Plausibly Live - The Dave Bowman Show

Why are you a fan of the teams you love? It sounds like a simple question, but the answer may reveal more about America than sports. For generations, loyalty to a team was rooted in geography. You cheered for the local club because it represented your city, your neighborhood, and your community. The Dodgers belonged to Brooklyn. The Broncos belonged to Denver. The Mariners belonged to Seattle. But...

There is something wonderfully old-fashioned about thisepisode. Not old in the sense of worn out, but old in the way a good highway diner is old, or the way a favorite ball cap becomes part of a man’s identity. This is not a polished studio production wrapped in synthetic perfection. It is one man, a new recorder, a road stretching westward across the Hood Canal Bridge, and the quiet realization t...

Afternoons Live with Dave and John from December 27, 2011 https://davidraybowman.com/2026/03/23/icebergs-are-no-danger/

Our story begins on the island of Pharos, where Menelaus sat stranded with treasure in his hull and no wind in his sails. He discovered the reason for his misery only when the old sea god revealed the truth. Menelaus had been so focused on gathering wealth that he forgot the sacrifice owed to the gods. His neglect trapped him. His arrogance stalled him. His failure of duty held him in place. That...

Today we are heading into the marble halls of the United States Senate to trace the long, tangled story of the filibuster and the rule that was supposed to control it. From a mistake in 1806 to the crisis of 1917, from Strom Thurmond’s twenty-four-hour speech to the silent filibusters of today, the Senate has perfected the art of doing nothing at great length. We will look at how cloture was born...

Thomas Paine wasn’t what you’d call a religious man, but he couldn’t escape the language of faith. In The American Crisis , he wrote of Providence—the hand of God guiding history—and he believed that God favored the cause of liberty over tyranny. He saw divine justice not in miracles, but in moments: a sudden fog that saved the army, a storm that protected Washington’s retreat. He called these sig...

In the darkest winter of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine wrote words that stirred a struggling people back to life. His essays, known as The American Crisis , called for unity and courage at a time when the cause of independence seemed doomed. Paine urged Americans to set aside their differences, stand together, and refuse to be ruled by fear. He warned that division and apathy would only pr...

In early 1776, Thomas Paine set fire to the old world with his pen. His pamphlet Common Sense didn’t just argue for American independence; it attacked the very idea of monarchy itself. Paine called King George III “the royal brute of Britain” and dismissed hereditary rule as absurd, insisting that no man was born to govern another. He wrote in plain, direct language that ordinary people could unde...

In the winter of 1776, when the American Revolution seemed on the verge of collapse, a voice rose from the darkness. Thomas Paine, armed only with ink and conviction, wrote words that would reignite a nation’s spirit: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” His pamphlet, The American Crisis , was not written for comfort. It was written to remind a weary people that freedom demands perseverance...

In December of 1776, when the Revolutionary cause seemed all but broken, a pamphlet appeared that lit a spark across the colonies. Thomas Paine’s The American Crisis began with a line that still echoes through history: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” It was not a statement of despair, but of defiance. Paine challenged Americans to find courage in the midst of defeat, to prove their loy...

It is October 10, 1775, and Norwich can feel the weight of the war pressing closer than ever. Prices rise, faith stretches thin, and the news from Boston and Philadelphia gives as much worry as hope. General Gage has sailed home in disgrace, replaced by the iron-willed General Howe, while Washington clings to his siege lines with more resolve than rations. In Philadelphia, Congress takes a daring...

Welcome to Revolutionary Talk on WREV 760 AM. It is October 9, 1775, and today the tide quite literally turns. In Philadelphia, the Continental Congress has voted to arm two ships and send them against British supply vessels. Out of quills and parchment, a navy is born. John Adams declared that a nation cannot defend its liberty without command of the sea, and tonight his words begin to take shape...

Welcome to Revolutionary Talk on WREV 760AM. It is October 8, 1775, and General Washington has called a council of war in Cambridge to decide the future of the Continental Army. The debate over numbers and enlistments has turned into a debate over principle. Today, the army ruled that no Black man, free or enslaved, may serve in the ranks. The decision is said to preserve order among the colonies,...

Welcome back to Revolutionary Talk on WREV 760AM, Norwich’s voice of the times. It’s October 7, 1775, and the Revolution has just taken a hard blow. In Cambridge, General Washington has uncovered the unthinkable—Dr. Benjamin Church, surgeon general of our own army, has been exposed as a British spy. The man who bound our wounds has been sending our secrets to the enemy. The shock runs deep, and tr...

Welcome back to Revolutionary Talk on WREV 760AM, Norwich’s voice for liberty and reason. It’s October 6, 1775, and the talk around town isn’t just about muskets and marches anymore. It’s about money. Prices are climbing, salt is scarce, and paper bills from Congress are multiplying faster than they’re worth. Folks here in Norwich are paying more and getting less, and they’re starting to wonder wh...

Welcome back to Powder to Parchment on WREV 760AM, where we bring you Revolutionary Talk straight from the heart of 1775. Today we turn our attention to Benedict Arnold, and not the man remembered for betrayal, but the soldier who was still a hero. On October 3, 1775, Arnold and more than a thousand men began their march north through the wilds of Maine, bound for Quebec. They carried bateaux that...

Welcome back to Powder to Parchment on WREV 760AM, Norwich’s home for Revolutionary Talk. Today, October 2, 1775, we turn to Philadelphia, where the Continental Congress takes up an idea as bold as it is dangerous: creating a navy. John Adams rises and declares, “Without a navy we cannot do much.” His words cut through the dust and hesitation of the chamber. Yet the room divides. Adams sees surviv...

It's October 1, 1775, and WREV 760AM is on the air, bringing you "Revolutionary Talk" with your firebrand host, Dave Diamond. Word from Cambridge is not good. Shocking even. And from London the King has waddled in as he gets ready to open the session of Parliament. It doesn't look like he's in a conciliatory mood. Grab a mug of ale and fill your pipe, settle back in front of...

This episode starts with a couple of stories that probably only I care about, like the lawsuit over Seattle’s homeless shelter hotels and yet another IT failure that managed to make life harder for the people caught in its web. But then the show turns inward. I take you through the long story of my right shoulder, which goes all the way back to Navy sports in the 1980s, took a bad turn with a fall...

Washington State just handed a Florida shipyard a contract worth $714 million dollars to build three new hybrid-electric ferries. For the first time in decades, these boats won’t be built here at home, and the ripple effects are already hitting taxpayers, local shipyards, and the reliability of our ferry system. The story is bigger than dollars and steel. It’s about climate mandates, political cho...

Cracker Barrel has long been a roadside favorite, a place for biscuits, rocking chairs, and a slice of nostalgia. But today the chain is at the center of a high-stakes corporate fight. Activist investor Sardar Biglari is challenging Cracker Barrel’s leadership, arguing that the company has wasted money, lost touch with its customers, and needs a drastic overhaul. His plan is blunt: cut waste, sell...

This week on Dave Does History , Dave is out, but the show rolls on with Lena Marlowe and Graham Calder in the host chairs. Together, they tackle one of the thorniest questions in American public life: should the National Guard be used to police our cities? Chicago often takes center stage in this debate, with violent crime making national headlines and sparking calls for action beyond what local...

What do Achilles, Odysseus, and the Founding Fathers have in common? In this episode we explore how flawed heroes—from mythic battlefields to the halls of Independence—can still shape the world. Drawing from Stephen Fry’s Troy , we unpack the pride, grief, and imperfection of ancient warriors and connect them to the real, complicated men who signed the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson...

Pope Francis has died, and the world now turns its eyes to the smoke above the Sistine Chapel. In this episode of Dave Does History , Dave Bowman joins Bill Mick to break down the ancient—and often misunderstood—process of the papal conclave. From medieval roof removals to modern-day power plays, Dave explores the rituals, rules, and raw politics of picking the next pope. Was it always this secret...

In this episode of Dave Does History on Bill Mick Live , we head north—way north—to uncover the bizarre moment when the United States almost claimed part of Greenland. It started with a bad map, involved a lost Danish expedition, and ended with two frostbitten heroes proving the truth. From mistaken geography to geopolitical consequences, Dave unpacks how a simple cartographic error nearly redrew...