Arsenal for Democracy

A series on understanding the transition of the US economy in the Crisis of the 1970s: The Price Controls episode. (A Bill solo episode recorded Feb 21, 2022.) Subscribe to our Patreon. Links and notes (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/That-70s-Woe_-The-Last-Price-Controls-Episode-2.pdf

The causes (and effects on the US publishing industry) of the International Copyright Act of 1891. Rachel and Bill. Links and notes for ep. 414 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AFD-Ep-414-Links-and-Notes-You-Wouldnt-Steal-a-Book-International-Copyright-Act-of-1891.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird.

The 19th century US economy and armed forces needed industrial production of explosives (and fertilizer), eventually reaching monopoly status, and in turn the economy and armed forces supported the overseas Guano empire necessary to obtain those materials. Links and notes for ep. 413 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AFD-Ep-413-Links-and-Notes-The-Explosives-Empire.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird.

100 years ago today, the US, Britain, Japan, France, and Italy signed the Washington Naval Treaty. Intended to de-escalate a battleship arms race, it ended up marking the dawn of the aircraft carrier age, which makes it very relevant even now. Bill and Rachel. Links and notes for ep. 411 … Read more

Bill and Rachel discuss syringes, morphine, laudanum, the American Civil War, “women’s problems,” and the ongoing debate among historians today about how to understand opiate use and addiction in the late 19th century United States. Links and notes for ep. 410 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AFD-Ep-410-Links-and-Notes-Late-19th-Century-Opiates-in-the-US.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird.

Rachel and Bill discuss Agnes Smedley, an American journalist and activist who helped the Indian independence movement, Soviet intelligence, and the Chinese Communist forces. Links and notes for Ep. 409 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AFD-Ep-409-Links-and-Notes-Agnes-Smedley.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird.

This week Rachel and Bill look at some of the cultural and economic effects of the controversial “wartime” Mexican Bracero guest farm worker program that ended up lasting from 1942-1964. Links and notes for Ep. 408 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AFD-Ep-408-Links-and-Notes-The-Bracero-Guest-Worker-Program.pdf Theme music by Stunt Bird.

A potential series on understanding the transition of the US economy in the Crisis of the 1970s: The episode on foreign exchange, gold convertibility, and the Nixon Shock of August 15, 1971. (A Bill solo episode recorded Jan 12, 2022.) Links and notes (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Bonus-AFD-Ep-407-Links-and-Notes-That-70s-Woe_-Nixons-Gold.pdf

50 years ago, in January 1972, the US space shuttle program moved forward and humanity passed the top of the arc of manned spaceflight and began its descent away from the dream of the 1860s to the 1960s. Bill and Rachel. Notes and links for Ep. 406 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AFD-Ep-406-Links-and-Notes-Critical-Space-Theory_-The-Arc-of-Spaceflight-Ambitions.pdf Theme … Read more

Description: Bill and Rachel recap some developments of 50 years ago in 1971: anti-smoking campaigns; the launch of Starbucks, Southwest, Amtrak, and Disney World; desegregation busing; special education laws; the War on Drugs; a new voting age; the first e-book; and more. Links and notes for Ep. 405 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/AFD-Ep-405-Links-and-Notes-1971-Recap.pdf … Read more