Today we’ll tour the economic issues that led to the stock market crash of 1929, and just how that affected the United States and the rest of the world. Hoover can’t seem to do anything right, and things are looking pretty bleak until FDR comes along promising a New Deal for the American people.

Harding tries to dismantle social and economic components of progressivism, Coolidge lets business take the reins economically, and we decide we don’t like unions again. Additionally, companies like Listerine created ads that made everyone really self-conscious about their bad breath and modern advertising is born…

We’ll see the issues over immigration and racism, the rise and decline of the KKK, the flowering Harlem Renaissance, and Marcus Garvey’s separatist movement. We’ll also check in on how those Prohibition laws are working for us (hint - they aren’t), and observe the Scopes Trial, where the country argues over science versus religion.

Our tour takes a look at the attitudes stemming from the Great War. We go from extremely positive, we’ll-perfect'-society-or-else outlooks to very negative, did-you-see-what-happened-in-the-war-people-are-awful outlooks. We’ll examine the literature, the politics, and even the newspapers, all of which show a sense of disillusionment weighing heavily on society. **Be sure to check out the BONUS Newsletter that goes along with this podcast, or check out the articles on my blog at www.hollisknodewrites.com.

In this tour, President Wilson heads to Europe to negotiate peace talks with his 14 Points…which dwindle quickly down to almost no points other than the League of Nations. But surprise! We don’t even join the entity that we created! And not listening to Wilson is a bad idea, but we’ll let the rise of Hitler speak for itself later….

In this tour, future President Hoover does some really good work for America…but you just wait…he’ll ruin that good rep when he becomes President. Additionally, we see how America comes together, but also gets a bit intolerant if you happen to be German, and how civil liberties fly out the window in many cases. Women gain the vote, African Americans hope their help in the war will lead to better civil rights, and while we hated labor unions before, during the war we love them. This love/hate relationship with labor will continue ad nauseam even into today. Wanna find out more? Come take the tour!

From the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand to the armistice, we tour the Great War. Part one of this Great War series looks at the events that led to war, how it became a stalemate, and how the U.S. was drawn in. Come take the tour!

After the Spanish-American War we are looking outward much more. Teddy Roosevelt builds a canal in Panama, we have a rocky relationship with Japan, and we meddle in Mexico’s civil war, causing issues that just might hurt us in the war to come…

We’ll wrap up our tour of the progressive period with a look at the three progressive presidents of the era - T.R., Taft, and Wilson. We’ll see a LOT of Teddy Roosevelt, so what else can I say? You’ve gotta take the tour!

We’ll tour the automobile factories of Henry Ford and see businesses changing to achieve maximum efficiency with the Principles of Scientific Management, a horrible fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory that led to reform, and various progressive movements like prohibition and the feminists.