Dr. Esmacher's History Podcast

In this episode, we cover the transformation of the American West between the Civil War and 1900, including the Homestead Act, the impact of the Second Industrial Revolution on western settlement, conflict between settlers and Native Americans, and rapid changes in Native American life.

In this episode, we look at why the 1870s-1890s gets nicknamed the Gilded Age, the Second Industrial Revolution, robber barons and monopolies, and the experience of the working classes.The first episode in Season 2: U.S. History from 1877-1941.

In this episode, I talk about the impact of 9/11 - the larger pattern of terrorism against the U.S., the Bush Doctrine, our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the War on Terrorism's impact on civil liberties at home and abroad thanks to the Patriot Act.

In this episode, I cover the Culture Wars and extreme responses, the Lewinsky scandal and Clinton's impeachment, and the 2000 election.

In this episode, I discuss the impact of computers and the internet, the roaring 1990s economy (before the bubble bursts), changing immigration patterns, and a snapshot of rising minority groups and the unique situations they faced in the 1990s.I promise I get to the Lewinsky scandal and impeachment next time!

In this episode, we cover the collapse of several Communist nations and the end of the Cold War, how the US grapples with trying to figure out a post-Cold War foreign policy, the First Gulf War, and the big picture items of the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administration.Note: the culture wars, domestic terrorism, and the Monica Lewinsky scandal and impeachment are all coming next episode!

In this episode, I cover the 1980s and Ronald Reagan! Lots of discussion of Reaganomics, yuppies, Star Wars (not the movies, sadly), Iran-Contra, and Cold War showmanship with the Soviet Union.

In this episode, I discuss the declining economy of the 1970s, Presidents Ford and Carter, the rise of the modern conservatism movement, and the (not dead yet?) Equal Rights Amendment.

In this episode, I talk about Richard Nixon's presidency. The Sexual Revolution, welfare, environmentalism, school busing and affirmative action, and Vietnamization all get a shoutout. And of course, I discuss how the Watergate scandal led to the downfall of Nixon and explosive revelations about the federal government that shook people's faith and helped strengthen the nascent conservative movement.

In this episode, I talk about the counterculture (hippies!), religious movements, civil rights movements (women, LGBTQ, Latinx, Native American), important Supreme Court cases during this time period, and why 1968 was such a pivotal year and in many ways, the end of the 1960s.