August 05, 2022

S2E24: Awesome Political Power of Minority Interests - History of Prohibition & A US Census That Was Ignored

55 minutes

The forgotten story of what happened to the 1920 Census!

The 1910s was a big decade in U.S. history.

Here are some highlights from that decade. judge for yourself: (1) WWI, (2) the Spanish flu pandemic, (3) the income tax Constitutional amendment, (4) U.S. senators' popular election Constitutional amendment, (5) women's right to vote Constitutional amendment, and (6) the alcohol ban Constitutional amendment. Also, in 1920 Congress and the White House turned red - meaning Republicans won. Then came the 1920s!

Along with Prohibition, in the Roaring '20s, there was another story that has remained unnoticed by most historians. It's a shocking story of an egregious violation of the U.S Constitution by the U.S. Congress. And behind it all were the determined forces of a minority of Americans.

To learn more about this story, we spoke with Daniel Okrent, author of the Last Call, The Rise And Fall of Prohibition, which won the Albert J. Beveridge prize, awarded by the American Historical Association to the year's best book of American history, and was used as a major source for the PBS miniseries Prohibition directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.

In the last segment of our conversation, Mr. Okrent draws parallels between the Prohibition forces a century ago and Pro-Life forces now. They both represent the will of a minority of Americans Yet, they both won. Note though, Prohibition was eventually repealed, which can be attributed to our guest's concluding statement - that we cannot legislate against human desire.

I wonder if there are lessons here for our time? For the abortion fight that is tearing our country apart.

Mr. Okrent served as the first public editor of The New York Times newspaper, and he has also been the editor of other publications, such as Alfred A. Knopf, Harcourt, Esquire Magazine, New England Monthly and Life Managzine. He also served on the board of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery for 12 years, including a four-year term as chairman, and remains a board member of the Skyscraper Museum and the Authors Guild.

To learn more about Mr. Okrent, please visit his homepage.

I hope you enjoy this episode.

Adel Host of the History Behind News podcast

S1E31: History of the Spanish flu Pandemic

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