

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

Feb 8, 2023 • 45min
FALL OF USSR: Part 2 - The Steam Bath of History
Yeltzin has stood on a tank, but few have seen it. Crowds shift from the traditional protest places to a new one. They bring heavy metal. What on Zemlya is happening?It all starts in a steam bath. Sort of.In order to understand the events of August 19th, 1991, it's necessary to look back. Particularly at 1989, when the most orderly country on earth became the most unpredictable.Music by Lee Rosevere and Theme Song by Chris NovembrinoWe are part of Airwave Media Network - check out Ben Franklin's World, Tea Time History, Redacted History, the History of China, The Explorers Podcast, The Age of Napoleon www.airwavemedia.comWant to Advertise on My History Can Beat Up Your Politics? sales@advertisecast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Feb 6, 2023 • 1h 6min
FALL OF USSR: Part 1: Wake Up, Cassandra!
Soviet citizens wake up to tanks outside their windows in 1991. Media is censored. The President is detained. Another president escapes, maybe just escapes... A third President is powerless. Is this the end of everything?Music by Lee Rosevere and Theme Song by Chris NovembrinoWe are part of Airwave Media Network - check out Ben Franklin's World, Tea Time History, Redacted History, the History of China, The Explorers Podcast, The Age of Napoleon www.airwavemedia.comWant to Advertise on My History Can Beat Up Your Politics? sales@advertisecast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jan 18, 2023 • 52min
"WRONG FOREVER ON THE THRONE!" - William Jennings Bryan and the Democratic Party in His Later Years
The Democratic Party had a problem in the nineteen teens and twenties. What to do with a candidate that could stir up crowds but not enough electoral votes? Though pleased to nominate him in 1896 and introduce a new kind of politics to their party, some Democrats grew tired of William Jennings Bryan especially in his later years as his fundamentalism turned to alcohol, evolution and an arguable Southern favoritism. Also a brief look at his daughter, Ruth Bryan Owen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 26, 2022 • 43min
THEY COULDN"T STOP DYING - THE ODD STORY OF THE 72nd CONGRESS AND HOOVER'S DISASTER MIDTERM
The 72nd Congress of 1931 was, as elected, a very narrow Republican House 218 R - 217 D. Close, but for President Hoover, good enough. That is until, 14 Congressmen-elect died. Not all at once - that would be weird - over 13 months, for all kinds of reasons but heart attacks and pneumonias leading the list. When special elections were held, it went 218 D and 216 R. 1 Farm Laborer supported the Democrats so 219-216.We talk about this curious case. We also talk about the 14 Congressmen-elect who had some interesting biographies. And we talk Herbert Hoover and the spin he (tried to) put on The Great Depression.We are part of Airwave Media Podcast Network. www.airwavemedia.comAdvertise? sales@advertisecast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 13, 2022 • 54min
LEAP TO FREEDOM: Hans Konrad Schumann's Story
One three-second period changed the life of an East German soldier. Stories of freedom and oppression feature heavily on this hodge-podcast episode, the Berlin Wall, the Uruguay dictatorship of the 70's and 80's, a bit about Grover Cleveland and a bit about Charles III. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dec 2, 2022 • 48min
SOCCER and Repression: The 1978 World Cup in Argentina
As the world attention focuses on a soccer game, behind the surface is a disturbingly hidden suppression of a previously strong democracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 28, 2022 • 49min
Close Encounters of the CONGRESS KIND: The (Relatively Few) Times When the House Was Close Between the Parties
The average difference between the two major parties in the House of Representatives at any time in American history is sixty. That being said, there are a few times where one, two or nine seats separated the two major parties in Congress. Sometimes it was Democrats and Republicans. Sometimes it was Whigs and Democrats. You want to be speaker, you scramble. You make a deal with a Socialist, or a Know-Nothing. You find a guy who nobody hates and make him Speaker, hoping that person will listen to. Or you hold out for as long as you can ballot after ballot until people get tired. The record is the 65th Congress in 1917, where one seat separated the two. With a close house arriving in 2023, We look at American history for these times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nov 12, 2022 • 1h 4min
YOU CANT ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT: The 2022 Midterm Result, and Listener Questions
Call 2022 the Mick Jagger midterm - neither party got fully what they wanted. Both parties experienced win and losses. It is, so far, largely a "stave midterm" where the President's party lost less seats than expected - we've discussed a few of these on this podcast, and thus for the party expected to have lost seats a kind of win. Yet in this case as opposed to other 'stave' midterms, the President's Party looks like they will lose the house. So when is a win a win and a loss a loss? Is this like the 1970, 1990 or 1994 or 1974 elections? We discuss all this and talk about a midterm in the past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 31, 2022 • 40min
SOMETHING HAPPENED: Eugene McCarthy's 1968 Primary Run
The race for the Democratic Nomination in 1968 a complicated one, as one candidate would drop out and another die tragically. But for a while, with other candidates choosing not to enter primaries, the '68 Democratic primary became a fight between two concepts of being left in politics and two individuals that couldn't be more different. Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oct 2, 2022 • 1h 18min
1970's EPHEMERA: Dylan Gets a Troll, Ford Gets Shot, Skylab Falls, Howard Cosell Talks Politics
PROGRAM ONE: Ford's Bad Day - Dylan's Troll - Howard Cosell's PoliticsPROGRAM TWO: Skylab's Fall Nixon Shako Warriors - One Hit WonderPROGRAM THREE: High School Riot - Global Cooling and WarmingPROGRAM FOUR: Austin Gets WeirdWe are part of Airwave Media Network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices


