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

RONALD REAGAN REDUX: Thoughts Before I Re-Run The 12 Part Reagan Series

February 23, 2026 • 28 mins
For my 20th year, I'm replaying the most popular series I've done, a look at Ronald Reagan in 12 episodes. Before I do that, I have few thoughts about what might have been left out of that huge undertaking, and one new item that wasn't available when it was recorded a decade ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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MCMXCIII: Bill Clinton's Year One (2nd part)

February 19, 2026 • 41 mins
Healthcare, Bosnia and Belief In The President. All are in doubt. The second part of our series on Bill Clinton's first year, 1993. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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MCMXCIII: Bill Clinton's 1993 - Part One

February 16, 2026 • 53 mins
It's 1993. A new President jogs through his first year, with an unexperienced staff and a hostile White House press corps. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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TRUSTBUSTING, A HISTORY

February 12, 2026 • 54 mins
A look at the histories and realities of breaking up trusts, from T.R.'s era to the present. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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THOMAS WOLFE TURNS AGAINST TOTALITARIANISM

February 9, 2026 • 41 mins
The writer Thomas Wolfe, known for his large novels and spewing prose, was a fan of Germany. On a trip there for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he found joy and worry. Initially he admired the changes, but would soon change his opinion after a series of events and a near run-in with Hitler himself. He didn't live to see the true extent of Nazism, but left a warning for history. [One note: Thomas Wolfe, the 1930's author should not ...
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LBJ 's "CELL PHONE" AND HIS DECISION TO JUMP ON THE TICKET IN 1960

February 5, 2026 • 30 mins
In answering a question about JFK's health and its role in Lyndon Johnson's decision to accept the Vice Presidency, Bruce takes a look at the people and factors surrounding Johnson's decision, Kennedy's motivations, Eisenhower's indirect role, and the confusing hours in a Los Angeles hotel that changed history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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WHY TALK ABOUT LBJ TODAY?

February 5, 2026 • 12 mins
Why talk about LBJ? There's a few reasons. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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RUSHING PELL-MELL INTO MADNESS?: The Twenty-Fifth Amendment and its Critics

February 2, 2026 • 31 mins
On the surface, the 25th Amendment is a perfect mechanism for providing a stable transition of Presidential power. But that's not what early state ratification critics thought. And it's not how Hollywood writers oft envision it. When debating the 25th amendment to the US Constitution, one state legislator called it rushing "pell-mell into madness." Another said it did not complete the very purpose it intended and should go back t...
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LEFTOVER NOTES FROM THE ZACHARY TAYLOR SERIES

January 26, 2026 • 48 mins
From a town in California named for Zachary Taylor, to a famous letter sent by Frederick Douglass, we tell a few stories that didn't make it in to the series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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ZACHARY TAYLOR - Part 3

January 19, 2026 • 83 mins
It comes down to milk and cherries? Plans change when a nation's hero falls, and historians go to work, reinterpreting the events of 1850. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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SHOW UPDATE: Zachary Taylor's VP, Commentary on Recent News

January 14, 2026 • 28 mins
Mostly a pitch for the Patreon. Thanks for listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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ZACHARY TAYLOR PART 2

January 12, 2026 • 48 mins
They thought he was an illiterate frontier colonel. They thought he'd never use the veto. Never comment on issues. Let Congress do the heavy lifting. But he has a plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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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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