Posts by Professor Buzzkill
Covid Variants? Insurrection Hearings? Tense Elections? Was “May You Live in Interesting Times” a Famous Chinese Curse?
There’s an old Buzzkill curse — may you subscribe to interesting podcasts. If you do, your life will become so gloriously enlightened with new information, presented in such an engaging way, that you’ll forget to feed your cat, you’ll mix your laundry colors, and you’ll neglect taking your medication That reminds me of another “famous”…
Read MorePiece of Sh*t Saturday: Salmon P. Chase
Professor Heather Cox Richardson gives us the low-down on one of history’s pieces of sh*t, Salmon P. Chase (the man on the $10,000 bill). Hear about his machinations during the Lincoln administration, his colossal ego, and how he helped saddle the United States with President Andrew Johnson. Ugh! Episode 463.
Read MoreClare Boothe Luce: American Renaissance Woman, Part 2
Your favorite Buzzkill history professor, Dr. Philip Nash, gives us a fascinating glimpse into the life of Claire Boothe Luce, an American Renaissance woman if ever there was one. In part two of this two-parter, we discuss her career as a diplomat, and her fascinating personal life. Listen and learn! Episode 462.
Read MoreVenus De Milo Myths!
It’s the 8th of April 1820. On the Greek Aegean island of Milos, a man named Yorgos Kentrotas was collecting stones from an ancient ruin near his farm. He came across a small niche in a wall in that ruin. It caught his attention because it seemed to be concealing something. He removed some of…
Read MoreClare Boothe Luce: American Renaissance Woman, Part 1
Your favorite Buzzkill history professor, Dr. Philip Nash, gives us a fascinating glimpse into the life of Claire Boothe Luce, an American Renaissance woman if ever there was one. In part one of this two-parter, we discuss her early life and career as a journalist and writer, and her fascinating personal life. Listen and learn!…
Read MoreThe Many Myths About the Declaration of Independence: 4th of July Special Encore!
July 4th is upon us and two things will likely happen, at least for American Buzzkillers. The first is that we will use the July 4th national holiday as an opportunity to take a mid-summer vacation (or extend a weekend vacation). The second thing that will happen is that we will be treated to a…
Read MoreThe NRA: the Unauthorized History
Today’s show is mainly an interview with award-winning journalist, Frank Smyth, whose book The NRA: the Unauthorized History, is the most recent, in-depth history of the National Rifle Association. The book, and the interview, show how the NRA changed very radically in the 1970s and has continued to spin out on a new trajectory, becoming…
Read MoreWhy is it called “The Liberty Bell”?
It’s a dramatic and poignant story. July 4, 1776: the Second Continental Congress had been meeting in Philadelphia for over a year, trying to hammer out how to win the Revolutionary War and establish an independent nation. On that day they agreed to adopt the Declaration of Independence. The news spread quickly across the city,…
Read MoreWas “Ring Around the Rosie” about the Bubonic Plague?
“Ring Around the Rosie” has been a popular nursery rhyme for a very long time. Many of us learned it when we were children. But we often hear people claim that the rhyme is traceable to the time of the Black Death, and that each line is a morbid reminder of the horrors of Bubonic…
Read MoreJuneteenth and the “End of Slavery in the US”: What’s in a Date?
Juneteenth is nearly here. June 19th was made a national holiday in the United States on June 17th, 2021 when President Joseph Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. It was the day that slavery was ended in Texas, the most remote state in the Confederacy. And it’s now widely considered that…
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