Could a new president ever be carved into Mount Rushmore? It depends on who you ask. We call up historian Matthew Davis (author of A Biography of a Mountain: The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore) to learn about the history of the monument and what its future might hold. 

It’s a story with a lot of surprising twists and turns, from the hills of Georgia to the sacred mountains of South Dakota. How does Mount Rushmore reflect America’s battles over who and what America chooses to celebrate?

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why Mount Rushmore was carved, and who originally inspired the project

The forgotten faces and ideas that never made it onto the mountain

How Indigenous history and land rights shape Rushmore’s legacy

Whether a future president could legally (or physically) be added

GUEST: Matthew Davis, author of A Biography of a Mountain: The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore

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What is the greatest movie of the 21st century?

The New York Times says it’s Parasite, but not everyone agrees. We call up Rotten Tomatoes correspondent Mark Ellis to debate the NYT’s list of the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century and explore how cinema has changed in the past 25 years. Mark says it’s an era of “hopeless films in a time of hopelessness.” 

Grab some popcorn and silence your phone (unless you’re using it to play this podcast) and sit back as we tear this list apart. 

What do you think of NYT’s list? Share your thoughts by emailing [email protected] 

Oh, and here’s our watchlist if you’re looking for a good film: 

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Predator: Badlands

Spirited Away

Weapons

Creed 

Spotlight 

Marty Supreme

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Netflix’s Death by Lightning is gripping, dramatic and TRUE. Or is it? 

We call up historian and New York Times bestselling author Alexis Coe for a lightning round fact check of Netflix’s new James A. Garfield series Death by Lightning. What does the series gets right? What does it bend for dramatic effect? And how does it rank compared to other presidential biopic(esque) series? 

We'll hit all the highlights:

• The assassination of President James A. Garfield
• The portrayal of Chester A. Arthur by Nick Offerman
• Political corruption
• 19th century medicine
• Should we have more stories about obscure presidents? 

Did you have thoughts on the series? Send your thoughts to [email protected] 

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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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