History Behind News Program

What is Decoration Day? Did the South celebrate the 4th of July?

As it turns out, the history of the 4th of July is not that straightforward. For example, it took about a century for the recognition of our Independence Day as a federal holiday. And for some 80 years after the Civil war, some parts of the South, including Vicksburg, did not celebrate the 4th of July. It took WWII to create a new sense of nationalism, including the n...

For America, 1979 was one of the coldest years of the Cold War. The U.S. lost a friend. Gained a foe. And then its nightmare scenario for the Middle East began to come true. This is the history of how and why the U.S. military now has a permanent presence in the Middle East.

🚩In this interview, we also discuss the following:

• The dangers that U.S. military presence in the Middle East poses to U.S. democracy at home,
• History of ...

Alone in the Middle East! Imperial Iran… Safavids, Qajars, and even the Pahlavis - alone in the Middle East. And then, the Ayatollahs. Again, Iran alone in the Middle East.

🚩In this interview:

►What is it about Iran and its history that separates it from the rest of the Middle East?

►Who was Reza Shah and why is he so important to Iran's modern history?

►What was the Mohammad Reza Shah's primary national security fear?

...

Riots, rebellions and U.S. armed forces. Civilian supremacy over the military remains inviolate in our history and constitution. But what happens when a civilian Commander in Chief legally deploys the U.S. military or federalized National Guard on American soil?

This story is as old as our democracy. One could even argue that the use of militia to crush rebellion in America was a major contributing factor in the founding of the Uni...

Bismarck (left) built an empire. But his Emperor (right) destroyed it. The German Empire's swift rise to world power status frightened Europe and threatened its balance of power. So Bismark convinced Germany's neighbors and other world powers that while Germany was prosperous and powerful, it was also peaceful. Wilhelm II, however, flexed his imperial muscles, frightened his neighbors and insulted world leaders.

The brief history of...

80% of South Africa's people own only 4% of the land. These are Black South Africans. In contrast, 75% of the land is privately owned by white South Africans, who comprise about 7% of the population. But apartheid ended in 1994. So why hasn't land been more equitably distributed since then?

In this interview, we discuss the following:

►How colonial era Christianity ended the fluidity of societal and power relations among Blacks in ...

Did you know that up to the Partition of India in 1947, Kashmiri Muslims lived in conditions that very much resembled serfdom? Exploitation of Kashmiri Muslims was particularly notable during the Dogra Dynasty, which ruled the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir from 1846 to 1947.

Since their partition in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought four wars: in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. Based on research and information, three of these w...

Did you know that all of the growth in federal spending as a percentage of the national income is due to the growth of "uncontrollables"?

In this interview, we discuss the following:

►What are "uncontrollables"? Why are they 'mandatory'?

►What are entitlements? How are they treated differently than discretionary budget spending?

►What was the Budget Resolution Process that was introduced in the 1970s?

►How did Pres. Cleveland, Roos...

Gang membership in El Salvador has a common theme, which is also a potential solution for reducing gang membership and gang violence there.

In this interview, I discuss the following with my guest:

►How did El Salvador become the world's most violent country?

►Why is crime so high in El Salvador?

►What are deferred vengeance and retaliation?

►What kinds of crimes are committed in El Salvador? What's the extent of violence?

►Is MS-1...

What are tariffs really used for? For economic protection? For political gain? For enforcing foreign policy?

In this interview, I discuss the following with my guest scholar:

►Why James Madison foresaw tariffs as an inevitable source of conflict?

►In U.S. history, did Americans ever complain that tariffs are really a tax on the people?

►What was the first instance in which tariffs were used as a foreign policy tool?

►What is the Ta...

How long was the longest conclave? Was St. Peter actually buried in the Vatican? Has the papacy always been in Rome?

In this interview, we discuss the following:

►secret excavations in the Vatican

►an ancient Roman cemetery under St. Peter's Basilica

►How did Rome remain the center of Christianity? The answer is not that simple!

►In early Christianity, was the See of Rome superior to other Patriarchies?

►How did the Great Schism hap...

Where do our presidents get their powers? Are those powers enumerated in the Constitution? Or are those powers bestowed by Congress? For our Founders, was the presidency essentially an instrument of legislative agenda? Or did they believe that the president possesses some sovereign right distinct and separate from Congress?

In this interview, I discuss the following with my guest:

►Is it possible to compare a modern president, e.g....

Politically speaking, is America a Christian nation? Is there any country that you would define as a “Christian Nation”?

In this interview, I discuss the following with my guest scholar:

►Did Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison believe that America is a Christian nation?

►Is Canada a Christian nation?

►Is Britain a Christian nation?

►What is America's 'Civil Religion'?

►What does the term 'secular' mean? It's not as simple as ...

Taxes and wars go hand in hand. And as much as our current partisan politics suggest otherwise, it wasn't a Democratic U.S. president that ushered in the income tax. It was a Republican president - Honest Abe! And later, it was during another Republican president's term that the income tax became permanent - William Taft. The irony of it is that the poor masses and the progressive middle class pushed for the income tax to get the r...

"Crisis of Historical Subjectivity" - my guest, Dr. Namhee Lee, used this phrase to describe the Korean people's experience of 'failed history' and their collective effort to overcome that past. This is the story of "disguised employees" - South Korea's intellectuals who left high-paying jobs to instead work on the factory floor with the aim of bringing about democratic change.

🚩About My 167th Guest:

Dr. Namhee Lee is a professor U...

I start this interview with a super simple question: where is the Arctic?

As it turns out, the answer may not be so simple. In fact, it's a serious question that invokes geopolitical conflicts that seem to be undermining the "exceptionalism" of the Arctic.

►In this interview, I discuss the following with Dr. Troy Bouffard:

• Countries in the Arctic - the Arctic 8, 5 & 3.
• China - a "Near Arctic Country".
• Russia and China joint...

Pres. Trump is not the first U.S. president to have strained relations with America's courts, including our Highest Court - the Supreme Court of the United States. In fact, more than one U.S. president has openly expressed his personal animosity toward one or more Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.

In this interview, I discuss the following with Dr. Barbara Perry:

►Our Founding Years:

-U.S. Constitution, Washington & Adams

-Je...

Chairman Powell gave a much anticipated press conference this week.

Did you know that most developed countries had central banks before we did? If so, then how did our financial system function? And did you know, that for much of our history, we've hated big banks (some still do)? If that's the case, then how was the Fed created?

This is a story that takes us from the Founding of our Republic to 1913, the year in which the Fed was ...

Immigration Exceptionalism!

►Is there something about immigration law and policies that distinguishes it from all other legal issues and policy matters?

►Does the Constitution carve out an exception for immigration law? And if so, what is that exception?

►As for the title of this podcast, what power has Pres. Trump used that no other U.S. president has previously exercised?

🚩About My Guest:

• My guest is Prof. Adam B. Cox, a prof...