American History Hotline

Before he became president, Abraham Lincoln spent just one term in Congress. So how did "the best known two-time Senate loser in the country" become one of the greatest presidents in American history?  Bob calls up historian and author Chris DeRose ( Congressman Lincoln: The Making of America's Greatest President)  to help answer this question.   Together, they explore how Lincoln's short stint on...

For centuries, the story has been told the same way: Montezuma surrendered to Hernán Cortés, and a small band of Spaniards conquered the Aztec Empire. But that story has always seemed a bit ... fishy.  To get the TRUE story, Bob calls up historian Matthew Restall to debunk one of the most enduring myths of the Spanish conquest of the Americas. As it turns out, when you dig into Indigenous sources...

It takes decades to build a new subway line in the United States. Meanwhile, China is building entire high-speed rail networks in just a few years. So, how did America's once-great love of trains get  derailed ?  We use New York City's Second Avenue Subway as a test case to answer this bigger question: Why is building trains in America so hard compared to places like China? Bob calls up Dan McNich...

Could a new president ever be carved into Mount Rushmore? It depends on who you ask. We call up historian Matthew Davis (author of A Biography of a Mountain: The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore ) to learn about the history of the monument and what its future might hold.  It's a story with a lot of surprising twists and turns, from the hills of Georgia to the sacred mountains of South Dakota....

What is the greatest movie of the 21st century? The New York Times says it's Parasite, but not everyone agrees. We call up Rotten Tomatoes correspondent Mark Ellis to debate the NYT's list of the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century and explore how cinema has changed in the past 25 years. Mark says it's an era of "hopeless films in a time of hopelessness."  Grab some popcorn and silence your phone...

Netflix's Death by Lightning is gripping, dramatic and TRUE. Or is it?  We call up historian and New York Times bestselling author Alexis Coe for a lightning round fact check of Netflix's new James A. Garfield series Death by Lightning . What does the series gets right? What does it bend for dramatic effect? And how does it rank compared to other presidential biopic(esque) series?  We'll hit all t...

Was Johnny Appleseed a real person or just another American tall tale? We get to the core of the issue with author William Kerrigan (Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard: A Cultural History) to see how one man's true story inspired an enduring folk legend.  In this episode Bob and William explore how John Chapman's religious revival led him to pioneer apple nurseries across Pennsylvania and O...

Many Americans have turned their backs on the vax, but early Early Americans would literally have killed for some vaccines. In this episode, we explore the history of America's first vaccines, which can be traced to a mandate from none other than General George Washington.  Dr. Kathryn Olivarius ( author of Necropolis: Disease, Power, and Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom) explains the surprising s...

Was it the rise of hitchhiking? Lead in the water pipes? Or was it something a little darker in our culture? Bob rings up private investigator and host of the podcast Hell & Gone: Murder Line — Catherine Townsend — to learn why there were so many serial killers in America during the 1970s. From Ted Bundy to the Night Stalker and John Wayne Gacy, we dive into the "golden age" of serial killers to s...

We all have that relative that tells us there was actually no green bean casserole at the first Thanksgiving. Yeah, we know, Grandma! But how much do we really know about that first feast between the Pilgrims and the Indians?  Well, a lot. But the story most of us learned in school is completely wrong. Author  David J. Silverman , ( T his Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony,...

In 1859, Congressman Daniel Sickles murdered Philip Barton Key (son of the man who wrote The Star-Spangled Banner) in a fit of jealous rage just steps from the White House. The resulting trial became America's first true media circus, and gave rise to the "crime of passion" defense. In short, it basically became legal to kill a man for sleeping with your wife. While this wasn't technically a law,...

You won't see it on the ballot, but it's always the winner in American elections. That's right, we're talking about big tech. From Facebook to Google and AI, technology not only has the power to affect the outcomes of our elections ... it's already doing it!  Who could have seen this coming? Well, we're glad you asked, because Roger McNamee has been ringing alarm bells since you were playing Snake...

Set it and forget it! That's what most Americans want to do with their clocks . They want standard time year-round. So, why are we stuck with Daylight Saving Time? And where did it come from in the first place? Some say it was Benjamin Franklin. But if we Scooby-Doo this thing and pull off the mask to see who's really behind this whole clock caper it's ... (gasp) ... CAPITALISM!  Tune in an hour e...

Which witch is which? You probably heard a lot of lawyers saying that in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. That was the year of America's largest witch hunt ever. But what sparked this mass hysteria that led to false accusations, sham justice and wrongful executions? Teenagers, of course.  Bob is joined by historian Emerson Baker (A Storm of Witchcraft) to explore how religion, politics, and panic fue...

How did America's presidents really make—and manage—their money? Bob Crawford sits down with financial expert and author Megan Gorman to explore the personal finances of presidents from George Washington to Donald Trump. Drawing from her new book, All the Presidents' Money: How the Men Who Governed America Governed Their Money , Gorman reveals who thrived, who failed, and what their choices say ab...

What's so wrong about a white person painting their face black to entertain a crowd? Well, it helps to understand the history of blackface in America to understand its harmful legacy.  Bob and Tyrone Howard trace how 19th-century minstrel shows dehumanized Black Americans, reinforced racist stereotypes, and shaped American culture, politics, and entertainment for generations. They also explore why...

Did Ozzy bite the head off a bat? Is there a political message in Sweet Home Alabama? Bob Crawford sits down with music critic and author Mark Kemp to dissect some rock legends and myths. We'll dive into Lynyrd Skynyrd's iconic Sweet Home Alabama , unpack the band's response to Neil Young's critiques of the South and talk about Ozzy Osbourne's propensity for biting the head off winged creatures. M...

This episode demands satisfaction! Why did Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr meet on the dueling ground—and how common were duels in early America? Historian  Lindsay Chervinsky joins Bob Crawford on American History Hotline to explore the surprising history of dueling in the United States. From European traditions to the honor culture of the American South, duels shaped politics, reputation, and...

Buffalo Soldier, dreadlock Rasta There was a Buffalo Soldier In the heart of America Stolen from Africa, brought to America Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival Most people know the phrase Buffalo Soldier from Bob Marley's famous reggae song—but what's the real history behind it? On this episode of American History Hotline , host Bob Crawford talks with Cale E. Carter II  to uncover the true...

Spoilers ahead! No, not those type of spoilers. We're talking about third party presidential candidates and the reasons third parties can't get a footing in American politics. So, why do third parties fail? And could the current toxicity of both major American political parties create an opening for a centrist third party?  GUEST: Michael Cullinane , professor of U.S. History and the Lowman Walton...

Who was America's most successful spy? What happens to a spy that's captured? How can you tell if your child is lying? We interrogate a former member of the CIA to get some info about American intelligence.  GUEST: Brittany Butler, former targeting officer within CIA's Directorate of Operations, Counterterrorism Center. Author of  The Syndicate Spy: A Juliet Arroway Novel .  See omnystudio.com/lis...

Why did so many women in the 1800s turn to poison to solve their problems? (Sorry husbands).  Poisons like mercury, arsenic and strychnine were so cheap and readily available in the Victorian Era that it was called the "Golden Age of Poisoning." Besides being readily available, there were very few tests to detect murder by poison. Combine this with a society where women were powerless and poison b...

The U.S. Constitution has inspired countless countries to adopt democracy, but NONE have adopted the electoral college. What's up with that? Turns out, if American's National Parks are "the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst," as author Wallace Stegner wrote, then the electoral college might be America's worst idea....

The Moon. We hit it and quit it. But after more than 50 years is it time to rekindle the relationship? We'll explore the reasons we stopped going to the moon and why NOW is the right time to go back (we see you, Artemis).  Also, how does a return to the moon get us closer to landing humans on Mars? And how do we overcome some of the logistical and psychological challenges of traveling 35 million m...

Why did a French-born aristocrat volunteer (without pay) to fight for the Americans during the Revolutionary War? And what happened when the Marquis de Lafayette returned to France to fight in its revolution? And is his name really Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette?!  This episode is all about Lafayette, including his Era's Tour return to America decades after the revolut...