History Author Show

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Gordon E. Tolton – Healy’s West Jan 25, 2016

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January 25, 2016 - In this episode, we'll be boarding a Pullman car attached to one of the great trains connecting the North American east and west coasts, all the way up into the Alaskan and Yukon territories -- and very nearly across the Bering Strait to Siberia. Our conductor on this journey is Gordon E. Tolton, author of Healy's West: The Life and Times of John J. Healy. Gordon is a Western Canadian historic interpreter and author of the previous books, The Cowboy Cavalry, and Prairie Warships. You can join his Facebook group, Ranger Gord's Publications, for discussions of Western Canada's history and some self-described goofball humor. Follow him guest on Twitter @RMRanger, and check out his blog: RangerGordsRoundup.Wordpress.com.

Kim MacQuarrie – Life and Death in the Andes Jan 18, 2016

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January 18, 2016 - This week, we're flying our time machine across the Equator and into South America's turbulent past, where we'll meet some colorful characters, present at key moments of its history. They include Pablo Escobar, Butch Cassidy, Sundance, Charles Darwin, and a 14-year-old girl, Juanita, who the Incas sacrificed atop a twenty-thousand foot volcano. Our tour guide to the Andes is author and filmmaker Kim MacQuarrie, who has won four Emmys for his documentaries. His latest book is Life and Death in the Andes: On the Trail of Bandits, Heroes, and Revolutionaries. You can follow him @KimMacQ on Twitter, and learn more about his work at KimMacQuarrie.com. The F/X channel is developing Kim's previous book, The Last Days of the Incas, into a 13-part TV series: Conquistadors. Other books we discuss include Candice Millard's epic Amazon history: The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey.

Eric Weiner – Geography of Genius Jan 04, 2016

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January 4, 2016 - In this episode, we're racing the time machine through a bunch of stops around the world and throughout history. Our ticket is The Geography of Genius: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley. We'll be guided along the way by Eric Weiner, author of the New York Times bestseller The Geography of Bliss, as well as the critically acclaimed Man Seeks God. And along the way, we'll answer the question that's on the minds of every Loony Toons fan: "Was Wile E. Coyote a genius or not?" You can sleuth out more about him @Eric_Weiner on Twitter, or at EricWeinerBooks.com.

Stephen F. Knott – Washington and Hamilton Dec 28, 2015

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December 28, 2015 - Today, we're joined by Stephen F. Knott, who along with co-author Tony Williams brings us Washington & Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America. George Washington and Alexander Hamilton's relationship has gotten renewed attention since the smash Broadway musical, ending almost 200 years of being overlooked. From the early days of the Revolutionary War on the hills of Rutgers University -- where Hamilton's artillery covered Washington's retreat from New York City -- to victory at Yorktown, the Continental Congress and the first presidential administration, Washington and Hamilton had an often difficult, father-son relationship. But one that left a legacy that sustains America, even now into the 21st Century. Mr. Knott is a Professor of National Security Affairs at the United States Naval War College in Newport, RI. You can follow him on Twitter @Publius57, and find his co-author Tony Williams @TWilliamsAuthor. Mr. Williams is a history teacher at the Bill of Rights Institute, as well as the Washington, Jefferson, and Madison Institute and the author of four previous books.

Barry Strauss – The Death of Caesar Dec 21, 2015

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December 21, 2015 - Today we sit down with Barry Strauss, professor of history and classics at Cornell University. A leading expert on ancient military history who counts Mel Brooks as his greatest living inspiration, he has written or edited several books, including The Battle of Salamis, The Trojan War, and The Spartacus War. Visit him @BarryStrauss on Twitter or at BarryStrauss.com.

McGillin’s Olde Ale House, Chris Mullins, Sr. Dec 14, 2015

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December 14, 2015 - Ma and Pa McGillin opened the door to their home in 1860, when Abraham Lincoln won the presidency and just after the Liberty Bell cracked. As the decades passed, their tavern endured, tucked away in an alley, as if hiding from old Father Time. Originally called The Bell in Hand, McGillin's has survived wars, economic panics, challenges from upstart chain restaurants and Prohibition. Visit McGillins.com to do some serious time traveling with dozens of news articles, follow the tavern @McGillins on Twitter or like it at Facebook.com/McGillins. And plan to pull up a stool as we spend an afternoon in the City of Brotherly Love, 1860 style...

Teresa K. Irish – A Thousand Letters Home Dec 07, 2015

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December 7, 2015 – On this Pearl Harbor Day, we mark the Japanese attack on Hawaii, and travel back 75 years to meet Aarol W. “Bud” Irish in the European Theater where he fought the Nazis. On the Memorial Day after Bud passed away in 2006, his daughter Teresa opened her father's mysterious old Army trunk and found stacks and stacks of letters from the front. Through these, she met her father as a young man, and shared him with us in: A Thousand Letters Home. Along with over 100 pictures, the book also includes the responses from Bud's girl back home -- who would eventually become his wife and Teresa's mother. The book has proved such an inspiration to readers, that Teresa now spends her time doing public speaking on the letters, helping new generations of veterans and their families connect with the trauma that follows when the guns fall silent. You can learn more at AThousandLettersHome.com and by following Teresa @ThousandLetters on Twitter.

Betty Boyd Caroli – Lady Bird and Lyndon Nov 30, 2015

Show notes

November 30, 2015 - Historian of First Ladies Betty Boyd Caroli introduces us to the diminutive, quiet woman who stood behind one of the most controversial presidents of the 20th Century through some of America's most difficult years. The book is Lady Bird & Lyndon: The Hidden Story of a Marriage that Made a President. But Clauda "Lady Bird" Johnson was more than just the flower lady. She was a shrewd business woman, and careful political tactician. Using courtship letters made available for the first time in 2013, Betty Boyd Caroli sheds light on a figure who lived such a fascinating life in her own right, that at her funeral, her husband was barely mentioned. Ms. Caroli's previous books include The Roosevelt Women: A Portrait In Five Generations, as well as, The First Ladies "From Martha Washington to Michelle Obama". You can learn more about her work at BettyBoydCaroli.com.

The Old ’76 House, Robert Norden Nov 23, 2015

Show notes

November 23, 2015 - The Old '76 House in Tappan, New York, is a National Landmark, one where you can eat a meal fit for overthrowing a king. The building itself predates the American Revolution by over a century, and served an active role in the fight for independence. Every major figure including General George Washington spent time at this great American tavern. In 1780, it even served as a make-shift prison for Major John Andre, the British spy caught conspiring with America's most infamous traitor, Benedict Arnold. And it was here that the British met Gen. Washington to officially recognize the war's end, and recognize America as a free and independent nation. Learn more about America's oldest tavern at 76House.com, or by following them at Facebook.com/TheOld76House. And don't miss our interview with tavernkeeper, Robert Norden, who restored and preserves this unique piece of American history.

Kermit Roosevelt – Allegiance Nov 16, 2015

Show notes

November 16, 2015 - Today, we travel back 75 years to a dark period of the Second World War. But the battlefield where liberty and tyranny clash isn't Midway or Normandy Beach. It's the hallowed halls of the United States Supreme Court. Our guide into this world is Kermit Roosevelt. His novel is Allegiance, a legal thriller built around the internment of Americans with Japanese ancestry -- 62% of them American citizens -- under Franklin Roosevelt's infamous Executive Order 9066. Kermit Roosevelt happens to be distantly related to FDR through his great-great grandfather, Theodore Roosevelt. He's also a constitutional law professor at the University of Pennsylvania, winner of the Philadelphia Athenaeum Literary Award for his previous novel, In the Shadow of the Law, and a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice David Souter. Nelson DeMille wrote, "My favorite World War II historical novel was Herman Wouk's The Winds of War. Now I have two favorites. Kermit Roosevelt's Allegiance is an instant classic." We also mentioned our interview with David O. Stewart, and his book on the Father of the Constitution: Madison's Gift: Five Partnerships That Built America.

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