Latest Buzzkill Podcast Episodes
"It's a Wonderful Life" 1947 Radio Drama
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - December 15, 2023 08:45 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsListeners have asked me to post the 1947 Lux Radio Drama version of "It's a Wonderful Life," starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. Enjoy this great story in a different format!
"It's a Wonderful Life" Myths and Urban Legends: 2023 Encore!
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - December 14, 2023 08:10 - 41 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsOne of the most popular movies of all time, “It’s a Wonderful Life” (starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed) is a holiday classic. It has also given us a cornucopia of history myths and urban legends. Lend an ear as the Professor analyzes these stories, talks about how the movie was received when ...
The Best Years of Our Lives: the Greatest Film You Haven’t Seen!
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - December 12, 2023 08:15 - 55 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsReleased in 1946, The Best Years of Our Lives became an immediate success. Life magazine called it “the first big, good movie of the post-war era” to tackle the “veterans problem.” Today we call that problem PTSD, but in the initial aftermath of World War II, the modern language of war trauma did...
Pearl Harbor 2023 Encore
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - December 06, 2023 15:15 - 47 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsDid FDR know about the Pearl Harbor attack ahead of time? And who was the attack more devastating for - the United States or Japan? Professor Phil Nash joins us to explain the myths and misconceptions about December 7th, 1941, as well as the complexities of the cultural importance of the attack s...
Resistance from the Right: Conservatives and the Campus Wars in Modern America
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - December 05, 2023 08:20 - 42 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsWhen thinking of campus protests, most Americans think of left-wing students marching and shouting. Dr. Lauren Lassabe Shepherd shows, however, that right-wing students and groups have protested very frequently on college campuses, even if they haven’t received as much attention from the media. I...
Quote or No Quote? Who Said “If you don’t have anything nice to say, come and sit here by me”?
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - November 29, 2023 08:10 - 4 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratings“If you don’t have anything nice to say, come and sit here by me,” is one of the best snarky-isms ever uttered. But who said it? Dorothy Parker? Joan Crawford? Lady Buzzkill? Hear the full story, and learn what in the world Teddy Roosevelt, Nellie Taft, and Thomas Dewey have to do with it all! Li...
1932: Politics, Protests, and Electioneering in a Crucial American Year
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - November 28, 2023 08:05 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsVeteran journalist and commentator, Scott Martelle, describes the fevered political year of 1932. Farmers’ strikes, industrial difficulties, marches and protests by military veterans, women’s rights protestors, tension over prohibition, and much more made this among the most politically active ye...
Thanksgiving History and Myth
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - November 22, 2023 08:25 - 9 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsWho invented American Thanksgiving, and when did they invent it? The Pilgrims in 1621? Abe Lincoln in 1863? FDR in 1939? Turns out there were a lot of cooks involved in making the traditional American feasting holiday. The Professor gives a brief overview of Thanksgiving's history and myths.
Democracy Dies in Darkness? Philadelphia and Paris in the 1780s
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - November 21, 2023 08:15 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsAs both American and French revolutionaries sought to fashion representative government in the late 1780s, they faced a dilemma. In a context where gaining public trust seemed to demand transparency, was secrecy ever legitimate? In Philadelphia and Paris, establishing popular sovereignty required...
Ben Franklin and the Turkey - Thanksgiving Myths!
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - November 20, 2023 08:20 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsOne of the legendary stories that reappear during Thanksgiving season is that no less a luminary and Founder than Ben Franklin thought that the bald eagle was an improper choice as the national bird and a national symbol. Franklin preferred the more “dignified” turkey, and tried to convince the F...
Thanksgiving Popcorn - MiniMyth!
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - November 17, 2023 08:15 - 4 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsAs the pilgrims pushed their chairs back from the first Thanksgiving table, their stomachs full of turkey and potatoes, Squanto appeared with bushels of popped corn and spilled it out on the tables for the Pilgrims to enjoy. That's how Americans got popcorn, right Buzzkillers? Well, maybe not, bu...
Medieval Myths
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - November 14, 2023 17:30 - 41 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsDid medieval people have bad teeth and poor hygiene? Did they all die before they were 40? And what was the actual story about Lady Godiva? Jo Hedwig Teeuwisse, the Fake History Hunter, takes us on a great tour of medieval Europe, busting myths and taking names! A great show about a completely mi...
Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - November 07, 2023 08:20 - 37 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsIn the wake of yet another gun tragedy in Gun Country USA, we interview Dr. Andrew McKevitt, whose new book is a must-read this year. He shows why so many guns flooded onto the American market after World War II, and how this developed into “gun consumerism.” We discuss the various attempts to st...
Halloween Myths
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - October 31, 2023 07:40 - 11 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsHalloween is a demonic holiday chock full of sin, and endangered by razor blades in trick-or-treat candy, right? Wrong. Nothing about the origins of Halloween can be called demonic, satanic, or anti-Christian. And the adulterated candy thing is an urban legend. Get the full story from the Buzzkil...
Dracula in Fiction and History
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - October 24, 2023 07:15 - 36 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsDracula tales, legends, and myths fly around faster than a vampire fleeing from sunlight. Dr. Gemma Masson explains Bram Stoker’s famous novel, “Dracula,” and then goes on to explain the various histories behind Dracula’s namesake – Vlad Dracula, the Romanian Prince. Along the way, she discusses ...
Clement Attlee, 1945, and the Year of Hope in Britain
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - October 17, 2023 07:15 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsProfessor Richard Toye talks about a pivotal year in British history – 1945. The end of the war, a landslide election for the Labour Party under Clement Attlee, and the start of the modern British welfare state. He explains why Labour won the election, why Churchill and the Conservatives lost, an...
Columbus and Taino People
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - October 10, 2023 07:10 - 26 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsThe story of Columbus and the Taino people is fascinating, and is made even more fascinating by Kate Messner’s analysis of it in this episode. She explains who the Taino people were, how they discovered Columbus, and what happened during and after their encounter. Kate’s “History Smashers” series...
Christopher Columbus Myths Large and Small!
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - October 03, 2023 07:15 - 35 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsSebastian Major, the producer and host of the "Our Fake History" podcast, explains the myths about Christopher Columbus, who “discovered” the New World. Sebastian schools Professor Buzzkill about where the myths came from and about their larger significance for American history. You will learn do...
Hands of Time: a Watchmaker's History
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - September 26, 2023 07:15 - 26 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsDr. Rebecca Struthers, an academic expert on horology and an award-winning watchmaker, guides us through the fascinating history of wristwatches, and their importance to social history. These seemingly mundane and utilitarian objects can tell us a fascinating story about our changing attitudes to...
Heather Cox Richardson on Saving Democracy - Wisdom Wednesday!
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - September 20, 2023 04:09 - 21 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsWhen it comes to the crush of the American daily news cycle, Heather Cox Richardson has always taken the long view. The New England-based historian gained wide popularity writing casual, history-informed summaries of the news — a perspective millions of readers were hungry for. Her new book is ca...
McCarthy and McCarthyism: American Demagoguery During the Cold War
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - September 19, 2023 07:15 - 59 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsSenator Joseph McCarthy was one of the most notorious politicians in American history. He made wild accusations, ruined the lives and careers of countless people, and stained American politics with investigative tactics similar to those in Stalin’s Soviet Union. Just as important, however, was Mc...
Naming Gotham: The Villains, Rogues and Heroes Behind New York’s Place Names
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - September 12, 2023 04:44 - 52 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsWhy are New York’s roads, bridges, buildings, and institutions named after certain people? Who were those people and why did they matter so much? Professor Rebecca Bratspies explains all in this fascinating romp through not only New York history, but also the history of the practice of naming thi...
Coffee with Hitler: Civilized Diplomacy?
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - September 05, 2023 04:59 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratings“How might the British have handled Hitler differently?” remains one of history’s greatest "what ifs." Dr. Charles Spicer tells us the astounding story of how a handful of amateur British intelligence agents wined, dined, and befriended the leading Nazis between the wars. With support from royalt...
Anarcha: One of the Mothers of Gynecology
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - August 29, 2023 10:28 - 35 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsAnarcha was a young enslaved woman who was operated on by J. Marion Sims, the now-discredited 19th-century “father of modern gynecology.” Author J.C. Hallman has made many important discoveries about the life of Anarcha and the malpractice of Sims. His “Say Anarcha” excavates history, deconstruct...
Gun Carnage in the United States
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - August 22, 2023 07:15 - 44 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsDr. Thomas Gabor shatters the many myths that help keep American gun culture alive. His strong evidence-based research shows that the many slogans and claims repeated incessantly by the gun lobby and its surrogates are completely false. The real evidence about guns is almost completely ignored in...
Titanic Myths Smashed!
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - August 15, 2023 06:05 - 39 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsKate Messner, the author of the wonderful "History Smashers" series, enlightens us about the innumerable myths surrounding the famous ship, The Titanic, and its sinking in 1912. Everything from the myth of it being proclaimed "unsinkable" to the myth of the last song played by the ship's band as ...
Undelivered Speeches and What They Can Tell Us About History
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - August 08, 2023 07:05 - 39 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsFor almost every delivered speech, there exists an undelivered opposite. These "second speeches" provide alternative histories of what could have been if not for schedule changes, changes of heart, or momentous turns of events. Listen as speechwriter and political analyst Jeff Nussbaum explains w...
Oppenheimer: the Man, the Myth, the Movie
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - August 01, 2023 15:46 - 1 hour ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsThe blockbuster film, Oppenheimer, is sweeping the cinema world, and has become an historical event in itself. Professor Philip Nash discusses the life and work of J. Robert Oppenheimer, and we analyze his significance. We also review the film. Most importantly, we show how all of this is _extrem...
The Atomic Bombs: Flashback Friday 2023
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - July 28, 2023 07:05 - 59 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsThe recent Oppenheimer film has prompted interest in the events surrounding the building and dropping of the atomic bombs. This Flashback Friday episode addresses whether there was an actual decision to use atomic bombs in World War II. If not, what were the questions and issues about using the b...
Religious Conversions in Modern America
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast - July 25, 2023 07:05 - 41 minutes ★★★★★ - 180 ratingsIn the mid-twentieth century, certain private religious choices became lightning rods for public outrage and debate. In talking about “public confessions,” Dr. Rebecca Davis reveals some of the controversial religious conversions that shaped modern America. She explains why the new faiths of nota...
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