Donald Trump talks about Americans being "suckers" to their allies. Is Uncle Sam really "Uncle Sucker"? Did the United States really “bail the French out in two world wars,” or is it a blustering, bigoted myth? Professor Philip Nash joins us to discuss what happened in World Wars I and II, and whether the United States was “bailing out” the French or repaying a major debt from the American Revolution. Join us as we discuss all the issues. Lafayette, the Buzzkillers are here! Encore Episode.

Well-dressed men have played a distinctive part in the cultural and political life of Britain over several centuries. But unlike the twenty-first-century hipster, the British dandies provoked intense degrees of fascination and horror in their homeland and played an important role in British society from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Dr. Dominic Janes reveals to us how the scandalous history of fashionable men and their clothes is a reflection of changing attitudes to style,...

Jane Marguerite Tippett discusses her new book about Edward VIII, the English king who abdicated the throne in 1936 for the woman he loved, the American socialite Wallis Simpson. She describes the complexity of his life and the almost innumerable myths about his political views, his hopes for the British monarchy, and his famous meeting with Hitler before World War II. This is fascinating new historical research. Listen and learn! Episode 549.

Professor Adam Domby explains why the Lost Cause of the Confederacy is full of fraud, fabrication, and white supremacy. And he analyzes how it is expressed in statuary, memory, and commemoration in the American south in the Jim Crow era. This is a complete examination of the Lost Cause and its destructive effect on American life and culture. Encore Episode.

We examine the many myths surrounding Adolf Hitler’s rise from Chancellor to the outbreak of World War II. These include: how Nazi Germany functioned; the myth of his purely tyrannical dictatorship; and the myth of an efficient, orderly dictatorship. We also explore Hitler’s genuine popularity, and explain the successes of Hitler’s diplomacy and expansionism. It’s very deep and complicated, Buzzkillers! Encore Episode.

Professor Terri Finneman explains how the press has portrayed women politicians running for high office in the United States. From Victoria Woodhull in the 1870s to Kamala Harris in 2020, she enlightens us about how the media treatment of women politicians has and hasn’t changed over this long period! Encore Episode.

Dr. Victoria Martinez joins to debunk and explain Junk history is embodied a viral meme that portrays a nineteenth-century Persian princess with facial hair, alongside the claim that 13 men killed themselves over their unrequited love for her. While it fails miserably at historical accuracy, the meme succeeds at demonstrating how easily viral clickbait obscures and overshadows rich and meaningful stories from the past. It's junk history! Episode 548.

Professor Mary Burke destroys the myths and caricatures of Irish Americans as a monolithic cultural, racial, and political group. Figures from the Scots-Irish Andrew Jackson to the Caribbean-Irish Rihanna, as well as literature, film, caricature, and beauty discourse, convey how the Irish racially transformed multiple times: in the slave-holding Caribbean, on America's frontiers and antebellum plantations, and along its eastern seaboard. Her cultural history of race and centuries of Irishness...

Lots of people are credited with coining the great phrase, “well-behaved women rarely make history.” These include Marilyn Monroe, Gloria Steinem, Eleanor Roosevelt, Anne Boleyn, and many more. Given time, any powerful woman with self-respect, backbone, and verve will get credit for this phrase and sentiment. Listen and learn who said it first.

We've already learned about the importance of "The Negro Motorist Green Book" from our previous show. Here, historians Catherine Zipf and Susan Hellman discuss their project on the architecture of the sites found in the Green Book and what various efforts are being made to locate more Green Book sites and preserve them. Perhaps the best show we've ever done about local history! Episode 546.

20th-century automobile travel was supposed to represent freedom, but what else did it represent? Professor Cotten Seiler from Dickinson College joins us to discuss the difficulties and hazards of traveling in the United States faced by African-American motorists in the 20th Century, especially during the height of segregation and Jim Crow. Specifically, we learn how important guides like the Negro Motorist Green Book and the popular Travelguide: Vacation and Recreation Without Humiliation...

Professor Philip Nash joins us for Part 2 of our examination of the life and loves of Henry Kissinger, perhaps the most influential American foreign policy figure of the later Cold War. This episode discusses his time in power in the Nixon administration, his carefully crafted public image, and his continuing power after he left office. We puzzle over his continued influence and assess his responsibility for some of the worst crimes of the 20th century. Episode 546.

Professor Philip Nash joins us for Part 1 of our examination of the life and loves of Henry Kissinger, perhaps the most influential American foreign policy figure of the later Cold War. We look at his origins, his education, his move into governing circles, and his meteoric rise to power in the 1970s. An amazing story that takes us from his escape from Nazi Germany, his World War II service, his education at Harvard, and his subsequent work in the early Nixon administration. Episode 545.

At the end of this month of asking "what is America," we give you a show on this famous Ben Franklin quote. Franklin supposedly said this after the Founding Fathers had agreed on the broad nature of the new U.S. government in 1787. But is the quote genuine? We explain it all, and the wider context of Franklin’s political and social world. Encore episode

Professor Steven Conn shows us that rural America—so often characterized as in crisis or in danger of being left behind—has actually been at the center of modern American history, shaped by the same forces as everywhere else in the country: militarization, industrialization, corporatization, and suburbanization. He invites us to dispense with the lies and half-truths we’ve believed about rural America and to pursue better solutions to the very real challenges shared all across our nation....

“Forging America” speaks to both the complexities of historical experience and the meanings of the past for our present-day lives. Warning against the assumption of preordained outcomes, Pulitzer-Prize-winning historian Steve Hahn focuses the reader's attention on those moments when historical change occurs. He weaves a history that is continental and transnational, a history of the many peoples whose experiences and aspirations -oftentimes involving struggle and conflict- went into the...

Martin Luther King did so much more for American society, and wanted so much more from the US government and US elite than most people realize. Popular history has airbrushed out far too much about his life and work. Professor Phil Nash reminds us of the importance of King’s work, especially during the forgotten period between his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech and his assassination in 1968. Listen and learn.

Dr. Brian Regal joins us to discuss some of the stories and myths about who “discovered” America, and what the continued popularity of those myths tell us about American culture. From Irish saints to marauding Vikings to Chinese admirals to African explorers, people from almost every culture on earth have been credited with discovering America. Listen as he explains all! Episode 542.

The Professor starts off his January 2024 "What is America" series of shows with a short episode that looks at the naming of "America" and the naming of the "United States of America." Was America named after Amerigo Vespucci, as we were all taught in school? Why was it named after him? And when did Americans first start to refer to the "United States," rather than the "colonies"? Episode 541

How did New Year’s Day end up in the middle of winter in the northern hemisphere (and the middle of summer in the southern hemisphere)? Wouldn’t a day in spring be more fitting? Find out how people celebrated New Year's in past centuries and why things turned out the way they did. Encore Episode.

Should old acquaintance be forgot? What? Should we forget old friends? Should we sing about remembering them. What does Auld Lang Syne actually mean? Why do we sing it every New Year’s Eve? Join the Professor as he waxes lyrical and sentimentally about Auld Lang Syne, Scotland, and good auld Robert Burns!

Were there special, secret meanings behind the lyrics in the famous Christmas song, The 12 Days of Christmas? Ten Lords a Leaping and Nine Ladies Dancing sounds like a pretty good party! But why wasn’t Professor Buzzkill invited? We explain it all and wish all you Buzzkillers out there a happy holiday season! Encore episode.

Candy canes are a well-known symbol of the holiday season, but what is the origin and meaning of this peculiar candy? Some say it was invented by a German choirmaster in the 17th century. Others say it was invented by an Indiana confectioner in the 19th century. Or maybe it was a Catholic priest? Is the candy cane is full of religious symbols that represent the blood of Christ, the nativity, and the strength of the Christian church? Listen and learn!

The film “Amadeus” was a huge hit in the mid-1980s. It depicted Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri as musical rivals in the Austrian court in the late 18th century, which ultimately ends with Mozart's early death. But was anything in the film accurate? Did Salieri plot to kill Mozart? Was jealousy over musical genius really that serious? Dr. Kristin Franseen explains it all. Rather than being a buzzkill, she shows us that the real story is actually more interesting than the film...