American History Hit

Jesse James. Perhaps the most notorious American outlaw?He’s become legendary figure of the Wild West, compared to an American ‘Robin Hood.’ But with a legacy so pervasive, the myths about Jesse James can get often get confused for the truth…Did you know he played significant part in engineering his own reputation as a ‘Confederate hero’, comparing himself in newspapers to Napoleon and Alexander the Great? Or, that he married his first cousin while recovering from a gun wound?Don finds out about the real Jesse James with his guest, award-winning biographer, T.J. Stiles on today’s episode.You can see more about T.J’s work here: https://www.tjstiles.net/Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Max Carrey. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for $1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY sign up at https://historyhit.com/subscription/ You can take part in our listener survey here.

Very few people know what it is like to be in the infamous US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, but our 3 guests for this episode have all had first hand experience.For one of them, it was as a detainee. Mansoor Adayfi was held, interrogated and tortured at Guantanamo for over 14 years. For Pardiss Kebriaei, it was as an attorney. Pardiss is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, and has worked with Guantanamo detainees since 2007. Finally, for Karen Greenberg, it was as an historian. Karen is Director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law, and author of a number of books, including 'The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo's First 100 Days'.So how did Guantanamo Bay become the locus of a detention centre? How did nearly 800 people come to be detained there? And how has it changed over time? Don finds out.Mansoor's books include 'Don't Forget Us Here' and the audiobook 'Letters from Guantanamo', available on audible.Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long. Artwork by Kyle Hoekstra.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for $1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY sign up at https://historyhit.com/subscription/ You can take part in our listener survey here.

When was the first bank robbery? What does it take to be successful in organized crime? Is it possible to be non-violent? And how might you avoid getting caught? The story of Ma Mandelbaum, the mother of New York's criminal underworld, has the answer to these questions and more.Don is joined by Margalit Fox, former senior writer at the New York Times, to discuss the fascinating rise and fall of Frederica Mandelbaum, a 19th-century immigrant in New York who became one of the earliest and most successful figures in organized crime.Margalit's books is entitled 'The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss'.Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Tomos Delargy. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for $1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY sign up at https://historyhit.com/subscription/ You can take part in our listener survey here.

How did Egypt and Israel come to an agreement at Camp David in 1979? How did the USSR come to allow the operation of NATO troops in East Germany? Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat has played a leading role in the United States' diplomatic negotiations whilst serving in six Presidential administrations.In a troubled world, which needs diplomacy more than ever, Stuart joins Don to explore the internal workings of agreements that have shaped the world in which we live.Produced and edited by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for $1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY sign up at https://historyhit.com/subscription/ You can take part in our listener survey here.

Who was Joe McCarthy? How did this Republican Senator come to lead a nationwide campaign against communism? And how did he bring about his own downfall?For this episode, Don is joined by the authors of ‘Witch Hunt: The Cold War, Joe McCarthy, and the Red Scare’, Dr. Andrea Balis and Elizabeth Levy. Listen in to find out why McCarthyism happened when it did, and why it was a bad idea to make an enemy of the US Army.Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for $1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY sign up at https://historyhit.com/subscription/ You can take part in our listener survey here.

When the US turned to Japan looking for workers in the late 19th Century, they probably never foresaw that one day soon they would imprison those who arrived, their successors, and their families, en masse in camps around America.To hear about the Japanese American experience through history, Don is speaking to Kristen Hayashi. Kristen is Director of Collections Management & Access and Curator at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.Together, Kristen and Don explore the initial migration from Japan, the work offered, and the treatment of these first generations of Japanese Americans in life and under the law. They also discuss the contradictions of the Second World War - when some 120,000 people were forcibly moved to internment camps whilst, in Europe, an all Japanese American unit became the most decorated unit of its size in US history.Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for $1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY sign up at https://historyhit.com/subscription/ You can take part in our listener survey here.

The 20th Century is up and running and the next President in our series, Woodrow Wilson, is in for a challenge. Reconstruction is over, Europe is on the precipice of war, and women are campaigning for suffrage. So how does this two term presidency play out?From granting women the right to vote to segregating the Federal Government, how progressive was the 27th President? Where did Wilson stand on American isolationism during the First World War? And where did the League of Nations come from?Don is joined by Dr Michael Kazin for this episode. Michael is a professor of History at Georgetown and author of several acclaimed books including 'What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party' and 'War Against War: The American Fight for Peace, 1914-1918'.Produced by Freddy Chick and Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for $1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY sign up at https://historyhit.com/subscription/ You can take part in our listener survey here.

In 1621 the Virginia Company of London put out a call for young, handsome and honestly educated women to become wives for the planters in its new colony in Jamestown. Hopeful husbands were supposed to pay for their English brides in best leaf tobacco. But who were the women who made the Atlantic crossing? And what became of them when they arrived in America? In this episode of our sister History Hit podcast, Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb meets author Jennifer Potter to find out more about the lives of these extraordinary women.***Warning: This podcast includes references to slaughter and hostage taking.This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for $1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY sign up at https://historyhit.com/subscription/ You can take part in our listener survey here.

Megan Gorman, a tax attorney and wealth manager with a knack for digging into the finances of our nation’s leaders, dives deep into presidential wealth and financial woes. She explores which president was the richest and why, revealing George Washington’s impressive fortune and Abraham Lincoln's complex struggles with money. Gorman discusses the economic dilemmas faced by figures like Thomas Jefferson, who, despite his wealth, mismanaged his finances, leading to tragedy within his own community. Join this riveting financial journey through history!

In June 1944, the joint forces of the Allies began the liberation of continental Europe on D-Day. But was there tension within the ranks?Don speaks to Michel Paradis to find out how Eisenhower's leadership helped win the war. How did he deal with the strained relationship between the fading colonial powers of Britain and France, and the rising superpowers, the US and the USSR? How did he police the behaviour of the American troops in Europe? And why did a summit meeting almost end in a fist fight?Michel is a leading human rights lawyer, historian, and national security law scholar. His book on this topic is 'The Light of Battle: Eisenhower, D-Day, and the Birth of the American Superpower'.Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Max Carrey. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for $1 per month for 3 months with code AMERICANHISTORY sign up at https://historyhit.com/subscription/ You can take part in our listener survey here.