History Author Show
351 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 89 ratingsWe’ve all been transported into the past by a special book, place or person. On the History Author Show, host Dean Karayanis and a team of correspondents bring you the people who build the time machines.
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Episodes
Thomas Hauser — My Mother and Me: A Memoir
May 11, 2024 04:09 - 43 minutes - 98.4 MB May 11, 2024 - What happens when a celebrated author — Muhammad Ali’s official biographer, no less — turns his talents to putting his mother's century-long life down on paper? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard Thomas Hauser, author of “My Mother and Me: A Memoir.” Eleanor Nordlinger Hauser, who passed away last year at 96, experienced a life of success and failures, meeting the march of years with resilience and grace until she made her peace with the fact that — as we...
Rob Hilliard — In Freedom’s Shadow
April 01, 2024 04:01 - 1 hour - 137 MB April 1, 2024 - Where would an enslaved man who escaped the South find the courage to return to the Confederacy as a Union Spy? In this episode, we meet such a man thanks to Robert Hilliard, author of “In Freedom’s Shadow.” The novel is based on the heroic true story of John Scobell, an enslaved African American who escaped early in the Civil War. Recruited by the Union to return south and gather intelligence, Scobell found new purpose as a spy. These was no ritzy James Bond missions, ...
Brent Butt – Huge: A Novel
October 11, 2023 14:36 - 58 minutes - 134 MB October 11, 2023 - In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard Brent Butt, who those of you in the Great White North know as the creator and star of the sitcom "Corner Gas," so beloved by Canadians that it has spawned an animated version and a movie. He's also host of the Butt Pod, which — since you probably have your phone out right now — I suggest you swipe over and subscribe to for some really insightful interviews. Brent Butt puts his talents to work on the thriller genre in ...
S.C. Gwynne – His Majesty’s Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World’s Largest Flying Machine
September 04, 2023 15:14 - 1 hour - 56.8 MB September 4, 2023 - How did airship R101 — embodying the British Empire’s global ambitions — die in fireball of dreams, romance, and hubris and turn to ashes in the pages of history? S.C. Gwynne brings us this story of reaching for the sky in “His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine.” S.C. Gwynne previously joined us to discuss his books, “Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War,” and “The Perfect Pass:...
Jenni L. Walsh – The Call of the Wrens
July 31, 2023 14:44 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MB July 30, 2023 - What did service in the World Wars mean to women who found new opportunities to enter the workforce and join the fight as never before? We’ll go on a fictional ride with one of those service members with today’s novelist, Jenni Walsh. Her novel is “The Call of the Wrens,” the third she joined us to discuss after her debut, “Becoming Bonnie,” and its sequel, “Side By Side,” about “the crash of the century,” when Bonnie Parker met Clyde Barrow. You can find those conversa...
Jerry Izenberg — Baseball, Nazis & Nedick’s Hot Dogs: Growing up Jewish in the 1930s in Newark
June 18, 2023 00:43 - 1 hour - 146 MB The New York Sun - ‘Baseball, Nazis & Nedick’s Hot Dogs’ Is a Story of Fathers, Sons, and a Lost America - Dean Karayanis June 17, 2023 - Reading about history is one thing, but what happens when a legendary sportswriter looks back nearly a century to recall his upbringing in Newark, New Jersey, during the trying decades of the ‘30s and ‘40s – as a Jewish kid, mind you — while Wall Street crashed and Hitler made war on the world? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard a re...
Lindsay Berra – “It Ain’t Over,” the Yogi Berra Movie
May 11, 2023 04:57 - 24 minutes - 56.4 MB The New York Sun - ‘It Ain’t Over’ Documents Yogi Berra’s Amazing American Life - Dean Karayanis May 11, 2023 - Who was the greatest Major League Baseball catcher of all time? If the name Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra doesn’t spring to mind, have I got the movie for you. It’s the story of a kid from St. Louis and D-Day veteran whose life story has the power to uplift not just fans, but people from all walks of life. In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard sports journalist Lin...
Lindsay M. Chervinsky – Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture
May 01, 2023 04:01 - 49 minutes - 114 MB The New York Sun - ‘Mourning the Presidents’ Considers How the Republic Eulogizes its Leaders - Dean Karayanis May 1, 2023 - When a president of the United States dies, what does how we memorialize his life and service say about the republic? Our time machine welcomes back Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky to give her insights as we discuss “Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture,” co-written with Matthew R. Costello. The book includes observation of several scholars, b...
Stephen F. Knott – Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy
March 21, 2023 19:41 - 53 minutes - 49 MB The New York Sun - Stephen F. Knott – Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy - Dean Karayanis March 21, 2023 - How did a man who worked at the JFK Presidential Library grapple with the 35th president’s legacy over his own lifetime to deliver portrait of the real man behind the myths of Camelot? In this episode, our time machine welcomes back Stephen F. Knott, author of “Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy.” We previously welcomed Mr. Knott onto the show way back in 2015 to discuss th...
Mike Purdy – Presidential Friendships: How They Changed History
January 23, 2023 05:01 - 57 minutes - 131 MBJanuary 23, 2023 - How did the relationships of two pairs of U.S. presidents — Theodore Roosevelt with William Howard Taft and Franklin Delano Roosevelt with freshman Congressman Lyndon Baines Johnson — change the course of history, and the world we live in today? In this episode, presidential historian Mike Purdy brings us Presidential Friendships: How They Changed History. Mike is an opinion contributor to The Hill and founder of PresidentialHistory.com, where you can find his award-...
Natasha Lance Rogoff – Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia
December 19, 2022 05:01 - 48 minutes - 112 MB The New York Sun - ‘Muppets in Moscow’ Recounts How Sesame Street Reached Red Square - Dean Karayanis December 19, 2022 - How did Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, and the rest of the Sesame Street expand their neighborhood to Moscow after the collapse of the USSR? In this episode, we meet the woman who adapted a beloved American TV show for an audience newly freed from behind the Iron Curtain. TV producer and filmmaker Natasha Lance Rogoff who brings us, “Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected C...
Mike Guardia – Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…And Always
November 21, 2022 05:01 - 55 minutes - 126 MB November 21, 2022 - If you could ride along in a Humvee with one of the most admired American combat leaders of the last half century, what would you hope to learn? In this episode, our time machine welcomes back internationally acclaimed military historian and U.S. Army veteran Mike Guardia. We last caught up with Mike to discuss his book, Skybreak: The 58th Fighter Squadron in Desert Storm. Mike returns to discuss his acclaimed biography of Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, titled, Hal Moore: A S...
The Legend of Lizzie Borden – History Author ShowTime Review (featuring Cara Robertson)
October 24, 2022 04:01 - 28 minutes - 65.7 MBOctober 24, 2022 - Something special this week for the season of pumpkins, ghosts, and Candy Corn: A YouTube feature on what Hollywood gets right and wrong about yesterday called History Author Showtime. It’s a video breakdown of the 1975 movie, “The Legend of Lizzie Borden,” starring Elizabeth Montgomery, who you may remember as Samantha Stevens from “Bewitched.” I often ask authors what they think of the film or TV portrayals of the past, and for this week, I pulled some soundbites from...
Judith F. Brenner – The Moments Between Dreams: A Novel
October 10, 2022 04:01 - 46 minutes - 106 MBOctober 10, 2022 - What if historical fiction could give someone the courage that saves their life? In this episode, Judith F. Brenner shares her debut novel The Moments Between Dreams, which has the power to do just that, as we mark Domestic Violence and Polio Awareness Months. The book has been described as "edutaining,' both educational and entertaining, as we return to the 1940s and ‘50s for a story set during the polio epidemic wrapped around housewife Carol’s carefully concealed abu...
David Pietrusza – Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR’s 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal
September 26, 2022 04:01 - 50 minutes - 116 MB Featured in The New York Sun - Biden’s Tumble at Air Force Ceremony Stands Out in Long List of History’s Presidential Pratfalls - Dean Karayanis September 26, 2022 - How did Franklin Delano Roosevelt win reelection with 46 of the 48 states in 1936, despite America being in the throes of the Great Depression? In this episode, legendary historian David Pietrusza to discuss his new book, Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR's 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal. Enjoy his previou...
Anna J. Walner – Saltwater and Driftwood: A Historical Novel
September 03, 2022 04:01 - 49 minutes - 114 MB September 3, 2022 - On the morning of September 8th, 1900, disaster struck the vibrant, prosperous island of Galveston, Texas, tearing out its heart. In this episode, our time machine travels back to the turn of the last century to meet sixteen-year-old Clara and the Gladys family, against the backdrop of the worst natural disaster to ever strike the United States -- that killed between 6,000 and 8,000 on the island of Galveston. Our guide on this journey is international award-winning...
Jeffrey Frank – The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of An Ordinary Man
August 22, 2022 04:01 - 47 minutes - 43.2 MB Featured in The New York Sun - After 77 Years, Hiroshima Bombing Stands Up to Second-Guessing - Dean Karayanis August 22, 2022 - What if you were a Midwestern haberdasher-turned-senator, who served just three months as vice president, before finding yourself thrust into the Big Chair, charged with winning World War II? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard journalist Jeffrey Frank who brings us, The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of An Ordinary Man...
Ray E. Boomhower – Richard Tregaskis: Reporting under Fire from Guadalcanal to Vietnam
August 08, 2022 04:01 - 56 minutes - 51.2 MB August 8, 2022 - In the late summer of 1942, the First Marine Division sought to wrest Guadalcanal from the Japanese Empire. We’ll meet one of only two reporters on hand to record the carnage, as the spot in the Pacific earned its nickname, the Island of Death. In this episode, our time machine travels back war zones to meet in intrepid journalist who told soldiers’ stories to the folks back home. Our guide on this journey is Ray E. Boomhower, a senior editor at the Indiana Historical ...
Todd D. Snyder – Beatboxing: How Hip-Hop Changed the Fight Game
July 24, 2022 23:32 - 1 hour - 141 MB July 25, 2022 - How did the worlds of hip-hop and boxing unite, blending together music, race, sports, and politics? In this episode our time machine welcomes back Dr. Todd D. Snyder who brings us Beatboxing: How Hip-Hop Changed the Fight Game. We previously caught up to discuss his previous book: Bundini: Don't Believe the Hype. Meeting Muhammad Ali's hype man, Drew "Bundini" Brown, was an experience that really stuck with me, in a way that made me scared to think I might never have k...
S.W. O’Connell: The Patriot Spy – Book One of the Yankee Doodle Spy Series
July 02, 2022 23:10 - 1 hour - 57.7 MB July 2, 2022 - Who were the citizen spies who risked their lives to bring General George Washington the intelligence he needed to win the War for Independence? In this episode, we take a fictional trip back to the American Revolution, to meet the people who fought for liberty with their wits and secrecy, not muskets and cannon. Our guide on this journey is S.W. O'Connell who brings us, The Patriot Spy, Book One of the Yankee Doodle Spies Series, followed by Book 2, The Cavalier Spy, an...
James D. R. Philips — Two Revolutions and the Constitution: How the English and American Revolutions Produced the American Constitution
June 27, 2022 04:01 - 1 hour - 59.6 MB June 27, 2022 - How did revolutions in the two great English-speaking nations -- the United States and the United Kingdom -- give birth to the American Constitution, and what does its creation have to tell us about the challenges we face over 200 years since its ratification? In this episode, we dig into those questions, traveling back to when it all started with James D. R. Philips, a lawyer and visiting lecturer at the University of Sydney’s Law School in Australia. His book is Two R...
Yogi Berra Museum & Bob Feller Act of Valor Foundation – Sacrifice & Courage, A Tribute to D-Day
June 13, 2022 04:01 - 17 minutes - 39.5 MB June 13, 2022 - Before he won ten World Series titles with the New York Yankees, Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra answered a higher team’s calling, to serve his country in World War Two -- a role in the Navy that ultimately led him to a rocket ship supporting the Normandy landings. For June 6, 2022, the 78th anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings, my column in the New York Sun was titled: “Yogi Berra’s War: ‘Deja Vu All Over Again.’” It looked at the famed catcher’s service during the Nor...
Jeff Gottesfeld – Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
May 30, 2022 04:01 - 49 minutes - 113 MB May 31, 2021 - The United States of America goes to great lengths to recover the remains of those who fall in battle, to offer a headstone, a finally resting place that loved ones can visit to honor their sacrifice. But what about those who fall and cannot be identified? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard readers ages 7 to 97, with a book that's perfect for Memorial Day. Since 1937, an elite body of guards began the round-the-clock vigil that continues to this day, steep...
Candice Millard – River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile
May 16, 2022 04:01 - 51 minutes - 118 MB May 16, 2022 - Today, mapping the source of the Nile River is as easy as a Google search, but the mystery intrigued humanity for centuries. In this episode, best-selling author Candice Millard introduces us to the men who won a race worthy of Indiana Jones in River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile. We last met up with Candice Millard to discuss her book, Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churc...
Sheila Myers – The Truth of Who You Are (a Novel)
May 02, 2022 04:01 - 54 minutes - 125 MB May 2, 2022 - Imagine you're struggling to feed your family during the Great Depression, and you cause a tragic accident at work. Do you risk your precious job at a time of sky-high unemployment and breadlines, or let someone else take the fall for what you did wrong? We'll meet a young man who faced that dilemma with award-winning novelist Sheila Myers who brings us The Truth of Who You Are. In this based-on-a-true-story work of historical fiction, we meet Ben Taylor, whose decision s...
Deborah Cohen – Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took on a World at War
April 18, 2022 04:01 - 52 minutes - 48.5 MB April 18, 2022 - If a group of World War Two-era journalists invited you out for drinks, ready to open up about their interviews with everyone from Gandhi and Neru to Mussolini and Hitler, what would say? Readers get that opportunity with Deborah Cohen who brings us Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took on a World at War. In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard journalists John Gunther, H. R. Knickerbocker, Vincent Sheean, and Dorothy Thompson, who have do t...
Meriel Schindler – The Lost Café Schindler: One Family, Two Wars, and the Search for Truth
April 04, 2022 04:01 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MB April 4, 2022 - What would you do if your estranged father died, leaving behind piles of Nazi-era documents related to the fate of your family's café in the world wars? In this episode, our time machine travels back to the inter-war years, to meet a Jewish family rocked by the turmoil of Austria-Hungary and them Germany coming out on the losing side. Our guide on this journey is Meriel Schindler who brings us The Lost Café Schindler: One Family, Two Wars, and the Search for Truth. Afte...
Mike Guardia – Skybreak: The 58th Fighter Squadron in Desert Storm
March 21, 2022 04:01 - 49 minutes - 114 MB March 21, 2022 - Who were the young American pilots who launched their fighter jets into the wild blue yonder during the first Gulf Wear, aiming to pry tiny Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's fist? In this episode, we'll travel back to January 17, 1991, as Desert Shield transforms into Desert Storm high in the skies over Iraq. Once there, we'll meet those American airmen -- and the teams on the ground that kept their F-15C's flying against Soviet MiG-29 Fulcrums -- with internationally accl...
Eva Stachniak – The School of Mirrors
March 07, 2022 05:01 - 1 hour - 55.2 MB March 7, 2022 - Best-selling author Eva Stachniak joins us to discuss her latest novel, The School of Mirrors. "During the reign of Louis XV, impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France are sent to a discreet villa in the town of Versailles. Overseen by the King’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour, they will be trained as potential courtesans for the King. ... The students at this 'School of Mirrors' rarely ask questions, and when Louis tires of them, they are marrie...
Claude A. Clegg III – The Black President: Hope and Fury in the Age of Obama
February 21, 2022 05:01 - 1 hour - 164 MB Featured in The New York Sun - Martin Luther King Jr. Drew His Moral Authority From Religion - Dean Karayanis February 21, 2022 - It was once an unattainable dream, kept out of reach by lynch mobs, police dogs and firehoses. But in 2008, Barack Obama fulfilled the promise of that all men are created equal. In this episode, we take a look back at the man who changed the face of the Oval Office forever, just in time for Presidents' Day and Black History Month. Our guide on this journey...
Michael Patrick Cullinane – Remembering Theodore Roosevelt: Reminiscences of his Contemporaries
February 07, 2022 05:01 - 56 minutes - 129 MB February 7, 2022 - Theodore Roosevelt's life is the stuff of myths and legends, a persona he carefully cultivated over his decades charging through public life. But what did those who shared his private moments think of the Rough Rider? We'll get freshly uncovered insights from those who knew him best, meeting the 26th president through the eyes of friends, families and confidants, through 14 lost oral histories from the 1950s. Our guide on this journey is Michael Patrick Cullinane w...
David O. Stewart’s Latest Novel: The New Land – The Overstreet Saga (Book One)
January 24, 2022 05:01 - 53 minutes - 121 MB January 24, 2022 - What happens when an acclaimed author on figures from George Washington and James Madison to Aaron Burr and Andrew Johnson, turns his historical searchlight inward to his own family's American story? David O. Stewart does just that in his novel The New Land, Book One of the Overstreet Saga. This is attorney-turned-author David O. Stewart's fifth appearance on the show. I previously caught up with him to chat about his non-fiction books George Washington: The Politi...
Ricky D. Phillips – Last Letters from Stanley: The Unpublished Argentine Battle for the Falklands
January 10, 2022 05:01 - 1 hour - 62.9 MB January 10, 2022 - Surrounded, low on supplies, and on the verge of surrender, the soldiers of Argentina -- many young, barely trained conscripts -- wrote home in the waning days of the Falkland War, telling tales of hardship that bore no resemblance to the propaganda woven by the military junta back in Buenos Ares. Ricky D. Phillips brings us these up-close accounts for the first time in Last Letters from Stanley: The Unpublished Argentine Battle for the Falklands, who we previously ...
James Golden – Rush on the Radio: A Tribute from His Sidekick for 30 Years
December 13, 2021 05:01 - 1 hour - 144 MB December 13, 2021 - How did a college dropout from Missouri, grow up to win five Marconi awards and rescue AM radio -- to have one U.S. president carry his bags into the Lincoln bedroom, and another award him the Medal of Freedom? It's the amazing life story of radio's greatest of all time, Rush Limbaugh, from his long-time friend James Golden, known better to tens of millions of listeners as Bo Snerdley. The book is Rush on the Radio: A Tribute from His Sidekick for 30 Years, an inti...
John U. Bacon – Let Them Lead: Unexpected Lessons in Leadership from America’s Worst High School Hockey Team
November 29, 2021 05:01 - 50 minutes - 45.9 MB November 29, 2021 - How did a high school hockey team go from being the very worst in the country to the top 5%, and what lessons can we apply to our own lives from that historic turnaround? In this episode, our time machine steps onto the ice twenty years ago with the lowly Ann Arbor Huron High School River Rats. Our player-turned-coach is best-selling author John U. Bacon, who rescued a team with a tradition of losing so engrained, they hadn't won a game in a year and a half, going ...
Gerald Posner – Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK
November 15, 2021 05:01 - 1 hour - 58.4 MB The New York Sun - Upcoming Dump of JFK Documents Winds Up the Conspiracy Theorists - Dean Karayanis November 15, 2021 - On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Was it a lone gunman or something more sinister? In this episode, we debunk the conspiracy theories with renowned investigative journalist and attorney Gerald Posner, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist, Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK. Gerald previousl...
Simon Read – The Iron Sea: How the Allies Hunted and Destroyed Hitler’s Warships
November 01, 2021 04:01 - 57 minutes - 132 MB November 1, 2021 - Adolf Hitler infamously told his naval commander-in-chief, Admiral Karl Dönitz, "On land, I am a hero. At sea, I am a coward." But those battles on, under and over the Atlantic decided the fate of the world every bit as much as action in Europe and North Africa. In this episode, our time machine welcomes back Simon Read who brings us his wildly enjoyable new book The Iron Sea: How the Allies Hunted and Destroyed Hitler's Warships. In our archives, you can find my pre...
Thomas Balcerski – Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King
October 18, 2021 04:01 - 1 hour - 146 MBOctober 18, 2021 - America's only bachelor president has had whispers about his relationship with a certain vice president for almost two centuries. But were they more than friends, and why does the answer matter in 2021? Our time machine travels back to the pre-Civil War period, to delve into the personal lives of our 15th president, James Buchanan, and his roommate William Rufus King, the 13th vice president -- a pair that has long been the target of snickering, insults -- and more rece...
Michael Patrick Cullinane – Theodore Roosevelt’s Ghost: The History and Memory of an American Icon
October 04, 2021 04:01 - 54 minutes - 126 MB October 4, 2021 - Theodore Roosevelt is invoked in contemporary politics so often, it's easy to forget that he died in his bed 100 years ago. So who was the real flesh-and-blood man, and what would he think of his evolution into a mythical folk hero? Our time machine travels back, to meet the real TR with Michael Patrick Cullinane, author of Theodore Roosevelt’s Ghost: The History and Memory of an American Icon, winner of the coveted TR Book Prize. Michael Patrick Cullinane is profess...
Joel C. Rosenberg – Enemies and Allies: An Unforgettable Journey inside the Fast-Moving & Immensely Turbulent Modern Middle East
September 20, 2021 04:01 - 1 hour - 158 MB September 20, 2021 - In 2020, we saw one what was long called impossible: Peace deal after another between Arab states and Israel in the Abraham Accords. What do the leaders of these nations see for the future, and how can we foster it by better understanding the past? Joel C. Rosenberg has seen history unfold firsthand and spoken personally to the men changing their corner of world by beating swords into plowshares. Joel's latest book after a string of New York Times bestselling novel...
Jessica DuLong – Saved at the Seawall: Stories from the September 11 Boat Lift
September 06, 2021 04:01 - 56 minutes - 129 MBSep 6, 2021 - Our time machine travels back to a bright morning that turned dark, when ships of all sizes answered cries for help to evacuate Lower Manhattan after terrorists flew planes into the Twin Towers. Our guide on this journey is Jessica DuLong who bring us, Saved at the Seawall: Stories from the September 11 Boat Lift. Jessica DuLong is an award-winning author, journalist, historian, ghostwriter, book collaborator, proposal doctor, editor, writing coach, and a marine engineer as ...
Mitchell James Kaplan – Rhapsody: A Novel
August 23, 2021 04:01 - 48 minutes - 111 MBAugust 23, 2021 - Everyone has heard the timeless music of George Gershwin, but we may never have heard it in quite the same way without the love of Gershwin's life, Katharine Faulkner Swift, who he nicknamed "Kay." Mitchell James Kaplan brings us their Jazz Age romance in his novel, Rhapsody. In it, we meet a restless society wife who attends a concert that changes her life and the face of musical theater. The song is Rhapsody in Blue, composed by the young genius, Gershwin. Mitchell Jam...
Michael Burlingame – An American Marriage: The Untold Story of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd
August 09, 2021 04:01 - 57 minutes - 132 MB August 9, 2021 - In this episode, we toss the keys to our time machine into the hands of Lincoln historian Jason Emerson, who I welcomed for Q&A about his book Mary Lincoln for the Ages and several other titles related to the 16th president and the First Lady. Jason's guest hosting our interview with Michael Burlingame about An American Marriage: The Untold Story of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd. James McPherson of the New York Review of Books says that Dr. Burlingame "knows more abou...
Thomas J. Howley – Wolf of Clontarf: The Irish, the Vikings and the Foreigners of the World
July 26, 2021 04:01 - 58 minutes - 134 MB July 26, 2021 - You may not have heard the name Wolf the Quarrelsome. But once you meet this bold, Irish warrior -- and the woman who risked her life to build his spy ring -- you'll never look at Ireland quite the same way. In this episode, our way-back machine travels ten centuries into the past, as Viking invaders storm his island, and Wolf mounts a 15-year resistance campaign, climaxing in arguably the most decisive battle of the Middle Ages: The Battle of Clontarf. Our guide on thi...
Ellin Bessner – Double Threat: Canadian Jews, the Military, and World War II
July 12, 2021 04:01 - 51 minutes - 119 MB July 12, 2021 - Imagine you're Jewish during the Second World War, but safely in bed an ocean away from Nazi Germany, secure in the vastness of Canada. Would you march into the heart of the Third Reich, risking your life to stare down Hitler's war machine, for a country that didn't consider you a fully loyal and equal citizen? In this episode, we meet the heroes that Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King said faced a "double threat" from Axis evil: Not just Fascism, but their survival...
Victoria Wilcox – The World of Doc Holliday: History and Historic Images
June 28, 2021 04:01 - 54 minutes - 124 MBJune 28, 2021 - We all know the name of John Henry “Doc” Holliday, but who was he in that lifetime beyond the fences of the O.K. Corral, standing guns drawn with Wyatt Earp? Our time machine travels back to meet this icon of the Old West, before and after his moment of destiny in Tombstone, Arizona, at the O.K. Corral. Our guide on this journey is Victoria Wilcox, who brings us The World of Doc Holliday: History and Historic Images. Victoria Wilcox is founding director of Georgia’s Hollid...
Ricky D. Phillips – The First Casualty: The Untold Story of the Falklands War
June 14, 2021 04:01 - 1 hour - 59.7 MBJune 14, 2021 - In 1982, the military junta in Buenos Aires had an idea to boost its sagging popularity: Invade the Falkland Islands, a British territory that Argentines called Las Malvinas. Only 60 Royal Marines stood in the way, 8,000 miles from home and cut off from support. In this week's episode, we bring you "the book they said couldn’t be written about the battle that they say never happened," debunking the conventional wisdom that those Marines surrendered without a fight. That na...
David O. Stewart – George Washington: The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father
May 17, 2021 04:01 - 52 minutes - 48 MBMay 17, 2021 - When we think of George Washington, we see him carved onto Mount Rushmore -- above all of us and certainly above anything as oily as politics. But how did he get up there? Joining us to shine new light on the warrior-statesman's career from a mere state legislator to the single most dominant force in the creation of the United States, is David O. Stewart, who bring us George Washington: The Political Rise of America's Founding Father. Special thanks to Lindsay M. Chervi...
Brook Allen – Antonius: Son of Rome
May 03, 2021 04:01 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBMay 3, 2021- Who was the Roman general Marc Antony before he became a legend, before he rose as a man in full, forever linked in history with Cleopatra? We'll meet a boy struggling to redeem his disgraced family name in this week's novel, Antonius: Son of Rome. It's book one in Brook Allen's Antonius Trilogy, followed by Antonius: Second in Command and the conclusion, Antonius: Soldier of Fate. Brook Allen introduces us to this historic figure before sculptors and Shakespeare got their ha...
Jim Leeke – The Best Team Over There: The Untold Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Great War
April 19, 2021 04:00 - 54 minutes - 49.7 MBApril 19, 2021 - How did the trauma of the First World War follow a baseball legend home, sending both his game and his life into downward spirals? Returning to introduce us to this tragic Hall of Famer is Jim Leeke, who brings us The Best Team Over There: The Untold Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Great War. Grover Cleveland "Pete" Alexander is a legendary name in baseball, but a key factor in his career -- months of service as an artillery sergeant in the Great War -- has be...