American History Remix

The 1920s was an era of contradictions. We deconstruct the popular image of the Roaring Twenties and examine the tensions at work in American culture. The decade was anything but simple.

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Find the full transcript of this episode including citations at our website:

https://www.americanhistoryremix.com/episodeguide/culture-1920s

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In this episode we cover….

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Introduction [0:00-03:03]

--Misery & Escapism
World War One [03:03-06:03]
Spanish Flu [06:03-08:55]
Consumer Culture [08:55-10:52]
Entertainment [10:52-13:43]
The Lost Generation [13:43-15:31]

--Modernism & Traditionalism
A Divided Society [15:31-16:51]
Immigration [16:51-18:55] 
Intellectual Trends [18:55-23:14]
The Klan [23:14-25:14]
Prohibition [25:14-28:19]
Political Divide [28:19-30:40]

--Traditional & “New Woman”
Home & Work [30:40-31:55]
Sex [31:55-34:50]
Limits to the Change [34:50-37:15]
Consumer Society [37:15-38:28]
Generational Divide [38:28-39:58]

--Racial Violence & Art
The Great Migration [39:58-41:12]
Lynching [41:12-43:50]
Tulsa Race Massacre [43:50-46:58]
The Blues [46:58-51:00]
Ragtime [51:00-53:00]
Brass Bands [53:00-54:10]
Jazz [54:10-54:57]
Harlem Renaissance [54:57-57:00]

--Conclusion [57:00-58:28]

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To dive deeper into these topics (affiliate links):

LeRoy Ashby, With Amusement for All: A History of American Popular Culture since 1830
https://tinyurl.com/Ashby-With-Amusement

Alfred W. Crosby, America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918
https://tinyurl.com/Crosby-Americas-Forgotten

Lynn Dumenil, The Modern Temper: American Culture and Society in the 1920s
https://tinyurl.com/Dumenil-Modern-Temper

George M. Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture
https://tinyurl.com/Marsden-Fundamentalism

W.J. Rorabaugh, Prohibition: A Concise History
https://tinyurl.com/Rorabaugh-Prohibition

Eileen Southern, The Music of Black Americans: A History
https://tinyurl.com/Southern-The-Music-of-Black

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Who doesn’t like beer? Lots of people, apparently. As Americans sought to remedy the ills plaguing their society, beer was caught in the cross hairs. We tell the story of how the American beer industry rose to defend itself against Progressive Era reforms in a decades-long fight. And it almost worked.

Find the full transcript of this episode including citations at our website:

https://www.americanhistoryremix.com/episodeguide/american-beer

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In this episode we cover…

• Introduction [0:00-04:01]
• Beer in Early America [04:01-08:06]
• Early Reform Movements [08:06-11:54]
• Beer Responds to Temperance [11:54-12:46]
• Moderate Success [12:46-14:03]
• Growth of the Beer Industry [14:03-16:37]
• Second Wave of Temperance [16:37-17:46]
• Women, Alcohol, & Women’s Rights [17:46-21:30]
• Beer as Medicine [21:30-24:04]
• Beer & the Economy [24:04-24:45]
• Failures of the Second Wave of Temperance [24:45-26:26]
• Saloons [26:26-30:22]
• Local Option [30:22-32:29]
• Pure Food Movement [32:29-36:20]
• Beer & Pure Food [36:20-37:48]     
• Tax Revenue & Regulation [37:48-41:18]
• Beer on the Defense [41:18-42:42]
• World War One [42:42-44:47]
• Anti-German Sentiment [44:47-46:23]
• Beer & WWI [46:23-47:47]
• Prohibition & Other Reforms [47:47-49:46]
• Conclusion

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To dive deeper into these topics (affiliate links):

Stanley Baron, Brewed in America: A History of Beer and Ale in the United States.
https://tinyurl.com/Baron-Brewed

Thomas C. Cochran, The Pabst Brewing Company: The History of an American Business.
https://tinyurl.com/Cochran-Pabst

Perry R. Duis, The Saloon: Public Drinking in Chicago and Boston, 1880-1920.
https://tinyurl.com/Duis-The-Saloon

Richard F. Hamm, Shaping the Eighteenth Amendment: Temperance Reform, Legal Culture, and the Polity, 1880-1920.
https://tinyurl.com/Hamm-Shaping

Lisa McGirr, The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State.
https://tinyurl.com/McGirr-The-War

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At the turn of the 20th century, America flexed its power globally and claimed a small empire. We tell the messy story of American imperialism and the ideas which shaped the process.

Find the full transcript of this episode including citations at our website:

https://www.americanhistoryremix.com/episodeguide/american-empire 

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In this episode we cover…

Introduction [0:00-02:06]

Background [02:06-04:10]

Hawaii [04:10-08:30]

Bayonet Constitution & Coup [08:30-11:50]

Capitalism & Christianity [11:50-16:48]

America & Cuba [16:48-21:08]

War & Gender [21:08-24:46]

The USS Maine [24:46-27:11]

Spanish American War [27:11-29:38]

Seizing Territory [29:38-33:11]

Cuba Independent? [33:11-34:52]

The Philippines [34:52-37:03]

Race & Civilization [37:03-39:52]

Philippine American War [39:52-43:21]

Anti-Imperialist Response [43:21-48:05]

Colonies Today [48:05-49:40]

Panama [49:40-52:49]

Westward Expansion [52:49-55:52]

Conclusion [55:52-57:38]

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To dive deeper into these topics (affiliate links):

John M. Dobson, America's Ascent: The United States Becomes a Great Power, 1880–1914

https://tinyurl.com/Dobson-America

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George C. Herring, From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776 

https://tinyurl.com/Herring-From-Colony

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Kristin L. Hoganson, American Empire at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: A Brief History with Documents

https://tinyurl.com/Hoganson-American-Empire

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Kristin L. Hoganson, Fighting for American Manhood: How Gender Politics Provoked the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars

https://tinyurl.com/Hoganson-Fighting-for-American

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Matthew Frye Jacobson, Barbarian Virtues: The United States Encounters Foreign Peoples at Home and Abroad, 1876-1917 

https://tinyurl.com/Jacobson-Barbarian

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The Industrial Revolution created a divide between the wealthy and the poor. The result? Class warfare on the streets of America. We discuss the Gilded Age in all its volatility and bloodshed.

Find the full transcript of this episode including citations at our website:

https://www.americanhistoryremix.com/episodeguide/class-violence 

In this episode we cover…

Introduction [00:00-03:31]

The Industrial Revolution [03:31-09:56]

Titans & Robber Barons [09:56-12:24]

Inequality & Working Conditions [12:24-15:04]

Health [15:04-17:13]

Class Comparison [17:13-18:23]

Panic of 1873 [18:23-20:24]

Great Railroad Strike of 1877 [20:24-24:01]

Social Darwinism [24:01-25:51]

Corruption [25:51-26:57]

Organized Labor [26:57-27:48]

Class & Racial Violence [27:48-30:26]

The Great Southwest Railroad Strike [30:26-33:19]

Haymarket [33:19-36:36]

Sherman Antitrust Act & the Court [36:36-39:27]

Homestead [39:27-43:30]

Panic of 1893 [43:30-44:43]

Pullman [44:43-47:53]

Merger Movement & Global Instability [47:53-49:18]

Roosevelt & The Progressive Era [49:18-52:06]

Conclusion [52:06-54:13]

To dive deeper into these topics (affiliate links):

David Montgomery, The Fall of the House of Labor
https://tinyurl.com/Fall-of-the-House-of-Labor

Alan Trachtenberg, The Incorporation of America
https://tinyurl.com/Incorporation-of-America

Walter Nugent, Progressivism: A Very Short Introduction
https://tinyurl.com/Nugent-Progressivism

Robert H. Wiebe, The Search for Order, 1877-1920
https://tinyurl.com/Wiebe-Search-for-Order

Richard White, The Republic for Which It Stands
https://tinyurl.com/White-The-Republic

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The American West was the meeting ground for numerous races and cultures; Native Americans, Hispanics, Anglo Americans, African Americans, and Chinese immigrants. During Westward Expansion, each group brought their own musical tradition and expressed themselves through song. We examine their stories of oppression, resistance, and peace, told through music.

Find the full transcript of this episode including citations at our website:
https://www.americanhistoryremix.com/episodeguide/music-and-race

In this episode we cover…

Introduction [00:00-03:15]

Native Americans [03:15-07:01]

Blackface Minstrelsy [07:01-10:56]

The Banjo [10:56-13:46]

Chinese Immigrants & Yellowface [13:46-17:06]

Cantonese Opera [17:06-19:20]

Chinese Immigration [19:20-21:39]

Racial Hierarchy [21:39-23:03]

Pan-Indian Identity [23:03-25:02]

Ghost Dance [25:02-28:29]

Mexican Americans [28:29-30:31]

Corridos [30:31-33:56]

Cantonese Songs [33:56-36:15]

Immigration & Sexuality [36:15-38:18]

Natives & the Overland Trail [38:18-42:15]

Indianist Movement [42:15-44:12]

African American Performers [44:12-47:02]

Cross-Racial Love [47:02-49:00]

Diversity in the West [49:00-50:14]

Conclusion [50:14-51:54]

To dive deeper into these topics (affiliate links):

David Dary, Seeking Pleasure in the Old West
https://tinyurl.com/Seeking-Pleasure

Laurent Dubois, The Banjo: America's African Instrument
https://tinyurl.com/The-Banjo

Marlon K. Hom, Songs of Gold Mountain: Cantonese Rhymes from San Francisco Chinatown
https://tinyurl.com/Songs-of-Gold

Krystyn R. Moon, Yellowface: Creating the Chinese in American Popular Music and Performance, 1850s-1920s
https://tinyurl.com/Moon-Yellowface

Melissa Parkhurst, To Win the Indian Heart: Music at Chemawa Indian School
https://tinyurl.com/To-Win-the-Indian-Heart

Irwin Siber and Earl Robinson, ed., Songs of the Great American West
https://tinyurl.com/Songs-of-the-Great

Judith Vander, Shoshone Ghost Dance Religion: Poetry Songs and Great Basin Context
https://tinyurl.com/Shoshone-Ghost-Dance

Music Credits:

"Corrido de Joaquín Murrieta" by Luis Méndez and Guadalupe Bracamonte from the recording entitled Raíces Latinas: Smithsonian Folkways Latino Roots Collection, SFW40470, courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. (p) 2002. Used by permission.

“Ghost Dance Song” performed by Red Shadow Singers. Used with permission. Turtle Lodge (Sagkeeng First Nation, Manitoba, Canada) and Red Shadow Singers. 

“Spanish is the Loving Tongue” by Charles Badger Clark and Billy Simon. Arranged by Lara Randby. Performed by Matt Stutzman. Used with permission.

“Oh! Susanna” By Stephen Foster. Performed by Tom Roush.

“Navajo War Dance no. 2” by Arthur Farwell. Performed by Chris Brewer, 2024.  Public Domain.

“Rosa Cheng Artist Video” by Rosa Cheng, Published 2021. Permission granted by Rosa Cheng, Artistic Director of the Vancouver Cantonese Opera.

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The Civil War shattered the nation; during Reconstruction (1865-1877), America had to put itself back together. It was an era of experimentation and corruption, of Civil Rights and racial violence. We discuss the struggle to control the legacy of the Civil War.

See full transcript here.

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Lyndsay and Will give an update on the state of the podcast and the exciting new material that is available now.

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You asked, and we answered! In this special episode, Lyndsay and Will answer questions asked by the listeners. They discuss the gap between volumes one and two, answer questions about history, time travel, poetry, dogs, and much more. 
https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/may925205
https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/

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Lyndsay and Will discuss the content not included in Families in the Civil War—their episode about how the war impacted America’s most intimate relationships

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Lyndsay and Will discuss the content not included in Westward Expansion, Slavery, & Secession—their episode about how slavery and westward expansion put the Nation on the road to civil war.

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