American History Tellers

The Bastard Brigade - The Juice | 2

July 24, 2019 07:05 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MB

The discovery of uranium fission in Nazi Germany in 1938 terrified Allied nuclear scientists—especially since the Nazi atomic bomb project, the dreaded Uranium Club, had a two-year head start on the Manhattan Project. So the Allies decided to strike back. They couldn’t prevent Germany from acquiring uranium, but they could disrupt access to another key ingredient in atomic research—heavy water. Only one company in the world produced heavy water at the time, an isolated plant in Nor...

The Bastard Brigade - The Accidental A-Bomb | 1

July 17, 2019 07:05 - 36 minutes - 33 MB

The Second World War ended with two black mushroom clouds rising over the scorched remains of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But most people don’t realize how easily the war could have ended not with an American atomic bomb but a German one, obliterating not a Japanese city but Paris, London, or even New York. As the war began, all the pieces were in place for the Germans to develop an atomic weapon. They had scientific visionaries like Werner Heisenberg, a manufacturing base committed to ...

The Statue of Liberty | 6

July 03, 2019 09:00 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MB

The Statue of Liberty is one of America’s most iconic monuments to freedom. As we head into the Fourth of July holiday, we’ll look back on the amazing effort it took to get Lady Liberty built. Beckett Graham is co-host of The History Chicks podcast, a show that explores the legacies of women throughout history. Beckett joins us to talk about her approach to telling women’s stories and we’ll also play a portion of The History Chicks podcast episode on how the Statue of Liberty came ...

Tulsa Race Massacre - Legacy and Lessons | 5

June 26, 2019 09:00 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MB

Nearly a century after a white mob leveled the affluent Tulsa district known as Black Wall Street, how is Greenwood faring? Mechelle Brown is the program coordinator for the Greenwood Cultural Center, which seeks to educate people about the rich history of the Greenwood District. She joins us to discuss why a race conflict in Tulsa was inevitable, the city’s ongoing struggle to fully acknowledge the history of the massacre, and what has — and still hasn’t — been done. Support us...

Tulsa Race Massacre - Rebirth | 4

June 19, 2019 07:05 - 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, sympathy for the survivors exploded around the country. In Tulsa, some white business leaders vowed to help them rebuild. Bu...

New Show From Lindsay Graham: 1865

June 18, 2019 09:00 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MB

1865 starts with the moment Lincoln got shot and follows the journey of the Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, as he continues to push through Lincoln’s progressive agenda while dealing with the nuances and scandal around Lincoln’s assassination. In pursuit of his goals, Stanton will forge and break alliances, deceive and manipulate his friends, and cajole and flatter his enemies. Steadfast in his conviction, Stanton will threaten, inveigle and blackmail. He will protect the guilty a...

Tulsa Race Massacre - The Invasion | 3

June 12, 2019 07:05 - 40 minutes - 37.4 MB

By midnight on Tuesday, May 31, 1921, some Greenwood residents assumed the riot was calming down. Many families, far away from the action at the courthouse, hadn’t even heard about the violence, and went to bed as usual. But as much of the city slumbered, the white mob was transforming into something even more deadly: a highly organized, strategic force led by volunteer soldiers. That force held its fire until daybreak on Wednesday, June 1, when it sprang into action. All over Gree...

Tulsa Race Massacre - The Powder Keg | 2

June 05, 2019 09:00 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MB

As Dick Rowland sat in a jail cell at the Tulsa courthouse on Tuesday, the news of his arrest and rumors about his alleged rape of Sarah Page flew through town. Egged on by an inflammatory op-ed in the Tulsa Tribune, a white mob bent on a lynching began assembling outside the courthouse. By that evening, the crowd of hundreds had swelled to thousands. Meanwhile in the office of the Tulsa Star newspaper, Greenwood’s most prominent citizens debated the proper course of action. Some yo...

Introducing Inside Star Wars

May 30, 2019 10:00 - 6 minutes - 5.81 MB

Heroes, villains, action... all set in a galaxy far, far away. Join Inside Star Wars and go behind the camera and find out how one of the most iconic series in film history came to be. Listen now at: http://wondery.fm/ISWED

Tulsa Race Massacre - The Promised Land | 1

May 29, 2019 07:05 - 48 minutes - 44.4 MB

Between 1838 and 1890, thousands of African Americans moved to Oklahoma, brought there as Cherokee slaves or drawn there by the promise of free land. Black pioneers established towns where African Americans could govern themselves and thrive in community together, and in time, Oklahoma became known as “The Promised Land” of freedom, dignity, and economic self-sufficiency. Out of this movement, the wealthiest African American community in the nation was born. By 1921, the Tulsa neigh...

J. Edgar Hoover's FBI - Humanizing History with David McCullough | 7

May 22, 2019 07:05 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MB

Pulitzer Prize winner. National Book Award winner. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. Today David McCullough, one of America’s greatest living historians, joins us to discuss his new book, The Pioneers, about the heroic men and women who shaped the Northwest Territories, in present-day Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois. Without their bravery, foresight, and commitment to their ideals, the United States we know today might look very different. The author of Truma...

J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI - Humanizing History with David McCullough | 7

May 22, 2019 07:05 - 35 minutes - 32.6 MB

Pulitzer Prize winner. National Book Award winner. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. Today David McCullough, one of America’s greatest living historians, joins us to discuss his new book, The Pioneers, about the heroic men and women who shaped the Northwest Territories, in present-day Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois. Without their bravery, foresight, and commitment to their ideals, the United States we know today might look very different. The author of Truma...

J. Edgar Hoover's FBI - Citizens Resistance | 6

May 15, 2019 07:05 - 40 minutes - 37.2 MB

On March 8, 1971, seven ordinary Americans broke into a poorly guarded FBI regional office in Media, Pennsylvania. They called themselves the Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI, and they had one purpose: to gather evidence that would prove the agency was engaged in a covert and illegal spying campaign against American citizens. For more than 30 years, Director J. Edgar Hoover had maintained an iron grip on the media, and with it, public perception of the Bureau. But as packa...

Actor Justin Long Gets Personal on "Life is Short"

May 13, 2019 07:05 - 8 minutes - 7.45 MB

Life is Short with Justin Long finds the actor sitting down with some of the funniest and most intriguing people of today, like Dax Shepard, Olivia Wilde and Neil Patrick Harris. No topics are out of bounds, and no questions are too personal. Subscribe to Life is Short with Justin Long and start listening at wondery.fm/lifeisshort

J. Edgar Hoover's FBI - Black Bag Job | 5

May 08, 2019 07:05 - 39 minutes - 36.5 MB

Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI carried out more than 2,000 top secret spying operations aimed at American citizens. Their target? The so-called Fifth Column, a network of undercover Soviet agents allegedly working to destroy the American government from within. The agency even had an internal code name for these operations: COINTELPRO. In the name of this mission, Hoover directed agents to infiltrate, penetrate, disorganize and disrupt their targets. But the FBI’s actions weren’t ju...

J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI - Black Bag Job | 5

May 08, 2019 07:05 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MB

Between 1956 and 1971, the FBI carried out more than 2,000 top secret spying operations aimed at American citizens. Their target? The so-called Fifth Column, a network of undercover Soviet agents allegedly working to destroy the American government from within. The agency even had an internal code name for these operations: COINTELPRO. In the name of this mission, Hoover directed agents to infiltrate, penetrate, disorganize and disrupt their targets. But the FBI’s actions weren’t ju...

J. Edgar Hoover's FBI - Controlling the Message | 4

May 01, 2019 07:00 - 41 minutes - 38.1 MB

The rise of fascism and World War II shifted the FBI’s focus in the 1940s from fighting midwestern outlaws to catching Communists. To Hoover and the FBI, nearly anyone on the political left was suspect, potentially part of a Soviet conspiracy to overthrow Western democracies. In reality, the American left was fragmented. But again and again, Hoover would use the threat of Communism to go after the Bureau’s enemies. He would resort to exhaustive surveillance, including wiretaps, bugg...

J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI - Controlling the Message | 4

May 01, 2019 07:00 - 41 minutes - 38.2 MB

The rise of fascism and World War II shifted the FBI’s focus in the 1940s from fighting midwestern outlaws to catching Communists. To Hoover and the FBI, nearly anyone on the political left was suspect, potentially part of a Soviet conspiracy to overthrow Western democracies. In reality, the American left was fragmented. But again and again, Hoover would use the threat of Communism to go after the Bureau’s enemies. He would resort to exhaustive surveillance, including wiretaps, bugg...

J. Edgar Hoover's FBI - The Bobby Sox Bandit Queen | 3

April 24, 2019 07:05 - 43 minutes - 40.2 MB

During the mid-1930s, the FBI’s public relations department had effectively changed the image of its agents from accountants into action heroes; and its director, from a bureaucrat into an American icon. They pushed stories about heroic G-men facing off against violent foes, gunning them down in self-defense. And the press ate it up. But in April 1939, an FBI agent shot and killed a small town bank robber — in the back. The real story didn’t fit the FBI’s new heroic narrative. So Ho...

J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI - The Bobby Sox Bandit Queen | 3

April 24, 2019 07:05 - 35 minutes - 32.2 MB

During the mid-1930s, the FBI’s public relations department had effectively changed the image of its agents from accountants into action heroes; and its director, from a bureaucrat into an American icon. They pushed stories about heroic G-men facing off against violent foes, gunning them down in self-defense. And the press ate it up. But in April 1939, an FBI agent shot and killed a small town bank robber — in the back. The real story didn’t fit the FBI’s new heroic narrative. So Ho...

J. Edgar Hoover's FBI - Giant Among G-Men | 2

April 17, 2019 07:05 - 33 minutes - 31 MB

J. Edgar Hoover became director of the FBI when he was just 29 years old. His orders? Clean up the Bureau. At first, he proved to be a brilliant and innovative leader, setting new standards for education, physical fitness, and training of federal agents. But there was a dark side to his success. Hoover was also obsessed with tracking anyone he considered to be disloyal to the U.S. government. By the early 1930s, the Bureau was secretly compiling dossiers on tens of thousands of Ame...

J. Edgar Hoover's FBI - The Department of Easy Virtues | 1

April 10, 2019 07:05 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MB

By the turn of the century, radical anarchists were becoming a growing -- and volatile -- political movement. As shifting workplace conditions exploited and endangered American workers, anarchists increasingly turned to violence to spur everyday citizens to upend the capitalist system. The growth of these politically motivated shootings and bombings stoked fear among American citizens — fear of immigrants, outsiders, and anyone else whose ideas might be considered a threat. Soon Pre...

J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI - The Department of Easy Virtues | 1

April 10, 2019 07:05 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MB

By the turn of the century, radical anarchists were becoming a growing -- and volatile -- political movement. As shifting workplace conditions exploited and endangered American workers, anarchists increasingly turned to violence to spur everyday citizens to upend the capitalist system. The growth of these politically motivated shootings and bombings stoked fear among American citizens — fear of immigrants, outsiders, and anyone else whose ideas might be considered a threat. Soon Pre...

America's Anthem | 7

April 03, 2019 07:05 - 43 minutes - 39.8 MB

“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord.” That’s the opening line of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” written by Julie Ward Howe in 1861. Over the years, it’s become something of an unofficial national anthem for all manner of political causes in the United States. Historian Richard Gamble joins us to talk about the song, its meaning, and its history in everything from The Civil War to The Civil Rights Movement. Read more: A Fiery Gospel: The Battle Hymn of the Re...

The Great Depression: Justice and Infamy | 6

March 27, 2019 07:05 - 38 minutes - 35.6 MB

As legal challenges to his New Deal programs mounted, President Roosevelt and his attorney general devised dramatic reforms to the Supreme Court’s structure. The proposed changes would open new rifts between the president and conservative members of his own party. Other greater challenges loomed. A recession was threatening to unwind four years of economic recovery. The Senate launched a politicized investigation into purported un-American activities in federal work programs. And ...

The Great Depression - Justice and Infamy | 6

March 27, 2019 07:05 - 38 minutes - 35.4 MB

As legal challenges to his New Deal programs mounted, President Roosevelt and his attorney general devised dramatic reforms to the Supreme Court’s structure. The proposed changes would open new rifts between the president and conservative members of his own party. Other greater challenges loomed. A recession was threatening to unwind four years of economic recovery. The Senate launched a politicized investigation into purported un-American activities in federal work programs. And ...

The Great Depression - Progress and Pushback | 5

March 20, 2019 07:05 - 38 minutes - 35.4 MB

After two of President Roosevelt’s closest advisors competed to create a new federal jobs program, the White House launched one of Roosevelt's keystone initiatives: the Works Progress Administration. Under this program, millions of Americans earned government salaries at a wide range of blue- and white-collar jobs — everything from building post offices and painting murals to delivering library books by horseback to rural communities. However, the federal government’s increased rea...

The Great Depression - Dust | 4

March 13, 2019 07:05 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MB

The Great Depression wasn’t the only crisis facing the country when Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933. Following a decade-long drought that had shriveled crops, massive dust storms were pummeling huge swaths of the Midwest, the Great Plains, and the Northwest. Years of poor harvest practices had worsened the crisis, pushing farmers already strained by the financial hit of the Great Depression off their land. Only when a lifelong soil scientist made a dramatic testimony before C...

Introducing Unknown History: 75 Years Since D-Day

March 08, 2019 09:00 - 15 minutes - 14 MB

This year marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the longest day in military history. For the first time, you can hear perspectives on the conflict from all sides on the podcast Unknown History. Bestselling historian Giles Milton shares stories from pilots, sailors, soldiers and bystanders. Subscribe at bit.ly/ddaypod.

The Great Depression - A New Deal | 3

March 06, 2019 08:05 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MB

With the country was still hobbled by the Depression, New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised a “New Deal” for the American people. That vow handed Roosevelt a contested Democratic nomination and helped him crush Hoover in the general election. Roosevelt began his presidency with a flurry of policy proposals and legislative efforts focused around three priorities: relief, recovery, and reform. These new efforts saw millions of young men put back to work preserving natur...

The Great Depression - Brother, Can You Spare a Dime | 2

February 27, 2019 08:05 - 38 minutes - 35.6 MB

Factories have shut down, banks have failed, and millions are out of work. As the Depression worsens, public opinion sours toward President Hoover. Hoover’s allies attempt to counter criticism of the President by galvanizing anti-foreigner attitudes. They devise a scheme to frighten immigrants from Mexico and other countries with the specter of mass immigration raids in the hopes they’ll leave the country on their own, as hundreds of thousands do. Meanwhile, an unemployed cannery ...

The Great Depression - The Crash | 1

February 20, 2019 08:05 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MB

The Roaring Twenties came to a screeching halt on October 29, 1929, with the collapse of the U.S. stock market. A year earlier, president Herbert Hoover had coasted to victory by promising the American people “a chicken for every pot” and “a car in every backyard.” Lured by the promise of skyrocketing markets, many first-time investors got caught up in margin trading, borrowing money to make bigger stock purchases than they could actually afford. It was a foolproof way to make money...

Does History Repeat Itself? | 4

February 13, 2019 08:05 - 38 minutes - 35.5 MB

"Those who do not remember history are condemned to repeat it." On today’s show, we’ll consider what lessons we can draw from history, and what lessons we can’t. David Greenberg, a professor of history and media studies at Rutgers University, joins us to discuss how to connect the events of the past to the events of today. We’ll also talk about his latest book “Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency,” which explores the history of political messaging inside t...

The 1968 Chicago Protests - I Regret Nothing | 3

February 06, 2019 08:05 - 42 minutes - 39 MB

A special series with Legal Wars. The whole world was watching, and that’s exactly what the defendants wanted. As the end of 1969 approached, the Chicago 8 had become the Chicago 7. Bobby Seale, a Black Panther, had been removed from the trial in a brutal spectacle by Judge Julius Hoffman. The remaining defendants would respond by turning the courtroom upside down, much to the delight of the national media. Counterculture celebrities Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer would take the s...

The 1968 Chicago Protests - The Trial of the Chicago 8 | 2

January 30, 2019 08:05 - 44 minutes - 40.9 MB

A special series with Legal Wars. In 1969, the war in the streets became a war in the courtroom. The trial of the Chicago 8 pitted the federal government against eight prominent anti-war activists. The charges: Conspiracy to incite a riot. But the case was about more than just who threw the first punch at the DNC protests the year before. It was a battle for the soul of American culture, and both sides planned to win...by any means necessary. Check out Legal Wars for more stories b...

The 1968 Chicago Protests - The Battle of Michigan Avenue | 1

January 23, 2019 08:05 - 1 hour - 56.1 MB

A special series with our sibling show Legal Wars. The 1968 Democratic National Convention attracted demonstrators from all over the country. Thousands of students, Yippies, Peaceniks, and other protestors converged in Chicago to push for an end to the Vietnam War. But the city’s police had other plans and the would-be peaceful protests erupted into violence. News programs broadcast the clashes live to a nation of stunned viewers at home. Investigators called it a “police riot,” but...

1865 versus 2018 and Why History Matters | 7

January 02, 2019 08:05 - 39 minutes - 35.7 MB

We live in historic times, but how do they compare to that other tumultuous era of American history — 1865 and the years following President Lincoln’s death and the end of The Civil War? Steven Walters, writer of Lindsay Graham’s new scripted podcast “1865,” joins to discuss the thrilling story of how our country put itself back together again and brought Lincoln’s killers to justice. Plus, a preview of what’s to come on “American History Tellers” in 2019. You can listen to new wee...

Political Parties - The Reagan Revolution | 6

December 26, 2018 07:05 - 48 minutes - 44.9 MB

The year 1968 marked a watershed in American politics. Anti-war protests were roiling the country. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead in Memphis. Democratic President Lyndon Johnson’s approval rating was plummeting. The assassination of Democratic presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy would throw the party into disarray, toppling the New Deal coalition built by Franklin Delano Roosevelt two generations earlier and leading to a conservative surge. The political s...

Political Parties - The New Deal Coalition | 5

December 19, 2018 08:05 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MB

The 1929 stock market crash saw 14 billion dollars vanish in a matter of hours — and with it, the Republican party’s decades-long grip on American politics. As Americans lost their livelihoods, they turned to President Herbert Hoover for relief. But the self-made man who had so successfully reversed his own fortunes seemed unable to do the same for his country. With discontent growing, Hoover turned on World War veterans demanding early bonus payouts to support their families. It wo...

Political Parties - The Golden Age of the GOP | 4

December 12, 2018 08:05 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MB

As the Civil War came to a close, the government set its sights once again on the future of the United States. Working closely with a Republican President, the Republican Congress expected a swift and peaceful road to Reconstruction. But then, a mere four weeks into his second term, Lincoln was assassinated, leaving the country in the hands of Andrew Johnson, a Southern Democrat who had personally owned slaves just three years before. While Johnson’s unwavering commitment to states...

Political Parties - The Turbulent 1850s | 3

December 05, 2018 08:05 - 43 minutes - 39.5 MB

The United States won the The Mexican–American War in the 1840s, and with it vast new stretches of western land. But in the 1850s, the question of what to do with this land – and whether to allow slavery in the new territories or not – became a redning issue for politicians of all stripes. While the Whig Party collapsed over the issue, Democrats split into Northern and Southern factions, and a new Republican Party tried to bind the Union with an appeal to old Jeffersonian values. B...

Lindsay Graham's Newest Podcast: 1865

December 03, 2018 10:03 - 11 minutes - 10.9 MB

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. Heavily researched, this historical political thriller is an audio drama that explores America’s darkest hours. The story is astonishing—and all of it is based on true events. You can listen to new weekly episodes of 1865 exclusively on Stitcher Premium. For a free month of Stitcher Premium, go to stitcherpremium.com/1865...

History of the Lincoln Motor Company | 9

December 01, 2018 01:00 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MB

Named after one of the greatest U.S. presidents, the Lincoln Motor Company has become as ingrained in American culture as the Statue of Liberty. Founded by Henry Leland to produce plane engines during World War I, Lincoln became a key driver of the early automobile industry in the United States and a pioneer of the luxury car market. But when Leland’s vision proved too ambitious for the nascent American car market, Lincoln was purchased by the Ford Motor Company. The Ford acquisit...

Political Parties - Jacksonian Democracy | 2

November 28, 2018 08:05 - 46 minutes - 42.7 MB

Andrew Jackson lost the 1824 presidential election to John Quincy Adams through what some called a “corrupt bargain” in the House of Representatives. The maneuver was masterminded by hot-headed but politically savvy Henry Clay, who with Adams, announced their intent for far-reaching new federal programs. Fierce opposition to these policies united pro-Jackson supporters who formed a new party, the Democrats, to rally around their hero and elect him to president in 1828. But while Ad...

Political Parties - A Tale of Two Parties | 1

November 21, 2018 08:05 - 45 minutes - 41.4 MB

In the earliest days of the United States, there was no such thing as an organized political party. George Washington, elected twice to the presidency unanimously in the Electoral College, warned the new nation against political factions, writing that organized parties would become, “potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men subvert the power of the people.” But immediately after Washington vacated the Presidency, factions did spring up and bitter personal r...

History of the Lincoln Motor Company

November 20, 2018 08:00 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MB

Named after one of the greatest U.S. presidents, the Lincoln Motor Company has become as ingrained in American culture as the Statue of Liberty. Founded by Henry Leland to produce plane engines during World War I, Lincoln became a key driver of the early automobile industry in the United States and a pioneer of the luxury car market. But when Leland’s vision proved too ambitious for the nascent American car market, Lincoln was purchased by the Ford Motor Company. The Ford acquisiti...

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