History That Doesn't Suck Prof. Greg Jackson

“I believe I can swing it.”

This is the story of the Coolidge Administration.

Calvin Coolidge isn’t the most talkative guy–he’s painfully shy, to be frank–but “Silent Cal” does care deeply about public service. Over the years, the thrifty, hard-working New Englander moves up the ranks, from municipal offices to state offices, until, as Massachusetts Governor, he’s asked to join Warren G. Harding’s run for the White House. When the scandalous, playboy President meets an untimely end, family man Cal suddenly finds himself President of the United States.

Cal slashes government spending and taxes while pursuing peace abroad. He also sees terrible heartache with the loss of loved ones. Meanwhile, the nation is debating if evolution should be taught in schools, the Mississippi floods, and the sculpting of Mount Rushmore begins. Cal might not be a hands-on president, but much is happening during his time in office that will reverberate into the years ahead. 
____

Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and

go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations


join discussions in our Facebook community


get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette 

come see a live show


get HTDS merch

or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks.


HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network. 
Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“If you knew of a great scandal in our administration, would you for the good of the country and the party expose it publicly or would you bury it?” 

This is the story of a brilliant man’s presidency and the greatest presidential scandal to precede Watergate. This is the story of Warren G. Harding and the Teapot Dome Scandal.

Growing up in Ohio, Warren–or little “Winnie,” as his mom calls him–shows his brilliance from day one. The smart, charismatic, and handsome boy grows up to become a newspaperman and falls in love with politics while reporting. He soon becomes a rising star, holding Ohio then national offices. Taking the reins of government after World War I, the Republican hopes to return the post-war, economically downtrodden, and fearful nation to “normalcy.”

But can he return the nation to “normalcy” while his friends in the “Ohio Gang” are making shady deals? And what does Warren know of these deals? Is he naive? Or is the several-times adulterous president, who copes with the stress of office through drink and gambling, in on it? That’s the question we’ll ask ourselves as we follow his less-than-a-full-term presidency.
____

Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and

go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations


join discussions in our Facebook community


get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette 

come see a live show


get HTDS merch

or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks.


HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network. 
Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Prof. sits down with fellow Prof. Ben Sawyer of the Road to Now Podcast and Middle Tennessee State University to chat through the last volume episodes. Russia, the Red Scare, the second Klan, and more, while Ben gets Greg to share behind-the-scenes details on the writing process. Enjoy!

____

Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and

go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations


join discussions in our Facebook community


get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette 

come see a live show


get HTDS merch

or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks.


HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network. 
Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“I want to say make no settlement until they sign up that every bloody murderer of a guard has got to go.”

This is the story of the largest uprising in the United States since the Civil War.

As unions spread across the Progressive-Era United States, West Virginia mine owners manage to keep them out. They have some good reasons (tough margins) and some less savory ones … like their preference for an oppressive “mine guard system” in “company towns” that effectively removes civil government and private ownership, and reduces the American citizens working in their mines to serfdom. Mother Jones inspires the miners to push back. 

Over the course of a decade, that pushback turns bloody – especially in Mingo County. But the worst of it comes just after the Great War, as the miner’s hero, Police Chief Sid “Two Gun” Hatfield, is murdered in cold blood at McDowell County Courthouse. Now, all bets are off. 10,000 miners grab their guns, ready to get revenge and free incarcerated miners. But they’ll have to go through Sheriff Don Chafin’s forces first. The two sides clash at Blair Mountain as the US Army arrives with regiments and aviation squadrons.
____

Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and

go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations


join discussions in our Facebook community


get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette 

come see a live show


get HTDS merch

or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks.


HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network. 
Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Every official except one elected yesterday at the first municipal election of this borough had been endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan.”

This is the story of the Second Ku Klux Klan.

It’s been nearly half a century since the Third Enforcement Act killed off the Klan in 1871. But amid Jim Crow segregation in 1915, the lynching of a Jewish Georgian Leo Frank, coupled with a new film, The Birth of a Nation, inspires William Simmons to resurrect the Klan. 

This new Klan has a longer list of enemies. While still opposed to Black Americans fully integrating into American society, this KKK also targets Jews and Catholics. It’s also more politically connected than the first Klan. While Klansmen will participate in violence–including the near annihilation of the Black quarter of Tulsa, Oklahoma–most Kluxers are more focused on politics. As membership swells into the millions, the Klan’s endorsed candidates will win seats in Congress, state houses, and city councils across the nation. Yet, the Klan will come crashing down almost as quickly as it rose in the 1920s. We’ll find out why.

____

Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and

go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations


join discussions in our Facebook community


get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette 

come see a live show


get HTDS merch

or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks.


HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Palmer, do not let this country see red.”

This is the story of America’s First Red Scare. On June 2, 1919, Attorney General Mitchell Palmer is just going to bed when the first floor of his home is blown apart. It was a bomb, and part of a larger plot to attack several national leaders. It’s the work of anarchists.

Shaken to the core, Mitch is determined to use his position as AG to rid the nation of such extremist, violent leftists–anarchists, Bolsheviks, and the like. Mitch turns to the Bureau of Investigation (the predecessor of the FBI) to help round up foreign Reds. He’ll find a bright young lawyer named J. Edgar Hoover particularly useful in his “Palmer Raids.”

But as famed socialist Eugen Debs goes to prison for speaking against the war and union workers get treated like they’re a part of the far left, some start to wonder: is the AG still protecting the nation from violent radicals, or is he conducting a witch hunt? With bombings scaring the nation and Wall Street, the nation must debate where to draw the line between security and liberty.
___
Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and

go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations


join discussions in our Facebook community


get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette 

come see a live show


get HTDS merch

or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks.


HTDS is part of the Airwave Media Network. 
Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Email us at advertising@airwavemedia.com
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices