Professor Buzzkill History Podcast

With the 100th anniversary of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre nearly here, it's time to listen to an encore presentation of this episode. 1865-1930 is often called the “nadir of African-American life.” Not only did African-Americans gain very little economic or social benefit from the end of slavery, but white Southerners also built up a system of race oppression that still stains America. Listen as Professor Phil Nash explains it all!

Dr. Lauren Turek gives us the history of American Christian evangelical influence on foreign affairs, as well as their direct efforts to change American foreign policy. It’s all so much deeper and more interesting than most people think! Listen to her explain their “evangelizing” in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe in the late twentieth century. Episode 417.

We scrutinize Reagan's famous quote "the nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help’” in today's episode. Where and when was it coined? What is its broader meaning, and why does Professor Buzzkill call it "moronic and childish"? Episode 416

In the early days of the Biden administration, the Harry Truman “quote” about socialism being a Republican scare word is flying around the internet. Rhetoric is so over-heated in American politics these days. But did “Buck Stops Here” Harry really say it? If so, when, where, and in what context? Time for an encore of this popular episode!

Otto and Elise Hampel were a working-class German couple who wrote postcards denouncing Hitler's government and left them in public places around Berlin during World War II. Professor Philip Nash explains their significance in a combined Man Crush Monday/Woman Crush Wednesday! Episode 415

Historical novelist Anna Lee Huber gives us a glimpse of what it's like to be a historical novelist. She discusses her famous Verity Kent series (set in Britain during the WWI period) and her Lady Derby series (set in 1830s Britain). It's a Fiction Friday and let's have fun!! Episode 414

Mary Ware Dennett was an American women's rights activist, pacifist, and pioneer in the areas of birth control, sex education, and women's suffrage. Yet, she is largely unknown to the general public. So, she’s our Woman Crush Wednesday this week! Listen as historian Sharon Spaulding explains Mary’s important life and work! Episode 413.

Major social and political forces led to the establishment of Mother's Day as a major and official holiday. This episode explains those forces, and also tells us who founded Mother's Day. Was it Julia Ward Howe with her famous "Appeal to Womanhood" Peace Proclamation in 1870? Or did Anna Marie Jarvis found it, honoring her own mother in 1908? And what did war and campaigns for international disarmament have to do with the history of Mother's Day? Episode 412

Joseph Esposito tells us about “the night America’s greatest scientist, writers, and scholars partied at the White House in April 1962." We discuss this glittering event, including the untold stories of controversy, protest, and personality clashes before, during, and after the famous dinner. It's a fascinating look at the workings of the social side of the Kennedy White House, and also how this dinner became mythologized in the Kennedy-Camelot legend. Episode 411.

This encore episode from 2019 explains how the National Rifle Association become one of the most controversial and divisive organizations in American history. The NRA was once a sportsmen’s group. Since the 1970s, however, it has taken a very strict view of the US Constitution’s Second Amendment, and has gone to extremes in its defense of gun ownership. We explain how and why this happened, and dispel historical and cultural myths along the way.