History Author Show Dean Karayanis





 



March 21, 2023 - How did a man who worked at the JFK Presidential Library grapple with the 35th president’s legacy over his own lifetime to deliver portrait of the real man behind the myths of Camelot? In this episode, our time machine welcomes back Stephen F. Knott, author of “Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy.”



We previously welcomed Mr. Knott onto the show way back in 2015 to discuss the book he co-authored with Tony Williams: “Washington & Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America.” Mr. Knott is a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College and worked on Senator Ted Kennedy’s campaign in 1976.



Find him at StephenFKnott.com or on Twitter and Facebook.

 









 



January 23, 2023 - How did the relationships of two pairs of U.S. presidents — Theodore Roosevelt with William Howard Taft and Franklin Delano Roosevelt with freshman Congressman Lyndon Baines Johnson — change the course of history, and the world we live in today?



In this episode, presidential historian Mike Purdy brings us Presidential Friendships: How They Changed History. Mike is an opinion contributor to The Hill and founder of PresidentialHistory.com, where you can find his award-winning presidential history blog. He joined us last to chat about his previous book, 101 Presidential Insults: What They Really Thought About Each Other — and What It Means to Us.



Visit Mike @PresidentialHistorian on Instagram, on Twitter @PREShistory or follow his Facebook page Mike Purdy Presidential History.



Thanks to Mike’s fellow presidential historians who supplied questions for his interview. They are Feather Schwartz Foster, who joined us to discuss Mary Lincoln’s Flannel Pajamas: And Other Stories from the First Ladies’ Closet, and David Pietrusza, whose conversations you’ll find below.



Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR’s 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal

1920: The Year of the Six Presidents

1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR ― Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny

TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy

Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series

Too Long Ago: A Childhood Memory. A Vanished World

 











December 19, 2022 - How did Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, and the rest of the Sesame Street expand their neighborhood to Moscow after the collapse of the USSR? In this episode, we meet the woman who adapted a beloved American TV show for an audience newly freed from behind the Iron Curtain.



TV producer and filmmaker Natasha Lance Rogoff who brings us, “Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia.” It’s the true story of the Soviet Union tearing down its walls and a reborn Russia opening its doors to the best the West had to offer -- despite assassinations, armed attacks, and even the kidnapping of Elmo at the barrel of AK-47s.



Visit her at NatashaLanceRogoff.com, where you can navigate through to her social media accounts on all the major platforms, including @LanceRogoff on Twitter.





 



November 21, 2022 - If you could ride along in a Humvee with one of the most admired American combat leaders of the last half century, what would you hope to learn?



In this episode, our time machine welcomes back internationally acclaimed military historian and U.S. Army veteran Mike Guardia. We last caught up with Mike to discuss his book, Skybreak: The 58th Fighter Squadron in Desert Storm.



Mike returns to discuss his acclaimed biography of Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, titled, Hal Moore: A Soldier Once...and Always. Mike Guardia served six years on active duty as an Armor Officer and got to know his subject, whose leadership you may recall from the Mel Gibson's portrayal in the film We Were Soldiers.



Visit our guest at MikeGuardia.com, or on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

 



October 24, 2022 - Something special this week for the season of pumpkins, ghosts, and Candy Corn: A YouTube feature on what Hollywood gets right and wrong about yesterday called History Author Showtime.



It’s a video breakdown of the 1975 movie, “The Legend of Lizzie Borden,” starring Elizabeth Montgomery, who you may remember as Samantha Stevens from “Bewitched.” I often ask authors what they think of the film or TV portrayals of the past, and for this week, I pulled some soundbites from Cara Robertson, who I interviewed about her book, “The Trial of Lizzie Borden.”



“The Legend of Lizzie Borden” was her favorite portrayal of the tried-but-not-convicted alleged murderess. I’ve previously published Showtime breakdowns of AMC’s “The Americans,” which featured former KGB agent Jack Barsky, who I interviewed about his book, “Deep Under Cover. My Secret Life & tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America.”



 







I also covered “The Dummy,” a 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone. Anne Serling, author of “As I Knew Him: My Dad Rod Serling” had a surprising and amusing recollection of the infamous ventriloquist dummy used in show that I just felt deserved to be highlighted.







 



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October 10, 2022 - What if historical fiction could give someone the courage that saves their life? In this episode, Judith F. Brenner shares her debut novel The Moments Between Dreams, which has the power to do just that, as we mark Domestic Violence and Polio Awareness Months.



The book has been described as "edutaining,' both educational and entertaining, as we return to the 1940s and ‘50s for a story set during the polio epidemic wrapped around housewife Carol’s carefully concealed abusive marriage.



Judith F. Brenner is a journalist by training and runs Creative Lakes Media, LLC, a freelance writing and editing services company. Her personal essays have been published in Writers in the Know literary magazine and Minnesota Parent magazine.



Find our guest at JudithFBrenner.com, where you can navigate through from there to all her social media accounts, on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.