This week, Frank and David are joined by Dr. Joe Stoltz, Digital Historian at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon. We discuss his recent book on the Battle of New Orleans, how he got involved in public history, and Mount Vernon's new digitial experience, Be Washington!

Straight from the picket lines: As a million American school children walk out to protest gun violence and hundreds of British university students occupy campus buildings to support the UCU strike, Frank and David discuss the history of youth activism, including:

The role that youth played in the American Revolution

How the Wide Awakes helped to create a new political party

How young people were the backbone the Civil Rights movement

Last Drops

David: Bunk History

Frank: Be Washington

Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced that he would be imposing a tariff on imported steel and aluminum, saying that the United States would easily win a trade war. Frank and David talk about the history of the tariff and trade wars, including:

Alexander Hamilton and Henry Clay's protectionist tariffs

19th century US/Canada trade war

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff

Why the US became a champion of free trade after World War II

Last Drops

David: new photo of Harriet Tubman

Frank: San Francisco removes Early Days statue

Both Frank and David are on strike this week, participating in the UCU industrial action protesting pension cuts. Recording off campus, they talk about the history of the labor movement in the United States, including:

What role government played in suppressing organized labor during the Gilded Age

Why the Great Depression became an unexpected high point for the US labor movement

Why unions have declined in membership over the past 50 years

What the West Virginia teachers strike says about the future of the labor movement

Last Drops

David: Upcoming SASA annual conference in St. Andrews and 2019 conference in Edinburgh

Frank: Upcoming University of Edinburgh tour of US and Canada

 

Bonus content: listen past the credits for authenic Scottish pub ambient noise.

With the South Korea Winter Olympics in full swing, Frank and David talk about the history of the Olympics, including:

How ideas about peace and amateurism shaped the formation of the Olympics

How nationalism and global politics have influenced the Olympics

The long history of corruption and cheating in the Olympics

Last Drops

Frank: new presidential rankings

David: all of American history in the lifetime of 3 presidents and goodbye to Freak Out and Carry On

Earlier this week, rumors emerged that the White House was planning for a military parade in Washington. Frank and David talk about the history of military parades, including

The Grand Review after the Civil War

Parades after WWI and WWII

The military in Eisenhower and JFK inaugurations

Last Drops

Frank: Coffee and Tea in Dickens

David: Report that high school students don't know that slavery was the cause of the Civil War

Over the past year, the FBI has received unprecedented public attention, from the Comey letter on Hillary Clinton's emails to the Nunes memo asserting corruption and bias with the FBI. Frank and David discuss the history of the FBI, including:

The origins of the FBI

How the FBI claims to be non-political while often taking political stances

What the current crisis might hold for the future of the FBI

Last Drops

Frank:Kongressen podcast and demise of Indians logo

David: possible discovery of slave ship Clotilda

2018 marks the fiftieth anniversary of 1968, one of the most interesting and consequental years in American history.  Frank and David discuss what made 1968 important and why it still matters, including

Tet Offensivie

MLK assassination

RFK assassination

Democratic convention in Chicago

Mexico City Olympics

Apollo 8

Last Drops

Frank: MLK's 1961 syllabus at Morehouse (h/t to Honor Sachs)

David: Columbia University's livetweeting of 1968 protests and Claire Potter article on free speech on campus

With Michael Wolff's Fire and Fury topping the best-seller lists, Frank and David talk about the history of political exposes, including:

How the genre of White House evolved from Ted White and Joe McGinnis to Bob Woodward and Joe Klein

Why political exposes became a popular genre after 1960 and how the changing journalist landscape made these books possible

Last Drops

Frank: US Embassy in London finds a new home

David: The other Fire and Fury

What do historians have to say about Star Wars? Quite a lot actually! Joined by Edinburgh Teaching Fellow (and Star Wars fan) Tereza Valney, Frank and David examine the series through the historical lens, including:

What historical analogies did George Lucas intend and audiences see in the Original Trilogy? Are Storm Troopers Space Nazis? Is the Rebellion the Vietcong? Is the Soviet Union the Empire?

What is the relationship between the Prequel Trilogy and the War on Terror?

What do the new films tell us about the current political and cultural moment?

Last Drops

David: Call for Papers for the Scottish Association for the Study of America

Frank: New DNA evidence for the populating of the Americas