American History Hit

Was the USA already a superpower when it joined the Second World War? How did it turn from an isolationist nation to a force ready for action? 

Today Don is joined by Craig Nelson to find out how President Franklin D. Roosevelt manoeuvred the country from the isolationism of the interwar years to supplying an arsenal and, eventually, manpower to its European allies.

Craig's new book is 'V Is For Victory: Franklin Roosevelt's American Revolution and the Triumph of World War 2'.

For more History Hit content, follow our newsletters here.

If you’d like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!

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

Between 1871 and 1872, Labette County, Kansas became a source of mystery. Several people have gone missing on their journey west and a few bodies have been found. Is this the work of highway robbers? Or could it be the peculiar family who live beside the Great Osage Trail?

Don is joined for this episode for Susan Jonasus, author of 'Hell's Half-Acre : The Untold Story of the Benders, America's First Serial Killer Family'.

Email us at [email protected] if you have any areas of history that you would love Don to explore.

For more History Hit content, follow our newsletters here.

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

The Vietnam War or the Great Society? Which event looms larger in the history of the United States? 

The 36th President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson, is often weighed up in these terms - the balance between domestic and foreign policy. But what is his legacy? Could he be called the first President of our modern era?

In this episode, Don is joined by Mark Lawrence, Director of the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum in Austin, Texas.

Produced and mixed by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

Email us at [email protected] if you have any areas of history that you would love Don to explore.

For more History Hit content, follow our newsletters here.

If you’d like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!

Complete the survey and you'll be entered into a prize draw to win 5 Historical Non-Fiction Books- including a signed copy of Dan Snow's 'On This Day in History'.

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

He was the most famous man in the world at the turn of the 20th century, bringing the American frontier to the rest of the United States, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. But who was Buffalo Bill?

In this episode, recorded at the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave in Golden, Colorado, Don is joined by Steve Friesen to find out about the rise of America’s first celebrity.

From boy scout to breadwinning buffalo hunter, how did William Cody become a showman and an iconic household name?

Produced by Sophie Gee. Mixed by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

Email us at [email protected] if you have any areas of history that you would love Don to explore.

For more History Hit content, follow our newsletters here.

If you’d like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!

Complete the survey and you'll be entered into a prize draw to win 5 Historical Non-Fiction Books- including a signed copy of Dan Snow's 'On This Day in History'.

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

When it was founded in 1585, Roanoke was intended to be the first permanent English outpost in America. So how did it become the 'lost colony'?

In this episode, Don is joined by Professor Mark Horton, archaeologist from the Royal Agricultural University in the UK. Together they delve into the mystery.

Why did John White take three years to return to the colony? What clues were left by the one hundred people missing from the island? And why did those who found the island abandoned not follow these clues to find their countrymen?

Produced by Sophie Gee. Editing and sound design by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here.

If you’d like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - follow today!

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

In 1939, on the invitation of Franklin D. Roosevelt, King George VI became the first reigning British monarch to set foot on American soil.

So what triggered this monumental moment in the transatlantic relationship? How has it trickled down to today's special relationship? And how was King George assisted in his diplomacy by his wife, Elizabeth?

In this coronation special, Don is joined by author Sally Bedell Smith to find out more.

For more from Sally, you can find her substack here: https://sallybedellsmith.substack.com/

Produced by Sophie Gee and Stuart Beckwith. Editing and sound design by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here.

If you’d like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - follow today!

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

In August 1918, the battle of Amiens brought the German army's 'black day' and the beginning of the end of the First World War.

But what happened at Amiens? How were US troops involved in this battle? And how is the battle remembered today?

In this episode, Don is joined by Dan Snow to talk about the American troops and their parts in the offensives at Hamel and Amiens.

Produced by Sophie Gee and James Hickmann. Editing and sound design by Siobhan Dale. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here.

If you’d like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!

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

Nearly a thousand years ago, America's first city appeared in the Mississippi flood plain. Don finds out about a day in the life of Cahokia, what its vast mounds were used for, and why it is so poorly remembered nowadays.

Our guest is Timothy Pauketat, archaeologist and author of several major books about Cahokia. His latest book is called Gods of Thunder: How Climate Change, Travel, and Spirituality Reshaped Precolonial America.

Editing and sound design by Stuart Beckwith. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long.

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

Horses have been a bulwark of American culture and society for centuries. Think of cowboys in the Mid-West or Native Americans riding bareback on the Great Plains. But new, ground-breaking archeological evidence has emerged to suggest horses were present in the Americas more than 10,000 years ago, shattering our previous assumptions that they were first brought to North America by the Spanish.

In today’s episode of American History Hit, Don speaks to Dr William Taylor about these new findings, exploring how the mighty horse conquered America, went extinct, and then conquered it once more.

Produced by Benjie Guy and Freddy Chick. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer is Charlotte Long

For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here. 

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download, go to Android or Apple store 

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

Benjamin Franklin is considered by many to be one of the first to live the American Dream. He came from humble beginnings, Franklin was raised in Boston, the last of 17 children. Márcia Balisciano tells Don how he went from a printer’s apprentice to Founding Father of the United States, via stints in London.

Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Stuart Beckwith. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.

For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here.

If you’d like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!

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