Who bombed Wall Street? Why was all the evidence swept away literally overnight? Trent Edwards and Steve Fait are joined by Scott Borden for a bombing-inspired improv set that may include a nitroglycerine chaser for meatloaf. Trent and Steve then interview history expert Randy Baker about what actually happened.
Further Book Smarts Inspired By This Episode
The Wall Street Bombing of 1920 rocked the financial district of Manhattan, New York City, on Sep. 16, 1920 at 12:01 p.m. Its investigation was handled by the predecessor to the FBI.
John Pierpont “Jack” or “JP” Morgan Jr. (Sep. 7, 1867 – March 13, 1943) was heir to the JP Morgan fortune and head of JP Morgan & Co. after the death of his father in 1913.
William Hammond Remick (Oct. 14, 1866 – March 9, 1922) was president of the New York Stock Exchange during the 1920 Wall Street bombing.
Mario Buda (Oct. 13, 1883 – June 1, 1963) was an Italian anarchist with the militant American Galleanists in the late 1910s.
The 1920 World Series was actually played three weeks after the Wall Street Bombing, with the Cleveland Indians beating the Brooklyn Robins.
The Wall Street Panic of 1893, (May-Nov. 1893) included a run on currency, and closures of banks and businesses who didn’t have cash to pay their workers.
Laissez-faire Capitalism in American History — Laissez-faire capitalism, where the government plays a minimal role in the economy, dominated the Gilded Age.
The US Federal Government was lax in its regulation of the stock market throughout the 1920s before the legendary crash of 1929.
Before the stock market crash of 1929, stocks quadrupled in value during the 1920s.
Congress gave women the right to vote in August, 1920, when it ratified the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution.
The Progressive Era c. 1896–1917 featured widespread social activism and political reform across the US to combat corruption, monopoly, waste, and inefficiency.
Trust-busting — Trust-busting was meant to break the near monopolies of major corporations in the Gilded Age. By 1928, 24% of the nation’s wealth was held by just 1% of the population. President Theodore Roosevelt earned the nickname of the Trust Buster President, initiating the era of Trust Busting by enforcing the Sherman Antitrust Act. In 2023, more than one-quarter of all household wealth, 26.5%, belonged to Americans who earn enough money to rank in the top percentile by income, according to Federal Reserve statistics through mid-2023. Anybody seen Teddy Roosevelt lately?
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