History Behind News Program

By Adel Aali, History Behind NewsHistory

History Behind News Program episodes

April 30, 2021 S1E11: Race, Crime & U.S. Presidents
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The knee of a police officer placed on the neck of an African American man for longer than 8 minutes - in broad daylight, brazenly in full view of a cell phone camera.
How did we get here? How have previous U.S. Presidents handled violence against African Americans? How have they reacted to high-profile criminal proceedings involving Black people? And how does President Biden's handling of the killing of George Floyd and Derek Chauvin's trial hold up against our prior presidents?
So that we better understand our present, Thomas Balcerski, a professor of American history and a frequent contributor to CNN, NBC and Washington Post provides us with perspective from the past by taking us on a journey - at times a discomfiting one – through America's history.
Tune in to ThePeel.news podcast as Professor Balcerski teaches us that free African Americans were snatched from the North into the slavery of the South. He brings this story to life through the example of the Academy Award-winning film "12 Years A Slave". From this antebellum period, he informs of the post-Civil War atrocities of the Ku Klux Klan and how President Grant and his DOJ crushed them, only for white supremacy to come back in a different form, with a different name. We learn from Professor Balcerski the heart-wrenching story of Emmett Till - a murdered African American teenager - and his intrepid mother's determination for all the world to know, and to see, what happened to her boy. We compare the responses of Presidents Eisenhower and Obama to the murders of teenage African Americans. Finally, we are reminded that George Floyd's death was not the first time that police violence against African Americans was recorded.... for all Americans to see. Here's a hint: Rodney King.
Click this link to read ThePeel.news post that is related to this podcast episode.
Information about this episode's guest:
Professor Thomas Balcerski is an associate professor of history at Eastern Connecticut State University (link to his academic homepage: https://www.easternct.edu/faculty-directory/balcerski.html), where he teaches classes on early American history, African American history, and presidents and first ladies. He is a frequent contributor to CNN, the Washington Post, and NBC, and is the author of Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King, published b y Oxford University Press in 2019 (book link). You can find him on Twitter @tbalcerski.
Here is the long-form Amazon link to his book: https://www.amazon.com/Bosom-Friends-Intimate-Buchanan-William/dp/0190914599
🎵 The attribution, links and license for the theme music in this podcast is below: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
57 min
April 10, 2021 S1E10: Biden's $2.3T infrastructure could use a previous president's plan for an infrastructure Constitutional amendment.
Republicans argue that President Biden's infrastructure plan includes items irrelevant to infrastructure. It will be a big political fight. But passing big infrastructure legislation has always been difficult - legally and politically.
In this podcast, we briefly review the history of America's infrastructure - from Washington's dream of a water canal to America's constitution, and then to presidents that followed Washington, all the way to Eisenhower.
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📚 Below are citations to some sources discussed in this podcast. Visit the post on ThePeel.news site for citations to specific pages.
Ambrose, Stephen E. Eisenhower: Soldier And President. Simon & Schuster, 1990. Amazon link.
Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. Penguin Books, 2004. Amazon link.
Chernow, Ron. Washington, A Life. The Penguin Press, 2010. Amazon link.
Heilbroner, Robert L. The Worldly Philosophers. Simon & Schuster, 1953. Amazon link.
Meacham, Jon. Thomas Jefferson, The Art of Power. Random House, 2012. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Amazon link.
Meacham, Jon. American Lion - Andrew Jackson in the White House. Random House, 2008. Amazon link.
McCullough, David. John Adams. Simon & Schuster, 2001. Amazon link.
Remini, Robert V. The Life of Andrew Jackson. Harper, 1988. Amazon link.
Rubenstein, David M. The American Story - Conversations With Master Historians. Simon & Schuster, 2019. Amazon link.
Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr. The Age of Jackson. Konecky&Knockey, 1945. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Amazon link.
Unger, Harlow Giles. The Last Founding Father - James Monroe And A Nation's Call To Greatness. Da Capo, 2009. Amazon link.
🎵 The attribution, links and license for the theme music in this podcast is below: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
43 min
April 04, 2021 S1E9: Have mass shootings increased in America? Brief review of 2nd Amendment... and then... confusion!
America has experienced three mass shootings in three weeks. But have there really been... three mass shootings in the three weeks! We are not trying to be cute here. Of course, there were three mass shootings in the last three weeks. We merely pose this question to highlight the frustrating fact that there is no consensus on the exact definition of a mass shooting. There is actually disagreement. And there is no consensus about the frequency of mass shootings, and whether or not their numbers are rising. After ample research, we were left with confusing and contradicting definitions and data.
In this podcast, we briefly review the history of the Second Amendment, and then, through our frustration, bring focus to the lack of funding for research and information about gun violence, including mass shootings.
Become a financial supporter of ThePeel.news podcast by clicking the support button in this link.
📚 Below are citations to some sources discussed in this podcast. Visit the post on ThePeel.news site for citations to specific pages.
Amar, Akhil Reed. America's Constitution, A Biography. Random House, 2005. Amazon link.
Cheney, Lynne. James Madison, A Life Reconsidered. Viking, 2014. Amazon link.
Scalia, Antonin. Scalia Speaks, Reflections on Law, Faith and Life Well Lived. Forwarded by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Edited by Christopher J. Scalia. Crown Forum, 2017. Amazon link.
Waldman, Michael. The Second Amendment, A Biography. Simon & Schuster, 2014. Amazon link.
🎵 The attribution, links and license for the theme music in this podcast is below: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
38 min
March 26, 2021 S1E8: The filibuster is in the news - to keep or not to keep!
Since last week, Democratic Party's push to end the Senate's filibuster has picked up momentum. Republicans are against it and so are some Democrats... including a very important - the President of the United States.
In this podcast, we analyze the history of the filibuster. How did it get started? How do Senators end a filibuster? Why has it morphed from a rare parliamentary procedure of the past to the prevalent practice of our present? And why would a U.S. Senator need a urine bucket close to the Senate floor?
Become a financial supporter of ThePeel.news podcast by clicking the support button in this link.
📚 Below are citations to some sources discussed in this podcast. Visit the post on ThePeel.news site for citations to specific pages.
Jentleson, Adam. Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy. Liveright, 2021. Amazon link.
🎵 The attribution, links and license for the theme music in this podcast is below: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
30 min
March 19, 2021 S1E7: Biden's Political Power: $1.9T Covid Stimulus - the history of Democratic Party's paradigm shift from small to BIG government
Last week, President Biden's Covid stimulus recovery bill became law. Already, many, including President Biden himself, are comparing the Covid stimulus package to Lyndon Johnson's Great Society relief programs. But this colossal economic package is just one of several that Mr. Biden and his Democratic Party colleagues are planning, meaning that the Biden Administration will outlay funds and financial packages the scope of which will likely rival FDR's New Deal programs.
But the Democratic Party that President Jackson founded was in favor of a small federal government and balancing the budget. Although this Democratic ethos changed in the latter decades of the 19th century, it wasn't until Franklin Delano Roosevelt's presidency that gigantic federal programs were implemented. It was the era of the New Deal.
In this podcast, we analyze the history of Jackson's and FDR's presidencies and entertain you with their unbelievable stories. We also bring focus to Jackson's and FDR's political powers and invite you to contemplate as to whether or not President Biden enjoys similar political powers to push through his wide-ranging economic programs.
Become a financial supporter of ThePeel.news podcast by clicking the support button in this link.
📚 Below are citations to some sources discussed in this podcast. Visit the post on ThePeel.news site for citations to specific pages.
Downey, Kirstin. The Woman Behind The New Deal – The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience. Random House, 2009. Amazon link.
Heidler, David S. and Jeanne T. Henry Clay: The Essential American. Random House, 2010. Amazon link.
Lash, Joseph P. Eleanor And Franklin. Konecky & Konecky, 1971. Amazon link.
Meacham, Jon. American Lion - Andrew Jackson in the White House. Random House, 2008. Amazon link.
Remini, Robert V. The Life of Andrew Jackson. Penguin Books, 1990 (original publication, 1988). Amazon link.
Wapshott, Nicholas. The Sphinx: Franklin Roosevelt, The Isolationists, And The Road To World War II. Norton, 2015. Amazon link.
🎵 The attribution, links and license for the theme music in this podcast is below: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
41 min
March 12, 2021 S1E6: Censored books: Dr. Seuss, Fahrenheit 451, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and many more
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Last week, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that it will no longer publish or license six specific books from the Dr. Seuss collection. This piqued our interest regarding the history of what other classic books have been censored or self-censored in our history due to social pressure. For example, did you know that Fahrenheit 451, a book about book banning, book burning and book censoring, was itself censored in America? And what is banned books week?
Brianna Keilar of CNN rhymes the new Dr. Seuss-style. Watch video.
📚 Below are citations to some sources discussed in this podcast. Visit the post on ThePeel.news site for citations to specific pages.
Karolides, Nicholas J, et al. 100 Banned Books - Censorship Histories of World Literature. Checkmark Books, 1999. Amazon link.
Goodwin, Doris K. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2005. Amazon link.
🎵 The attribution, links and license for the theme music in this podcast is below: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
29 min
March 05, 2021S1E5: Mr. Potato Head, Gender Neutrality, Marie Antoinette, Kamala Harris, Ms., Mx., Mrs. & Miss
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Last week, the title Mister in Mr. Potato Head briefly became a heated social and cultural issue.
Did you know that, not too long ago, the use of Ms., which is a title, a prefix before a woman's name, was a sensational issue in a U.S. presidential election?
📚 Below are citations to some sources discussed in this podcast. Visit the post on ThePeel.news site for citations to specific pages.
Baron, Dennis. What's Your Pronoun? Beyond He & She. W.W. Norton & Co., 2020. Amazon link.

Caouette, Mick. Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare. A 2020 PBS documentary film, available on Amazon Prime Video.

Cowley, Robert, ed. What If? Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been. Putnam, 1998. Chapter: What if Pizarro Had Not Found Potatoes In Peru? The humble roots of history. By William H. McNeill, pp. 813-827. Amazon link.

Downey, Kirstin. The Woman Behind The New Deal - The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and Hist Moral Conscience. Random House, 2009. Amazon link.
🎵 The attribution, links and license for the theme music in this podcast is below: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
29 min
February 27, 2021S1E4: Bitcoin, Hamilton, the Civil War, Karl Marx, a Persian king, "a Cross of Gold", Janet Yellen
Last week, the market value of bitcoin reached above $1T. By comparison, the market value of privately held gold is $2.7T.
Where does bitcoin fit in the history of the eagle, Alexander Hamilton, the Civil War, Karl Marx, the Dutch, the Mongols, a Persian King and "cross of gold"? Our podcast this week peels the history behind the bitcoin news - America's money and... its gold!
📚 For the full list of sources either cited in or consulted for this podcast, please visit its corresponding post here https://thepeel.news/2021/02/20/minimum-wage-politics-2021-verus-1930s/. Below is a list that includes some of them:
Lewis, Nathan. Gold - The Once And Future Money. John Wiley & Sons, 2007. Click here to link to this book on Amazon

Mezrich, Ben. Bitcoin Billionaires - A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, And Redemption. Flatiron Books, 2019.
🎵 The attribution, links and license for the theme music in this podcast is below: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
36 min
February 20, 2021S1E3: Part II: Minimum Wage Politics Now Pales In Comparison To the Political Drama At Its Inception - A Heroine Behind It All
Establishing a national minimum wage was a revolutionary idea that entailed a constitutional court crisis and impeachment hearings. And at the center of it all, was a woman - Frances Perkins, America's first female member of a U.S. Cabinet.
📚 For the full list of sources either cited in or consulted for this podcast, please visit its corresponding post here https://thepeel.news/2021/02/20/minimum-wage-politics-2021-verus-1930s/. Below is a list that includes some of them:
Cameron, Rondo; Neal, Larry. A Concise Economic History of The World, 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 2003.

Caouette, Mick. Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare. A 2020 PBS documentary film, available on Amazon Prime Video.

Downey, Kirstin. The Woman Behind The New Deal - The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and Hist Moral Conscience. Random House, 2009. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Behind-New-Deal-Unemployment/dp/1400078563/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kirstin+downey&qid=1613770724&sr=8-1

Feldman, Noah. Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices. Norton, 2010.

Lewis, Nathan. GOLD - The Once And Future Money. Wiley & Sons, 2007.

Scalia, Antonin. Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived. Crown Forum, 2017.

Sowell, Thomas. Basic Economics, A Common Sense Guide to the Economy. 3rd ed. Perseus Books Group, 2007.

Thomas, Evan. First, Sandra Day O'Connor. Random House, 2019.

Wapshott, Nicholas. Sphinx - Franklin Roosevelt, The Isolationist, And The Road To World War II. Norton, 2015.
🎵 The attribution, links and license for the theme music in this podcast is below: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
21 min
February 20, 2021S1E3: Part I: Minimum Wage Politics Now Pales In Comparison To the Political Drama At Its Inception - A Heroine Behind It All
Establishing a national minimum wage was a revolutionary idea that entailed a constitutional court crisis and impeachment hearings. And at the center of it all, was a woman - Frances Perkins, America's first female member of a U.S. Cabinet.
📚 For the full list of sources either cited in or consulted for this podcast, please visit its corresponding post here https://thepeel.news/2021/02/20/minimum-wage-politics-2021-verus-1930s/. Below is a list that includes some of them:
Cameron, Rondo; Neal, Larry. A Concise Economic History of The World, 4th ed. Oxford University Press, 2003.

Caouette, Mick. Summoned: Frances Perkins and the General Welfare. A 2020 PBS documentary film, available on Amazon Prime Video.

Downey, Kirstin. The Woman Behind The New Deal - The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR's Secretary of Labor and Hist Moral Conscience. Random House, 2009. Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Woman-Behind-New-Deal-Unemployment/dp/1400078563/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=kirstin+downey&qid=1613770724&sr=8-1

Feldman, Noah. Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR's Great Supreme Court Justices. Norton, 2010.

Lewis, Nathan. GOLD - The Once And Future Money. Wiley & Sons, 2007.

Scalia, Antonin. Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived. Crown Forum, 2017.

Sowell, Thomas. Basic Economics, A Common Sense Guide to the Economy. 3rd ed. Perseus Books Group, 2007.

Thomas, Evan. First, Sandra Day O'Connor. Random House, 2019.

Wapshott, Nicholas. Sphinx - Franklin Roosevelt, The Isolationist, And The Road To World War II. Norton, 2015.
🎵 The attribution, links and license for the theme music in this podcast is below: The Success by Keys of Moon | https://soundcloud.com/keysofmoonMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
22 min