Dr. Natalia Mehlmen Petrzela explains why Americans are more obsessed with exercise than ever, and yet also unhealthier. Her great new book, Fit Nation, explains how we got here and imagines how we might create a more inclusive, stronger future. Listen to her explain the broad contexts of American fitness history and the implications for…

We use the Watergate crisis to examine some of the myths surrounding the history of investigative journalism. By looking both at the 1970s and at the 19th century, we learn that investigative journalism has a long history in the United States. We also learn the crucial role that an “ecosystem” of investigation plays in bringing…

Crikey. Most people don’t know much about President Warren G. Harding and his corrupt administration, but they should! A fascinating life and, um, a fascinating look at how corruption and graft can so easily slip into the corridors of power, especially the White House in the 1920s! Professor Philip Nash explains all! Episode 489. John…

Join us on this Woman Crush Wednesday discussion of Lydia Maria Child, one of nineteenth-century America’s most courageous abolitionists. She started her career as a beloved and self-sufficient female author of children’s literature. But in 1833, Child shocked her readers by publishing the first book-length argument against slavery in the United States. Dr. Lydia Moland…

Dr. Vernon Burton tells us about his experiences as an expert witness in civil rights and voting legal cases. It’s a fascinating look into how the work of historians can appear in all sorts of places, and can do some direct good for the rights of the people! Episode 485.

Hitler’s Hanging Judge, Roland Freisler, was truly one of the worst pieces of sh*t in a regime that wasn’t lacking in those. Professor Philip Nash enlightens us about one of the most reprehensible Nazis who hasn’t received the shame and opprobrium that he deserves. Freisler made the fascist German legal system even more vicious and…

Dr. Paul Miller-Melamed tells us the story of the assassination of Archduke Franz in 1914. And he enlightens us on the crucial context of the events that led to World War I. Long-term causes, medium-term causes, and immediate causes. Fascinating! Episode 483.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Walter Pincus exposes the darkest secret in American nuclear history―sixty-seven nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands that wiped out a people and their land. This is an overlooked aspect of the Cold War, and one of the most shameful acts in history. Episode 481.