Our last few episodes have reveled in stories of the popularization of movies, music and sports during the Roaring 1920s. In this epilogue episode, Professor Jackson steps out of storytelling mode and into classroom mode (that doesn’t suck).  To help us better understand the lasting cultural impact of this period, he’s invited Dr. Sarah Churchwell who has written extensively about 1920s American culture, including her acclaimed book Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of the Great Gatsby. The conversation with Professor Churchwell includes fascinating takeaways from the 1920s that continue to resonate in our contemporary lives. These include the rise of American youth culture and the desire by older adults to be youthful like the popularity of monkey gland injections as a predecessor to modern-day Botox injections. They talk more about the birth of Tinseltown AKA Hollywood, radio, music and enduring literature like F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby…if you read it in high school but have forgotten, or if you’ve never read it, we get right to the major themes of it and why it’s still relevant today.  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the recent Halloween episode #168 of History That Doesn’t Suck, we uncovered the undead story of the 1922 classic vampire film Nosferatu. While the movie isn’t a scene-for-scene lift from author Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula, it’s close enough that Bram Stoker’s widow, Florence, sued the filmmakers for copyright infringement. In that episode we also explored Dracula. So today, we thought it’d be fun to introduce a new podcast that tells the whole story of the book that launched an entire genre. What you’re about to hear is from the new Wondery Plus podcast, The Real History of Dracula hosted by Professor Jackson's friend Lindsay Graham. The series reveals how author Bram Stoker raided ancient folklore and exploited Victorian fears around sex, science and religion. And how even today, we remain in thrall to his strange creatures of the night. You can listen to the rest of this episode, and then binge the entire The Real History of Dracula series exclusively and ad-free right now with Wondery Plus. Join Wondery plus in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify and start your free trial today.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“His Lordship from Transylvania would like to purchase a nice house in our small town . . . it will take a bit of effort . . . a bit of sweat and perhaps . . . a bit of blood . . .” This is the story of the Great Death in Wisborg in 1838.  Nosferatu is a 1922 classic horror film, one of the first ever made. It sort of recalls Bram Stoker’s Dracula—enough to build a copyright lawsuit—but, fortunately for us, Nosferatu weathered the controversy via unlicensed copies and has survived into the twenty-first century. The film isn’t just Dracula revamped though, it contributed brand new techniques to the horror genre. The cinematography is also state-of-the-art for the 1920s, tastefully employing physical film tricks (à la Georges Méliès) and practical effects.  We’ll take you through the film so you can truly appreciate it, following Herr Thomas Hutter and his young wife Ellen as they meet Count Orlok and face the consequences. Without spoiling too much: it gets bloody.  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“We have a basket and a ball, and it seems to me that would be a good name for it.” This is the story of America’s varied athletic endeavors (besides baseball). Though each sport could provide enough material for an entire episode, it would probably run us into overtime, and the 1920s are drawing to a close. As Black Thursday approaches, it’s time for some last-minute fun and games.  The 1920s is the Golden Age of Sports—fans can’t get enough of the races, the ring, the court, or the gridiron. Of course, in the case of horse racing and boxing, the love of the competition is combined with the heady rush of gambling. But even when there’s no money changing hands, sports still draw people in. There’s simple bloodlust; boxing legends like John L. Sullivan and Jack Johnson are ruthless, and football actually gets so savage that it’s almost banned entirely until Teddy Roosevelt and a few others intervene, (much to the relief of fans today). There’s also novelty. James Naismith’s game “basketball” is a true original. But the most compelling factor is probably witnessing human excellence, best exemplified by the American Olympian dubbed “the greatest athlete in the world.”  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a follow up to episode 165 America’s Favorite Pastime: Baseball, we’re proud to share an interview with Bob Kendrick, the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, MO. Founded in 1990, the NLBM is the world’s only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African-American baseball and its profound impact on the social advancement of America. It’s the perfect time to share more about the history of the Negro Leagues because, in the spring of 2024, Major League Baseball officially incorporated the statistics of over 2,300 Negro Leagues players from 1920–1948 into its record books. These statistics are now a permanent part of American professional baseball history. Read more about this milestone and peruse some of the updated records at MLB.com. You can also read about the rigorous process by historians to gather and validate these records in this 2020 memo from MLB. Want extra innings? Become a premium member to hear an extra segment from this conversation with Bob Kendrick, where we talk about Major League Baseball, finally adding player stats from the Leagues into the official record. Bob Kendrick has been associated with the museum in one way or another since its founding. He was first a volunteer during his 10-year newspaper career with The Kansas City Star. Then he became the museum’s first Director of Marketing in 1998 and held various other leadership roles before being appointed president of the organization in 2011. And while he doesn’t fashion himself to be a historian, Bob has become one of the leading authorities on the topic of Negro Leagues Baseball history and its connection to issues relating to sports, race and diversity.  Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"As I hit the ball, every muscle in my system, every sense I had, told me that I had never hit a better one . . . I didn't have to look. But I did. That ball . . . hit . . . exactly the spot I had pointed to." This is the story of the most American sport: baseball.  Americans have been playing ball for a good long while now—even General Washington enjoyed an occasional game of catch—but baseball as we know it only emerged around the 1850s. That’s also about the time when people started forming leagues: the National League, the American League, the Federal League, yada yada, you get the picture. There are quite a few, and they’re mostly the same, except for the Negro League, headed by Andrew “Rube” Foster (pitcher and president extraordinaire). Professional baseball remains segregated until Jackie Robinson breaks the color line in the late 1940s. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves!  Baseball evolves from its colonial beginnings to become an entertainment staple by the early twentieth century. In the 1920s, the good name of the game has just been sullied by the 1919 World Series scandal, but baseball’s popularity hasn’t taken a serious hit. This era boasts a panoply of players, and people can’t seem to stay away from the stands. You see, George Herman "Babe" Ruth has just been traded to the New York Yankees, and he’s always playing to win. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Harlem is the queen of the black belts, drawing Aframericans together in a vast humming hive . . . from the different states, from the islands of the Caribbean, and from Africa . . . It is the Negro capital of the world.”  This is the story of the Harlem Renaissance.  In the early twentieth century, many Black families and individuals down South are finding that the only way out is up—to the North. Driven by Jim Crow discrimination and harsh economic realities, hundreds of thousands of African Americans head to cities like Chicago (the “promised land”) or Harlem (“Black Mecca”). This Great Migration fosters communities of gifted artists, and eventually, the rest of the country takes notice.  By the 1920s, Black culture is truly blooming. Up-and-coming writers including Zora Neal Hurston and Langston Hughes are crafting literature we still consume some 100 years later. Master musicians like Cab Calloway and Ella Fitzgerald are scattin’ up a storm in New York clubs. And let’s not forget the visual arts! The Harlem Renaissance features countless artists that contribute mightily to American culture and Black identity: let’s meet just a few.  (Audio of Cab Calloway was recorded in 1982 at the White Plains Public Library in White Plains, NY, and used with their permission. We are grateful to the library and encourage listeners to support their local public library for the services they provide.) ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Miller, Lyles, and I were standing near the exit door . . . Blake stuck out there in front, leading the orchestra—his bald head would get the brunt of the tomatoes and rotten eggs.” This is the story of American musical theater and the dawn of modern Broadway.  Popular entertainment is evolving fast in the early twentieth century. Minstrel shows just aren’t drawing the same numbers anymore (for good reason), and burlesque and variety shows abound. The earliest “official” musical, The Black Crook takes several notes from these sometimes scandalous shows, as do Flo Ziegfeld’s new “revues.” By the 1920s, composers, writers, and choreographers are experimenting with what a musical production can do: using songs to advance the plot (thanks Hammerstein!), and incorporating new music genres like jazz.  Big players including George Gershwin, Noble Sissle, and Irving Berlin all play a role in crafting the perfect environment for the American musical to emerge, but the production Show Boat really gives a glimpse of the future of musical theater. It entertains even as it tackles heavy topics, and the score is seriously moving. It’s difficult to anticipate how audiences will receive this new form—less pompous than a European operetta, but definitely more substantial than one of Ziegfeld’s musical revues. So, without further ado . . . take your seat, the show’s about to begin.  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain’t heard nothing yet!” This is the story of the silver screen.  In the late nineteenth century, technology is advancing rapidly. Eadweard Muybridge’s trip-wire camera work, made famous by a “motion study” of a galloping horse, is giving way to smoother and longer projections. Some see these short films simply as a curiosity, an “invention without a future” as early filmmaker Louis Lumière famously says, but Thomas Edison knows there is serious money to be had. He’s quick to patent his inventions (and to sue anyone trying to circumvent his Motion Picture Patents Company), but even he can’t keep motion pictures under wraps forever.  Independent filmmakers like Carl Laemmle and William Fox turn their actors into stars and move out to sunny Hollywood to operate far from Edison’s watchful eye. LA explodes in the 1910s and 20s as moviemakers and actors flock to the area, and though their decadent lives and debatable morals worry the public, audiences keep consuming the studio’s silent productions. That is, until synchronized sound enters the scene.  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cheers to Professor Jackson’s post Prohibition conversation with distinguished author Daniel Okrent! Dan is the the author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, winner of the American Historical Association’s prize for the year’s best book of American History when it was published in 2011. Last Call was a go-to book in the HTDS bibliography for episodes 157-160 as we researched and selected the stories to tell in these four podcast episodes we’ve just completed. Dan was also the first Public Editor of The New York Times, where he was charged with being the public’s advocate for accurate and objective journalism by the paper. So Prof. Jackson couldn’t resist the opportunity to get his perspective on the state of news reporting today which, as astute HTDS listeners know, is often called the first draft of history. Spoiler alert: they both agree one must be a critical thinker when it comes to the potential bias of the news media one consumes – helpful tool here from AdFontes. Dan Okrent is also author of The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America, and Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center, a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in history.  Before his tenure at the Times, Okrent spent 13 years at Time Inc., where he was successively editor of Life magazine; corporate editor of new media; and corporate editor-at-large. Earlier in his career, he worked extensively in book and magazine publishing in various editorial and executive positions. He has held fellowships at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard (where he was, in addition, the Edward R. Murrow Visiting Lecturer in 2009-2010). ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Only Capone kills like that.” This is the story of the rise and fall of Al Capone, and the last gasps of Prohibition.  No other gangster compares to Scarface. He’s remained prominent in the American consciousness for 100 years due to his overt violence and lavish lifestyle, funded by *ahem* unsavory business practices. He brazenly orders murders like the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, but he also doesn’t hesitate to get his own hands dirty when it comes to traitors. Capone seems to have jumped onto the mob scene ready-made, cutting his teeth on hustling New York shoeshine boys as a teenager. The consummate crime lord rises to the top of Chicago’s seething criminal underworld at just 26 years old, and boy, does he excel. He’s raking in millions from an unholy combination of alcohol sales, brothels, gambling halls, etc.  The well-dressed mafioso looks invincible, but Chicago’s “untouchables” (clean cops) are doing their best to bring Capone down. However, even though he’s taken to court, he’s got most of the Chicago police force in his pocket and witnesses keep disappearing—is it such a stretch to think that he’ll walk? And can the courts make the charges stick to this bootlegger when there’s talk of repealing Prohibition?  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Don’t ask me nothin’! You hear me? Don’t ask! And don’t bring anybody in here for me to identify. I won’t identify them even if I know they did it!” This is the story of the nation’s up-and-coming criminal underground.  By 1920, with few exceptions, producing, buying, and selling alcohol is outlawed, but that doesn’t stop enterprising Americans. Many feel perfectly comfortable flouting the law and continuing to drink at their leisure, albeit with the added thrill that comes with evading halfhearted lawmen. Some cops are even in on it! But even as law enforcement steps up their game with undercover agent extraordinaire, Izzy Einstein, criminals get organized and start doing serious business—serious as in murderous. Home-brewers like Maude Vogan can be found in rural America, but in the big cities, Prohibition provides a marketplace for organized crime to flourish. There is money to be had, if one can ignore that the likelihood of getting killed just shot up dramatically. Notorious gangsters George Remus, Legs Diamond, and Lucky Luciano run this underworld, double-crossing each other, planning takeovers, and making millions off of booze-loving Americans. But can law and order triumph over these mafiosos? For now, fuhgeddaboudit. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“You’re Bill McCoy.” “Never heard of him.” This is the story of a crazy decade-plus when America outlawed booze…but the liquor kept flowing.  The Prohibition era marks a partial return to the Golden Age of Piracy, with bootleggers frequenting old haunts in the Caribbean, including Nassau, capital of The Bahamas. These sailors are also buying, selling, and drinking copious amounts of—you guessed it—rum. But how does all this booze get from the Bahamas to speakeasies in New York?  William “Bill” McCoy is a legendary rumrunner, one of the best. He’ll be our captain as we explore Nassau’s offerings, buy from the Bootleg Queen of The Bahamas, Gertrude “Cleo” Lythgoe and set out on a 1923 voyage up “Rum Row” to New York, carefully avoiding the actual pirates and the US Coast Guard. Once we square away a buyer, we’ll take our haul to shore with Maisie Manders and enjoy a few well-earned drinks in Manhattan. All aboard!  Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode Description: “Farewell, you good-for-nothing, God-forsaken, iniquitous, bleary-eyed, bloated-faced old imp of perdition, farewell!” This is the story of the path to prohibition. Early America drinks a lot – I mean, A LOT. Alcohol doesn’t give you dysentery, it’s used as a medicine, and in the first decades of the Republic, whiskey is cheaper than coffee or tea. But some are starting to think that maybe Uncle Sam needs an intervention. First, it's the American Temperance Society, then the Washingtonians, and by the late-nineteenth-century, it’s the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. These ladies are particularly keen to see the nation lay off the bottle, particularly as drunk men are laying their paychecks on saloon bars and fists on their wives and children. But no one is perhaps more invested or influential than the Anti-Saloon League’s Wayne B. Wheeler.  From Founding Father Luther Martin’s likely drunken appearance before the Supreme Court, to Carrie Nation busting up saloons with a hatchet, and Wayne Wheeler proving himself a master lobbyist and king-making in Congress, this is the “how” and “why” behind the US Constitution’s 18th Amendment.  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I believe I can swing it.” This is the story of the Coolidge Administration. Calvin Coolidge isn’t the most talkative guy–he’s painfully shy, to be frank–but “Silent Cal” does care deeply about public service. Over the years, the thrifty, hard-working New Englander moves up the ranks, from municipal offices to state offices, until, as Massachusetts Governor, he’s asked to join Warren G. Harding’s run for the White House. When the scandalous, playboy President meets an untimely end, family man Cal suddenly finds himself President of the United States. Cal slashes government spending and taxes while pursuing peace abroad. He also sees terrible heartache with the loss of loved ones. Meanwhile, the nation is debating if evolution should be taught in schools, the Mississippi floods, and the sculpting of Mount Rushmore begins. Cal might not be a hands-on president, but much is happening during his time in office that will reverberate into the years ahead.  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“If you knew of a great scandal in our administration, would you for the good of the country and the party expose it publicly or would you bury it?”  This is the story of a brilliant man’s presidency and the greatest presidential scandal to precede Watergate. This is the story of Warren G. Harding and the Teapot Dome Scandal. Growing up in Ohio, Warren–or little “Winnie,” as his mom calls him–shows his brilliance from day one. The smart, charismatic, and handsome boy grows up to become a newspaperman and falls in love with politics while reporting. He soon becomes a rising star, holding Ohio then national offices. Taking the reins of government after World War I, the Republican hopes to return the post-war, economically downtrodden, and fearful nation to “normalcy.” But can he return the nation to “normalcy” while his friends in the “Ohio Gang” are making shady deals? And what does Warren know of these deals? Is he naive? Or is the several-times adulterous president, who copes with the stress of office through drink and gambling, in on it? That’s the question we’ll ask ourselves as we follow his less-than-a-full-term presidency. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Prof. sits down with fellow Prof. Ben Sawyer of the Road to Now Podcast and Middle Tennessee State University to chat through the last volume episodes. Russia, the Red Scare, the second Klan, and more, while Ben gets Greg to share behind-the-scenes details on the writing process. Enjoy! ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I want to say make no settlement until they sign up that every bloody murderer of a guard has got to go.” This is the story of the largest uprising in the United States since the Civil War. As unions spread across the Progressive-Era United States, West Virginia mine owners manage to keep them out. They have some good reasons (tough margins) and some less savory ones … like their preference for an oppressive “mine guard system” in “company towns” that effectively removes civil government and private ownership, and reduces the American citizens working in their mines to serfdom. Mother Jones inspires the miners to push back.  Over the course of a decade, that pushback turns bloody – especially in Mingo County. But the worst of it comes just after the Great War, as the miner’s hero, Police Chief Sid “Two Gun” Hatfield, is murdered in cold blood at McDowell County Courthouse. Now, all bets are off. 10,000 miners grab their guns, ready to get revenge and free incarcerated miners. But they’ll have to go through Sheriff Don Chafin’s forces first. The two sides clash at Blair Mountain as the US Army arrives with regiments and aviation squadrons. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Every official except one elected yesterday at the first municipal election of this borough had been endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan.” This is the story of the Second Ku Klux Klan. It’s been nearly half a century since the Third Enforcement Act killed off the Klan in 1871. But amid Jim Crow segregation in 1915, the lynching of a Jewish Georgian Leo Frank, coupled with a new film, The Birth of a Nation, inspires William Simmons to resurrect the Klan.  This new Klan has a longer list of enemies. While still opposed to Black Americans fully integrating into American society, this KKK also targets Jews and Catholics. It’s also more politically connected than the first Klan. While Klansmen will participate in violence–including the near annihilation of the Black quarter of Tulsa, Oklahoma–most Kluxers are more focused on politics. As membership swells into the millions, the Klan’s endorsed candidates will win seats in Congress, state houses, and city councils across the nation. Yet, the Klan will come crashing down almost as quickly as it rose in the 1920s. We’ll find out why. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Palmer, do not let this country see red.” This is the story of America’s First Red Scare. On June 2, 1919, Attorney General Mitchell Palmer is just going to bed when the first floor of his home is blown apart. It was a bomb, and part of a larger plot to attack several national leaders. It’s the work of anarchists. Shaken to the core, Mitch is determined to use his position as AG to rid the nation of such extremist, violent leftists–anarchists, Bolsheviks, and the like. Mitch turns to the Bureau of Investigation (the predecessor of the FBI) to help round up foreign Reds. He’ll find a bright young lawyer named J. Edgar Hoover particularly useful in his “Palmer Raids.” But as famed socialist Eugen Debs goes to prison for speaking against the war and union workers get treated like they’re a part of the far left, some start to wonder: is the AG still protecting the nation from violent radicals, or is he conducting a witch hunt? With bombings scaring the nation and Wall Street, the nation must debate where to draw the line between security and liberty. ___ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I keep wondering if the Unknown Soldier is one of my men.” This is the story of the United States coping with and facing the aftermath of World War I. The American Expeditionary Force in France is breaking up but that means a lot of different things as doughboys occupy Germany, go fight in Russia, convalesce, or just head home. If only going home was so easy–for many, it’s a hard transition back to civilian life. One of the few familiar things they find in the States is a deadly strain of influenza: “The Spanish Flu.” Meanwhile, the world is in turmoil. War still rages in much of Eastern Europe and Ireland, communism and fascism are rearing their heads, and neither the French nor British are finding their new League of Nations Mandates easy to govern. But amid all these ongoing struggles, grieving Americans whose doughboy father, son, or brother disappeared in the war find solace visiting what just might be their loved one’s final resting place: the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Episode to end all … World War I episodes. Professor Jackson sits down with Kelsi Dynes to talk through all the things that didn’t make it into the final Great War episodes and go big picture on the Meuse-Argonne, Armistice, and Treaty of Versailles. Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.  Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“The circumstances under which we are spending this particular Christmas are unusual.” This is the story of the Christmases of World War I. Germans and British troops, singing carols together. French and German troops, kicking, playing sports and exchanging treats. It may not last, but for a brief moment–for Christmas of 1914–these opposing armies refuse the orders of their superiors as they temporarily “beat their swords into plowshares and spears into pruninghooks.” In the years ahead, the United States’ forces have their own Christmas celebrations “over there.” In 1917, New York’s Harlem Rattlers, or Hellfighters, sing and celebrate as they travel to France. In 1918, all ranks of the AEF–be they doughboys or Hello Girls–celebrate a post-armistice Christmas. We’ll catch a speech by the president and a Christmas Bash at Black Jack Pershing’s headquarters where George Patton eats way too much plum pudding. And then, we’ll say goodbye to Black Jack. With a loving Christmas connection years down the road, it’s time to lay him to rest with his beloved doughboys in Arlington. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“A Peace which cannot be defended in the name of justice before the whole world would continually call forth fresh resistance” This is the story of peacemaking in 1919–a fraught peacemaking. With the Armistice signed, some 30 nations (led by the major Allied Powers) are gathering in Paris, France, to deliberate on the terms they’ll give to Germany. But the conference is beset with conflicting views. Not only do these various nations and other unofficial representatives have conflicting views, but the three most powerful Allies–France, the UK, and the US, a.ka., The Big Three–aren't always on the same page. That’s especially true of the American President Woodrow Wilson, who’s pushing hard for his 14 points, particularly, for the creation of his League of Nations; he’s clashing with France’s Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau who’s far more interested in ensuring France’s security against German aggression than any idealistic (or as he sees it, unrealistic) notions of a world at perpetual peace. Filled with shouting matches, disagreements, and voices from across the globe, this Conference will create a League of Nations. It will also redraw some of the map of Europe, lay the foundation for a new map of the Middle East, and lay severe penalties on Germany's shoulders. They’re trying their best–but are they creating a better world? Or laying the seeds of future conflicts? And will the US Senate approve this Treaty of Versailles? We shall see. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 “The German delegation has come to receive the proposals of the Allied Powers looking to an armistice.” This is the story of guns falling silent across war-ravaged fronts–the story of the Great War’s armistice between Germany and the Allied Powers. Sailors are mutinying. Soldiers are breaking. A revolution–possibly a Bolshevist revolution–is knocking on the Second Reich’s door. German leaders are coming to accept a painful reality: they can’t carry on this war. They look to the merciful words of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points as they seek an armistice. But as the German delegation sits down with Allied Supreme Commander Ferdinand Foch in his ornate train carriage at a secluded location within the Compiègne Forest, they find the hardened General is not there to negotiate. He presents a difficult pill to swallow. With little alternative, the German delegation moves forward. The fighting will come to a stop when the clock strikes 11 on the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“If I can but reach that bridge,” thought Ichabod, “I am safe.” This is the story of schoolmaster Ichabod Crane and his ride home after an evening spent trying to woo Katrina Van Tassel at a party hosted by her father at their idyllic farm in rural New York. It’s a terrifying ride–perhaps as deadly as Ichabod’s pursuer is headless. For this third HTDS Halloween special, we “rewind” to one of the oldest ghost stories in American lore: Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”   Starting with a headless Germanic tale, we’ll hear some of the literary history behind the stories of headless riders on horseback; get a brief bio on this year’s featured author; and then … we’ll see if we can reach that covered bridge before it’s too late. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Greg Jackson sits down with legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns about his latest film The American Buffalo which has a two-part premiere in the US on PBS beginning Monday, Oct. 16, 2023.   Some refer to Ken Burns as a historian, but he would be quick to tell you that he considers himself a storyteller. His latest documentary The American Buffalo is a sort of biography of the American bison, or the buffalo as they are more commonly known. The fact is, we would only know of buffaloes from history books if it weren’t for a collective effort to save this species from the brink of extinction in the late 19th century. It’s a remarkable story of how conservationists and hunters alike pulled together to repair some of what had been pulled apart by unchecked slaughter and displacement of wildlife and indigenous peoples.  HTDS listeners will recognize some of the historical context surrounding this tale from our episodes on the Indian Wars, the Transcontinental Railroad and Teddy Roosevelt. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“All right, General. We’ll take it, or my name will head the list.” This is the story of Meuse-Argonne and the Americans’ continued struggles to take the Kriemhilde Line. Tennessean Alvin York hates war, yet he finds himself an unlikely hero when his youthful days of hunting turn him into a prisoner-taking sharpshooter as the US First Army presses forward against the Germans. But this isn’t a battle just for the First Army anymore. A stressed-out, breaking, Black Jack Pershing finally decides to go for the US Second Army and name generals to command each. He’ll oversee “only” the whole two-million-strong American Expeditionary Force. If he can keep his job, that is. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau is doing all he can to get the American fired. Nor is Black Jack doing any better at getting along with his usual French frenemy: Marshal Ferdinand Foch. Meanwhile, General Douglas MacArthur is traumatized–so many of his doughboys are slaughtered, why, he wonders, did God spare him? Elsewhere in the battle, Choctaw doughboys save the day as they use their native language to bypass eavesdropping Germans. Yet, for all of this, can the Americans break the Kriemhilde Line? We’ll find out. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake, stop it.” This is the story of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive’s beginnings. “Tout le monde à la bataille.” So says Ferdinand Foch as the Allies hit the Germans from several pressure points at once. For the Americans, that means fighting between the thick woods of the Argonne Forest and the deep waters of the Meuse River. The region is heavily guarded and a “natural fortress.” The attack will have a high cost – including injured Harlem Hellfighters and a wounded George Patton. But deep in the Argonne Forest, some 550 men have the misfortune of being the only force to succeed in pushing as deep as their demanding commander asks. They’re isolated, alone, and soon, surrounded by the Germans with no food, supplies, or reinforcements coming. Worse still, the rest of the US Army isn’t even sure where they are behind German lines. This is the harrowing tale of the Lost Battalion. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Time to review! Greg and Kelsi talk through the main takeaways of the American story in World War I to date, from causes to new inventions and social changes. We get a little behind the scenes on episodes, a few stories that didn’t make in, and set the stage for the last battle of the Great War. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Something has happened to one of the boys.” This is the story of the Great War’s flyboys – particularly, Americans taking to the skies to fight for France. Long before the United States will enter the Great War, hundreds of American men head to Europe to fight for the French Republic. Some drive ambulances. Some fight in the French Foreign Legion. But come 1916, some begin to fly. In 1916, seven pilots (our “Flying Founders,” if you will) start an American squadron within France’s Aéronautique Militaire. Ultimately, 38 men will fly in this squad. They’ll shoot whiskey, have a pet lion cub named “Whiskey” (as well as a second named “Soda”), and risk it all, wielding machine guns amid the clouds. These are the men of the famous Lafayette Escadrille. They number among the 269 Americans who fly for France, collectively known as the Lafayette Flying Corps. It’s a romanticized fight. The Great War’s pilots are known as the “knights of the sky.” They’re the era’s heroes. Rockstars. But the death rate is steep. The heartbreak is real. That’s particularly true as the beloved son of a US President goes down in flames … ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Is there any regulation which specifies that a Navy yeoman be a man?”  This is the story of the United States in the Great War and the role of women in that changing world. Women of the Progressive Era are all about change. They’re fighting for several reforms — including their own right to vote — and as the United States enters the Great War, they’re ready to embrace new responsibilities and opportunities. Women are stepping into all sorts of new roles, be that on a factory floor or by taking on non-combat roles in the Navy or Marines. Tens of thousands are at the front as nurses, while hundreds of others are not far behind the lines carrying out the indispensable task of communion — these are the US Army’s bi-lingual, quick-acting, and cool-headed switchboard operators, better known as “Hello Girls.”  From blood-soaked mobile hospitals to radium-filled “studios,” right down to musty office jobs, women play an indispensable part as the United States goes to war. But is the war changing the lives of American women? Or is the war just accelerating change already occurring? We’ll find out. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“My men never retire. They go forward, or they die!” This is the story of the 15th New York, a.k.a, the 369th, or the Harlem Hellfighters. James “Big Jim” Europe is one of the most talented musicians in the world. His ragtime and early jazz sounds electrify New York City. That’s exactly why Colonel William “Big Bill” Hayward, who’s just been named commander of New York’s newly established Black regiment (the 15th) wants the young machine gun officer to step into his rightly earned celebrity status and lead the regimental band. Unofficially, Jim accepts, and his swinging sounds soon win more recruits. But nothing comes easy for the old 15th. Training in the South, they encounter Jim Crow hostility. Making it to France, they are despondent to find they’re designated for manual labor. But as Jim’s band rocks concert halls across France, they finally get a chance to go to the front as a part of the French military. These New Yorkers never lose an inch of ground. They win or they die, becoming heroes on both sides of the Atlantic and earning the Croix de Guerre for the entire unit. But it’s a tale of heroism that ends on a low note, as the men of the 15th find Jim Crow a tougher foe than the German Kaiser. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. “The Clef Club March” by James Reese Europe. From the sound recording Paragon Ragtime Orchestra: Black Manhattan. New World Records #80611-2 (p) & © 2003 Anthology of Recorded Music, Inc. Used by permission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

 “Marshal Foch, you have no authority as Allied Commander-in-Chief to call upon me to yield up my command of the American Army and have it scattered among the Allied Forces where it will not be an American army at all.” This is the story of the first battle of the First American Army. Fresh off of an Allied victory at Amiens, Supreme Commander Ferdinand Foch has new ideas for a combined Allied strategy along the Meuse and in the Argonne forest. But his plan comes at a cost to the Americans, ready to launch their first offensive as a fully organized army against the Germans at the St. Mihiel Salient.  General Black Jack Pershing won't be deterred. But can he beat the Germans at this salient, then move an entire army with all of its supplies 60 miles to participate in this new offensive in time? We’ll find out. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Every time I have felt annoyed since then at France, this picture comes to mind and my anger softens.” This is the story of the Great War’s turning point. After a fourth and failed Spring Offensive operation, German General Erich Luddendorf is ready to make a fifth push. He’s making a pincer movement around the city of Reims, and to its west, on the banks of the Marne River, the US 3rd Division finds itself caught in a fight that the French present call worse than Verdun. It’s a slaughter, but their tenacity and unwillingness to surrender an inch of soil will earn these Yankees a new nickname: “the Rock of the Marne.” Seizing upon this German failure, Allied Supreme Commander Ferdinand Foch is ready to launch a counteroffensive. Doughboys are once again in the worst of it, fighting to take open fields from entrenched Germans near Soissons. Their sacrifices will help turn the tide of the war, but “sacrifice” is indeed the right word as tens of thousands of these young Americans will meet their end between the Aisne and Marne Rivers. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The impact of the 1918 Battle of Belleau Wood on the US Marine Corps is hard to overstate. Though in existence since 1775, the Corps was reborn in those woods. Not only did it give rise to new lore, but a whole generation of future leaders. Given its significance, Greg sits down with Captain Mac Caldwell of the US Marine Corps to go several cuts deeper on Belleau Wood and its legacy right into the twenty-first century. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the story of the first real battles of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in World War I. Carrying out his third operation of the German Spring Offensive, General Erich Ludendorff is hoping to distract the French before delivering a KO punch to the Brits farther north in Flanders. But this offensive is going far too well to let up. German troops are advancing rapidly down here. This mere diversion has taken them to Château-Thierry on the banks of the Marne River! Erich can’t help but think that, with Paris a mere 50 miles away, maybe this is the course to press. The Brits are spent. The French are spent. The Italians are spent. The Americans are growing in number but still wildly untrained. Can these smooth-faced American youth, so unfamiliar with war, really make the difference in stopping the German war machine’s forward advance? Can they take Cantigny? Will they hold at Château-Thierry? Will the US Marines continue the fight, even as they see an unprecedented loss of lives in a small cluster of trees known as Belleau Wood? We’ll find out.  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Lafayette, nous sommes ici!” (Lafayette, we are here!) This is the story of a nation building an army from nothing. After years of trying to avoid entanglements with and war in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson has asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. But that’s easier said than done. The US might be the world’s greatest industrial producer and have a large population, but will the nation’s population of heavily first- and second-generation American citizens (or non-citizens), speaking roughly 50 different languages, answer the call to arms? Can production be turned from civilian-focused (or British and French focused) to the needs of an instantaneous expeditionary force? In short: is it even possible for the largely isolationist United States to train and muster a world-class army? And if it is, who can take the reins of this formidable force that will be far larger than any that the nation’s most storied military commanders–from George Washington to Ulysses S. Grant–ever led? And can that leader keep the British and French from trying to take those reins? From “amalgamating” US troops into their own armies? You’re damn right there is. Welcome to America’s story, General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I still think I see the struggling of poor passengers in the water.” This is the story of the United States’ path into the Great War. The United States wishes to stay out of the Great War. Woodrow Wilson wins reelection (barely) on that very basis. But as Germany contends with Britain’s blockade, its submarines, or “U-boats,” are attacking merchant and passenger ships (like the RMS Lusitania) without warning. This policy is touch and go, but worse still, the US learns in February 1917 that Germany sent a secret telegram to Mexico offering to ally against the US! After more than two years of clinging to peace, President Woodrow Wilson can’t turn a blind eye to this and Germany’s other atrocities. In the name of protecting democracy, he calls for war.   But what about Britain’s unethical if not illegal “hunger blockade” of German ports? Do starving German children justify unrestricted submarine warfare? What about the billions of dollars in loans and goods the “neutral” US has sent to Britain and France over the years? Does that tip the scales on why the US is going to war? These complications and questions of right and wrong are for Congress to decide. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Starting the Great War (World War I) and covering this massive conflict up to 1917 has been a pretty big task unto itself. So, before we go in close on America's role, Greg and Kelsi sit down to digest and talk through a few aspects of the War, as well as share a few additional stories and experiences. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To say Russia had a difficult go of it during World War I would be a gross understatement. Millions of dead, lost territory, soldiers charging into battle without guns, starvation, a less than savory holy man influencing the Czar and Czarina, and of course, revolution! How do we even begin to wrap our heads around all of that, let alone contemplate the impact on the United States? Simple: we talk it out with Greg’s UVU colleague, Deputy Provost Kat Brown. A historian and expert on Russia, Kat joins Greg for a chat that tackles all of the above in one jam-packed episode.  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row.” This is the story of the first two and a half years of the Great War, particularly, of the Western Front. These are the years leading to the United States’ entry. After saving two German warships, the Ottoman Empire joins the Great War as a Central Power. Meanwhile, the work of death is moving forward on a scale unlike any other seen. Improved, or altogether new, weapons—rapid firing repeating rifles, machine guns, gas, flamethrowers, armed airplanes, and tanks—terrify and slaughter trench-dwelling soldiers. Bodies are soon counted by the millions. We’ll get a sample of this as we visit three particularly deadly areas of the Western Front: Ypres, Verdun, and the Somme. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Sopherl, Sopherl! Don’t die on me. Live for our children.” This is the 99-year story of Europe’s descent into total war. The Napoleonic Wars devastated Europe. The continent’s five great powers responded by meeting in Vienna in 1815 to establish a balance of power between them. In the future, no single power should be able to lead the continent into war. They also agree to meet as a “Concert of Europe” to hash out future developments. The years give way to decades. The Concert endures the rising pressures of industrialization, rising nationalism, New Imperialism, militarism, and a few smaller localized wars, particularly three conflicts engineered by Prussian Minister-President Otto von Bismarck. He isolates France to maintain peace, but after his departure, rigid alliance systems with secret clauses fully displace the flexibility of the Concert. And without that flexibility, a minor event could spark an outsized reaction. It’s in this situation that Austria-Hungary’s heir presumptive travels to the unstable Balkans and meets disaster in the streets of Sarajevo. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“It would be the irony of fate if my administration had to deal chiefly with foreign affairs.” This is the story of the lesser-known aspects of Woodrow Wilson’s presidency–the events outside of World War I. The Progressive Era is still in full force as Woodrow Wilson enters the White House. Amid constitutional amendments 16 and 17, Woodrow continues to carry this wave of reform with a new central banking system, income tax, and monopoly-checking regulations. He does so, however, at the expense of his state-focused presidential platform. Ironically, he’s adopting a more federal and “Theodore Roosevelt” approach.  But the true irony is the growing focus on foreign affairs. Woodrow knows little to nothing of the world beyond the United States, but with Mexico in revolution and concerns about Germany getting a foothold in the Caribbean, the self-proclaimed anti-imperialist professor finds himself relying on military interventions in South America more often than any of his predecessors. Woodrow is learning the challenges of foreign policy the hard way; he’s doing so while facing the terrible grief of his wife’s death. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Now, how would you like to be a reporter, if you have got nothing better to do?” This is the story of a reporter–a muckraker–answering a boy who wants to know if Santa Clause actually exists. And somehow, it’s an answer that manages to mention Theodore Roosevelt.  This is Jacob Riis’ Is There a Santa Clause? ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So much to say–it’s been a while! Kelsi and Greg share stories that they wish made it into some episodes, but alas, just couldn’t (looking at you, Ellis Island). Greg expresses his deep sympathy for K-12 teachers that are expected to teach “all” US history in a single year because that’s just an impossible task. And there’s a bit of discussion about newsletters and HTDS LIVE in New York City! ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“It’s true. But it takes more than that to kill a bull moose.” This is the story of one of the most unique, bitter, impactful, and noteworthy elections in US history: the presidential election of 1912. President William H. Taft is sure that he’s carrying on the progressive legacy of his dear friend and mentor, Theodore Roosevelt. But TR disagrees. Returning from an African safari and European tour, Teddy feels compelled to challenge his old friend for the GOP nomination as he touts his progressive “New Nationalism” plan. His challenge will split the party and several friendships. But TR isn’t the only one talking “reform.” A rising star in the Democratic Party, Princeton Professor and President T. Woodrow Wilson, is also looking to take his party down the progressive path. The professor is putting his “New Freedom” up against TR’s New Nationalism. Nor is Woodrow the only challenger. Socialist Eugene Debs thinks both the Prof. and TR are too still conservative, and he’s armed with greater support for the socialist cause than the nation has ever seen. A Republican. A Socialist. A progressive Democrat. A progressive Bull Moose. That mix alone is interesting, to say nothing of the friendships that will end or a nearly successful assassination attempt. This is the election of 1912. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Not in a thousand years would man ever fly.”   This is the story of two brothers and the dream of controlled, sustained, and powered flight in a heavier-than-air flying machine.   The Wrights are a tight-knit bunch. A supportive family. So perhaps it’s not surprising that, when Wilbur sinks into a deep, dark depression brought on by a terrible beating, his brother Orville is there for him. Just like Will and their sister Kate are there for Orv when Typhoid nearly takes his life. These siblings are thick as thieves, even if Kate opts for college while “the boys” go for starting their own print shop and bicycle company. They also have each other’s backs when Will rediscovers his childhood dream of flight. He and Orv pursue it relentlessly and for years on end among North Carolina’s sandy beaches just outside of Kitty Hawk.   Determination. Failure. Risk-taking. Scientific discovery. Family. This is the story of the Wright brothers. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices