Myths
Babe Didrikson Zaharias – Woman Crush Wednesday!
One of the greatest athletes of all time, Babe Didrikson Zaharias has been somewhat forgotten in the 21st Century. An Olympic gold medalist, she excelled in track and field, basketball, baseball, and golf throughout her career. Episode #379. Our listeners get a free trial at The Great Courses Plus! Click here to go to thegreatcoursesplus.com/buzzkill…
Read MoreChurchill Myths in Film and Television
Professor Steven Fielding explains Churchill myths in film and television from Mission to Moscow (1943) to Darkest Hour (2017), and everything in between! The new book, “The Churchill Myths” is available on the Buzzkill Bookshelf. Episode #378. Our listeners get a free trial at The Great Courses Plus! Click here to go to thegreatcoursesplus.com/buzzkill !!…
Read MoreChurchill, Boris Johnson, and Brexit
Professor Bill Schwartz explains the relationship between Churchill worship, Brexit, and Boris Johnson’s rise to the office of Prime Minister. This crucial episode also explains how “wartime nostalgia continues to work in conjunction with the fashioning of new instalments of the Churchill myths, each acting upon the other,” as Professor Schwartz writes in the new…
Read MoreMilitias and the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution
Debates about the 2nd Amendment (“right to bear arms”) to the US Constitution never seem to address the 18th century meanings and importance of “militias” (included in the amendment’s first clause). Professor Noah Shusterman explains the long history of citizen militias since ancient Rome, and what the Constitution’s Framers accepted as the meaning of “militia.”…
Read MoreVanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All
Professor Martha Jones offers a new history of African American women’s political lives in America. She recounts how they defied both racism and sexism to fight for the ballot, and how they wielded political power to secure the equality and dignity of all persons. From the earliest days of the republic to the passage of…
Read MoreAccounting for Slavery
How did Southern slave-owners “manage” their plantations? Was it pastoral or was it more professional and driven by hard-headed accounting, record-keeping, and statistics? Professor Caitlin Rosenthal explains her fascinating new research on “masters and management” in the 19th century US south. Episode #374 —Buzzkill Bookshelf Caitlin Rosenthal, Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management The story…
Read MoreChurchill: a Life in the News
Professor Richard Toye tells us how Churchill’s long life and career developed in parallel with the changes in the development of modern media and news. Churchill’s first career was as a journalist and author, and it stayed with him as a second vocation as he moved through his life in the military, in politics, and…
Read MoreJ. Marion Sims and Medical Experimentation on Enslaved Women
Advanced Placement student researchers from Caddo Parish Magnet High School in Shreveport, Louisiana explain their research into the career of J. Marion Sims. His medical experiments on enslaved women during the 19th century are still controversial. In addition, they discuss Sims’s legacy in the 20th and 21st centuries. Important listening! Episode #372. —Buzzkill Bookshelf Harriet…
Read MoreAlbert Battel: From Nazi Officer to Righteous Among Nations
Your favorite Professor, Philip Nash, tells about Albert Battel, a German Army lieutenant and lawyer recognized for his resistance during World War II to the Nazi plans for the 1942 liquidation of a Jewish ghetto in Poland. Battel was posthumously recognized by the State of Israel as “Righteous Among the Nations” in 1981. Listen to…
Read MoreLeague of Wives: the Women Who Took on the US Government to Bring Their Husbands Home
Historian Heath Hardage Lee tells us the remarkable story of Sybil Stockdale, Jane Denton, Louise Mulligan, and other wives of American Navy and Air Force pilots who pressured the LBJ and Nixon administrations to get their POW husbands freed during the Vietnam War. Listen to this story of highly sophisticated, persistent, and dedicated political activism!…
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