Professor Buzzkill History Podcast

Mar 04 2025 793 ep. 26 mins 646
Professor Buzzkill History Podcast artwork

Professor Buzzkill is an exciting podcast that explores history myths in an illuminating, entertaining, and humorous way.

  History  Education
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The Sound of Music - 60th Anniversary Show!

Mar 04 2025 58 mins  
Carla Von Trapp Hunter (descendant of Captain and Maria Von Trapp) joins Dr. Rebecca Brenner Graham to talk about The Sound of Music, the famous musical that appeared in theaters 60 years ago this week. We bust the many myths in the Sound of Music film, and show that the real story of the von Trapps is much more fascinating! Join us for one of the very best Buzzkill discussions eve

The Bombing of Dresden: 80th Anniversary Episode

Feb 11 2025 34 mins  
This week sees the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Dresden on February 13-14, 1945. It was one of the most destructive of the Allies’ late-war bombing campaigns over Germany. Somewhere between 22,000 and 25,000 people were killed and a famously beautiful city was leveled. It’s been called an Allied war crime, and Kurt Vonnegut’s famous novel “Slaughterhouse 5” reinforc

“Dear Miss Perkins”: Frances Perkins and Refugees from Nazi Germany

Jan 21 2025 39 mins  
Frances Perkins was one of the most important Americans in the 20th century. She helped hundreds of people flee Nazi Germany and come to the United States when she was Secretary of Labor in the Franklin Roosevelt administration. As Hitler rose to power, thousands of German-Jewish refugees and their loved ones reached out to the INS—then part of the Department of Labor—applying

Auld Lang Syne: That Grand Old Song!

Dec 31 2024 15 mins  
“Should old acquaintance be forgot”? What? Should we forget old friends? What does Auld Lang Syne actually mean? Why do we sing it every New Year’s Eve? Join the Professor as he waxes lyrical and sentimentally about Auld Lang Syne, Scotland, and good auld Robert Burns! A Professor Buzzkill Classic Episode

"It's a Wonderful Life" Myths and Urban Legends: a Professor Buzzkill Classic!

Dec 19 2024 41 mins  
One of the most popular movies of all time, “It’s a Wonderful Life” (starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed) is a holiday classic. It has also given us a cornucopia of history myths and urban legends. Lend an ear as the Professor analyzes these stories, talks about how the movie was received when released in 1946, and highlights many overlooked supporting actors in the film. A

How Churchill Waged War

Dec 12 2024 30 mins  
How exactly did Winston Churchill go about directing and managing first the Battle of Britain and then Britain’s part in the wider war? Did he act like a CEO or more like a Chairman of the Board when dealing with the British government? Allen Packwood, the Director of the Churchill Archives Centre at the University of Cambridge, joins us to explain the decisions that Churchill ha

The Weeping Frenchman: the Emotion of National Loss

Dec 05 2024 11 mins  
The “The Weeping Frenchman” photograph from the fall of France in 1940 is one of the most emotional images from World War II. Professor Buzzkill explains the story behind that famous image, and why it’s been used so much in social media by people who are upset with the recent election. The actual story of “The Weeping Frenchman” is much more interesting (and significant)

“Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory” - Why the Battle Hymn of the Republic Still Matters

Dec 03 2024 34 mins  
Professor Buzzkill finally gives you the “summation and inspiration” episode about The Battle Hymn of the Republic that he promised you! He traces the Battle Hymn from the post-Civil War years, the Teddy Roosevelt and the Progressive Era, the burgeoning union movement, the funerals of Churchill and RFK, schoolyard parodies and English football fan songs, and Whitney Houston’s

The Battle Hymn of the Republic: the Song that Marches On

Oct 25 2024 24 mins  
Harvard Professor John Stauffer joins us to discuss the history of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and its significance and meanings for American culture. He shows that it’s a song that unites and divides the country, and that it has been used by many different groups in American social and political life. It’s a fascinating interview that takes the song all the way from

The "Glory Hallelujah Suite" with Sparky and Rhonda Rucker

Oct 23 2024 47 mins  
American folk singers, Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, discuss their popular and historically significant “Glory Hallelujah Suite” as part of our Julia Ward Howe/Battle Hymn of the Republic week. Learn about “Say Brothers Will You Meet Us?” “John Brown’s Body,” “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and the “Marching Song of the First Arkansas Colored Regiment.” All of