In this special episode, The Gilded Age and Progressive Era is taken over by popular podcast 2 Complicated 4 History and hosts Dr Lynn Price Robbins and Isaac Loftus. 2 Complicated 4 History is a show that examines the "deleted scenes" of history. In each episode, a different guest bringing a fresh perspective to the history you thought you knew. 

This episode leads with the question: Is it the government's job to legislate the social behavior of its citizens? In the Progressive Era, many elites believed that it was, and they created institutions to "fix" non compliance. Lynn and Isaac are joined by Dr. Erin Bush to discuss child delinquency and social control at the turn of the twentieth century.

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Economics might study trade, commerce, and financial markets, but the discipline explores human interaction as much as any other subject. The idea of free trade, especially the idea espoused by Richard Cobden, intersected with the millennial pursuit of peace like two halves of the same walnut. Marc William Palen joins the show to explain the legacy of Cobden and others in the global story of free trade and pacifism.

Essential Reading:

Marc William Palen, Pax Economica: Left Wing Visions of a Free Trade World (2024).

Recommended Reading:

Johanna Bockman, Markets in the Name of Socialism: The Left-Wing Origins of Neoliberalism (2011).

Eric Helleiner, The Neomercantilists: A Global Intellectual History (2021).

Douglas Irwin, Against the Tide: An Intellectual History of Free Trade (1998).

Quinn Slobodian, Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism (2018).

Thomas Zeiler, Capitalist Peace: A History of American Free-Trade Internationalism (2022).

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When did modern intelligence gathering begin? The Gilded Age, of course. Dr. Mark Stout joins the show to discuss his book World War I and the Foundations of American Intelligence. The advent of new technologies and the necessities of modern war show how a major transition occurred between the Civil War and World War II.

Essential Reading:

Mark Stout, World War I and the Foundations of American Intelligence (2024).

Further Reading:

T. R. Brereton, Educating the U.S. Army: Arthur L. Wagner and Reform, 1875-1905 (2000).

Jeffrey M. Dorwart, The Office of Naval Intelligence: The Birth of America's First Intelligence Agency, 1865-1918 (1979).

Lori A. Henning, Harnessing the Airplane: American and British Cavalry Responses to a New Technology, 1903-1939 (2019).

Brian McAllister Linn, "Intelligence and Low-Intensity Conflict in the Philippine War, 1899-1902," Intelligence and National Security 6, no. 1 (1991): 90-114.

Betsy Rohaly Smoot, From the Ground Up: American Cryptology during World War I (2023).

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The white dresses of suffragists stand out as one example of women's fashion that made a statement. Einav Rabinovitch-Fox joins the show to discuss her book Dressed for Freedom: American Feminism and the Politics of Women’s Fashion and the many ways that style brought the substance of women's activism into the public discourse.

Essential Reading:

Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, Dressed for Freedom: American Feminism and the Politics of Women’s Fashion (2021).

Recommended Reading:

Elizabeth Block, Dressing Up: The Women Who Influenced French Fashion (2021).

Nan Enstad, Ladies of Labor, Girls of Adventure: Working Women, Popular Culture, and Labor Politics at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (1999).

Patricia Campbell Warner, When the Girls Came Out to Play: The Birth of American Sportswear (2006).

Patricia A. Cunningham, Reforming Women’s Fashion, 1850-1920: Politics, Health, and Art (2003).

Deborah Saville, “Dress and Culture in Greenwich Village,” in Twentieth-Century American Fashion, ed. Linda Walters and Patricia A. Cunningham (2005).

Allison Lange, Picturing Political Power: Images in the Women's Suffrage Movement (2020).

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The rise of the Southern Pacific Railroad in California owes a great deal to the citrus industry and vice versa. Ben Jenkins joins the show to discuss how these two industries came to define the state during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

Essential Reading:

Benjamin Jenkins, The Octopus's Garden: How Railroads and Citrus Transformed Southern California (2023).

Recommended Reading:

Genevieve Carpio, Collisions at the Crossroads: How Place and Mobility Make Race (2019).

Jared Farmer, Trees in Paradise: The Botanical Conquest of California (2017).

Phoebe Kropp, California Vieja: Culture and Memory in a Modern American Place (2008).

Richard J. Orsi, Sunset Limited: The Southern Pacific Railroad and the Development of the American West, 1950-1930 (2007).

Douglas Sackman, Orange Empire: California and the Fruits of Eden (2007).

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How much can a president do to shepherd the economy? The question has bedevilled the inhabitants of the White House since the office came into being, and it has material relevance for elections, democracy, social policy, and international relations. Mark Zachary Taylor joins the show to explain his findings on this topic, and to discuss his latest book Presidential Leadership in Feeble Times.

Essential Reading:

Mark Zachary Taylor, Presidential Leadership in Feeble Times: Explaining Executive Power in the Gilded Age (2023).

Recommended Reading:

Edward O. Frantz (ed.), A Companion to the Reconstruction Presidents, 1865 - 1881 (2014).

Mark Wahlgren Summers, Party Games: Getting, Keeping, and Using Power in Gilded Age Politics (2005).

Jane McAlevey, No Shortcuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age (2020).

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Are you stuck for that showstopper holiday roast or side dish? Becky Diamond's latest book, The Gilded Age Cookbook is there to help. Go back in time to see how families ate during the holidays. And please try the "devilled spaghetti." The recipe is listed here!

Essential Reading:

Becky Diamond, The Gilded Age Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from America's Golden Era (2023).

Recommended Recipe (Full Recipe in Book):

Butter six ramekins or Texas-size muffin pans and set aside.

Cook the spaghetti until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain and allow to cool. When cool, chop finely and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk together to form a paste. Add the milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Turn down to low and add the chopped eggs, salt, cayenne, onion powder, nutmeg, and parsley.

Add the spaghetti to the sauce, stirring until combined. Using a large ladle, divide spaghetti mixture among the ramekins or muffin pan cups.

Mix bread crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl. Spoon on top of spaghetti.

Transfer to the oven and bake for 30 minutes until tops are nicely browned. Remove from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes. When cool, remove from the muffin pan by running a knife around the edges and carefully turning out onto a plate. If using ramekins, serve in the individual ramekin dishes. Make an indentation in the top of each with the back of a spoon and add a teaspoon of chili sauce if desired. Serve immediately.

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How does a family of Jewish homesteaders interact with the indigenous people of the Great Plains? Journalist Rebecca Clarren explains how her family immigrated from Russia to South Dakota, lured by the promise of free land and how generations later she writes how it came at the expense of the Lakota. This book might grapple with the past, but it is not hard to find the contemporary relevance.

Essential Reading:

Rebecca Clarren, The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance (2023).

Recommended Reading:

Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020).

Pekka Hämäläinen, Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power (2019).

Ned Blackhawk, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History (2023).

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There are some years, and some seasons within a given year, that bear witness to immense change. Chris Wimmer, a podcaster and public historian, tells the story of the Summer of 1876, one such year and one such season.

Essential Reading:

Chris Wimmer, The Summer of 1876 (2023).

Recommended Reading:

Bill Bryson, One Summer: America, 1927 (2013).

T. J. Stiles, Custer's Trials: A Life on the Frontier of a New America (2017).

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One of the most consequential wars in global history happened in 1898, and despite the 125th anniversary of that war, there has been little attention paid to this conflict. One exception is the National Portrait Gallery's exhibition 1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions. The museum's curator Taína Caragol and historian Kate Clarke Lemay who created the exhibition join the show to explain why it was so important to showcase the events of that fateful year.

Essential Reading:

Taína Caragol and Kate Clarke Lemay, 1898: Visual Culture and U.S. Imperialism in the Caribbean and the Pacific (2023).

1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revision (exhibition website)

Recommended Reading:

Bonnie Miller, From Liberation to Conquest: The Visual and Popular Cultures of the Spanish-American War of 1898 (2011).

Kristin Hoganson, Fighting for American Manhood (2000).

Matthew Frye Jacobson, Barbarian Virtues: The United States Encounters Foreign Peoples at Home and Abroad, 1876-1917 (2001).

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