It's another episode of A-Z, and the lucky letter is J! On the menu this week: John Birch Society Jacobs, Harriet Jackson Japanese Internment Jazz Singer, The And many more! Thanks again for listening and we'll be back soon with our brand new series on the US and the Middle East! Cheers, Mark and Malcolm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following a delay thanks to strikes, illness, and a furious effort to finish writing a book, we're back with the final episode of our Lyndon Johnson's America series! We discuss the various legacies of Johnson, his Great Society, Civil Rights, Vietnam, and the long Sixties. And we also provide a preview of our NEW upcoming series - tune in to find out what we'll be discussing next! Thanks a lot for listening to this series and we look forward to bringing you the next one. Cheers, Mark and...

It's our fifth episode of A-Z, where we take a letter from the alphabet and use it to take a journey through American History for 30 minutes. And on this occasion it's the letter T! Among the topics discussed on this episode: Truman Three Mile Island Sister Rosetta Tharpe Tupperware Tobacco We hope you enjoy and we'll back next with our final episode of the LBJ's America series. Cheers, Mark and Malcolm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the penultimate episode of our LBJ's America series! On this episode we round out 1968, which sees Richard Nixon win the presidential election and be on his way to the White House. We chat about Nixon's record and how, after promising to bring the American people together, he ended up driving them further apart. Also, was LBJ really trying to be a hippie in his final years before dying 1973? We answer this question and much more. The final episode will dissect the legacy of LBJ's America...

On this month's A-Z, we tackle the letter 'W' for 30 minutes, including discussion of: World War I & II Watergate The West Wing Victoria Woodhull And even, William Wallace. We hope you enjoy and we'll be back soon with the penultimate episode in our LBJ's America series. Cheers, Mark Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the fourth installment of our series on Lyndon Johnson's America and we are into crisis mode.  We pick up the story in mid-1967 and discuss how Vietnam, racial violence, and a host of other contentious issues rise to the fore and overwhelm Lyndon Johnson, leading to his eventual withdrawal from office. Along the way we compare 1967/8 with today's political climate, discuss race riots, Tet, the media, the counterculture, second-wave feminism and much more.  Thanks again for...

It's the third in our series of 30 minute discussions of random US history topics beginning with a letter of the alphabet. Today - it's R!RepublicansRamboRed ScareRepublican Motherhood ...are just a few of things that we chew over.Cheers,Mark and Malcolm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's Part 3 of Lyndon Johnson's America and we arrive at the event which arguably shaped LBJ's presidency more than anything else - the Vietnam War.In this episode, we cover the early years of the conflict (1964-67) and discuss:- Why Vietnam?- Why does Johnson escalate in 1965?- What role do race and gender play during the Vietnam War?- The early anti-war movement- American strategic mistakes in VietnamIn next month's episode we'll examine The Downfall as Johnson's America comes apart as a...

It's the second of our episodes where we discuss a series of events, people, and places drawn at random that begin with a specific letter. And today's letter is H!  Fannie Lou HamerAdolf Hitler Jimi Hendrix Hollywoodand many, many more!We'll be back next month with another episode of A-Z!Cheers,Mark and MalcolmLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the second episode of Lyndon Johnson's America, we encounter an optimistic America. A United States prospering and beginning to deal with its original sin of racism. We delve into civil rights victories and Johnson's pursuit of a Great Society. But we also discuss the rise of television, the British Invasion led by the Beatles, and America's pursuit of putting a Man on the Moon.This episode will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. Enjoy it, things are about to hit the proverbial fan....

It's a new podcast!The idea is simple. We've written down loads of names/events/developments that relate to American History that begin with the same letter. They have been scrunched up in a hat, they are picked at random, and we have 30 minutes to discuss whatever comes out the hat.And today, we're all about the letter C!We discuss everything from Lewis and Clark to China, Civil Rights to the CIA. And much more!We hope you enjoy this new type of podcast. We plan to publish a new one every...

We're back! And we're embarking on a six part series examining 'Lyndon Johnson's America'. Essentially, we're using the life and times of LBJ to examine and explore the United States over which he presided in the tumultuous 1960s. This episode, however, explores the ascent of Johnson up the political ladder, while simultaneously discussing a host of interesting events and developments between 1936-1963. We discuss the Cold War Consensus, the use of the Atom Bomb, the 'loss of China', the...

On Episode 54 we're joined by Grainne McEvoy (@GrainneMcEvoy)  for a timely discussion of American immigration policy over the past 150 years.  In particular, we discuss two pieces of legislation that drastically changed the type of immigrants who would arrive in the United States, and thus shaped the face of America as it exists today.  We also discuss the idea of the 'Melting Pot', the effect of the Cold War, and the role that the Catholic Church have played in influencing immigration...

We're back with a sequel to our bonus podcast on the 2016 election election whereby we breakdown the Midterm 2018 results, discuss the importance of Midterms in American History, and reflect on the implications of this year's results for the future.And, of course, we're joined by Paddy Andelic (@pkandelic) to help us along the way!We'll be back to our regular programming from here out, as later this month we'll return with a podcast on America's immigration history.  Cheers,Mark and Malcolm

As we prepare to return in November with two episodes, including a special on the midterm election results, here is a re-run of an old episode on Black History Month (which falls in October in the UK, so we felt it was ideal to re-post this now)On Episode 34 of American History Too! we were joined by the University of Birmingham's James West (@ejwestuk) to discuss the history of Black History Month and the debates that surround BHM.Over the course of the hour we get stuck into the legacy of...

In Episode 53 we're joined by the University of Oxford's Dan Rowe (@dan_rowe1) to discuss the reasons for the emergence of America's 'Rust Belt' - an area of the United States characterized by decline and struggle since the last third of the 20th century.Where is the Rust Belt? How do people who live there feel about the label and how have their lives been affected by the economic and social challenges that have befallen the region? Why did it decline and is it poised to recover?And finally,...

On Episode 52, we're joined by Kings College London's Chris Parkes to discuss sex and sexuality in the first half of the twentieth century.  Chris guides us through how sexuality was understood at this time, why it became the policy of the federal government to discriminate against gay and lesbian Americans during World War I and World War II. We then shift focus to Sumner Welles, a diplomat and close adviser to Franklin Roosevelt, whose career was ruined when it was exposed he had solicited...

We're back! After a delay to allow for holidays and research trips, on a bumper Episode 51, we are joined by two guests - York St John University's Stephen Robinson (@drSRRobinson) and the University of Essex's Miguel Hernandez (@MHernandezGdV) to work through one of the worst eras in American race relations.  We discuss why race relations were so awful, the career of Booker T. Washington, and the revival of the Second KKK. Finally, we discuss the current state of American race relations and...

It's our 50TH EPISODE! And for this exceptional landmark, we could think of no more appropriate topic to discuss than American Exceptionalism. What does that term mean? Where does it come from? Does US exceptionalism differ from other kinds of exceptionalism? And what is the current state of American Exceptionalism now that it has a president, in Donald Trump, who has openly refuted the concept? With the help of an exceptional guest  - Hilde Restad (Bjørknes College, @hilderestad, and co-host...

On Episode 49 of American History Too! we're joined by the University of Manchester's Katie Myerscough (@katiemyerscough) to discuss her research into the Progressive Era and the role women played in shaping American cities at the turn of the 20th century. Think that this era saw women focus exclusively on Suffrage? Well, think again.We get stuck into whether or not there was actually a progressive movement, what it was, and how it succeeded. Katie then guides us through how women sought to...

On Episode 48, our resident Cold War expert, Malcolm, is in the hotseat to discuss whether we are in the midst of a new Cold War (drawing upon his recent contribution to this BBC article - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-43546340).Before we tackle the present day, we cover the old Cold War - what was it? when did it peak? who won? And what amount of credit does Ronald Reagan deserve for ending the long conflict? We then turn our attention to the present day to consider the rise of...

Picking up from last month's episode on Native Americans and slavery, this month's episode with Reeta Humalajoki (University of Turku) explores the relationship between the American government from the civil war to the present day.  We explore the various policies from assimilation to termination that characterised this fractious relationship, all the way up to the recent policies pursued by the Obama and Trump White Houses.  How much say did have Native Americans had in shaping their fate?...

On Episode 46, we're joined by the University of Hull's Edd Mair, who discusses his research on Native Americans as slaveholders during the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly the Seminole tribe of Florida.We have a wide-ranging discussion of the history of Native American slavery - both as enslaved people and as slaveholders themselves. Why did the enslave Africans? Was it out of necessity or more nefarious reasons? As we find out, some Native Americans even held similar racial beliefs to...