The Whiskey Rebellion

In our first live episode, Frank and David discuss Donald Trump's recent comments about Charlottesville, how a monuments to Washington might be different from monuments to Lee, and whether its okay to call the alt-right Nazis.

The last 15 minutes of the show is Q&A with the audience -- the audio is a bit dodgy, but worth a listen.

With major upheavals in President Trump's White House staff, Frank and David look back at the folks who have advised presidents, including:

Whether Lincoln's cabinet really was a "Team of Rivals"

How the Chief of Staff position has evolved

Who had the most and least effective staffs

Last Drops

David: See whether you'd qualify for a visa under Trump's proposed point system. 

Frank: Congratulations to David for his promotion to Senior Lecturer.

 

A reminder that we have our live show on August 16 at 1pm. Free tickets are available.

In light of President Trump's ban on trans soldiers serving in the armed forces, Frank and David explore the history of who could and couldn't serve in the U.S. military, including:

The role of African American troops in both the Revolution and the Civil War and how both Washington and Lincoln changed their minds about black soldiers

How women like Deborah Sampson served by disguising themselves as men

How World War II and the Cold War shaped the ban on gays in the military

Last Drops

Frank: Madeline Miller's Song of Achilles

David: Historian Nina Silber's take on HBO's Confederate

President Donald Trump has recently asserted his "complete power to pardon." Frank and David look at the origin and history of the president pardon power, including:

George Washington's pardon of the Whiskey Rebels

Lincoln's pardon of Copperhead Clement Vallandigham

Andrew Johnson's generous use of the pardon for former Confederates during Reconstruction

Gerald Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon

Last Drops

Frank: SHEAR conference in Philadelphia, including a controversal tweet about yellow fever, and Pod Save America

David: Manisha Sinha's prize at SHEAR for The Slave's Cause and This American Life episode "Fear and Loathing in Homer and Rockville"

With ongoing revelations about Russia's role in the 2016 elections in the headlines, Frank and David explore the long and complex relationship between the United States and Russia, including:

Why Thomas Jefferson had a bust of Russian czar Alexander I

Why Abraham Lincoln compared the Know Nothing Party to Russia

Why World War I fundamentally changed the US-Russian (USSR) relationship

Last Drops

Frank: The Americans on FX

David: Freak Out and Carry On with Ron Suskind and Heather Cox Richardson on WBUR

 

Remember to get (FREE!) tickets for our live show on August 16: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/frank-and-davids-whiskey-rebellion-podcast-live-tickets-35723952303

A special episode: Frank live at the National Library of Scotland on six months of the Trump presidency.

Tickets are now availabe for our (free!) live show on August 16: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/frank-and-davids-whiskey-rebellion-podcast-live-tickets-35723952303?aff=erelexpmlt

With the Republican healthcare plan making its way throught the Senate, Frank and David step back to look at the history of healthcare in the United States, including:

Why Franklin Pierce thought the federal government shouldn't fund insane asylums

Why the AMA opposed healthcare as a part of Social Security

Why health insurance and employment became linked

Why health care reform has been a perennial topic over the past several decades

Last Drops

Frank: Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History and the programs they sponsor for American teachers.

David: The Stonewall Inn (and the Phil Sheridan statue outside)

 

Check out the new outro credits by Edinburgh doctoral student Catherine Bateson (thanks, Catherine!)

1. Wednesday's shooting at a Republican Congressional baseball practice in historical context. 

2. Wonder Woman on film. 

 

Last Drops

Frank: Jeremy Bowen's Our Man in the Middle East on BBC Radio 4

David: The threat of powerlines to Jamestown

 

Upcoming Events

Frank at National Library of Scotland, 2pm, 3 July 2017

Live Episode of Whiskey Rebellion, 1pm, 16 August 2017

On the morning after the Comey hearings and the British election, Frank and David discuss:

How does the Comey testimony fit into the long history of Congressional hearings?

In an expected Twitter fight, historian Joyce Chaplin and Senator Ted Cruz debate the role of the international community in the establishment of the United States

Last Drops

Frank: Bob Dylan's Nobel acceptance speech

David: Twitter hashtag #ILookLikeAHistorian

Frank and David discuss:

Trump's withdrawl from the Paris climate deal

Why the Supreme Court's decision about gerrymandering in North Carolina and the resignation of the census director matter

Last Drops

Frank: Crimetown podcast

David: The Handmaid's Tale