Professor Buzzkill History Podcast

Long-time Buzzkiller, Dr. Colin Woodward, discusses his new book, Country Boy: the Roots of Johnny Cash. Woodward dispels many myths about Cash, but also about the culture he grew up in, as well as the ways his music developed over his long career. Episode 476.

Comedian Gary Gulman uses “empathy” as a theme in his new show “Born on Third Base.” Among other things, he discussed Pastor Martin Niemöller famous quote “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out --- because I was not a socialist.” That is perhaps the most touching and thought-provoking expressions of human and communal responsibility of the 20th Century. But the history of that poem is just as heart-rending, and prompts just as much self-reflection about political and social responsibility as anything that came out of that horrific period. Please listen.

Professor Buzzkill gets schooled on the early history of baseball! Noted baseball historian, Richard Hershberger, corrects the mistakes that Professor Buzzkill made in his earlier show on Abner Doubleday. But he goes further to explain the complexities of the early years of baseball. Not only is it the history of a sport, it’s the history of urbanization, industrialization, the rise of organized exercise, muscular Christianity, and American popular culture. Batter up, and listen up! You’ll learn a lot! Episode 475

Egyptologists consider Hatshepsut, the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, one of the most powerful pharaohs in Egyptian history. Join us as we have a Woman Crush Wednesday about the Egyptian pharaoh who the famous American archaeologist and Egyptologist James Henry Breasted called, "the first great woman in history" that we know about.

Did Abraham Lincoln actually say “a house divided against itself cannot stand”? We place that quote in its historical context. And Dr. Heather Cox Richardson gives us a wonderful analysis of its meaning in American history, and its importance for our times. Episode 474.

It's baseball season and time for a myth about the national pastime. Once again, a second- or third-hand story created a persistent myth. Did Abner Doubleday invent baseball in Cooperstown in 1839? If not, who did? Find out all about it! Episode 473

Dr. Tim Newburn explains how modern societies (especially Britain) have organized themselves since the 1970s. He uses the new practice of cleaning up after dogs to bust myths about the orderliness of the “good old days.” The relatively recent phenomenon of “pooper scoopers” explains why some societies have been able to regulate themselves around a handful of accepted practices and “rules.” It’s not perfection, but there is certainly less poop around! Episode 472.

Warner Bros Studios pumped out this myth, Buzzkillers, before production had even started on the movie. Reagan was too genial to play a world-weary, hard-drinking, cynical American who left occupied France to run a bar in Morocco. Bogart practically embodied the role, and he was slated for the part all along! Episode 471

Professor Vernon Burton joins us to explain the long and tortured history of the ways in which the United States Supreme Court has handled race. The Supreme Court is usually seen as the protector of our liberties: it ended segregation, was a guarantor of fair trials, and safeguarded free speech and the vote. But what’s the full story, across all of American history. Episode 468.

Not even Donald Trump could have made this deal. Have you heard that Dutch settlers bought the island of Manhattan from Native Americans for a measly $24? Turns out it was more complicated than that. New York finance always is. Episode 468.