Myths
Was “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…
Read MoreLife Expectancy Myths
Don’t drop dead, Buzzkillers. At least not yet. It’s not your time. You live in the modern world with all the advantages of modern medicine and modern life-prolonging practices, right? The life expectancy for the average American is 75.5. People in the past had much lower life expectancies. You often hear that ancient peoples (especially…
Read MoreHeather Cox Richardson: A Theory of Historical “Tornadoes”
Historical and economic forces can create “tornadoes” that spin-off in different directions, sometimes causing and re-inforcing oppressive conditions. Professor Heather Cox Richardson theorizes how this happened in American history, and warns us of the dangers that these tornadoes pose in our own times. Episode 454.
Read MoreWhen Did the NRA Become Extremist?
Sadly, tragically, infuriatingly, it seems that every time there is a mass shooting in the United States, the same sorts of arguments come up from the same, opposing, sides. Gun control advocates say there is only one solution, and that is, not surprisingly, more gun control. Gun rights advocates argue that gun ownership and the…
Read MoreGeneral Hooker’s Hookers
Civil War Buzzkillers have been after me for months and months to put this commonly-heard legend to rest. To put it to bed, so to speak! So here goes. Union General Joseph (“Fightin’ Joe”) Hooker was one of the most fascinating generals of the American Civil War. (And that was a war with some real…
Read MoreMother’s Day
Mother’s Day is nearly here. The holiday has a fascinating history of its own, but the ways people have thought about the origins and history of Mother’s Day provide us a great opportunity here at the Buzzkill Institute to talk about the complications of history and memory. But it also gives us the chance to…
Read MoreKathleen Stone: Female Ambition from Suffrage to Mad Men
Women faced a paradox in mid-twentieth-century America. Thanks to their efforts, World War II production had been robust, and in the peace that followed, more women worked outside the home than ever before, even dominating some professions. Yet the culture, from politicians to corporations to television shows, portrayed the ideal woman as a housewife. Many…
Read MoreThomas Edison Myths
Thomas Edison is celebrated as one of the greatest of modern inventors. For us Buzzkillers, Edison is interesting because the myths are more subtle than most other myths. He didn’t actually invent a lot of the stuff he’s given credit for. Sometimes he invented a better (or more mass-produce-able, or more sale-able) version. Sometimes his…
Read MoreTy Cobb: Baseball’s Bad Boy?
He is often referred to as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, but was Ty Cobb, the Georgia Peach, rotten to the core? Was his professional greatness mirrored by personal repugnance? As is so often the case, Cobb’s soiled reputation was mostly the product of a bad biography and reporters repeating old…
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