In this episode of History for Cocktail Parties, hosts James Ottley and Thornton Kennedy explore the origins of Augusta National Golf Club, delving into why Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts selected Augusta, Georgia, as the site for their course. They discuss the club's early financial challenges and how these struggles led to the creation of the inaugural Augusta National Invitation Tournament in 1934, which would become the prestigious Masters Tournament. The episode offers a compelling look at the vision and determination that transformed the former Fruitlands Plant Nursery into one of golf's most iconic venues.

In the debut episode of History for Cocktail Parties on The Masters — a tradition unlike any other — hack historians James Ottley and Thornton Kennedy dive into the story behind the creation of Augusta National Golf Club. They explore the unlikely partnership of golf legend Bobby Jones, Wall Street financier Cliff Roberts and renowned golf course architect Alister MacKenzie. Despite coming from vastly different backgrounds, together they crafted one of the most iconic golf courses in the world.

In this final episode of our four-part series on R.E.M., we’re diving into the band’s evolution during the early-80s. Join James Ottley and Thornton Kennedy as we explore the pivotal moments that helped shape R.E.M. into one of the most influential bands of the era.

In this episode of History for Cocktail Parties, hosts Thornton Kennedy and James Ottley take listeners back to the early days of R.E.M., one of the most influential alternative rock bands of all time. They explore the fortuitous meeting of drummer Bill Berry and bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills at a high school in Macon, Georgia — a chance encounter that would change the course of rock history.

In Episode 3 of our series on legendary Athens alternative rock band R.E.M., James Ottley and Thornton Kennedy talk about how Michael Stipe, Peter Buck, Bill Berry, and Mike Mills came together for their legendary first show in a historic church.

In the first episode of History for Cocktail Parties, James Ottley and Thornton Kennedy take you back to the early days of R.E.M., the legendary alternative rock band that rocketed out of Athens, Georgia in the 1980s. We’ll explore the story of a young Mike Stipe, how a simple magazine subscription changed the course of his life and the serendipitous meeting with guitarist Peter Buck that set the stage for alternative rock's greatest band.