Greg, Josh, and Cielle are considering some new directions for the show. Give it a listen...

Greg, Josh, and Cielle hash out the international slave trade … in a time when it’s not suppose to exist. La Amistad provides a perfect, horrific example of the illegal transatlantic slave’s continued existence after 1808 and the challenges the 19th-century United States faced as slavery became an increasingly divisive issue.

Scott Rank (Ph.D., history) hosts the wildly popular, brilliant podcast, “History Unplugged,” and today, he joins Greg to discuss a subject we never quite worked into History That Doesn’t Suck: nineteenth-century America’s utopian communities! These are groups that came out to the United States (often to its structure lacking, western frontier) and trying to create, well … their own little utopias. Scott gives us the details on a few of these groups, and on how some of them still survive, in...

Greg, Josh, and Cielle go bird’s eye view on the whole of the war. They talk different theaters, commanders, and Greg suggests that the Mexican-American War makes more sense when it’s considered alongside European empires of the day.

Daniel Gullotta has more degrees than we have space in which to write, so we’ll just jump to his current undertaking: a PhD in Religious history at Stanford. Of course, with that background, maybe Greg should’ve anticipated that their discussion on the Age of Jackson would take a fascinating turn toward the Divine! We still have plenty of straight up political history--Greg and Daniel talk about the elections of 1824 and 1828, the “Corrupt Bargain,” and so on--but we also get a deeper dive on...

Greg, Josh, and Cielle talk western settlement! Cielle drops some gruesome details on the Donner Party. The team talks death and murder in pioneer wagon trains and how the Mormon Trail’s religious impetus sets it apart from the others. But the real kicker: Greg has solid advice on getting the highest score possible on the Oregon Trail video Game. You’re welcome. You’re so, so welcome.

A Justice on the 14th Court of Appeals in Texas, occasional part time law professor, and member of the Texas State Historical Association (serving on the Archives Committee no less!), Justice Ken Wise is truly a gentleman and a scholar. He’s also a podcaster! His “Wise about Texas” podcast is one of the most if not the most popular Texas history podcasts in the world. So join Greg for a chat with Ken about the Texas Revolution’s history and legacy. By the end, you’ll undoubtedly be a bit...

Greg, Josh, and Cielle rewrite Thomas Jefferson’s and John Adams’s epitaphs and talk tribalism/political parties while speculating on whom they would’ve voted for in the election of 1824. Greg also gives an impassioned review of Solomon Northup’s memoir, 12 Years a Slave. And other stuff. We can’t really remember, just listen/watch already.

As we say farewell to the dying Founding Father generation, here’s one last throwback that reflects on the period as a whole. Greg and Liz Covart (host of Ben Franklin’s World Podcast) get a bit meta, talking history podcasting versus “traditional” historical work (university gigs and classroom teaching). They then nerd out on their preferred hypothetical Founding Father dinner guests and the Revolution as a whole.

What’s a war between old friends? Canadian born and bred Dr. Katherine Rossy of Bishop’s University joins her good friend Greg to provide a Canadian perspective on the War of 1812, and we couldn’t be happier with the result. This chat has sarcasm, good-natured national jokes, hockey references, and gives Greg the chance to defend the honor of Vermont maple syrup. Whether you’re north of, south of, or nowhere near the 49th parallel, this is one chat between a Yank and a Canuck you won’t want...

Greg, Josh, and Cielle hash out the obscure War of 1812. Tirades include: none of them thinking the British Navy had a legitimate claim in pressing US sailors into the service; way too much about Lieutenant T.A.C. Jones; a few Arab sailors at the Battle of New Orleans; Greg calling Cielle a Tory; and of course, who did (or didn’t) win this freaking war!

"Damn you, let go my gun!" BYU History Professor Jay Buckley is a leading expert on the Lewis and Clark expedition, so who better to chat with about it? Especially when he knows how to spin a good yarn! Join Greg as he sits down with Professor Buckley for great stories from this most excellent expedition, including discussion of Lewis's mysterious death.

Greg, Josh, and Cielle talk through HTDS 21 and 22. We’ll get some details on Thomas Jefferson that didn’t make it in the HTDS 21’s script, as well as see Cielle and Greg disagree on whether Burr or Hamilton shot first! Good news: their disagreement did not result in an affair of honor. No pistols will be drawn in Utah’s Provo Canyon.

A former US diplomat and fresh off the National Security Council in the White House, Miles Hansen has returned to his native Utah to serve as President & CEO of World Trade Center Utah. And get this--Miles is a fan of old War of 1812 American industrialist, Frank Lowell! So how could Greg not talk to him? Join Miles and Greg as they discuss early-American industrialization and the lessons it has to offer us in the present, especially since we can always count on tech to do at least one...

After releasing the first four episodes and getting some feedback--thank you!--we’ve decided to separate the interviews from the roundtables. So today, it’s Greg, Josh, and Cielle, talking through the Adams administration and finally working in some Alexander Hamilton sexiness--yeah, the Reynolds Pamphlet! On a more serious note, we’ll also examine the changing economies of the North and South: the first shifting toward industrialization; the latter doubling down on the “peculiar institution”...

"“Can I just say what I think is the best summation of the bill of rights? — colonial America’s fears." Poor George had to deal with Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson at the same time for years. That had to be the worst! Greg, Josh, and Cielle talk through the ups and downs of the Washington administration, as George set presidential precedents and dealt with two parties that vilanized each other. Huh. Wonder what that’s like? So what comes next? Everybody give it up for Utah’s...

“Reading the pamphlet, which, you know, we could argue is kinda the pushing point that pushes people over the edge—” “I’m arguing it.” Time to talk the intellectual side of the American Rev’. Greg, Josh, and Cielle revisit the war years and go up through the Philadelphia Convention. They discuss how “patriots” shifted from being proud British subjects to wanting independence (we’re looking at you Thomas Paine), as well as the big divide on how to move forward. Should each colony become a...

“It’s not just king George saying, ‘you’ll be back.’ We’re saying, ‘we’ll be back." Greg, Josh, and Cielle discuss the ridiculous American military situation during the Revolutionary War, including: a cash-strapped Continental Army; crapshoot state militias; and why George was the man to lead, both political and practically. Finally, they explain comment les Américains ont gangé--oops, wrong language--they explain how the Americans won. But since the HTDS team’s never been a trench, Greg...

The History That Doesn’t Suck (HTDS) team--Prof. Greg Jackson, Josh Beatty, and Cielle Salazar--chat it up about the main causes of the American Revolution (HTDS episodes 1-5), covering everything from George Washington's miserable day at Fort Necessity, to bad tax plans, and “salt-water” tea. Next, Greg and Prof. Eric Hinderaker (distinguished professor of history at the University of Utah and author of Boston’s Massacre) get into the nitty-gritty of that fateful, cold night in March 1770....