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Barbed Wire Tames the West
Barbed wire began as a humble solution to a humble problem: fencing the vast, treeless expanses of the American West. But this simple invention—two t…
1 year, 3 months ago
Conversations: Everything is Tuberculosis, w/ John Green
In this thought-provoking episode of History Shorts, bestselling author John Green joins us, not to talk about fiction, but about the real-world epid…
1 year, 3 months ago
Irish Americans Attack Canada
Between 1866 and 1871, a secretive Irish-American paramilitary group known as the Fenians launched a series of bizarre and audacious cross-border att…
1 year, 3 months ago
America's Stonehenge
Just off a quiet back road in Salem, New Hampshire, sits a baffling jumble of dolmen-like chambers, serpentine walls, and precisely aligned monoliths…
1 year, 3 months ago
Mad Gasser of Mattoon
In September 1944, while Allied troops battled overseas, the quiet Illinois town of Mattoon was seized by panic. Families awoke to a sickly-sweet odo…
1 year, 3 months ago
Killing Wild Bill Hickok
Deadwood, Dakota Territory, 1876. A town of gold, grit, and gamblers. Among its rogues and prospectors walked a legend: Wild Bill Hickok, the Civil W…
1 year, 3 months ago
TODAY IN CONTEXT: Third Parties in American Politics- A History
In this episode of History Shorts, we explore the fascinating and often frustrating history of third parties in American politics, just as Elon Musk …
1 year, 3 months ago
Bloody Bill Anderson (Civil War True Crime)
In the borderlands of Missouri, where the American Civil War devolved into personal feuds and guerrilla terror, one name echoed louder, and bloodier,…
1 year, 3 months ago
COINTELPRO: America's Secret Surveillance Program
COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) remains one of the most contentious and clandestine operations in American history. Initiated by the FBI in…
1 year, 3 months ago
Captain James Cook's Final Voyage w/ Hampton Sides
In this wide-ranging and deeply insightful conversation, award-winning author and narrative historian Hampton Sides joins History Shorts to discuss h…
1 year, 3 months ago