All too often, researching the origins of well-known quotes leads to a kind of dead end. Famous people are credited with expressions and sayings that were in common use during their time, and those quotes are only attached to, for instance, Churchill or Gandhi, by later generations of admirers. Half the time, the humorous ones…
Read More
Who was Andrew Jackson? Youngest POW in the Revolutionary War. War hero in the War of 1812. Passionate dueler. Senator. Seventh President of the United States. Highly controversial historical figure. All these things! Listen as Professor Perry Blatz and I disentangle the history and the mythology surrounding this towering icon of American history. Buzzkill Bookshelf…
Read More
Patrick Henry is one of the great early American heroes. In 1773, Henry, along with Thomas Jefferson and Richard Henry Lee, convinced their fellow Virginians to join with the other colonies in opposing British rule. The most famous thing he did, however, and the thing which has passed down through generations of American history books,…
Read More
It seems that every time there’s an election in the United States (and especially when there’s a non-traditional candidate), this question comes up: are the candidates temperamentally fit to have the power to “push the nuclear button” or to “be trusted with the nuclear codes”? The problem is, journalists and commentators use those phrases as…
Read More
Today we’re going to look at one of the most widely-known and widely-publicized quotes in modern times. As the spiritual and political leader of Indian independence, Mohandas K. Gandhi is one of the most admired people in the world history. Next to Winston Churchill, Gandhi is perhaps the most quoted. And, the most misquoted. In…
Read More
What actually happened on the Eastern/Russian Front during World War II? Why did the Germans invade? And why did they get beaten? Was it the Russian winter? Was it the “Russian Horde”? Super Buzzkiller Professor Nash joins us to explain all the complications, myths, and misunderstandings! Buzzkill Bookshelf [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Read More
Welcome to our first episode of Quote or No Quote, Buzzkillers. In these shows, we’ll check into well-known, well-worn, and worn-out quotes that supposedly originated from the brains and mouths of famous historical figures. Too often, historical (and mortal) humans are turned into prophets or demi-gods by generations of us repeating their quotes as if…
Read More
It’s that time of year, Buzzkillers, when we ring out the old and ring in the new. This is the end of another year of busting myths and taking names. We couldn’t be more pleased with the way the old show has developed, and we couldn’t be more stoked about the new things we’ve got…
Read More
Many of you Buzzkillers already know that most Christian churches celebrate Christmas over a period of 12 days. Depending upon the denomination, it lasts from December 25th to January 5th, or December 26th to January 6th. There are lots of theological reasons for celebrating 12 days of Christmas, but we’re here to talk about something…
Read More
Christmas Day, December 25th, is the most well-known date and event in the Christian calendar, and it doesn’t occur to most people to ask whether there’s any historical basis for placing Christ’s birth on that exact date. Do we actually _know_ that Christ was born on December 25th, over 2000 years ago? Well, let me…
Read More