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103: A Gilded Age Christmas: Joseph Pulitzer’s Christmas Tree Fund Dec 20, 2021

Show notes

“Santa can’t fool [me], since the holes in [my] stockings are too big for anything to be put in.”

This is the story of Gilded Age giving. Of 30,000 destitute children having a better Christmas because of one man who used his newspaper to connect those who were without to those who had and wanted to give. This is the story of Gilded Age New York’s real-life Santa Clause: Joseph Pulitzer.

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102: Epilogue to the Gilded Age Nov 22, 2021

Show notes

Greg sits down with Zach and Kelsi for a chat. They make a rather … LIVE(ly) announcement … then proceed to talk about electricity, tycoons, and the New South. But the conversation can’t end without Greg and Zach nerding out (as Kelsi, perhaps rightly, rolls her eyes) about their mutually favorite author: Edgar Allan Poe.

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101: The New South, Jim Crow (Plessy v. Ferguson), & the Death of Frederick Douglass Nov 08, 2021

Show notes

“Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?”

This is the story of the Gilded Age below the Mason-Dixon Line.

In the years since the Civil War, the cotton industry has been reshaped. The South has more international competition and is opening more of its own cotton mills. It’s a significant and deeper step into a post-slavery, industrial economy. This “New South” post-slavery economy has also turned to a new farming model: sharecropping. But amid forced labor contracts, shady dealings, and a massacre in Thibodaux, Louisiana, some are left wondering: how different is the former from the latter?

Meanwhile, Southern “redeemer” Democrats are pushing new state laws that specify “equal but separate” accommodations based on race. Black Americans, however, call it a clear targeting and violation of their civil rights guaranteed by the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment. When Louisiana passes its “Jim Crow” Separate Car act, a mixed-race Creole from New Orleans named Homer Plessy will fight it through the courts. His challenge will go all the way to the US Supreme Court.

But as the South industrializes and Jim Crow spreads, we also say a painful goodbye to an old friend. It’s time to lay Frederick Douglass to rest. Sleep well, Old Man Eloquent. You’ve more than earned your eternal slumber.

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100: Halloween Special! Edgar Allan Poe: The Tell-tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, & The Raven Oct 25, 2021

Show notes

‘How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily—how calmly I can tell you the whole story.”

This is the story of a man driven to madness by a pale blue eye; the story of a man who’s vowed revenge; of a young scholar heartbroken by death. This is also the story of the man who brought us these three tales–one of the most grim and ghastly Gothic authors in American history–Edgar Allan Poe.

This episode is best enjoyed alone. In the dark. With headphones.

Happy Halloween!

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99: The Gilded Age’s Singer Sewing Machines & Dangerous Bananas w/ Dr. Ben Sawyer of The Road To Now Oct 11, 2021

Show notes

Did Singer Sewing Machines take over the world? And are bananas as dangerous as they appear in cartoons? The answer to both of these questions are a resounding “yes!” in the Gilded Age. Listen in as the Prof. discusses these and other Gilded Age topics with his esteemed colleague and fellow podcaster: Dr. Ben Sawyer of Middle Tennessee State University and The Road to Now Podcast (check them out here: https://www.theroadtonow.com/)!

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98: Silver & Gold: From Grover Cleveland to William Jennings Bryan & William McKinley Sep 27, 2021

Show notes

“You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.”

This is the story of the Gilded Age’s later presidencies.

Grover “the Good” Cleveland is known as a man of integrity and honesty. Those characteristics alone are enough to get him to the White House. But as Benjamin Harrison interrupts his terms, the frustration of farmers and factory workers is boiling over into more labor strikes. Soon, working-class Americans are rallying around one issue in particular: the minting of silver.

The issue is ripping the Democratic party apart. Should they continue to support the gold standard, as Democratic president Grover Cleveland does? Or should they support the working-class “Silverites,” as a young Congressman from Nebraska named William Jennings Bryan hopes to do? This question will be settled as the Dems pick a nominee to square off against the Republicans’ 1896 presidential candidate: William McKinley.

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97: The Gilded Age’s Robber Barons: John D. Rockefeller & Andrew Carnegie Sep 13, 2021

Show notes

“Someday, some-time, when I am a man, I want to be worth a hundred thousand dollars!”

This is the story of two of the United States’ most wealthy industrialists.

John D. Rockefeller is the son of a con artist; he teaches young John never to trust and leaves the boy wondering if food will or won’t be on the table. John will rise from his world of uncertainty to dominate the emerging oil scene.

The son of a Scottish weaver, Andrew Carnegie comes from absolutely nothing. But Pennsylvania Railroad exec Tom Scott sees promise in the lad. Tom’s mentoring will help Andy emerge as the king of the steel industry.

Both men overcome the impossible. But are they inspiring Titans of industry? Or monopolistic robber barons? The beneficiaries of their philanthropy see the former, while workers might see the latter—particularly those at a steel mill in Homestead, Pennsylvania.

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96: The War of the Currents: (Thomas Alva Edison v. Nikola Tesla & George Westinghouse) Aug 30, 2021

Show notes

“Tesla, you don’t understand our American humor.”

This is the story of opinionated inventors with very different views on electric lighting; a story of invention, genius, conniving, and even electrocutions. This is the War of the Currents.

Thomas Alva Edison believes in direct current. He’s convinced it’s safer. Freshly arrived from Europe, Nikola Tesla thinks alternating current has the potential to unleash indoor domestic lighting on a whole new level and can be made just as safe. The men differ, and when Nikola teams up with George Westinghouse, Alva finds his position as king of the Electric Hill threatened. But as Nikola and George will soon see: the Wizard of Menlo Park won’t take this threat lying down ...

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95: "Several Thousand Things that Won't Work:" Thomas Alva Edison and His Electric Light Aug 16, 2021

Show notes

“I have got so much to do and life is so short, I am going to hustle.”

This is the story of trial and error, of determination, and science merging with business.

Electric lights have been around since the early 1800s. Unfortunately, they’ve also been impractical. The energy it takes to operate an arc light makes it little more than a novelty. Likewise, newer lights called “incandescents” burn out far too quickly to be of value.

But what if someone could make incandescents last hundreds of hours? What if someone could figure out how to power them safely and economically … on such a scale that an entire neighborhood could be electrified–like a major section of Lower Manhattan?

It sounds like a pipedream, but one inventor with incredible business savvy thinks he can do it. All he’ll need is a large team willing to make every error in the book until they can figure out how to do it right. This is the story of Thomas Alva Edison and his electric light.

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94: Epilogue to Gilded Age Part I (or Gilded Age interlude w/ Significant HTDS Updates) Aug 02, 2021

Show notes

An epilogue. Or interlude? Well, we aren’t done with the Gilded Age, but we have too much behind-the-scenes HTDS evolution to discuss! So here we are. Zach is moving up from intern to writer status. Longtime HTDS team member Kelsi gets behind the mic for the first time. Meanwhile, Greg discusses doing a second edition of older episodes.

But of course, we won’t ignore the Gilded Age. We’ll still have some good old-fashioned chit-chat about recent episodes.

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Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and

go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations
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