Bruce Carlson
My History Can Beat Up Your Politics
Since 2006, this podcast has been using history to elevate today's political debates. "The perfect antidote to bloviating talking heads, My History is thoughtful, nuanced, and highly engaging." -Columbia Journalism Review
Be sure to visit the podcast's website and support the creator: myhistorycanbeatupyourpolitics.wordpress.com
Author
Bruce Carlson
Category
Podcast website
Latest episode
Oct 12, 2026
Where to listen?
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Episodes
FALL OF USSR: Part 1: Wake Up, Cassandra! 06.02.2023 1:06:01
Soviet citizens wake up to tanks outside their windows in 1991. Media is censored. The President is detained. Another president escapes, maybe just escapes... A third President is powerless. Is this the end of everything? Music by Lee Rosevere and Theme Song by Chris Novembrino We are part of Airwave Media Network - check out Ben Franklin's World, Tea Time History, Redacted History, the History of...
"WRONG FOREVER ON THE THRONE!" - William Jennings Bryan and the Democratic Party in His Later Years 18.01.2023 52:17
The Democratic Party had a problem in the nineteen teens and twenties. What to do with a candidate that could stir up crowds but not enough electoral votes? Though pleased to nominate him in 1896 and introduce a new kind of politics to their party, some Democrats grew tired of William Jennings Bryan especially in his later years as his fundamentalism turned to alcohol, evolution and an arguable So...
THEY COULDN"T STOP DYING - THE ODD STORY OF THE 72nd CONGRESS AND HOOVER'S DISASTER MIDTERM 26.12.2022 42:54
The 72nd Congress of 1931 was, as elected, a very narrow Republican House 218 R - 217 D. Close, but for President Hoover, good enough. That is until, 14 Congressmen-elect died. Not all at once - that would be weird - over 13 months, for all kinds of reasons but heart attacks and pneumonias leading the list. When special elections were held, it went 218 D and 216 R. 1 Farm Laborer supported the Dem...
LEAP TO FREEDOM: Hans Konrad Schumann's Story 13.12.2022 54:19
One three-second period changed the life of an East German soldier. Stories of freedom and oppression feature heavily on this hodge-podcast episode, the Berlin Wall, the Uruguay dictatorship of the 70's and 80's, a bit about Grover Cleveland and a bit about Charles III. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SOCCER and Repression: The 1978 World Cup in Argentina 02.12.2022 48:09
As the world attention focuses on a soccer game, behind the surface is a disturbingly hidden suppression of a previously strong democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Close Encounters of the CONGRESS KIND: The (Relatively Few) Times When the House Was Close Between the Parties 28.11.2022 49:21
The average difference between the two major parties in the House of Representatives at any time in American history is sixty. That being said, there are a few times where one, two or nine seats separated the two major parties in Congress. Sometimes it was Democrats and Republicans. Sometimes it was Whigs and Democrats. You want to be speaker, you scramble. You make a deal with a Socialist, or a K...
SOMETHING HAPPENED: Eugene McCarthy's 1968 Primary Run 31.10.2022 39:49
The race for the Democratic Nomination in 1968 a complicated one, as one candidate would drop out and another die tragically. But for a while, with other candidates choosing not to enter primaries, the '68 Democratic primary became a fight between two concepts of being left in politics and two individuals that couldn't be more different. Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy. Learn more about your ad...
1970's EPHEMERA: Dylan Gets a Troll, Ford Gets Shot, Skylab Falls, Howard Cosell Talks Politics 02.10.2022 1:17:51
PROGRAM ONE: Ford's Bad Day - Dylan's Troll - Howard Cosell's Politics PROGRAM TWO: Skylab's Fall Nixon Shako Warriors - One Hit Wonder PROGRAM THREE: High School Riot - Global Cooling and Warming PROGRAM FOUR: Austin Gets Weird We are part of Airwave Media Network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SAVINGS AND LOAN Crisis 27.09.2022 48:13
One reaction to the inflation stagnation and interest rates of the 1970's was to loosen up on a particular 'harmless' form of banking. It didn't work out so well. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
And to the Republic: Thoughts about Everything Going on in Politics 27.08.2022 1:13:58
A trip to DC inspires me. I try to talk about just about everything going on in this episode from midterms to J6 to Mara Lago to the Republic as it stands, to third parties in US politics, to former Presidents running to a town name in New York that I butchered. And in case we think things are crazy today, we look a bit at how a poet and a writer viewed Washington in 1963 and 1964. Learn more abou...
WILLS ON DUTY: The Story of Watergate Security Guard Frank Wills 24.07.2022 29:47
We are a month beyond of the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, but it does seem appropriate to note an obscure player in the story. Frank Wills discovered a door had been deliberately held unlocked in the basement of The Watergate Office Complex. The rest became history. But for Wills it was bittersweet. His intersection with history also became a story of race and the choppy waters of a...
GEORGE B. MCLELLAN, JUNIOR Would Like a Word 04.07.2022 47:56
George B. McClellan Junior, son of the Union general and Mayor of New York City for two turn-of-the century terms is not history's usual voice, his takes are different. He saw Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson at their most base and political. He became mayor of the nation's largest city and talked about for its highest office, only to earn the displeasure of his sponsors for acting independen...
FREE SPEECH IS EASY AND HARD w/ Lynn Greenky of Syracuse University School of Law 22.05.2022 49:57
Freedom of speech is boundless and yet has boundaries, according to our guest, Lynn Greenky of Syracuse University School of Law. She is the author of 'When Freedom Speaks' There are areas where the First Amendment of The U.S. Constitution protects, and areas where it does not. And this is no normal time. Social media, hate speech, violence in speech, lawsuits against media have all seemed to beco...
Nine Kings, One Room: Introducing the Everything Everywhere Daily Podcast 18.05.2022 12:14
Something happened in May 29th 1910. It had never happened before. And it has never (so far) happened again. To explain, we turn things over to Airwave Media network podcast Everything Everywhere Daily. Highly recommend subscribing to this podcast if you want to learn interesting facts about a new topic every day. Check out Everything Everywhere Daily's casts on solar power, the history of Friday...
In The Arena - Adlai Stevenson and Other Losing Candidates w/ Peter Shea 18.04.2022 42:05
We talk about Adlai Stevenson, a candidate with a critical flaw and operating in a tough political environment, and the other people who have sought the Presidency but lost. Our guest is Peter Shea, author of In The Arena, His book looks not only at candidates, but at the memorials that have been made to honor them. Presidents get most of the statues, but there are some for the Presidential also-r...
UKRAINE and History w/ Ben Sawyer of Middle Tennessee State and "The Road to Now Podcast" 30.03.2022 1:07:29
Where and when did Ukraine begin? What role did the Rus, the Cossacks, the post Tsarists and the Soviets play? What is Putin’s motive and what his seriously questionable historical justification? Why should we not say ‘The Ukraine?’ in discussions. How does nationalism play into world politics, and what place does it have in the future? These are all questions that Ben Sawyer, Professor at Middle...
MILLIONS FALL: The Destruction of Trees During The Civil War / Taft and Television 27.03.2022 40:44
An army moves on its stomach, the saying goes. But a 19th century army also moved on its wood. A look at the environmental impact of the Civil War, particularly on forests. Millions of trees were needed for the conflict, to provide very temporary housing, roads, bridges, and fuel. They could stop cavalry charges, pretend to be cannons or provide a place to hide for a blue or grey soldier. No surpr...
The War in the Former Yugoslavia (Bosnian War) and the Dayton Accords, w/ Alex Hastie of "Ohio v. The World" Podcast 14.03.2022 1:09:33
In the early 1990's, few outside the Balkans could foresee the brewing conflict as parts of a former communist country sought independence. The result was destructive war with multiple actors, civilian deaths and war crimes in a civilized area. In no area was this felt more than the city of Sarajevo, where the world had watched the Winter Olympics just 8 years before. We will relay a timely podcas...
The Anguish of Calvin Coolidge ( w/ David Priess ) 07.03.2022 57:08
The President Calvin Coolidge most know in history is the man who put American's business squarely with business and said very little Less known is that Coolidge suffered a great tragedy while in the White House, and it may have affected what kind of President he was. or not. We talk to David Priess. Chief Operating Officer of Lawfare Institute and co-host of The Chatter Podcast also the author of...
Abyssinia: The Italian-Ethiopian War and its Consequences 01.03.2022 51:51
A bit about the brief Italian-Ethiopian War. The brief conflict between an aggressor and an outmatch defender presaged the Second World War. It also split the European countries, tested the boundaries of international collective security and created a heroic figure. We are part of Airwave Media Network If you wish to advertise, please contact sales@advertisecast.com Learn more about your ad choice...
Congressional Stock Trading and The Pan-Electric Scandal 21.02.2022 44:02
A scandal of the 1880's involving Congress, an Attorney General and telephone company stock was big enough to nearly derail an inventor's legacy, and brought unwanted attention to the House and the Cleveland Administration. What does it say about congressional stock trading today? We are part of Airwave Media Podcast Network Advertise on this podcast: sales@advertisecast.com Support us on Patrion...
Judge Lincoln, Orval Faubus and Bill Clinton, Millard Fillmore 30.01.2022 59:13
Four stories of politics and history, starting with, the relationship between Bill Clinton and Orval Faubus. Clinton would see the segregation proponent Faubus on the television as young man and swell with rage, later he'd run against him. But the relationship, like anything with Clinton I guess, gets more complicated than that. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The History Behind a Holiday: Martin Luther King Day 17.01.2022 12:00
This was a holiday that was not obtained without struggle including strikes, shaming and strange political bedfellows. In one of the first casts on MHCBUYP from 2007, We took a look at this history and some well-known and lesser known actors in its occurrence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Drug Legalization Before it Was Cool: The Story of Kurt Schmoke 10.01.2022 43:16
timore Mayor Kurt Schmoke was called a madman, a "brilliant spokesman for a bad idea," and e even the most dangerous man in America when he called for drug legalization in the late 80s and early 90s. Those were forbidden ideas then. Yet Schmoke's statements seem prophetic now, and his radical plans are the basis of drug policy in many cities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...
I AM JAMES BUCHANAN 03.01.2022 1:21:57
He's the President that is on the bottom of most lists. But why? And is it fair? What did he think about his place in history? We talk about POTUS 15 and look at the events of the run-up to the American Civil War, and we hear from Buchanan, and get his take on his Presidency, through his memoirs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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