Podcast Episodes

Unpacking the Mind Behind Vietnam: Dr. William Taubman on McNamara At War

Season 1 Episode 288

Join me as I sit down with Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer William Taubman to explore his latest work, McNamara at War: A New History. Authors Philip and William Taubman take readers behind the sce…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Talking to Books: Education during Reconstruction

Season 1 Episode 287

After the Civil War, education became one of the most powerful tools for newly freed Black Americans and one of the most fiercely contested. Join me as I explore the rise of Black education during Re…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Landscape of Ruin: The Southern Economy during Reconstruction

How do you replace enslaved labor and rebuild an economy?

In the aftermath of the Civil War, the Southern economy didn’t just have to recover; it had to reinvent itself. Join me as I explore how syste…

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

Art, Ambition & the Gilded Age: The Miniature Painter Revealed with Kathleen Langone

Season 1 Episode 285

What can a miniature portrait painter teach us about fame, fortune, and forgotten women of the Gilded Age?

In this episode I welcome historian and author Kathleen Langone to explore the fascinating li…

Published on 1 month, 4 weeks ago

Reconstruction Beyond the South: The Broken Promises to Mexican Americans

Season 1 Episode 284

Reconstruction is often taught as a Southern story, focused on the political, social, and legal changes that followed the Civil War. But for Mexican Americans living in the American Southwest, this e…

Published on 2 months ago

Jay Gould: Titan or Tyrant?

Season 1 Episode 283

Join me this week as I take a look at the life and legacy of Jay Gould, one of the most talked-about figures of the Gilded Age. From his early years in the tannery business to his rise as a major pla…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

Exploring Conscience of a Nation: Zaakir Tameez on Charles Sumner’s Fight for Justice

Season 1 Episode 282

Charles Sumner was one of the fiercest voices for abolition and racial equality in 19th-century America, but how much do we really know about the man behind the Senate desk? Join me as I sit down wit…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

The Page Act: How America Banned Chinese Women

Season 1 Episode 281

In 1875, the United States passed the Page Act: the first federal law to restrict immigration. The Page Act marked a turning point in American immigration policy, introducing the use of moral and rac…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

Axes, Activism, and Abstinence: The WCTU and the Fight for Temperance

Season 1 Episode 280

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union was one of the most powerful reform organizations of the 19th century, but its story goes far beyond banning booze. Sit down with me as I dive into the WTCU's o…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Bringing History to Life: Rob Edwards on Robert Smalls in Defiant

Season 1 Episode 279

Veteran screenwriter and producer Rob Edwards (The Princess and the Frog, Treasure Planet) joins the show to discuss his newest project: a graphic novel chronicling the extraordinary life of Robert S…

Published on 2 months, 3 weeks ago