Was the past better?  Were the "Good Old Days" really all they are chalked up to be?   Gregg Easterbrook, author of It's Better Than it Looks: Reasons for Optimism in an Age of Fear, has a bold argument.  Things are better now then...

We discuss all things Ike with William Hitchcock - author of "The Age of Eisenhower."  We talk about how President Eisenhower was a surprisingly good politician, how he navigated Civil Rights, Social Security and other domestic programs, how he...

A mysterious crash.  A strange contraption.  A fateful race, an outbreak of violent activity and a crafty watch-seller.  A look at the railroad history of America and the changes the railroad brought.  

Bruce is interviewed on Ohio v. The World Podcast, which is the creation of MHCBUYP fan Alex Hastie.  The subject is Curtis LeMay.  Politically we know him as George Wallace's reluctant running mate in 1968.  But there was much more to...

A unique boat is built to overcome a powerful challenge in interstate water commerce.  a revolution is fed by fish.  A writer turns commerce into words.   A well known Revolutionary figure finds an agreeable industry, while young...

50 years ago, Medicare was created and some of it was recorded. We'll look at the original conversations that demonstrate LBJ's work on the bill, and compare the enactment of Medicare to the Affordable Care Act. And we'll contrast the two bill's...

In this look at American commercial history we discuss the Black Thursday Stock market crash, the early career of Thomas Edison, how a popular game evolved from a anticorporate activist, and how Wall Street was once in Philadelphia, so to speak. ...

A few questions, some from an older cast that now bears repeating in the wake of a new speaker election, and others from the premium channel now elevated.  Was Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal allowed to happen by a quiet public, or was thee...

The Saturday Night Massacre was the name given to the triple firing of a special prosecutor investigating President Nixon, the AG and the deputy AG on the same night in 1973. After the firing of the FBI Director by President Trump, all eyes are looking ba

We take a look at one day in the life and career of President George H.W. Bush - not in his presidency but in his vice-presidency.  That day revealed his leadership style and set future precedents, perhaps.  March 30, 1981 the day of the...

Bruce and Daily Beast/CNN correspondent Matt K. Lewis talk about midterms, and Presidents post midterms.  Bruce tells a story about Lincoln that he told 11 years ago. (more information on that story in the premium podcast). 

We are joined today by David Priess, former CIA intelligence officer and author about his new book on the history and the realities of impeachment, and the 25th, what people think it is, and what has really happened in history.  He is the author...

More insights from our Episode 'Soccer and Repression' about the 1978 World Cup in Argentina.  

A law that may have given Billy The Kid a few more months of life, long enough to build a legend is still a part of today's politics.  The rich history of the Posse Comitatus law that separated military from law enforcement and forbids, in some...

A look at one of America's earliest blockbusters, the little book that changed American minds: Common Sense, its author Thomas Paine, the impact it had at the time and what it might mean today. We also examine the creative differences Paine had with...

With some fringe talk about adding members to the court, a look FDR's court-packing scheme of 1937, why it failed and why it is a cautionary tale of a defeat of a powerful political figure.  However, the story also has unique qualities and may...

The views of the 37th President on healthcare, his reaction to Clinton's healthcare plan and his own 1974 healthcare plan.  Also: Nixon on Ike and Reagan. 

All about Presidential Scandals.  From how Watergate may have seemed like in 1972 on Election night, to Grant and Carter's troublesome friends, to the Iran Contra story, we look at White House mess-ups and election impact.    Though...

In the past 100 years, over 80% of the first term midterms went badly for Presidents, and their party lost seats.   But in a few cases they did not.  And a few times when they did, the result was very little real change or even a kind...

With Leon Neyfakh of The 'Slow Burn' Podcast, now in its Season 2,  (make sure to subscribe) we take a look at Presidential scandals and investigations including Watergate, Whitewater, the Travel Office snafu during the Clinton administration and...

Examining the moment in 1983 when nuclear war was possible with new research and stories from the Soviet side.  How close did we come to war?  And could that war have been accidental?  w/ White House Correspondent for National Journal...

Chris Matthews of Hardball joins the program!! He has just finished his book Bobby Kennedy - A Raging Spirit.  Chris talks about RFK and how his history and childhood, and his relationship with Joe Kennedy Senior that informed his own politics....

You may know his tariff, but not him.  A look at the man behind the Smoot-Hawley Tariff.  Reed Smoot, Senator from Utah.  His history, his politics, his views on tariffs.  His battles for a mix of conservative issues and...

All about the Bakken oil region of North Dakota and the recent boom.  Fast money and fast growth in a state that had peaked in the 1930's High volume trucking on unsuited roads, High wages matched by high rents and local price inflation, hungry...

Elbridge Gerry lent his name to a tricky political maneuver.  Not that he wanted to, or perhaps, deserved it.  With gerrymandering of congressional districts and state legislative districts on the agenda of the Supreme Court, Bruce discusses...