Why were more than 12 thousand cases of satanic abuse brought in the 1980s? Was the Prince of Darkness walking among us then? Or did something else cause the panic?

Joseph Laycock joins Don for this episode to discuss the so-called Satanic Panic, from daycares to news outlets to board games. Joe is the author of many books including 'Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds' and 'The Penguin Book of Exorcisms'.

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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In 1845, the Republic of Texas stood at a crossroads. In our history, they chose to join the USA… but what if they chose another path? Was this even possible? What impact would this have had on life within Texas? And how would it have impacted its neighbours? 

Today we welcome onto the show Prof. Sam W. Haynes of the University of Texas at Arlington, and he's the Director of the Centre for Greater Southwestern Studies. He's the author of Unsettled Land: From Revolution to Republic, The Struggle for Texas.

Edited by Amy Haddow and produced by Tomos Delargy. The Senior Producer is Freddy Chick.

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Did New Orleans' officials bomb the levees protecting the Lower Ninth Ward in 1965?

When Hurricane Betsy swept through the Atlantic Basin, it killed at least 76 people, led to a 10 foot storm surge, and was the first tropical cyclone to cause $1 billion worth of damages.

It also left many of the residents of New Orleans wondering, was all that damage really natural? Or had the authorities given it a helping hand?

Andy Horowitz, author of 'Katrina: A History, 1915-2015' joins Don for this episode to explore where this conspiracy theory came from, and whether there is any truth to it.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

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A Supreme Court decision that sent shockwaves across America. Dred Scott v Sandford, 1857. Who was the Chief Justice responsible for the decision? On what grounds did he rule that Dred Scott, and by extension all African Americans, was not a citizen of the US? Don is joined by renowned historian Kate Masur, author of "Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement".

Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Producer is Freddy Chick.

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American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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Why not have a go at understanding one of the most famous conspiracies of the 20th Century?

We will probably never get an answer for what really happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963. But in this episode, we're questioning why? What is the evidence that prevents us from believing the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman.

To explore this, Don is joined by Jefferson Morley. Jefferson is a former Washington Post writer and the journalist responsible for the JFK Facts substack, where he investigates the evidence and any new evidence as it comes to light.

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

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Was 'Bleeding Kansas' a dress rehearsal for the Civil War to come? During the 1850s pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers clashed in the newly created territory of Kansas. From guerrilla raids and political chaos to the rise of key figures like John Brown, we uncover how this brutal conflict exposed the deep national divide — and ask whether the Civil War truly began long before 1861.

Our guest is Dr Kristen Epps is a historian of slavery, the sectional conflict, and the Civil War. She is an associate professor at Kansas State University. Her first book was Slavery on the Periphery.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Freddy Chick.

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How did the pre-Christian commemoration of Samhain travel across the seas from Ancient Ireland to America? And how did it evolve into the Halloween we know and love to this day?

In this special spooky episode Don welcomes Dr Kelly Fitzgerald, Head of the School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore at University College Dublin, to take us through Halloween's stateside origins.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Freddy Chick.

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What makes a war a World War? If it's the involvement of multiple major world powers, will France, Spain and the Netherlands do?

If it's battles fought globally, do Canada, West Africa, India and the Mediterranean count? On top of the 13 colonies?

In this episode, Don is joined by Richard Bell from the University of Maryland. Richard is the author of ‘The American Revolution and the Fate of the World'.

Edited by Tim Arstall and Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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‘No occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations.' This was George Washington's response when the idea of his becoming 'King' was put to him.

But what if he had? What would an American royalty look like? Who would have succeeded Washington? And why did this not happen?

Don is joined for this episode by Michael Hattem, author of The Memory of ’76: The Revolution in American History’ and ‘Past and Prologue: Politics and Memory in the American Revolution’.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

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On October 22 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced that Soviet missiles has been discovered in Cuba. Over the following days, the fate of the Americas was on the line.

In this episode, Don is joined once again by Renata Keller to explore the causes and events of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and to discuss what might have happened had the situation not been resolved.

Renata's new book 'The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War' shows how this was not just a Soviet-US event. She explores how leaders and citizens throughout South America, the area at most risk from nuclear missiles, impacted on the events of October 1962.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.