America: The Story of the USA

America: Study Notes are quickfire explainers for all the things you want to know about the USA, but don't want to ask.

Today, The 10 Tallest Buildings in the United States — where they are, how tall they stand, and the stories behind them.

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A few hours before recording, the US and Iran have agreed a provisional peace deal, putting an end to the conflict in the Middle East. But what next? What does this mean for the US domestically? And do Iran now hold a trump card with the Strait of Hormuz?

Plus, as Trump turns 80 and watches a bunch of UFC fighters beat each other up at the White House, we discuss why there's no upper age limit on the Presidency.. and if there should be.

And, after $14 million was spent turning Washington's reflecting pool blue, it's green again.

Joining me this week is Emma Long, Associate Professor in American History and Politics at the University of East Anglia.

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Stories:

01:47 - US Iran Peace Deal

18:25 - Visas and the FIFA World Cup

26:48 - Age Limits on the Presidency

48:05 - The Reflecting Pool

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Sources:

The War is Over: https://apnews.com/article/iran-us-israel-war-oil-deal-june-17-2026-19652f4611b704c0a991bf1f5bc9a4b9 

Trump’s MMA White House birthday bash: https://www.npr.org/2026/06/15/nx-s1-5857679/trump-celebrates-birthday-and-countrys-250th-with-ufc-event-at-the-white-house 

World Cup visa issues: https://www.sportbible.com/football/football-news/fifa-world-cup/fifa-statement-donald-trump-visa-ban-world-cup-504443-20260116 

Referee denied entry to the US: https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/soccer/referee-denied-entry-into-us-was-talking-to-very-bad-people-official-says/ar-AA25FCxs?ocid=BingNewsSerp 

Green algae in the reflection pool: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/white-house-blames-obama-as-reflecting-pool-turns-green-with-algae-days-after-big-renovation/ar-AA25SvL3?ocid=BingNewsSerp

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America: The Story of the USA is a Podcasts by Liam production for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mercury⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, in partnership with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠British Association for American Studies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://america-the-story-of-the-usa.beehiiv.com/

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In the 1980s a new disease exploded into public view and reshaped American life.

What began as small clusters of rare infections quickly became a national catastrophe that exposed deep social fault lines - stigma, political neglect, and a fragmented public‑health system.

The epidemic’s devastation was not only biological but political: state variation in policy and resources produced wildly different outcomes across the country.

So in this episode, I’m asking… what was the AIDS epidemic?

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Special Guest:

Stephen Colbrook is the author of Patchwork Pandemic: State Politics and the Fractured US Response to HIV/AIDS. His research traces how state politics, federalism, and local activism shaped the U.S. response in the 1980s and early 1990s, producing geographic inequities in care and outcomes.

Get the book: https://a.co/d/0jdNiZYj

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Highlights:

01:58 - Patchwork Pandemic

04:51 - How did AIDS become an epidemic?

10:58 - Inequality and treatment

21:59 - The government response to HIV

25:58 - Strings Attached

32:54 - Were Gay Men Ignored?

39:53 - The Importance of State Level Governance

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For an extended reading list and to learn more, join our Patreon community now: ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/americathestoryoftheusa⁠

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Contact us: [email protected]

Get the newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠https://america-the-story-of-the-usa.beehiiv.com/⁠⁠⁠

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America: Study Notes are quickfire explainers for all the things you want to know about the USA, but don't want to ask.

Today: the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams - his election, his presidency, his key achievements and challenges, and his lasting legacy.

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Contact us: [email protected]

Join the community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/americathestoryoftheusa⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - use code USA26 for 50% off your first month

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This week, as the death of Henry Nowak causes political chaos in the UK, Vice President JD Vance decides to weigh in, but why?

Plus, the Kennedy Center removes Trump's name from the building after months of protestation, and...

NASA are building a Moon Base. Would you live there?

Joining me this week is Kate Ballantyne, a Senior Lecturer in American History at Liverpool John Moores University.

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Stories:

01:16 - The Kennedy Center Drops Trump

07:55 - More Deaths at Louisiana ICE Facility

16:45 - JD Vance and Henry Nowak

34:01 - NASA's Moon Base

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Sources:

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America: The Story of the USA is a Podcasts by Liam production for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mercury⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, in partnership with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠British Association for American Studies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://america-the-story-of-the-usa.beehiiv.com/

Join the community: https://www.patreon.com/americathestoryoftheusa

Get in touch: [email protected]

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

The memory of the United States is preserved through The National Archive - the institution responsible for protecting the documents that define the nation’s laws, identity, and democratic accountability.

From the Charters of Freedom to billions of federal records, it safeguards the evidence of government action and the stories of the American people.

But the Archives is more than a repository: it’s a public trust, a cultural institution, and increasingly a political battleground

So in this episode, I’m asking… what is the National Archive?

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Special Guest:

Colleen Shogan, the former Archivist of the United States, leading the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). She has overseen the preservation of federal records, the expansion of public access, and the stewardship of some of the nation’s most iconic documents. Her experience places her at the centre of debates about transparency, record‑keeping, and the political pressures facing cultural institutions today.

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Highlights:

02:16 - Why was the archive created?

08:46 - Why did it take so long?

11:23 - What's in the archive?

15:50 - The selection process

21:13 - The social value of the National Archive

28:22 - A record of enslaved history

31:57 - The archive and politics

37:36 - A very presentist view of our lives

42:47 - A digital future

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For an extended reading list and to learn more, join our Patreon community now: ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/americathestoryoftheusa⁠

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Contact us: [email protected]

Get the newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠https://america-the-story-of-the-usa.beehiiv.com/⁠⁠⁠

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America: Study Notes are quickfire explainers for all the things you want to know about the USA, but don't want to ask.

Today, The History of Soccer in the United States - where it came from, why it struggled, why it’s booming now, and what the future looks like with the World Cup on the horizon.

If you're looking for the UFC White House card, this isn't the place for you!

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Contact us: [email protected]

Join the community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/americathestoryoftheusa⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get the newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://america-the-story-of-the-usa.beehiiv.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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This week, we discuss the ongoing war in the Middle East and Iran. Plus, three men in Spokane have been found guilty of conspiracy, after demonstrating against ICE in June last year.

Is this justice taking its court?

Or a dangerous indicator of just how much power Trump holds over the courts?

AND we were supposed to bring you an interview with Max Martin, CEO and Founder of the Enhanced Games. Find out why it hasn't happened.

Joining me this week is Ira Chaleff, friend of the show and author of To Stop a Tyrant: The Power of Political Followers, which is available to buy now. Ira.

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Stories:

02:16 - The War in Iran

16:02 - Trump's Unchecked Power Over the Courts

33:14 - Not an Interview with Max Martin from the Enhanced Games

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Sources:

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America: The Story of the USA is a Podcasts by Liam production for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mercury⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, in partnership with the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠British Association for American Studies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://america-the-story-of-the-usa.beehiiv.com/

Join the community: https://www.patreon.com/americathestoryoftheusa

Get in touch: [email protected]

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

The American Civil War did not end in a single moment, but from a cumulative momentum of several singular events: the fall of Richmond and Petersburg, the grinding Appomattox campaign, and a cascade of surrenders that dissolved the Confederacy.

In April 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia. The final surrender of Confederate troops on the western periphery came in Galveston, Texas, on this very day, June 2nd, 161 years ago.

We are going to trace the final campaigns, the leaders and decisions that determined the outcome, and the circumstances that ultimately led to Lee’s surrender.

So in this episode, I’m asking… how did the American Civil War end?

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Special Guest:

Gary Gallagher, a leading historian of the Civil War era and a Professor in the History of the American Civil War at the University of Virginia. His work focuses on Confederate politics and military culture, the meaning of surrender, and how the war’s end was experienced and remembered.

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Highlights:

02:15 - The End Was Inevitable

06:14 - A Strategy of Exhaustion

13:24 - There's No US Without France

17:35 - Lee's Surrender

23:34 - Put the Nation Back Together

32:09 - What Political Right Do They Have?

35:51 - A Win for the Union

40:13 - Jefferson Davis

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For an extended reading list and to learn more, join our Patreon community now: ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/americathestoryoftheusa⁠

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Contact us: [email protected]

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America: Study Notes are quickfire explainers for all the things you want to know about the USA, but don't want to ask.

Today, The History of White House Renovations - how the president’s home was built, how it’s changed, and the controversies that came with every major makeover.

If you're looking for the UFC White House card, this isn't the place for you!

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Contact us: [email protected]

Join the community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/americathestoryoftheusa⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Get the newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://america-the-story-of-the-usa.beehiiv.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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