History That Matters Now Archives - KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show

Feb 24 2025 49 ep. 58 mins 2

History That Matters Now Archives - KDA Keeping Democracy Alive Podcast & Radio Show artwork

Would you like to know more about the backgrounds and histories behind today's news? Subscribe to keepingdemocracyalive.com to find out the whys of where we are. Also interviews with authors of new non-fiction books. From a left perspective. Entertaining and educational twice weekly one hour shows since 2004.

News Society & Culture

Copy RSS

Subscribe on Podcast Addict

Trump Wants to Abolish the Past. Historians Won’t Let Him.

Feb 24 2025 60 mins

There are reasons all autocrats need to erase history. Among the flood of executive orders is something called “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling.” In other words: erasing history he doesn’t like. To people like him, history must fit a neat story, so says noted Yale historian David W. Blight. All dictators fear knowledge and insist on a history that

Christmas Truce of WWI: Not So Isolated, Really

Dec 23 2024 58 mins

You’ve probably heard of the famous Christmas Truce of 1914 between the trenches of the British and German soldiers. These were indeed brave men. But that was not the only such event: there were desertions, mutinies, and fraternizations. The working men of both countries knew they had nothing against each other. Listen to renowned author Adam Hochschild tell the uplif

One Eternally Explosive Line in the Sand

Nov 25 2024 58 mins

Storytelling is a venerable and often the most accurate way to teach history. Our guest co-author of the new A Line In the Sand, Miles Spencer, traveled with his partner along the 1100 mile trail of clues left by TE Lawrence through the deserts of the Middle East. They have a story to tell which engages and explains how that region got where it is today. And what should the US do?

11/11 Armistice: The Germans Were Ambushed, A Peace That Ended Peace

Nov 10 2024 59 mins

Can we ever learn from history? November 11 is celebrated as the end of “the war to end all wars.” But in reality it was a peace that ended peace. Listen in as eminent historian Adam Hochschild cuts through the old reassuring myth to get to the truth. That war never really ended. And what a price.

Greensboro ’79: “White Supremacy Done Correctly”

Nov 07 2024 55 mins

You remember: “that’s not who we are,” related to January 6, 2021? Turns out, maybe it is who we are. Was this too an outlier: Greensboro North Carolina November 1979 when the KKK shot and killed five people demonstrating for the right to organize in unions. Our guest today is Aran Shetterly, whose new book reveals the long forgotten massacre in his new book Morni

Heather Cox Richardson: Yes Democracy IS Awakening

Oct 15 2024 59 mins

In a democracy, we expect to have our own say over how we are governed. There’s a great grumbling throughout America because many don’t feel listened to. That’s the impetus behind today’s Trumpist populism. This populism is the voice of economic injustice; what do we do about it? On this show Heather Cox Richardson looks at why history is important and discusses her reasons

From Rockefeller Republicanism to Trumpism: How Did We Get Here?

Sep 27 2024 59 mins

“People think of Nelson Rockefeller as the epitome of moderate Republicanism.” But what appears to be a clean break from this tradition is really an evolution. Author Professor Marsha E. Barrett explains how the shift to the right was something in which the “moderate” actually participated.

What is the 9/11 Generation?

Sep 10 2024 57 mins

History professor Matt Warshauer argues in his new book that the 9/11 generation is the most unique in American history, and he explains how. The title is Creating and Failing the 9/11 Generation. This generation has seen a nonfunctional government, chaos across the world, and with little knowledge of foreign policy history, is just starting to learn why 9/11 happened. Warshauer ar

Do We Really Want to Get Back to America’s Founding Ideals?

Jun 26 2024 57 mins

This book actually changed my view of US History. The author says the Confederates and the January 6th assault are the inheritors of the original intent! He argues that the standard story is not the truth. The surprising reality of America’s founding shows we were intentionally created for insider rule, a stable hierarchy. On this show UPenn Law School professor Kermit Roosevelt

Heather Cox Richardson: Yes Democracy is Awakening

Jun 18 2024 59 mins

In a democracy, we expect to have our own say over how we are governed. There’s a great grumbling throughout America because many don’t feel listened to. That’s the impetus behind today’s Trumpist populism. This populism is the voice of economic injustice ; what do we do about it? On this show Heather Cox Richardson looks at why history is important and discusse