American History Tellers

Latest Episodes:

Revolution | The Populist | 6 Aug 01, 2018

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Millions immigrated to the United States after its founding, entranced with the promise of a better life. But the country they found was rough and tumble, less developed than the land they left, and had some serious issues. Last week we looked at slavery, and today we'll go inside the often-overlooked class conflict that was playing out among Americans, even as elites and commoners alike came together to fight the British.

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Revolution | The Free Man | 5 Jul 25, 2018

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The Revolution was fought for freedom, at least in name. Calls for freedom filled the air. No taxation without representation! Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness!

The Marquis de Lafayette, who had fought valiantly at Washington's side throughout the war, spoke for many when he wrote bitterly after the war:

"I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America if I could have conceived that thereby I was founding a land of slavery."

This episode explores one man's experience of being a slave and then being free during America's founding decades.

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Revolution | The Independent Woman | 4 Jul 18, 2018

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In 1788, the hot gossip in posh British circles was all about France and America. For their friends across the channel, the popular uprising against King Louis XVI seems to be heading toward Revolution. And for their unruly cousins across the Atlantic, the fledgling country seems already headed for ruin. But this is a country their people believed in - and not just white men. A new generation of American women, inspired by the Enlightenment, were calling for greater freedoms.

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Revolution | The Iroquois Diplomat | 3 Jul 11, 2018

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It’s 1786. For two years the city of Philadelphia has been celebrating its independence. For citizens of this brand new country, life is parties, meetings, debates and festivals - sometimes all blended together. But it wasn’t fun and games for everyone. Even before the war, American distrusted both the natives and the British. While Native American tribes weren’t a ‘side’ in the Revolutionary War, the politics and broken promises of the Colonies locked Indians, British and American forces alike in battle.

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Revolution | The Empire Builder | 2 Jul 04, 2018

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In 1776, the British Under Secretary of State for the American Colonies was giddy. The Americans needed to be punished like children for their bad behavior. “Roman severity,” he called it, and then when he crushed the rebellion, the American children could come crawling back to their British parents, begging for forgiveness. It would be his crowning glory, he thought. It was not.

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This Series of American History Tellers is written by Russell Shorto, author of the book Revolution Song. Get your copy of Revolution Song from W.W. Norton today.

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Revolution | The Virginia Planter | 1 Jun 27, 2018

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It’s 1754, and the British had developed thirteen colonies along the eastern seaboard of the American continent. You may be familiar with them. But what you may not know is that a skirmish between the British and French settlers, who colonized a strip of land lining the Mississippi River, is where a young George Washington made a serious war blunder that ultimately led to Revolution.

Written by New York Times bestselling author, Russell Shorto, this is Revolution by American History Tellers. Over the next six episodes, we’ll dive into the Revolutionary War period from the perspectives of a slave, a woman, a native American, a common shoemaker and a British aristocrat.

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Hearst vs Pulitzer | The Headless Torso | 2 Jun 20, 2018

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If you lived in an American city at the turn of the century, you got all of your news from a single source: the daily newspapers. No where was that more true than New York City; in the City, two papers ruled them all. You had the World and the Journal. And then men behind them were the most famous newsmen in American History.

William Randolph Hearst headed up the Journal andHungarian immigrant Joseph Pulitzer ran the World.

In their mad scramble for readers, they’d pioneer daring technologies and set new precedents for aggressive investigative coverage. They poured millions of dollars into the fight even when their advisors warned it could push them over the brink.

And in the end, it very nearly did.

This is just the beginning of this story. You can listen to the rest on Business Wars.

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The Space Race| Photo Finish | 4 Jun 06, 2018

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JFK said that nothing in the 1960s was "...more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space..." than getting a man to the moon and back safely. As the Apollo 11 flight neared, the entire nation waited, enraptured. But back in the USSR, the Soviets were also making strides. Though the contest with the Soviets for technological superiority had always been a race, it was now a literal one - a U.S. manned spacecraft was about to chase down a Soviet robotic vessel.

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The Space Race | Taking the Lead | 3 May 30, 2018

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In times of crisis, Americans had always put their confidence in their country’s superiority in power, technology and leadership. America had never failed them. And in 1961, hope and faith in their country burned brighter than ever as NASA prepared to launch the first man into space. A month out from launch, that light was effectively snuffed. The Soviets beat them to it. On April 12, 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first person in space and the first person to orbit Earth. The world was in awe. And America was in shock.

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The Space Race | Playing Catch Up | 2 May 23, 2018

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Information sharing was normal in the global scientific community, but when it came to rockets, normal rules didn’t apply. If the details got passed along to civilian scientists, there was no telling where that intel might end up…

But for many Americans, the Eisenhower just wasn’t moving fast enough. Sputnik was still orbiting! The Soviets were winning! Eisenhower downplayed Sputnik,calling it “one small ball in the air,” but privately he was worried.

The U.S. had the ability to beat the Soviets to space. But they didn’t. And Eisenhower wanted to know why.

Warning: this episode is packed with as much explosive power as is packed in the warhead of a ballistic missile.

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