My History Can Beat Up Your Politics

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics

Since 2006, this podcast has been using history to elevate today's political debates. "The perfect antidote to bloviating talking heads, My History is thoughtful, nuanced, and highly engaging." -Columbia Journalism Review

Episodes

ZACHARY TAYLOR - Part 1

January 6, 2026 • 56 mins
A new President comes to Washington. No one knows what to expect. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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WAR POWERS

January 4, 2026 • 58 mins
Presidents and Congress and use of military. A look at history. Presidents and Congresses, and a specific legislation that applies that is used, ignored, lightly used, skirted, enforced, unenforced and criticized throughout its 53 year history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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EVEN MORE 90's EPHEMERA

December 31, 2025 • 70 mins
CNN confirms that a missile strike hit for the White House, Japanese politics implodes, a grunge music tragedy and strange local traditions make mainstream in our extra episode of leftovers from the previous 1990's ephemera. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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NIXON IN FULL: Part 2

December 24, 2025 • 46 mins
A great accomplishment and a historic scandal. And not the scandal you are thinking of, probably. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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NIXON IN FULL, Part 1

December 22, 2025 • 45 mins
Nixon - a mix of what you know and what you may not. First part of a 2014 episode. I don't know whether time has changed this cast, or if this cast has more meaning now, or less, that is for the listener to judge. Sponsored by: The University of Aberdeen: https://on.abdn.ac.uk/online-history-courses/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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MORE ABOUT THE KEN BURNS AMERICAN REVOLUTION DOCUMENTARY AND BEN FRANKLIN

December 7, 2025 • 50 mins
Deeper dive on Ken Burns documentary and Franklin and Iroquois Confederacy debate. Plus: Iran Iraq war and midterms. Sponsored by: The University of Aberdeen: https://on.abdn.ac.uk/online-history-courses/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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KEN BURNS AMERICAN REVOLUTION DOCUMENTARY - A FEW THOUGHTS

December 6, 2025 • 20 mins
No I don't think the Iroquois Confederacy influenced th Revolution much. (Nor do I think Burns says this). And I take a little issue with American Revolution as a Civil War theory. (If it was merely that, it would have been quickly settled). Sponsored by: The University of Aberdeen: https://on.abdn.ac.uk/online-history-courses/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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IRAN-IRAQ WAR - PART TWO

December 6, 2025 • 43 mins
Stalemate breaks in a surprise operation. An apathetic America gets involved on both sides. The fighting stops, but nothing is the same after 1988. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR - PART ONE

December 5, 2025 • 45 mins
This terrible war, fought in the 1980's, changed everything. Both in the Middle East, and America. We tell the story in two parts. We are part of Airwave Media network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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ASHAMED IN THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT - Resistance to Jackson Indian Removal Policy in its Time

December 3, 2025 • 46 mins
Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren's policy of Indian population removal, which lead to the Trail of Tears and thousands of deaths, was not uncontested or passively allowed at the time. Nearly half of Congress opposed it, as did petition writers all over the nation. So did one of the President's former friends and of course, most of the elected representatives of the Cherokee people. These debates happened not in modern times but ...
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ATTACK ON SCIENCE - ANDY JOHNSON OPPOSES THE TELEGRAPH, AND OTHER STORIES

December 2, 2025 • 45 mins
An invention ties together the stories of many people. A frustrated painter, a faded novelist, and a future President. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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PRESIDENTIAL ASSISTANTS AND AIDES "Separated By a Swinging Door"

December 1, 2025 • 104 mins
From the man who answered T.R.'s phone and maybe saved his life, to the secret "Sphinx" around Woodrow Wilson, to Coolidge's surprise enforcer. We look at all sorts of Presidential assistants and aides, both official ones and non-official ones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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CHESTER ARTHUR - PART 5: "HE IS NOT ARTHUR ANYMORE, HE IS THE PRESIDENT!"

November 23, 2025 • 97 mins
The untold story of the 21st President. Music by Lee Rosevere, and others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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CHESTER ARTHUR - PART 4: THE PISTOL AND THE TRANSOM

November 22, 2025 • 60 mins
Political violence changes politics. Vice President Chester Arthur is getting the hang of Parliamentary procedure, and building a reputation for being a more partisan vice president than we've seen in a while, Not on the team with his President. Then events will conspire to elevate him in an unexpected way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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CHESTER ARTHUR PART 3: I WILL ACCEPT THE NOMINATION

November 21, 2025 • 67 mins
Arthur makes an unlikely comeback in the 1880 Republican Convention in this episode. The story is a little more complex than it's often told, and involves a bit more of Arthur's skill than is often mentioned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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CHESTER ARTHUR PART 2: I AM A STALWART!

November 20, 2025 • 82 mins
(2nd posting ) We look at Chester Arthur and also at Roscoe Conkling, New York Senator and political "boss" of the post-Civil War period. The two are tied together in history. Arthur was, to a point, a Stalwart, which means he supported Ulysses S. Grant and the concept of a party system. Which is also known by the name - spoils. Are Stalwarts all bad? What about Half-Breeds? We get into Arthur the Stalwart in this episode. Learn...
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CHESTER ARTHUR PART 1: THE EARLY YEARS

November 19, 2025 • 50 mins
He fought for civil rights and nearly saved New York City. But all we remember is his hair. We start our series on President Chester Arthur with a look at his boyhood / young lawyer years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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DEATH BY LIGHTNING: My Opinion of the Netflix Series, and Other Thoughts

November 17, 2025 • 32 mins
Well, the 1880's finally has some visual media coverage. That's the good news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1989 MAYORAL PRIMARY, IN NEW YORK CITY, AND TODAY

November 3, 2025 • 29 mins
Ed Koch is a pretty popular guy in the 1980's. He's come to personify New York. But after 3 terms and two easy victories, he's in the fight of his political life. We talk about it, and why people are comparing it to today's events. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1990'S EPHEMERA

November 3, 2025 • 86 mins
Push in the drawer of your CD-ROM and enjoy random stories of politics and culture from the 1990's. that did not get much notice since. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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