Was Johnny Appleseed a real person or just another American tall tale? We get to the core of the issue with author William Kerrigan (Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard: A Cultural History) to see how one man's true story inspired an enduring folk legend. 

In this episode Bob and William explore how John Chapman's religious revival led him to pioneer apple nurseries across Pennsylvania and Ohio. Just like some hybrid apples, Chapman was a mix of naturalist and capitalist. He bought vast tracts of land for apple orchards but believed in America’s lost simplicity and a connection to nature.

So, kick off your shoes and put a pot on your head as we travel around spreading seeds of knowledge. 

GUEST: William Kerrigan, author of Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard: A Cultural History

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Many Americans have turned their backs on the vax, but early Early Americans would literally have killed for some vaccines.

In this episode, we explore the history of America's first vaccines, which can be traced to a mandate from none other than General George Washington. Dr. Kathryn Olivarius (author of Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom) explains the surprising story of how vaccines shaped American life — from smallpox inoculations during the Revolution to modern-day debates over public health and personal freedom.

We're going to poke and jab at history to see why vaccine resistance isn’t new, and how the fight between science, religion, and politics has defined 250 years of American medicine. 

GUEST: Kathryn Olivarius, author of Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom

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Was it the rise of hitchhiking? Lead in the water pipes? Or was it something a little darker in our culture? Bob rings up private investigator and host of the podcast Hell & Gone: Murder Line — Catherine Townsend — to learn why there were so many serial killers in America during the 1970s.

From Ted Bundy to the Night Stalker and John Wayne Gacy, we dive into the “golden age” of serial killers to see how difficult it was to catch predators in a world before DNA testing, cell phones, and surveillance cameras. But that also begs the question: Are there fewer serial killers today? Listen, and find out! 

GUEST: Catherine Townsend, host of Hell and Gone: Murder Line and Red Collar

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We all have that relative that tells us there was actually no green bean casserole at the first Thanksgiving. Yeah, we know, Grandma! But how much do we really know about that first feast between the Pilgrims and the Indians? 

Well, a lot. But the story most of us learned in school is completely wrong. Author David J. Silverman, (This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving) joins us to carve up the myths about Turkey Day and serve a nice helping of truth. 

In this episode, Bob and David explore the origins of Thanksgiving, from the Wampanoag people’s strategic decision to ally with the English, to Abraham Lincoln’s role in turning that footnoted feast into a national holiday. 

Tell your family to turn down the yacht rock and play this episode of American History Hotline as you avoid talking about politics and stir the gravy. 

GUEST: David J. Silverman, author of This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving. He has a new book coming out in February of 2026 titled, The Chosen and the Damned: Native Americans and the Making of Race in the United States

 

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In 1859, Congressman Daniel Sickles murdered Philip Barton Key (son of the man who wrote The Star-Spangled Banner) in a fit of jealous rage just steps from the White House. The resulting trial became America’s first true media circus, and gave rise to the “crime of passion” defense. In short, it basically became legal to kill a man for sleeping with your wife. While this wasn't technically a law, it was the "Unwritten Law" for way longer than you might think. 

Chris DeRose, author of Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America, joins Bob to talk about how this legal defense played out in America. 

GUEST: Chris DeRose, author of Star Spangled Scandal: Sex, Murder, and the Trial that Changed America

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You won't see it on the ballot, but it's always the winner in American elections. That's right, we're talking about big tech. From Facebook to Google and AI, technology not only has the power to affect the outcomes of our elections ... it's already doing it! 

Who could have seen this coming? Well, we're glad you asked, because Roger McNamee has been ringing alarm bells since you were playing Snake on your Nokia. 

Roger joins Bob to talk about the evolution of technology in politics, from the rise of data-driven campaigning in the 1970s to Facebook’s influence on the 2016 election and the new threat of AI.

Let's just say our future is beginning to look a lot like an episode of Black Mirror. 

GUEST: Roger McNamee, author of  Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe

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Set it and forget it! That's what most Americans want to do with their clocks. They want standard time year-round. So, why are we stuck with Daylight Saving Time? And where did it come from in the first place? Some say it was Benjamin Franklin. But if we Scooby-Doo this thing and pull off the mask to see who's really behind this whole clock caper it's ... (gasp) ... CAPITALISM! 

Tune in an hour earlier ... or is it later? ... for this episode. 

GUEST: Chad Orzel, author of the book, A Brief History of Timekeeping: The Science of Marking Time, from Stonehenge to Atomic Clocks

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Which witch is which? You probably heard a lot of lawyers saying that in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. That was the year of America's largest witch hunt ever. But what sparked this mass hysteria that led to false accusations, sham justice and wrongful executions? Teenagers, of course. 

Bob is joined by historian Emerson Baker (A Storm of Witchcraft) to explore how religion, politics, and panic fueled the Salem Witch Trials. A time when no one was above suspicion! 

Guest: Emerson Baker, author of A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience

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How did America’s presidents really make—and manage—their money? Bob Crawford sits down with financial expert and author Megan Gorman to explore the personal finances of presidents from George Washington to Donald Trump. Drawing from her new book, All the Presidents’ Money: How the Men Who Governed America Governed Their Money, Gorman reveals who thrived, who failed, and what their choices say about leadership, power, and legacy.

Discover why Thomas Jefferson died in debt, how Abraham Lincoln overcame his impoverished childhood, why FDR’s polio treatment transformed presidential fundraising, and how modern presidents like Obama, Clinton, and Trump built post-White House fortunes. 

Also, do you have to be wealthy to become president? Or has the oligarchy already began? 

GUEST: Megan Gorman: All the Presidents’ Money: How the Men Who Governed America Governed Their Money

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A complicated man in complicated times? A genocidal enslaving maniac? Or something in between? Bob voyages back in time with biographer Matthew Restall (The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus) to learn about the REAL Christopher Columbus. Together, they separate the flesh-and-blood navigator from the larger-than-life symbol of European conquest, examining Columbus’s ambitions, his treatment of Indigenous peoples, and how his image has been used for centuries to celebrate—and condemn— colonization. 

GUEST: Matthew Restall, author of The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus  

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