

My History Can Beat Up Your Politics
Bruce Carlson
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
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 11, 2025 • 55min
FRIENDLY SKIES - The Story of Airline Deregulation
A Democratic President and a liberal Senator push a free-market reform in the late 1970s that affects us all today. We look at the story of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. Among the topics - legroom politics, cold fried chicken, consumer rights, cargo politics, Carter's legislative ability or lack of it, champagne denial, mistreated pets, and the deregulator now wearing a robe at SCOTUS.
Sponsored by:
The University of Aberdeen:
https://on.abdn.ac.uk/online-history-courses/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 10, 2025 • 14min
EXTRAS from the Airline Deregulation Story
Stories of baseball, banking and love. More from our episode on airline deregulation. What was left on the legal pad and didn't make it into the episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 7, 2025 • 50min
MORE ABOUT THE KEN BURNS AMERICAN REVOLUTION DOCUMENTARY AND BEN FRANKLIN
Deeper dive on Ken Burns documentary and Franklin and Iroquois Confederacy debate. Plus: Iran Iraq war and midterms.
Sponsored by:
The University of Aberdeen:
https://on.abdn.ac.uk/online-history-courses/
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Nov 30, 2025 • 21min
KEN BURNS AMERICAN REVOLUTION DOCUMENTARY - A FEW THOUGHTS
No I don't think the Iroquois Confederacy influenced th Revolution much. (Nor do I think Burns says this). And I take a little issue with American Revolution as a Civil War theory. (If it was merely that, it would have been quickly settled).
Sponsored by:
The University of Aberdeen:
https://on.abdn.ac.uk/online-history-courses/
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Nov 29, 2025 • 24min
The Forgotten Forage War of 1777: Realities of the Revolution
Did New Jersey Save the Revolutionary Cause? Maybe. Amid a sea of troubles, irregular units fight off the British and make their stay in New Jersey less than hospitable. A bit about George Washington's offensive campaign to be sure that the new nation would not be garrisoned. And it happened in New Jersey (we should be clear with a large contingent of soldiers from all across the Eastern Seaboard).
Sponsored by:
The University of Aberdeen:
https://on.abdn.ac.uk/online-history-courses/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 26, 2025 • 41min
I WAS BORN IN 1869: GENERATIONS IN POLITICS
What was it like to be born in 1869?
A generation defined by a technology that shook off the yoke of their parent's Civil War and took on the world, and took over the country by the turn of the century. This cast, which was previously recorded. It is as he reveals, Bruce's own favorite cast that he recorded in the show's 12-year history. Music from Lee Rosevere and KieLoKaz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 17, 2025 • 33min
DEATH BY LIGHTNING: My Opinion of the Netflix Series, and Other Thoughts
Well, the 1880's finally has some visual media coverage. That's the good news.
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Nov 16, 2025 • 6min
JOHNSTOWN FLOOD
"The real cause of the damage was the dam failure" We took on this topic a few years ago. With anniversaries of Hurricane Katrina not that far, one might find some comparable items in these two events of history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 15, 2025 • 31min
1913
This episode dives into the dynamic year of 1913, marking events like the 50th anniversary of Gettysburg and the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson. Explore the introduction of parcel post service that thrilled consumers and the drama of women’s suffrage protests during Wilson's inauguration. Delve into cultural milestones such as the Armory Show, and innovations like Ford's assembly line. The episode discusses the 16th Amendment’s impact on federal revenue and features notable occurrences, from devastating floods in Dayton to the rise of early income tax.

Nov 10, 2025 • 55min
THE ZINGER THAT SAVED AMERICA: WEBSTER'S REPLY TO HAYNE
The Union threatened by legislative fiat, a Senator rose to reply to another. For Daniel Webster, it was a real comeback, What we might call a "zinger" today.
"Not Liberty First and Union Afterwards! ...but Liberty and Union now and Forever One and Inseparable,"
Though since it was a 19th century zinger, it took 4 hours to deliver the line. Still it would become some of the most famous oratory in Senate history.
When South Carolina's Senator Robert Hayne spoke in the Senate in 1830 to criticize Massachusetts and its Senator Daniel Webster, his comments were governmental but his intentions were personal. Haynes was an ally of John Calhoun, and he sought to reduce that Senator's reputation and the New England influence in federal government with a stunning interpretation of how the Constitution should work. A state could interpret any law the way it wished, he argued. .
And although several friends told him not to, Haynes aimed his remarks purposefully at the Senate's best Speaker.
Then Webster replied, He defended the patriotism of his home state, attacked the logical points Hayne and made about a state's right to veto a federal law, and called for the Union to be cherished. Although he and Andrew Jackson were not allies, Daniel Webster's speech set the stage for the Jackson administration's position in the upcoming South Carolina tariff nullification crisis.
His speech, and the resulting consensus of agreement in Congress with his side, also set standards for federal and state roles in government, and that still has lots of relevance today.
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