My History Can Beat Up Your Politics

4.6 (1.1K)
History
Semimonthly

Since 2006, this podcast has been using history to elevate today's political debates. "The perfect antidote to bloviating talking heads, My History is thoughtful, nuanced, and highly engaging." -Columbia Journalism Review

1d ago

"WHO WILL SHEW US" Two Presidents After Midterms

Blame games. Presidential adjustments. Excited opposition. Worry about the Presidential in two years. We've been there before, even 200 years ago. A look at John Quincy Adams in 1826 (his midterm held 200 years ago) and Cleveland in 1894. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
1d ago · Bonus

You Might Also Like: The Next Five

Introducing Driving Industrial Decarbonisation from The Next Five. Follow the show: The Next Five Hard to abate sectors; the heavy industries of steel, cement, chemicals plus transport, aviation and mining are responsible for nearly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Decarbonising heavy industry at scale is no longer just an environmental imperative; it is a massive economic advantage if you get it right and even worse if you fail to do so. For decades, the narrative surrounding these ‘hard-to-abate' sectors has been trapped in a paralysing triad of assumptions: that transforming the backbone of world industry is simply too risky to execute, too complex to engineer, and far too expensive to justify. And on paper, that cost argument seems real. Clean production alternatives still carry a severe green premium. Near-zero steel costs anywhere from 10 to 75 percent more to produce. Green cement? You’re looking at a 30 to 125 percent price increase. Joining host Tom Parker is Dino Otranto, CEO of Fortescue Metals, Axel Eggert, Director General of EUROFER, The European Steel Association and Bertrand Badré, Managing Partner and Founder of Blue like an Orange Sustainable Capital and former Managing Director and CFO at the World Bank. Sources: FT Resources, Carbon Tracker, IEA, McKinsey, EUROFER This content is paid for by Fortescue and is produced in partnership with the Financial Times' Commercial Department. The views and claims expressed are those of the guests alone and have not been independently verified by The Financial Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.
Oct 28

MIDTERMS: THE "SEINFELD MIDTERM" OF 1990 AND THE "DISCO MIDTERM" OF 1978

There's an expectation that every midterm will be a wave. 2026 well could be, in line with 1994, 2014 or 2006. But it's not automatic. In this episode we discuss the modern reality of midterms. Party losses are getting lower on average, and what a wave is has changed. In this episode we focus on 1990, the so-called Seinfeld Election (or a midterm about nothing * which to observers seemed to have no result) and Carter's "Disco Midterm" of 1978. Like a disco record, it went round and round, expected to be a blowout for his party, but it wasn't. Not that it was great for Carter, but it wasn't a big loss as expected. What defines these kind of non-wave elections is that both parties could point to something. In 1990, a Minnesota GOP Senator unexpectedly looses, but a Democratic New Jersey Senator gets a frightening scare. A look at the non wave elections, that still had consequences. * to be clear it was named so in a POLITICO article in the 2000s, long after Seinfeld began airing as a show. We are part of Airwave Network We have a PATREON - support us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 25

WHAT WE SAID LAST MIDTERM ELECTION: The 2022 Midterm Result, and Listener Questions

4 years ago we said this... Call 2022 the Mick Jagger midterm - neither party got fully what they wanted. Both parties experienced win and losses. It is, so far, largely a "stave midterm" where the President's party lost less seats than expected - we've discussed a few of these on this podcast, and thus for the party expected to have lost seats a kind of win. Yet in this case as opposed to other 'stave' midterms, the President's Party looks like they will lose the house. So when is a win a win and a loss a loss? Is this like the 1970, 1990 or 1994 or 1974 elections? We discuss all this and talk about a midterm in the past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 24

TEDDY'S TEST: THE 1902 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

A normal midterm with its usual issues between the parties becomes a test for a new President when a labor strike unexpectedly reaches his desk. The opposition party gains, but so does his. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 23

MIDTERMS: NIXON'S LONELY MIDTERM, 1970

Nixon's first presidential midterm election (the election in which the House and Senate would be up for election) would turn out to be his last, but no one knew it at the time. Nixon tried something Presidents hadn't tried and took off in Air Force One to boost GOP candidates and attack hippie "thugs" across the country. He hoped to reverse the midterm trend. He did not, and he blamed bad audio and unhelpful political science. He may have done better than he thought. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 23

OBSCURE (BUT IMPORTANT) MIDTERMS 1886, 1914, 1898

Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson and William McKinley's midterm elections are not remembered. But each one changed history in its own way. One confined a President, the other changed a party. And the third may have cemented America's place in the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Oct 22

FIRST LADIES: JULIA TYLER DEBATE and Other Stories

In the run up to the Civil War, former first lady Julia Tyler participated in a political debate. Moderns will appreciate her participation in politics as an empowered well written woman. Her cause less so. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See All (520)

A biweekly history podcast covering the last great war. Join Ray Harris Jr as he explores World War Two in intimate detail. The History of WWII Podcast is produced and narrated by Ray Harris Jr. Ray has a degree in history from James Madison University. I’ve been obsessed with the events and people from WWII since I first learned of them. I’ve been waiting years for someone to do a podcast on WWII and couldn’t wait any longer.

4.4 (3927)

History
American Revolution Podcast explores the events of the American Revolution, from beginning to end. It publishes weekly. Be sure to check out the related blog for access to pictures, maps, and links to more useful information on each week's episode. https://blog.amrevpodcast.com

4.8 (1081)

History
The Explorers Podcast is about the greatest explorers and explorations in history.

4.9 (1515)

History
Tune in to hear Katy and Nathan pair cocktails with amazing women of history. Cheers!

4.5 (1442)

History
Ancient Egypt, from Creation to Cleopatra. This podcast tells the story of pharaonic Egypt "in their own words." Using archaeology, ancient texts, and up-to-date scholarship, we uncover the world of the Nile Valley and its people. Hosted on the Airwave Media Network.

4.8 (1857)

History
The Age of Napoleon is a history podcast about the life and career of Napoleon Bonaparte as well as the general context of Europe between the early eighteenth and early nineteenth century. It is about big trends and the grand sweep of history, as well as the smaller, individual stories that bring them to life.

4.9 (2063)

Society & Culture

View Subscription FAQs

4.6

out of 5

1,136 Ratings

Deep dives of history!

Apr 6

Kimyung Kim -

I greatly appreciate the depth that Bruce goes into with his podcast. I use this podcast as one resource for my teaching, and it helps me to deliver great lessons to my students!
Savings and Loan crisis

10/20/2025

jen98a

So far have only listened to the savings and loan crisis from September 2022; seems we are repeating ourselves in October 2025. I appreciate all the back history that led to the crisis. Good, thoughtful analysis too. Do wish some of the pauses were edited out. Kept thinking the podcast stopped lol
Don’t waste time with this

07/06/2025

The reviewer

This is best to ignore and skip it’s the epitome of regrettable all.
a great part of your politics and history diet

03/18/2025

j gentes

Bruce does a great job of doing the important work of tying the past to the present as nonpolitically as possible, and digging out the nuggets that makes history so interesting. Go elsewhere if “facts” are not your thing.

Since 2006, this podcast has been using history to elevate today's political debates. "The perfect antidote to bloviating talking heads, My History is thoughtful, nuanced, and highly engaging." -Columbia Journalism Review