History That Doesn't Suck – Details, episodes & analysis

“Harlem is the queen of the black belts, drawing Aframericans together in a vast humming hive . . . from the different states, from the islands of the Caribbean, and from Africa . . . It is the Negro capital of the world.”  This is the story of the Harlem Renaissance.  In the early twentieth century, many Black families and individuals down South are finding that the only way out is up—to the North. Driven by Jim Crow discrimination and harsh economic realities, hundreds of thousands of African Americans head to cities like Chicago (the “promised land”) or Harlem (“Black Mecca”). This Great Migration fosters communities of gifted artists, and eventually, the rest of the country takes notice.  By the 1920s, Black culture is truly blooming. Up-and-coming writers including Zora Neal Hurston and Langston Hughes are crafting literature we still consume some 100 years later. Master musicians like Cab Calloway and Ella Fitzgerald are scattin’ up a storm in New York clubs. And let’s not forget the visual arts! The Harlem Renaissance features countless artists that contribute mightily to American culture and Black identity: let’s meet just a few.  (Audio of Cab Calloway was recorded in 1982 at the White Plains Public Library in White Plains, NY, and used with their permission. We are grateful to the library and encourage listeners to support their local public library for the services they provide.) ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Miller, Lyles, and I were standing near the exit door . . . Blake stuck out there in front, leading the orchestra—his bald head would get the brunt of the tomatoes and rotten eggs.” This is the story of American musical theater and the dawn of modern Broadway.  Popular entertainment is evolving fast in the early twentieth century. Minstrel shows just aren’t drawing the same numbers anymore (for good reason), and burlesque and variety shows abound. The earliest “official” musical, The Black Crook takes several notes from these sometimes scandalous shows, as do Flo Ziegfeld’s new “revues.” By the 1920s, composers, writers, and choreographers are experimenting with what a musical production can do: using songs to advance the plot (thanks Hammerstein!), and incorporating new music genres like jazz.  Big players including George Gershwin, Noble Sissle, and Irving Berlin all play a role in crafting the perfect environment for the American musical to emerge, but the production Show Boat really gives a glimpse of the future of musical theater. It entertains even as it tackles heavy topics, and the score is seriously moving. It’s difficult to anticipate how audiences will receive this new form—less pompous than a European operetta, but definitely more substantial than one of Ziegfeld’s musical revues. So, without further ado . . . take your seat, the show’s about to begin.  ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“If you knew of a great scandal in our administration, would you for the good of the country and the party expose it publicly or would you bury it?”  This is the story of a brilliant man’s presidency and the greatest presidential scandal to precede Watergate. This is the story of Warren G. Harding and the Teapot Dome Scandal. Growing up in Ohio, Warren–or little “Winnie,” as his mom calls him–shows his brilliance from day one. The smart, charismatic, and handsome boy grows up to become a newspaperman and falls in love with politics while reporting. He soon becomes a rising star, holding Ohio then national offices. Taking the reins of government after World War I, the Republican hopes to return the post-war, economically downtrodden, and fearful nation to “normalcy.” But can he return the nation to “normalcy” while his friends in the “Ohio Gang” are making shady deals? And what does Warren know of these deals? Is he naive? Or is the several-times adulterous president, who copes with the stress of office through drink and gambling, in on it? That’s the question we’ll ask ourselves as we follow his less-than-a-full-term presidency. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“War is war, and not popularity-seeking.” This is the story of the fall of Atlanta. William Tecumseh “Cump” Sherman is leading three armies in an attack against this vital city in the Peach State. His forces are formidable, but so are his opponents: Confederate master of defense, Joseph E. “Joe” Johnston; and the far more aggressive Confederate General John B. Hood. The loss of life will be staggering and include prominent figures on both sides. There’s also rebelling brewing within the rebellion. Care to meet secessionists who’ve seceded from the secession? Welcome to Mississippi’s “Free State of Jones.” ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After more than two years of putting his blood, sweat, and tears into HTDS, Sound Designer Josh Beatty is moving on. We'll miss him! But we're also excited to have history podcasting legend Lindsay Graham and his audio production company Airship (https://airship.fm/) stepping in. Why is Josh leaving? In what ways will this change the sound of HTDS? Join Greg, Josh, Cielle, and Lindsay as they discuss those dynamics, reflect on Josh's time at HTDS, and explain how the four of them met through Podcast Movement. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer.” This is the story of hard fights and harder losses.  It’s early 1864, and battle-proven, newly promoted Ulysses S. Grant is now over the whole army, and he’s launching an ambitious plan: the Overland Campaign. He’ll wage several battles in Virginia as other generals strike other parts of the Confederacy. The losses are staggering. Not only will tens of thousands of men lose life or limb, but one particularly influential and beloved Confederate leader won’t make it out alive. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

History can touch on present-day issues, and rather than duck away from such discomforts, Greg has always been stupid enough to try to hit them straight on. Indulging that stupidity today, Greg sat down with born-and-bred Southerner Jeremy Collins from the podcast, "Podcasts We Listen To," to discuss the South; particularly, Southern accents. Whether you've never been south of the Mason-Dixon Line or are as Southern as Jeremy, we hope you learn from and enjoy this honest, candid, and jovial chat. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

 “I had never severed the nerves and fibers of human flesh.” This is the story of Civil War medicine. At the start of the war, the wounded sometimes lay on the field of battle for days hoping for help. Some die slowly and painfully from exposure and thirst. Others are robbed as their life expires. The divided nation has new, deadlier guns, but medical treatment has changed. It’s a deadly combination.  Both sides step up. The Union’s new “Ambulance Corps” sets a new standard for battlefield first aid as the newly created US Sanitary Commission improves policy. The CSA’s “Infirmary Corps” and regional organizations make similar improvements. North and South, women save countless soldiers as they enter a new medical profession: “nursing.”  But most surgeons don’t believe “refined ladies” should be working in this professional role. Some intentionally make life downright miserable for these female patriots. Luckily for the wounded, these women don’t break easily. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Gloom and unspoken despondency hang like a pall everywhere.” This is the story of personalities. Union General William “Old Rosy” Rosecrans takes on Confederate General Braxton Bragg out in Tennessee. Their clash at the Battle of Chickamauga is among the deadliest of the whole war.  The aftermath is anything but straightforward. Short-tempered as ever, Braxton Bragg is clashing with his generals, particularly Nathan Bedford Forest and James “Old Pete” Longstreet. CSA President Jefferson Davis even pays them a visit in the field to try and keep the peace! Meanwhile, US President Abraham Lincoln and War Secretary Edwin “Mars” Stanton aren’t seeing eye to eye on what to do in the Volunteer State as Ulysses S. Grant is inheriting command at the besieged city of Chattanooga. Can he turn things around? Or will Confederate infighting win the day for him at the last major battle of 1863? We’ll find out. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“It is hard to believe that Southern soldiers—and Texans at that—have been whipped by a mongrel crew of white and black Yankees … there must be some mistake.” This is the story of Black Soldiers in the Civil War. Black patriots are ready to fight from day one. The Lincoln Administration and Congress, however, are not ready to have them. They fear losing the support of the border states and the Democrats. But as the war drags on, they change their tune. Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, and black regiments are incorporated in the US Army in early 1863. Eventually, as many as 200,000 black soldiers will fight in hundreds of engagements across every theater of the Civil War. But trailblazers often cut hard paths. As a skeptical nation wonders, “will they fight?” the black creoles of the Louisiana Native Guard and the black troops of the 54th Massachusetts answer that question in the most forceful way possible: with their own blood and lives. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette  come see a live show get HTDS merch or become an HTDS premium member for bonus episodes and other perks. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices