History Talk, the history podcast from Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective

This episode has been published and can be heard everywhere your podcast is available.

Barely three years after independence from British colonial rule, Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, collapsed into a civil war.

Written and narrated by Ousman Murzik Kobo. Audio production by Svetlana Ter-Grigoryan, Laura Seeger, and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. A textual version of this video is available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/nigerian-civil-war-biafra-anniversary.

This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.

New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed presidential historian Douglas Brinkley talks about his new book, "Silent Spring Revolution," which chronicles the rise of environmental activism during the Long Sixties (1960-1973), telling the story of an indomitable generation that saved the natural world under the leadership of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon.

With the detonation of the Trinity explosion in the New Mexico desert in 1945, the United States took control of Earth’s destiny for the first time. After the Truman administration dropped atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II, a grim new epoch had arrived. During the early Cold War years, the federal government routinely detonated nuclear devices in the Nevada desert and the Marshall Islands. Not only was nuclear fallout a public health menace, but entire ecosystems were contaminated with radioactive materials. During the 1950s, an unprecedented postwar economic boom took hold, with America becoming the world’s leading hyperindustrial and military giant. But with this historic prosperity came a heavy cost: oceans began to die, wilderness vanished, the insecticide DDT poisoned ecosystems, wildlife perished, and chronic smog blighted major cities.

In "Silent Spring Revolution," Douglas Brinkley pays tribute to those who combated the mauling of the natural world in the Long Sixties: Rachel Carson (a marine biologist and author), David Brower (director of the Sierra Club), Barry Commoner (an environmental justice advocate), Coretta Scott King (an antinuclear activist), Stewart Udall (the secretary of the interior), William O. Douglas (Supreme Court justice), Cesar Chavez (a labor organizer), and other crusaders are profiled with verve and insight.

Carson’s book "Silent Spring," published in 1962, depicted how detrimental DDT was to living creatures. The exposé launched an ecological revolution that inspired such landmark legislation as the Wilderness Act (1964), the Clean Air Acts (1963 and 1970), and the Endangered Species Acts (1966, 1969, and 1973). In intimate detail, Brinkley extrapolates on such epic events as the Donora (Pennsylvania) smog incident, JFK’s Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Great Lakes preservation, the Santa Barbara oil spill, and the first Earth Day.

With the United States grappling with climate change and resource exhaustion, Douglas Brinkley’s meticulously researched and deftly written "Silent Spring Revolution" reminds us that a new generation of twenty-first-century environmentalists can save the planet from ruin.

Between 1946-1948, around 1,500 people in Guatemala—including prisoners, soldiers, prostitutes, psychiatric patients, and children—were enrolled without consent in unethical studies related to the testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including syphilis, gonorrhea and chancroid.

Written by Lydia Dixon. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Audio production by Cody Patton, Laura Seeger, and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. A textual version of this video is available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/june-2016-guatemala-inoculation-experiments.

This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of History at The Ohio State University and the Department of History at Miami University. Be sure to subscribe to our channel to receive updates about our videos and podcasts. For more information about Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, please visit origins.osu.edu.

In July 1956, the international order was disrupted by the Suez Crisis, a complicated imbroglio marked by the intersection of European decolonization, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Cold War, and the growth of U.S. power.

Written by Peter Hahn. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. A textual version of this video is available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/suez-crisis-1956.

We're back!

When and where did the War on Drugs really begin? Join us as we explore how a century of drug wars fought around the world informs today's conversations about marijuana use, abuse, and legalization.

Season II of Prologued on The Global War on Drugs premieres on November 2, 2021, with new episodes airing every Tuesday, wherever you get your podcasts.

Host: Brionna Mendoza (@brionna_mendoza)

Want to learn more about how history shapes our world today? Connect with us!

Twitter: @ProloguedPod and @OriginsOSU

Instagram: @OriginsOSU

Facebook: @OriginsOSU

Website: origins.osu.edu

Email: [email protected]

Show Description

Prologued is a serial podcast from Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective that performs in depth discussions of historical roots that have been lost, ignored, or misconstrued, resulting in modern society being confused by the current course of events. With the help of esteemed scholars, each season will re-construct the history of a major issue society is facing, in an effort to not only explain how we got here, but to reveal a path forward.

Today, on our season finale, on we reflect on the stories we’ve heard about drug wars around the world, to determine how knowing where we’ve been in our past can direct us in our present and future.

Host:

Brionna Mendoza (@brionna_mendoza)

Guests:

Alexander Aviña

Dan Weimer

Michelle Paranzino

Miriam Kingsberg Kadia

James Bradford

Isaac Campos

Sarah Brady Siff

Want to learn more about how history shapes our world today? Connect with us! Twitter: @OriginsOSU

Instagram: @OriginsOSU

Facebook: @OriginsOSU

Website: origins.osu.edu

Email: [email protected]

Show Description

Prologued is a serial podcast from Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective that performs in depth discussions of historical roots that have been lost, ignored, or misconstrued, resulting in modern society being confused by the current course of events. With the help of esteemed scholars, each season will re-construct the history of a major issue society is facing, in an effort to not only explain how we got here, but to reveal a path forward.

On this episode of Prologued, we continue our examine of how the War on Drugs intersected with the Cold War by examining domestic politics in Thailand and Mexico during the 1960s and 1970s.

Host:

Brionna Mendoza (@brionna_mendoza)

Guests:

Daniel Weimer

Alexander Aviña (@Alexander_Avina)

Aileen Teague (@AileenTTeague)

Want to learn more about how history shapes our world today? Connect with us! Twitter: @ProloguedPod and @OriginsOSU

Instagram: @OriginsOSU

Facebook: @OriginsOSU

Website: origins.osu.edu

Email: [email protected]

Show Description

Prologued is a serial podcast from Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective that performs in depth discussions of historical roots that have been lost, ignored, or misconstrued, resulting in modern society being confused by the current course of events. With the help of esteemed scholars, each season will re-construct the history of a major issue society is facing, in an effort to not only explain how we got here, but to reveal a path forward.

On this episode of Prologued, we follow the Global War on Drugs to Afghanistan. Opium has played a significant role in its history and, as we discuss, shaped how Afghan policymakers have negotiated its position in the world throughout its history.

Host:

Brionna Mendoza (@brionna_mendoza)

Guests:

Matthew R. Pembleton (@mattpembleton)

James Bradford

Michelle Parazino (@aucontrarian)

Want to learn more about how history shapes our world today? Connect with us! Twitter: @ProloguedPod and @OriginsOSU

Instagram: @OriginsOSU

Facebook: @OriginsOSU

Website: origins.osu.edu

Email: [email protected]

Show Description

Prologued is a serial podcast from Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective that performs in depth discussions of historical roots that have been lost, ignored, or misconstrued, resulting in modern society being confused by the current course of events. With the help of esteemed scholars, each season will re-construct the history of a major issue society is facing, in an effort to not only explain how we got here, but to reveal a path forward.

On this episode of Prologued, we turn our attention back to the nation that ultimately made a global War on Drugs possible: the United States. Learn with us how, during the 1930s and 1940s, the U.S. began to establish a global model for pursuing drug prohibition both at home and abroad.

Host:

Brionna Mendoza (@brionna_mendoza)

Guests:

Sarah Brady Siff (@SarahBradySiff)

Kathleen Frydl (@KFrydl)

Matthew R. Pembleton (@mattpembleton)

Want to learn more about how history shapes our world today? Connect with us! Twitter: @ProloguedPod and @OriginsOSU

Instagram: @OriginsOSU

Facebook: @OriginsOSU

Website: origins.osu.edu

Email: [email protected]

Show Description

Prologued is a serial podcast from Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective that performs in depth discussions of historical roots that have been lost, ignored, or misconstrued, resulting in modern society being confused by the current course of events. With the help of esteemed scholars, each season will re-construct the history of a major issue society is facing, in an effort to not only explain how we got here, but to reveal a path forward.

On this episode of Prologued, we discuss 19th-century antecedents to the modern U.S. War on Drugs. As we will see, the United States doesn't have a monopoly on drug wars. Our investigation takes us to late imperial China, colonial Mexico, and turn-of-the-century California. Ultimately, a international perspective helps us to understand why the world was ripe was a U.S.-led War on Drugs in the late 20th century.

Host:

Brionna Mendoza (@brionna_mendoza)

Guests:

Miriam Kingsberg Kadia

Sarah Brady Siff (@SarahBradySiff)

Isaac Campos (@isaac_campos)

Want to learn more about how history shapes our world today? Connect with us! Twitter: @ProloguedPod and @OriginsOSUInstagram: @OriginsOSUFacebook: @OriginsOSUWebsite: origins.osu.eduEmail: [email protected]

Show Description

Prologued is a serial podcast from Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective that performs in depth discussions of historical roots that have been lost, ignored, or misconstrued, resulting in modern society being confused by the current course of events. With the help of esteemed scholars, each season will re-construct the history of a major issue society is facing, in an effort to not only explain how we got here, but to reveal a path forward.