No one actually cares why I started this show, Buzzkillers. But I did so because I worried about the strength with which cultures seem to hold on to historical myths. That strength seemed to be one of the things that affected our thinking and, sometimes, the way we acted, and perhaps even the way we…
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In the aftermath of the Dunkirk evacuation and the fall of France in June 1940, things looked pretty bleak for the Allies, and indeed they were. The Battle of Britain followed almost immediately, and lasted until the end of October 1940, but the British outlast the German bombing raids. The next year, not long after…
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Ah, Buzzkillers, it’s one thing for the internet and email to provide us with topics to follow-up (especially those emails from your nutty uncle), but it’s another thing entirely when the Buzzkill Institute get inundated with phone calls, text messages, and panicked faxes after President Trump’s recent response to North Korea’s nuclear threats. You remember…
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I like this week’s “quote,” Buzzkillers, because it’s history is full of all the things we’ve been talking about on this show — phrases and sentiments that “sound” like they were said by a prominent person so “they must be from him,” misplaced (or moved) punctuation marks, and the glorious and rapid assumptions displayed on…
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Professor Phil Nash joins us for part three of our examination of John F. Kennedy in the 100th anniversary of his birth. This episode looks at how the JFK legacy was constructed in the immediate aftermath of the assassination in 1963, how it was burnished by the first generation of Kennedy historians, and how it…
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In 1972, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai was asked about the impact of the French Revolution. “Too early to say,” he replied. Given that the French Revolution of 1789 had occurred nearly 200 years before, Zhou Enlai was expressing the long view of history in a very witty and Oscar Wildean way. News of this quote…
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It’s 2017, Buzzkillers, 77 years after the Battle of Dunkirk and the subsequent evacuation of Allied troops from that area between the 26th of May and the 4th of June 1940. The evacuation has become a very famous and celebrated event in World War II history and especially in British history. “Dunkirk Spirit,” the British…
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Finally a quote that’s actually true! Yes, Teddy Roosevelt did say that the best advice he’d ever heard about dealing with foreign affairs and potentially hostile foreign powers is to, “speak softly and carry a big stick.” Speaking softly and carrying a big stick will mean that, “you will go far.” When he was Governor…
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FDR became governor of New York and later President for four terms despite having contracted polio. Professor Matthew Pressman from Seton Hall University joins us to discuss how the press and the American public were told about his disability, and how they reacted. We also learn how the Roosevelt campaign and administration tried to control…
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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…
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