My History Can Beat Up Your Politics

Mar 06 2025 354 ep. 50 mins 40.9k

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics Podcast artwork

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

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ASHAMED IN THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT - Resistance to Jackson Indian Removal Policy in its Time

Mar 06 2025 48 mins

Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren's policy of Indian population removal, which lead to the Trail of Tears and thousands of deaths, was not uncontested or passively allowed at the time. Nearly half of Congress opposed it, as did petition writers all over the nation. So did one of the President's former friends and of course, most of the elected representatives of the Cherokee peop

Now on The Patreon - Chester Arthur, Part 2- Stalwarts!

Mar 05 2025 2 mins

What does it mean to be a Stalwart? In history, it's just a name for political machine pros seeking jobs and being corrupt. But it was more. While telling how Chester Arthur became the nation's most famous fired civil servant, we explain politics in the 19th century. The real battles then were inside the party. On our Patreon now, [www.patreon.com/mhcbuyp] as part of a 4 part serie

Al Gore's Reinventing Government 1993 "REGO"

Mar 05 2025 28 mins

It was clunky, and a little Office Space-like. And it cut federal jobs. But then-Vice President Al Gore's "REGO" program was different in many ways from "DOGE" -The 1993 program was bipartisan, considered [cuts were identified, then made, in that order. And it was slow, and generated little protest. It did generate tension in the Clinton White House, which we get into. Learn more a

Now on the Patreon: Chester Arthur's Early Years, and More

Feb 25 2025 3 mins

A bit about what we've got cooking at Patreon, including the first of three parts of our series on the 21st President. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No, You Can't Throw Out Your History Books Yet

Feb 25 2025 36 mins

Bruce is on a tear being told that given the norm-breaking going on there is no place for history. Nothing can be farther from the truth. He outlines why, instead of history not being useful, it's actually quick history (comparing say Trump to Obama) that is still interesting, but maybe won't lock down the kind of results you want. But in the long swath of American political histor

PRESIDENTIAL ASSISTANTS AND AIDES "Separated By a Swinging Door"

Feb 16 2025 105 mins

From the man who answered T.R.'s phone and maybe saved his life, to the secret "Sphinx" around Woodrow Wilson, to Coolidge's surprise enforcer. We look at all sorts of Presidential assistants and aides, both official ones and non-official ones. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

D.C. REPRESENTATION: A Love Story

Feb 15 2025 76 mins

This episode is all about voting in the federal capital we now call the District of Columbia. We talk about a movement to get voting rights that succeeded for a group of (then) D.C. residents 180 years ago, And about the petitions, committees, tea parties, bus trips and statements by Presidents over the years, and the reactions of Congress to them. Why Lincoln and Jefferson Davis f

Now on the Patreon: Franklin Roosevelt Takes on Jimmy Walker

Feb 14 2025 4 mins

Now on the Patreon: Franklin Roosevelt Takes on Jimmy Walker In the sweltering summer of 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt found himself ensnared in a political web spun by the most notorious machine in New York politics—Tammany Hall. As governor of New York, Roosevelt was well aware of the rampant corruption within the city’s government, but his position as the Democratic nomine

Show Update 2/9/2025

Feb 09 2025 2 mins

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AN "INDUSTRIAL SELMA" AND OTHER STORIES - FINAL OF THE ARK OF COMMERCE SERIES

Feb 05 2025 92 mins

The idea of saving manufacturing jobs is front-and-center in American politics today. Examining the history of plant closings and job losses In the 70's and 80's provides an interesting contrast. "We ought to make stuff here, or we should try to keep this plant open." were radical stances, confined to political fringes, and usually left. In once case, a group of workers, residents