Our final FDR Friday takes us to Christmas Eve, 1943, roughly half-way through the United States’ involvement in World War II. President Roosevelt had just returned from the Middle East, where he held important conferences with fellow Allied leaders about the war, and began to discuss what might be done after the war ended. The…
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“The Wild West” is one of the strongest conceptions in American history. But “where” was the west? How “wild” was it? “Who” settled it? Did settlers build the west with their hands? And how many of the stories about settlers and Native Americans are myths or misconceptions? Professor Edward O’Donnell helps us explain it all,…
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Hello, Buzzkillers. There’s no need to explain the reasons for these FDR Fridays anymore. The contrast between FDR’s Fireside Chats in the 30s and 40s, and whatever it is that we’re calling what’s coming out of the White House these days, is blindly obvious. There’s no need for me to keep saying things like “shocking,”…
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Civil War historian, Kevin Levin, explains the history and development of the myth of black soldiers in the Confederate army. He analyses camp servants and slaves during the war, how their service was remembered after the war, and how it became fictionalized and mythologized in the 1970s. Yes, the 1970s, not the 1870s. A fascinating…
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I never wanted this podcast to be about contemporary politics, much less contemporary American politics. And the history courses I have taught always stopped at the end of the 20th century. I’ve done this because there’s so much that people and students need to know about the last few centuries, that I didn’t feel that…
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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”…
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This is the second of our special shows on President Franklin Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats from the 1930s and 1940s. We started these episodes because an important member of the Buzzkill Braintrust (Lady Buzzkill’s socialite friend, Sandy) recommended the idea. She thought that you might like to listen to some of FDR’s original Fireside chats, so…
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Find out why the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was one of the most significant conflicts of the 20th Century, and why it’s been overlooked. Listen as we explain how complicated and brutal the war was, and why it should be studied more!—Buzzkill Bookshelf Antony Beevor, The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 The…
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A few weeks ago, several of you Buzzkillers asked us to create episodes about President Franklin Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats from the 1930s and 1940s. You asked if we could play the full audio from these chats with minimal introductory remarks, so that you could hear what it was like to have a President address the…
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Find out why the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was one of the most significant conflicts of the 20th Century, and why it’s been overlooked. Professor Phil Nash explains the background and the first half of this dreadful episode in European history. —Buzzkill Bookshelf Antony Beevor, The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 The…
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