About this podcast
Bob Crawford searches for the best historians and experts to answer listener questions about American history — from the Revolutionary War to rock & roll feuds. Got a question? Send it to [email protected].
Episodes
The newest 20 of 72 episodes
- A Wave Election: Lessons from 1946 · 49 min · Season 2Soaring prices and meat shortages fueled a wave election. We're talking, of course, about 1946. In that mid-term election, a Republican wave swept Democrats out of control of…
- America's Other WWII Internment Camps · 41 minDuring World War II, the United States incarcerated more than 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry. But Japanese Americans weren't the only people imprisoned, relocated, or…
- How Accurate Is the Movie Lincoln? Harold Holzer on Spielberg's 2012 Film · 57 min · Season 2How accurate is Steven Spielberg's Lincoln? And what did the movie get wrong? Listener Elijah wants to know how closely the 2012 film starring Daniel Day-Lewis matches the real…
- Do We Really Need Political Parties? · 43 minAmerica's founders feared political parties—and then almost immediately began creating them. So are parties an unfortunate obstacle to democracy, or are they the reason democracy…
- Tuscarora Jack: Patriot or Villain? · 32 min · Season 2Listener Laura is descended from Colonel John Barnwell—better known as "Tuscarora Jack"—but she struggles with her ancestor's brutal actions during the Tuscarora War. Why is…
- When Presidents and Vice Presidents Don't Get Along · 41 min · Season 2For much of American history, the vice presidency was a political afterthought. Presidents and vice presidents sometimes disliked each other, worked against each other, or barely…
- How Accurate Was The Oregon Trail Game? The Real History Behind America's Most Famous Video Game | Sarah Keyes · 38 min · Season 2Millions of Americans grew up playing The Oregon Trail, trying to avoid dysentery, survive dangerous river crossings, and make it west in one piece. But how accurate was the…
- 25 Years After 9/11: What Did America Learn from the War on Terror? | Peter Bergen · 37 min · Season 2Twenty-five years after 9/11, America is once again at war in the Middle East. So what—if anything—have we learned? This week on American History Hotline, Bob Crawford talks with…
- Trump Ranked the Presidents. A Historian Responds · 40 min · Season 1President Donald Trump recently released his own ranking of America's presidents—placing himself at the top while labeling figures such as Barack Obama and Ulysses S. Grant…
- Why Does America Have the Electoral College? Peter Sagal Explains · 46 min · Season 2Why does the United States use the Electoral College instead of a national popular vote? Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! Or, actually, DO tell me. To get answers, Bob calls up Peter…
- Why Did the U.S. Army Keep Disbanding the Rangers? · 31 min · Season 2The history of the Army Rangers isn't one continuous story, it's a cycle of creation, disbandment, and revival that stretches back before the United States even existed. In this…
- How Did the Cold War End? Reagan, Gorbachev & the Secret Summit That Changed History · 24 min · Season 2How did the Cold War really end? Most Americans know about the Berlin Wall and the fall of the Soviet Union—but few know about the extraordinary meeting that helped make it all…
- Why Did Disease Devastate Native Americans—but Not European Colonists? | Charles C. Mann · 33 min · Season 2Guns, germs and steel. Emphasis on GERMS. When Europeans arrived in the Americas, they brought all sorts of diseases! A listener asks: Why did diseases like smallpox devastate…
- The Man Who Saved Kyoto? · 40 min · Season 2Who knows? Not me. Why wasn't Kyoto destroyed by an atomic bomb during World War II? Rumor has it, the Secretary of War at the time, Henry Stimson, had fallen in love with the…
- Did Amelia Earhart survive her disappearance? (Part 2) · 18 min · Season 2In Part 2 of our Amelia Earhart series, Bob examines one of the most controversial and fascinating theories surrounding aviation's greatest mystery. Last week, former Smithsonian…
- What Happened to Amelia Earhart? Inside the World's Greatest Aviation Mystery (Part 1) · 33 min · Season 2 Episode 4Are we close to finding out what happened to Amelia Earhart? Some experts say "yes!" Nearly 90 years after her disappearance, researchers believe they are are getting closer to…
- Do Americans Have a Right to Know the President's Health? · 46 minHow much should Americans know about the health of their president? From secret illnesses and hidden disabilities to modern debates over transparency, the health of the commander…
- Did Jim Morrison's Dad Start the Vietnam War? · 47 minPeople are strange. But Jim Morrison is no stranger to conspiracy theories. And we've got a juicy one! Well, we're in the history business (not the conspiracy business). So, this…
- Who Invented School? The Surprising History of Education in America · 48 minDid Americans always send their children to public school? Not even close. In this episode of American History Hotline, Bob calls up historian and author Dixie Dillon Lane to…
- Was Abortion Always Controversial? From the Pilgrims to Dobbs v. Jackson · 42 minFor decades, abortion has been one of the most divisive issues in American politics. But was it always that way? Bob calls up Georgetown Law Professor Dr. Michele Goodwin to…
