American History Hotline

How much should Americans know about the health of their president? From secret illnesses and hidden disabilities to modern debates over transparency, the health of the commander in chief has long been a subject of controversy. But where should we draw the line between medical privacy and the public's right to know? In this episode, Bob calls up presidential historian Barbara A. Perry to explore h...

People are strange. But Jim Morrison is no stranger to conspiracy theories. And we've got a juicy one!  Well, we're in the history business (not the conspiracy business). So, this episode is all about the TRUTH behind The Doors. And, yes, you CAN handle the truth!  In this episode, Disgraceland host Jake Brennan ( enter shameless plug HERE ) tells Bob how the father of Jim Morrison was a U.S. Navy...

Did Americans always send their children to public school? Not even close. In this episode of American History Hotline , Bob calls up historian and author Dixie Dillon Lane to explore the surprising history of education in America. From colonial classrooms and the self-taught education of Abigail Adams to the rise of public schools, compulsory education laws, and the modern homeschooling movement,...

For decades, abortion has been one of the most divisive issues in American politics. But was it always that way? Bob calls up Georgetown Law Professor Dr. Michele Goodwin to learn about the surprising history of abortion in America. From colonial midwives and herbal remedies to the rise of the Christian Right, Roe v. Wade, and the modern political battle over reproductive rights, this episode expl...

The average age of a U.S. Representative is in the 50s. In the Senate, it's in the 60s. Many Congressional members are also white and wealthy. And this is not representative of the country as a whole. So, what's keeping Congress from being more reflective of nation's population, and therefore, actually getting things done? So. Many. Things.  Bob calls up political scientist Maya Kornberg, author o...

Maybe we can add another guarantee, besides "death" and "taxes" ... "trade wars."  In the early days of America, Native Nations were fighting over trade and power. And they saw the arrival of the Europeans as a tool to defeat their rivals. It's a period that led to shifting allegiances in a fight for dominance.  And the clearest example of this early diplomacy is The Pequot War of the 1630s.   To...

What was it really like to come to America through Ellis Island? For millions of immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, this little spit of land in New York Harbor was the gateway to a better future … IF they could pass a physical exam. To get the real-life experience of coming through Ellis Island, Bob calls up historian Vincent Cannato (author of American Passage: The History of E...

You can't spell "hero" without JFK. Ok, so you can. But that doesn't take away from the fact that a young John F. Kennedy saved a man's life in WWII — a war he wasn't even supposed to be in! Bob calls up Alexis Coe, New York Times bestselling presidential historian and author of Young Jack: A Biography of John F. Kennedy, 1917–1957 , to uncover the thrilling true story of JFK towing an injured cre...

Are our two main political parties so toxic that a third party may soon takeover American politics? Don't count on it. We'll dive into why right now is the opportune time for a third party to rise to power ... and why that party is destined to fail.  But who knows?! Anything is possible.   GUEST: Michael Cullinane , professor of U.S. History and the Lowman Walton Chair of Theodore Roosevelt Studie...

Good artists borrow, great artists steal. Apparently, Thomas Jefferson got the memo. It turns out some North Carolinians penned their own Declaration of Independence nearly a year before TJ scribed his.  So, if Thomas Jefferson stole (borrowed/homaged) the language for the Declaration of Independence, why have we never talked about this? Well, there was one heck of cover up!  To get the full story...

Clara Barton spent the Civil War kicking butts and taking names … except she was actually SAVING butts. In fact, her efforts to treat injuries on the battlefield and identify missing soldiers changed war forever. But what led Clara Barton to become the "Angel of the Battlefield"?  Bob calls up historian Susan Rosenvold to get some answers. From the chaos of Antietam to the creation of the American...

You may have seen it on Broadway ... or maybe your high school gym. The Tony Award-winning musical Newsies is a favorite for school productions because the story centers around newspaper-hawking kids who stand up to titan-of-industry Joseph Pulitzer.  Of course, we've learned that we shouldn't take our history lessons from Disney. So we've called up Vincent DiGirolamo ( Crying the News: A History...

John Quincy Adams may have been a failed one-term president, but he had one of the most amazing second acts in American political history. From the House of Representatives, he steered our new nation through one of its most tumultuous eras ... carrying the torch of American democracy from the Founding Fathers to Abraham Lincoln.  In this special episode, Robert Costa interviews Bob about his new b...

And everywhere that Mary went, the typhoid was sure to go. The story of Mary Mallon (AKA Typhoid Mary) is one we're living every day to a small degree: the balance between public safety and personal liberty. Luckily for us, we'll never be imprisoned for being an symptomatic carrier of a disease. Well, never say never.  To learn more about the life of Mary Mallon we call up author Susan Campbell Ba...

It can be scary to learn how much our democracy relies on norms and convention when the rule of law is put to the test. But, at least our Founding Fathers had an excellent understanding of authoritarianism when they drafted the U.S. Constitution. Are the guardrails they created enough to prevent a dictator, though?  Bob calls up Jeffrey Rosen (former President and CEO of the National Constitution...

During the Great Depression, millions of Americans were out of work, but they still managed to make it to the movies. In fact, Hollywood didn't just survive one of our country's greatest economic downturns, it thrived.  So how did movie studios stay afloat when audiences could barely afford food? And why did people keep buying movie tickets during one of the darkest economic periods in U.S. histor...

She was just 16 years old when she rode nearly 40 miles through the night rallying the militia as the British attacked during the American Revolution. Bob calls up Karen Romano Young ( Sybil Ludington: Revolutionary War Hero ) to get the story of Sybil Ludington. They explore what parts of her story are fact or fiction, and why she was nearly forgotten. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

In 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in the most infamous duel in American history. But what happened next? Did Burr face murder charges? Was he convicted? And why did he go full Gary Busey? (You'll have to listen to understand that reference!)  Bob calls up Yale historian Joanne Freeman ( The Essential Hamilton: Letters and Other Writings ) to unpack the astonishi...

No, Benjamin Franklin did not invent Daylight Saving Time. But he did muse about its practicality in a 1784 essay . So, if Franklin didn't invent DST, where did all this springing forward come from?  Bob calls up Chad Orzel ( A Brief History of Timekeeping: The Science of Marking Time, from Stonehenge to Atomic Clocks ) to get to the bottom of this question.  Oh, and don't forget to change your cl...

Was the Disney movie Balto actually based on a true story? A listener wants to know if this heroic snow dog was real—or just a Hollywood invention.  To get answers, Bob calls up Dr. Nicole Burt of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History . It turns out, the real Balto is actually IN her museum. What?!  Bob and Nicole dive into the truth behind one of the most beloved animated films of the 1990s by...

Roald Dahl is a beloved children's author. Turns out, he was also a British spy during WWII! So how does one transition from seducing prominent Americans' wives to writing  Matilda ?  Well, we're glad you asked! We called up the creator of a new docu-series called The Secret World of Roald Dahl to get all the dirt on this famous children's author.  Aaron Tracy, Creator of The Secret World of Roald...

In honor of President's Day, we're sharing some of the best conversations we've had about Honest Abe and General Washington.  We speak with historian Alexis Coe ( You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington ) about George Washington myths, including whether or not his teeth were made of wood.  We also speak with Julian Zelizer about which party Abraham Lincoln would belong to tod...

You gotta keep 'em separated. That's a lot of people's opinion about mixing sports and politics. But as the world turns its eyes to Italy for the 2026 Winter Games , you have to wonder if this is the ideal place to make a political statement.  To understand how acts of political activism have played out at the Olympics throughout history, we call up Jules Boykoff. He's the author of numerous books...

Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball. That's a well known piece of history. But who integrated the NFL?  Well, it's an amazing story with lots of binge drinking, miraculous comebacks and hot dog eating. Seriously.  Just in time for the Super Bowl, we're calling up David Fleming, author of A Big Mess in Texas: The Miraculous, Disastrous 1952 Dallas Texans and the Craziest Untold Stor...

Who owns the White House? Is it the American people or the person who lives inside of it — AKA, the president?  If the President of the United States of America controls the White House, does ANYONE have say over what he does with it (we're looking at you, preservation societies and Congress)? Here to help us answer these questions (and weigh in on President Trump's renovations to the East Wing) i...