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American History Tellers

461 episodes - English - Latest episode: 16 days ago - ★★★★★ - 17.6K ratings

The Cold War, Prohibition, the Gold Rush, the Space Race. Every part of your life - the words you speak, the ideas you share - can be traced to our history, but how well do you really know the stories that made America? We'll take you to the events, the times and the people that shaped our nation. And we'll show you how our history affected them, their families and affects you today. Hosted by Lindsay Graham (not the Senator). From Wondery, the network behind American Scandal, Tides of History, American Innovations and more.

Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now.

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Episodes

The Fight for the First U.S. Olympics | Passing the Torch | 4

August 11, 2021 07:05 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MB

The 1904 St. Louis Olympics were marred by controversy and poorly organized events like the marathon. But at least they took place as scheduled. In 1916, after the outbreak of World War I, they were canceled entirely. A century later, in 2020, the Olympics faced another kind of test: a global pandemic that forced the first postponement of the Games in their history.   In this episode, Lindsay discusses troubled Olympics past and present with Dr. Susan Brownell, a former nationally...

The Fight for the First U.S. Olympics | The Home Stretch | 3

August 04, 2021 09:00 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MB

In the summer of 1904, the young women of the Fort Shaw Indian School basketball team took the St. Louis Olympics and the World’s Fair by storm with their fast-paced, dynamic play. But could they keep their undefeated record and win the world championship against their toughest opponent yet -- a team of white all-stars from the best high school team in Missouri?  As the Fort Shaw girls prepared for their championship game, another Olympics drama unfolded: the marathon. Covering 25 ...

The Fight for the First U.S. Olympics | Let the Games Begin | 2

July 28, 2021 07:30 - 35 minutes - 32.8 MB

In 1904, St. Louis was thrust into the national spotlight, as it played host to both the World’s Fair and America’s first Olympic Games. After a bitter fight over which American city would host, Olympic founder Pierre De Coubertin had disavowed the St. Louis games entirely, passing the torch to amateur sports magnate James Sullivan. But Sullivan brought controversial ideas to the Games -- especially in the form of a contest between “uncivilized” peoples called Anthropology Days. Ba...

Introducing The Grand Scheme: Snatching Sinatra

July 27, 2021 08:00 - 8 minutes - 7.84 MB

Hosted and narrated by John Stamos, The Grand Scheme: Snatching Sinatra is a complicated, nuanced story of one imperfect man trying to redeem himself by pulling off the perfect crime. Did you ever feel like everything’s broken, and it’s your job to fix it? That’s how Barry Keenan was feeling back in 1963. He was broke, unemployed, hooked on booze and pills, and his family was falling apart. Barry needed a miracle. And against all odds, he got one. One day the voice of God came over ...

The Fight for the First U.S. Olympics | A Tale of Two Cities | 1

July 21, 2021 09:00 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MB

In the late 1800s, European fascination with the culture of ancient Greece, and a growing interest in physical education and fitness, led to the idea of resurrecting the Olympic Games of antiquity. A French nobleman named Pierre de Coubertin took up the cause, and under his leadership, the first international Olympiad took place in Athens in 1896. Coubertin loved America, and wanted to bring his modern Games there. But finding an American city to host his sporting spectacle proved ...

Lost Colony of Roanoke | Searching for Traces | 3

July 14, 2021 09:00 - 40 minutes - 37.5 MB

The mystery of what became of the first English colonists has baffled historians for centuries. But over the past decade, archaeologists have uncovered some compelling clues, including parts of a 16th century gun, and fragments of English pottery at a place called “Site X,” both of which suggest that the Roanoke colonists survived longer than previously documented. In this episode, Lindsay discusses those findings with author and journalist Andrew Lawler. In his book, The Secret To...

Wondery Presents Business Movers | General Motors: Back from the Dead

July 08, 2021 08:30 - 9 minutes - 8.52 MB

Behind every successful business is a story. From Wondery and Lindsay Graham comes Business Movers, a weekly podcast that brings you the true stories of the brilliant but all-too-human businesspeople who risked it all. On the latest season, you'll hear the remarkable story of how General Motors crawled out of the grave and is now in position to lead the car industry into the future. How'd they pull off the comeback? The answer was Mary Barra, a woman who rose from engineer to execut...

Lost Colony of Roanoke | The Vanishing | 2

July 07, 2021 07:30 - 35 minutes - 32.5 MB

On April 26, 1587, 117 colonists sailed from England to establish a permanent settlement on the east coast of North America. After a long voyage fraught with storms and spoiled food, they landed on the island of Roanoke, in the Outer Banks region of what is now North Carolina.  Under the leadership of John White, the settlers built a fort and homes, but faced hunger and harsh conditions. At the end of the summer, White was forced to leave his family and his newborn granddaughter, V...

Lost Colony of Roanoke | In the Name of the Queen | 1

June 30, 2021 07:30 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MB

In the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth the First of England was locked in a battle for global dominance with Spain. She picked her favorite advisor, Walter Raleigh, to claim land in North America. In the coming years, Raleigh’s men made several voyages and explored the area known as the Outer Banks, in what is now North Carolina. There, they identified one island as a promising site for a future colony: Roanoke. But as relations with the area’s indigenous people soured, and a drought...

The Walker Affair | The Gray-Eyed Man of Destiny | 1

June 25, 2021 07:30 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MB

In the mid-1800s, the United States was a young nation awash with mercenaries, adventurers, and entrepreneurs looking to take advantage of the country’s ever-expanding boundaries. Into this chaotic atmosphere stepped a young lawyer and newspaper editor from Tennessee named William Walker, who wrapped his personal ambitions in the cloak of American expansionism and the credo of “Manifest Destiny.” Hoping to establish his own republic, Walker became a “filibuster,” a 19th century ter...

Encore: Tulsa Race Massacre | Bearing Witness | 5

June 23, 2021 07:30 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MB

Like many Americans, Anneliese Bruner didn’t hear about the Tulsa Race Massacre growing up. But what made it surprising in her case was that her grandmother and great-grandmother were survivors of the massacre. Still, a conspiracy of silence surrounded the events of May 31 and June 1, 1921, even in Bruner’s own home. Today, Bruner is fighting to change that. This year, she re-published her great-grandmother Mary Parrish’s written account of the destruction under the title The Natio...

Introducing: One Hundred Percent with Marcus Lemonis

June 23, 2021 05:00 - 5 minutes - 4.9 MB

One Hundred Percent with Marcus Lemonis is a little bit of a masterclass, a cocktail party and a Sunday drive all wrapped up into 30 minutes with an audience invited to listen in. Marcus values family, community, character and ethics and helps small business owners who need his guidance and investment. His process is very personal and provides valuable insight through his ability to identify both problems and solutions. For years he has transformed the trajectory of businesses and t...

Encore: Tulsa Race Massacre | Rebirth | 4

June 16, 2021 07:30 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MB

On June 2, 1921, thousands of black Tulsans interned at the Tulsa Fairgrounds woke under armed guard. Many had no idea where their loved ones were or if they were still alive; they didn’t know whether their homes were still standing or if they’d been ransacked by the white mob. As Greenwood residents worked to restart lives that had been violently interrupted, city officials and greedy real estate speculators had other ideas — ideas that would push Greenwood residents off their valu...

Wondery Presents Against The Odds: The K2 Disaster

June 10, 2021 08:00 - 7 minutes - 6.46 MB

In the summer of 2008, some of the world’s best climbers made their way towards the summit of K2, the second highest mountain on earth. Sunny mornings suddenly transform into hurricane force winds. Avalanches drop from overhead without warning, unexpected blizzards leave climbers disoriented and lost in weather that can drop to 60 below. But that didn’t stop a group of climbers from attempting the feat. The next season of Wondery's Against the Odds tells their story. Through a seri...

Encore: Tulsa Race Massacre | The Invasion | 3

June 09, 2021 07:30 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MB

On the night of Tuesday, May 31, 1921, a violent white mob attacked the prosperous Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As the night progressed, the disorganized mob transformed into something even more deadly: a highly organized force led by volunteer soldiers. On the morning of Wednesday, June 1, that force sprang into action. All over Greenwood, men, women and children found themselves under siege. Their homes, businesses and churches were under attack from land a...

Encore: Tulsa Race Massacre | The Powder Keg | 2

June 02, 2021 09:00 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MB

As Black teenager Dick Rowland sat in a jail cell at the Tulsa courthouse, news of his arrest flew through the town. Egged on by rumors about his alleged rape of white teenager Sarah Page, a white mob bent on a lynching Rowland began assembling outside the courthouse. By that evening, the crowd had swelled to thousands.  Meanwhile, some young African American veterans of the recent world war were determined to defend Rowland, with their lives if necessary. When they arrived at the ...

Encore: Tulsa Race Massacre | The Promised Land | 1

May 26, 2021 07:30 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MB

In 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma boasted one of the nation’s most prosperous African-American communities. Greenwood was home to 108 Black-owned businesses, two theaters, 15 physicians, two newspapers, and a luxury hotel. It was nicknamed “the Black Wall Street.” Then, on May 30th, a Black shoeshine boy named Dick Rowland was accused of assaulting a white teenaged elevator operator, Sarah Page. What happened next would ultimately lead to the destruction of Greenwood and the deaths of over ...

The Mystery of D.B. Cooper | The Man in Row 18 | 1

May 19, 2021 09:00 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MB

On November 24th, 1971, a man on a Boeing 727 bound for Seattle handed a flight attendant a note that read, “Miss, I have a bomb here.” No one knew the man’s real name. But soon, the press was calling him D.B. Cooper -- and his hijacking of Northwest Orient Flight 305 would go down as one of the most audacious in aviation history. Cooper parachuted out of that flight with $200,000 in cash, then disappeared without a trace. Over the decades that followed, FBI agents and amateur inve...

Wondery Presents: The Vaping Fix

May 18, 2021 07:30 - 6 minutes - 5.69 MB

Two young Silicon Valley entrepreneurs set out to rid the world of smoking with an incredible new product. The device stands to disrupt the tobacco industry and make them rich, until it falls into the wrong hands and lives are ruined. From classrooms to hospitals, boardrooms to the Oval Office, what can be done to protect teenagers and is it too late? From Laura Beil, the reporter behind Dr Death and Bad Batch, comes The Vaping Fix, the inside story of the rise of Juul and the makin...

Bleeding Kansas | The Man Who Sparked the Civil War | 5

May 12, 2021 09:00 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MB

John Brown has been called many things: fanatic, hero, terrorist, martyr, zealot. Some of his contemporaries, including Frederick Douglass, believed that were it not for his raid on Harpers Ferry, the Civil War would never have started. But did Brown’s actions really bring about slavery’s eventual downfall? And can his impact still be seen today in a nation that remains deeply divided over issues of race? In this episode, Lindsay discusses Brown’s complex legacy with historian Davi...

Bleeding Kansas | His Soul Goes Marching On | 4

May 05, 2021 09:00 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MB

On October 17th, 1859, John Brown was barricaded inside the federal armory at Harpers Ferry with his hostages and his remaining followers. His attempt to lead an antislavery insurrection had failed. A detachment of U.S. Marines led by Colonel Robert E. Lee had the armory surrounded. For the radical abolitionist, it was his last stand. But after he was captured and sentenced to death, Northern abolitionists rallied to Brown’s cause. By the time he ascended the scaffold and prepared ...

Bleeding Kansas | The Raid on Harpers Ferry | 3

April 28, 2021 09:00 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MB

In December 1858, John Brown was back in Kansas and Missouri, making headlines for dramatic and deadly raids on plantations. He and his followers freed 11 enslaved men and women and led them on an 1,100-mile journey to freedom in Canada. But all the while, Brown was focused on finally launching his long-planned attack on slavery in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. After months of preparation, on the night of October 16th, 1859, Brown and his “army” captured the town’s federal arsenal and a...

Introducing: 1865 Season 2

April 27, 2021 08:00 - 6 minutes - 5.89 MB

Listen now: wondery.fm/1865season2 April 15, 1865. President Lincoln is dead and the country in turmoil. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton takes control, determined to bring the assassin to justice—but the hunt for John Wilkes Booth isn’t all that grips Stanton. Lincoln’s successor, Vice President Andrew Johnson, is likely to bend to southern interests and undo the very progress for which Lincoln died. Edwin Stanton must employ every bit of political wile he can muster to secure the...

Bleeding Kansas | The Pottawatomie Massacre | 2

April 21, 2021 09:00 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MB

On the night of May 24th, 1856, radical abolitionist John Brown and seven of his followers crept along the banks of Kansas’s Pottawatomie Creek and stormed a proslavery settlement. They dragged five men from their cabins and killed them in cold blood.  Soon, Brown’s name was splashed across the nation’s newspapers, making him a lightning rod for controversy. He would exploit his notoriety to escalate his crusade against slavery, taking his guerrilla war to a new theater: the slaveh...

Bleeding Kansas | John Brown's Crusade | 1

April 14, 2021 09:00 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MB

In the 1850s, the United States was lurching toward a crisis over slavery -- and abolitionist John Brown stepped into the fray. Brown believed it was his God-given destiny to destroy slavery. His crusade took him from abolitionist meetings in the Northeast, to the Underground Railroad in Ohio, to the bloody plains of Kansas. In 1854, a fierce conflict erupted over whether the territory of Kansas would join the Union as a free state or slave state. As tensions escalated, Brown would...

Bleeding Kansas | John Brown’s Crusade | 1

April 14, 2021 09:00 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MB

In the 1850s, the United States was lurching toward a crisis over slavery -- and abolitionist John Brown stepped into the fray. Brown believed it was his God-given destiny to destroy slavery. His crusade took him from abolitionist meetings in the Northeast, to the Underground Railroad in Ohio, to the bloody plains of Kansas. In 1854, a fierce conflict erupted over whether the territory of Kansas would join the Union as a free state or slave state. As tensions escalated, Brown would...

Wondery Presents: Secret Sauce

April 13, 2021 08:00 - 5 minutes - 5.37 MB

In Wondery’s newest series, Secret Sauce, hosts John Frye and Sam Donner explore the stories and successes behind some of the most inspiring businesses, creative innovators and intrepid entrepreneurs.  First up, we’re diving into the company that revolutionized how we vacation, travel, and even how we trust other people...we’re talking about Airbnb. In 2008, Air Bed and Breakfast launched at SXSW with high hopes of becoming an alternative to overbooked hotels...but they ended up wi...

America's Monuments | The Trouble With Confederate Statues | 7

April 07, 2021 09:00 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MB

In recent years, there’s been a movement to remove statues of Confederate leaders and other monuments that some see as celebrations of America’s racist history. But does taking down these statues help address the racial inequities that plague our nation to this day? Or is it just erasing history?  In his forthcoming book How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America, author Clint Smith tackles these and other questions around what our public monumen...

America's Monuments | 58,000 Names | 6

March 31, 2021 09:00 - 37 minutes - 34.1 MB

The Vietnam War was one of the most divisive conflicts in American history. Over 58,000 Americans died in the fighting; many more returned home with wounds both visible and hidden.  When veterans lobbied for a memorial to honor American soldiers lost in Vietnam, a young college student named Maya Lin was picked from a blind competition to design it. Her unconventional vision would lead to a bitter dispute over the nature and purpose of public art in America — and how a nation heals...

Wondery Presents: Spy Affair

March 29, 2021 07:00 - 5 minutes - 5.13 MB

A charismatic Russian woman arrives in the US on a mission to improve relations between the two countries, and she soon makes some powerful friends. But who is Maria Butina? And who is she working for? As Maria gets closer to the rich and connected she also attracts the attention of the FBI. In the politically charged world of US-Russia relations, everyone has secrets and almost nothing is what it seems. From Wondery, the makers of The Shrink Next Door and Dr. Death comes SPY AFFAIR...

America’s Monuments | The Mansion of the King | 5

March 24, 2021 09:00 - 41 minutes - 37.6 MB

Few historic residences are more synonymous with their owners than Graceland. Purchased by Elvis Presley in 1957, the stately Memphis mansion was the heart of his private world and his most prized possession. He always swore he’d never sell it.    But after Elvis’s sudden and tragic death, Graceland faced an uncertain future. It would take a risky move by his ex-wife Priscilla to save the mansion and secure its place as a lasting monument to one of America’s greatest musical icons....

America's Monuments | The Mansion of the King | 5

March 24, 2021 09:00 - 40 minutes - 36.9 MB

Few historic residences are more synonymous with their owners than Graceland. Purchased by Elvis Presley in 1957, the stately Memphis mansion was the heart of his private world and his most prized possession. He always swore he’d never sell it.    But after Elvis’s sudden and tragic death, Graceland faced an uncertain future. It would take a risky move by his ex-wife Priscilla to save the mansion and secure its place as a lasting monument to one of America’s greatest musical icons....

America’s Monuments | The Longest Bridge | 4

March 17, 2021 09:00 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MB

In the early 1920s, San Francisco was a picturesque city on a narrow, isolated peninsula. Known for its scenic, natural beauty, it had the potential to become one of America’s leading metropolises. But to fuel its economic growth, it needed a bridge -- across one of the most treacherous bodies of water on the Western seaboard. To build a bridge across the strait known as the Golden Gate, engineers and construction crews would have to fight against blistering winds, vicious currents...

America's Monuments | The Longest Bridge | 4

March 17, 2021 09:00 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MB

In the early 1920s, San Francisco was a picturesque city on a narrow, isolated peninsula. Known for its scenic, natural beauty, it had the potential to become one of America’s leading metropolises. But to fuel its economic growth, it needed a bridge -- across one of the most treacherous bodies of water on the Western seaboard. To build a bridge across the strait known as the Golden Gate, engineers and construction crews would have to fight against blistering winds, vicious currents...

America’s Monuments | The Longest Bridge | 4

March 17, 2021 09:00 - 38 minutes - 34.9 MB

In the early 1920s, San Francisco was a picturesque city on a narrow, isolated peninsula. Known for its scenic, natural beauty, it had the potential to become one of America’s leading metropolises. But to fuel its economic growth, it needed a bridge -- across one of the most treacherous bodies of water on the Western seaboard. To build a bridge across the strait known as the Golden Gate, engineers and construction crews would have to fight against blistering winds, vicious currents...

America's Monuments | Four Faces | 3

March 10, 2021 10:00 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MB

In 1927, workers began blasting granite rock off a towering cliff in South Dakota’s Black Hills. It was the start of an arduous 14-year struggle to carve the portraits of four American presidents into Mount Rushmore. The feat required grueling labor in extreme conditions. And it was led by an obsessive sculptor named Gutzon Borglum. Borglum was the creative genius behind Rushmore, with a talent and ego as big as the monument itself. But he was also the biggest threat to its complet...

America’s Monuments | Four Faces | 3

March 10, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MB

In 1927, workers began blasting granite rock off a towering cliff in South Dakota’s Black Hills. It was the start of an arduous 14-year struggle to carve the portraits of four American presidents into Mount Rushmore. The feat required grueling labor in extreme conditions. And it was led by an obsessive sculptor named Gutzon Borglum. Borglum was the creative genius behind Rushmore, with a talent and ego as big as the monument itself. But he was also the biggest threat to its complet...

Introducing: In Plain Sight: Lady Bird Johnson

March 08, 2021 09:00 - 4 minutes - 4.25 MB

Lady Bird Johnson’s audio diaries reveal how one vastly underestimated woman navigated the power, politics and polarization of her time to become arguably one of the most influential first ladies in history. From ABC News, makers of the hit series “The Dropout” and the award-winning daily news podcast “Start Here,” comes “In Plain Sight: Lady Bird Johnson” – an eight-part series told in the former first lady's own words.

America’s Monuments | A Passage Through Panama | 2

March 03, 2021 10:00 - 38 minutes - 35.3 MB

For centuries, sailors and merchants dreamed of finding a passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the narrow isthmus of Central America. But no natural passage existed. To get ships across the fifty-mile stretch of land, someone would have to dig a canal. The French tried first, and failed. Then, in 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt and the U.S. took on the challenge. Struggling against harsh weather, forbidding terrain and political turmoil, the United States would...

America’s Monuments | The Colossus of New York Harbor | 1

February 24, 2021 10:00 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MB

It’s perhaps the most iconic of American monuments -- the Statue of Liberty. A towering 305-foot sculpture of copper and steel that is synonymous with American values of liberty, freedom and self-determination. But it began as a gift from France. And when it first arrived on American soil, its future was far from certain. For over a decade, artists, craftsmen and everyday people from France and the United States worked together on what would be dubbed America’s “New Colossus.” The ...

Wondery Presents: Against The Odds

February 23, 2021 09:00 - 6 minutes - 6.17 MB

In July 2018, 12 youth soccer players and their coach found themselves trapped 6 miles deep in a cave with no food or water and depleting oxygen. The rock formed maze became almost completely submerged as the water rose to levels nearly impossible for survival. There was no light and no way to communicate with the outside world. The first season of Wondery’s new original series Against the Odds takes you into the incredible events of when an adventurous group of teens found themselv...

Great Chicago Fire | Out of the Ashes | 4

February 17, 2021 10:00 - 32 minutes - 30 MB

After the 1871 fire destroyed a third of their city, Chicagoans wanted to do more than rebuild. They wanted to envision a new kind of American city. That included everything from changes to fire codes and labor laws to an entirely new style of architecture -- the skyscraper. Professor Ann Keating is an urban historian and expert on Chicago history both before and after the Great Fire. She and Lindsay discuss the rapid growth and social changes that made Chicago so vulnerable, what ...

Great Chicago Fire | The Great Rebuilding | 3

February 10, 2021 10:00 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MB

As dawn broke on October 10, 1871, the dazed survivors of the Great Chicago Fire stumbled through their burned and battered city. A 30-hour inferno had reduced Chicago to ashes. Homes and business were replaced by gaping holes and smoldering rubble. Tens of thousands of people had lost their houses and jobs. Many had lost loved ones. As aid poured into the city, officials turned their attention to the challenges of distributing relief and maintaining order. But the embers had bare...

Wondery Presents American Innovations: Mission to Mars

February 04, 2021 09:00 - 5 minutes - 4.79 MB

On July 20th, 1989, President George H.W. Bush announced his vision for a manned mission to Mars. Nearly 3 months later, NASA published a complex 30 year plan to get humans to Mars - with a hefty price tag - nearly $450 billion dollars. However, Congress refused to authorize the spending, and NASA’s manned mission to Mars was grounded before it could even get started. Over 30 years later, the power of government and big business necessary for such an undertaking is finally starting ...

Great Chicago Fire | Fleeing the Flames | 2

February 03, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MB

Just before midnight on October 8, 1871, the inferno that had ravaged Chicago’s West Side leapt the Chicago River. A wall of flames surged toward downtown, threatening to devour Chicago’s most magnificent hotels, offices, and government buildings. Mayor Roswell B. Mason raced to the Chicago courthouse, but he would soon find he was helpless to save his city. Panic-stricken South Side residents streamed out of their homes and fled to the North Side, the stately residential area they...

Great Chicago Fire | We Are Going to Have a Burn | 1

January 27, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MB

In 1871, Chicago was the fastest growing city in the world. Built almost entirely of wood, it was also a tinderbox. That October, a severe drought ravaged the city. Fires ignited constantly, and Chicago’s firefighters were at their breaking point. But the worst was yet to come. On a hot, windy night, a fire broke out in a barn owned by Irish immigrants Catherine and Patrick O’Leary. By the time firefighters arrived to the scene, gale-force winds were fanning the flames with astonis...

Presidential Inaugurations: Traditions, Crisis, and Unity | 1

January 20, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MB

As America prepares to swear in a new president, we’ll look back to the inaugurations of the past. Jim Bendat, author of Democracy's Big Day: The Inauguration of Our President, 1789-2013, joins us as we cover the friction between the outgoing and incoming president, the Capitol Hill breach on January 6th, and how inaugurations have served as a powerful reminder of the strength of American democracy, even in times of crisis. For more on Jim Bendat: https://www.inaugurationbook.com/....

Wondery Presents Business Movers

January 14, 2021 09:00 - 7 minutes - 6.65 MB

In Wondery’s newest series, Business Movers, host Lindsay Graham dives deep into the inner workings of some of the most successful companies of all time. From the origin stories of their famed leaders to the million dollar idea that catapulted them to success, how exactly did these companies grow from an idea and a dream to multi-billion dollar corporations? Hear the landmark decisions, the scandals, and the stunning triumphs that made them who they are. First up: Walt Disney. Liste...

Coal Wars | Charles Keeney on Restoring His Great Grandfather’s Legacy | 5

January 13, 2021 10:00 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MB

Once the coal miners lost the Battle of Blair Mountain, the story of their uprising was suppressed, and their leader Frank Keeney eventually faded into obscurity—even among members of his own family. But historian Charles Keeney, Frank Keeney’s great grandson, has made it a personal mission to raise public awareness of the mine wars and the pivotal role his ancestor played.  Charles Keeney is the founder of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum and author of The Road to Blair Mountain...

Coal Wars | The Battle of Blair Mountain | 4

January 06, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutes - 34.8 MB

The Coal Wars reached an explosive climax in August 1921, as thousands of miners furious over the death of their hero Sid Hatfield shouldered their weapons and marched south. Their destination was Mingo County, where they hoped to free their fellow miners jailed under martial law. But first, they would have to cross Blair Mountain and armed men led by Logan County’s ruthless anti-union Sheriff Don Chafin. With machine guns and private planes at his disposal, Chafin was prepared to ...

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