
Patrick Henry, Underrated Founder - Interview with Jon Kukla
The Split on The Left of Politics and Why it Matters, w/ Chris Novembrino
Elvis Presley and America
Charleston 1860 and Secession: Interview with Paul Starobin
JFK at 106 – Searching for The True Kennedy (Interview with Thomas Oliphant)
Interview with Kevin Lacz, Decorated Navy SEAL and Star of "American Sniper"
Public Sector vs. Blue Collar Unions and Other Questiions
Lincoln Over Easy: The Creation of a President's Image
The President’s Book of Secrets: Interview with David Priess
Interview w/ John Avlon, Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Beast, Author of Washington’s Farewell
How Mandates Were Invented
The Fib That The President Creates Jobs
The 2016 Election, Taken with a Swig of History
The Real Story of the 1948 Election
The Incredibly Shrinking Fourth Amendment
1840 -Clowns With Pink Noses and Lofty Tumbling
Schedule of Conventions: Why is the GOP Convention First, Democrats Second, Brexit Other Topics.
The Fib That Your Side is Going to Win
Madison Can't Get a Seat at the Starbucks, and How to Read a Constitution
Scots Irish in American History and Politics
Huey Long and Trump, Vetoes, and Other Stories
LIncoln Goes to China
Mad Man Finale, 1980 Election and Many Other Side Dishes
The Return and Return of Nativism
Social Security Had Its Glitches Too
The Creation of Children: Child Labor in the U.S. and Child Labor Laws
They Shall from Time to Time?: History of The Opposition Answer to President's SOTU
King's Rook: When the President's Party Has the Senate, Not the House
Did the Founders Care if We Starve?
Wendell Willkie and a Lighting Nomination
The Boston Police Strike of 1919 and Public Sector Unions
Does the Challenger Even Matter?
The Forgotten Other Great Depression (1893)
Heller Decision on Guns and the 2A
Social Security, Civil War Pensions
How the Battle for California Statehood Defined America
How Primary Became a Verb
Famous Brokered Conventions
What George W. Bush Says for Himself - A Brief Read of Decision Points
History of the Primaries
The Terrible Twos?
Did Stimulus Work? (2009)
An Historic Election, for Many Reasons, Episode from 2008
Election of 2008 Review, with an eye to history
Flotsam and Jetsom of the 2008 Election
Why Cant We Lean on a Shovel?
Financial Panics in America
Guns and 2nd Amendment (2008)
Monroe's First Year as President - 1817
Drifting into Military Involvement in Lebanon 1983 and Mexico 1913
All About Coattails -Does the President Wear a Coat, or a Windbreaker?
Staying in Iraq, Staying in Vietnam
Missouri - The Show Me Swing State
History Picks the President 2008
Fixing the Primaries
British Prime Ministers and US Presidents
Three-Way Elections
The Constitutional Conventioneers
History of Objectivity in the Media
The Veto Override
American Zig Zag on Immigration Policy
The History of the Federal Reserve
The Veto and its History
Forty Years of One Party In Congress
Nevada and its Politics
History of Fannie Mae
Objectivity and The Media (2006)
Filibuster: A Brief History
How Do You End A War?
A History of Speakers of The House
Presidents and the Media - Coddling, Manipulating from Lincoln to Bush
Has Television Really Changed Politics? An Examination (from 2006)