FDR may have never taken the oath if not for the quick thinking of a woman in Miami who, along with detectives may have thwarted a shooter. a 2023 - 'hodge podcast' of different things. A former Speaker talks about a lobby that flies under the radar but controls D.C. A writer that said what he really thought about Warren Harding. And Sidney Poitier navigates life as an African-American man and an actor.

What's in a word? Lots, maybe, when its a key word in the most contentious debate in America. The word "infringe" determines the threshold of how the Constitution should be enforced. But do we understand the word, and if we do, are we applying it correctly in our political debates over guns and politics? In this cast we look at how framers like Washington, Madison, Hamilton and Jefferson used the word, and how it's applied in DC v. Heller and US v. Miller. We contrast infringe to its Constitutional cousin abridge, and we look at what the NRA asserts about the 2nd amendment's words, including the word infringe. We also look at the current New York carry law Supreme Court case and where the Court is likely to go, and look at guns and politics in general.

More of the story - Boiler room bohemians, the coup before the coup, Soviet "Easterns" Cowboy Movies, cassette tapes of Vladimir Vysotsky, how to save money, USSR style, faking out the KGB and more.

A country is removed from the map in a week. There's more too than that, but it's not far from the most truthful description. The final episode of our series on the fall of the Soviet Union finds a rescued Gorbachev quickly realizing that he might be in yet another seizure of power. But this one happening quietly over a few tiring days. And with the support of the Russian people.

The first blood is spilled. We look at the right-wing of Soviet Society which triggered the putsch. And the rebellious elements that also existed. Jeans, rock and roll, religion, revisionism and weakness. Music by Lee Rosevere and Theme Song by Chris Novembrino We 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.com Want to Advertise on My History Can Beat Up Your Politics? sales@advertisecast.com

As barricades are built and citizens turn to a protective barrier, the Soviet culture they come from might be the very thing that keeps them going. Music by Lee Rosevere and Theme by Chris Novembrino We are part of Airwave Media Network To hear the next two episodes right now - sign up for our Patreon Sponsor: Wondery's American Scandal Be Sure to Check Out Their Season on the Oklahoma City Bombing

Two institutions, the press and the military, may well determine the fate of the USSR on the night of August 19th, 1991. The Emergency Committee decides, it's time to explain themselves on TV. A reporter makes a fateful decision. So does another. A motley crowd is fashioned into an instant militia.

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 Novembrino We 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.com Want to Advertise on My History Can Beat Up Your Politics? sales@advertisecast.com

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?

Get ready for the FALL OF USSR podcast which launches Feb 6th. If you can't wait for all of the episodes, you can get 5 now at Patreon - http://www.patreon.com/mhcbuyp Also a whole bunch about classified documents. We are part of Airwave Media Network. Some great shows - Age of Napoleon, TeaTime History, History of The Second World War, Infamous America and Ben Franklin's World. www.airwavemedia.com

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

We talk a bit about Nathaniel Banks, the Speaker of The House of Representatives that (still) took the most ballots to be elected. Kevin McCarthy joins the ranks of Speakers that needed multiple ballots - we discuss the implications. A brief look at Frederick Gillett, the last Speaker to even need two ballots in 1923, and then a look at why Congress starts on January 3rd.

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.com Advertise? sales@advertisecast.com

When President Kennedy inspired the nation to put a man on the Moon, he did so at a time when the word "inflation" was not on the mind of most Americans. Why should it have been, the rate was a paltry 1.1%. And we needed to beat the Soviets to the Moon. Once we did, and as the cost of goods, materials and rocket fuel rose over time, The United State's space dreams were limited. Inflation didn't kill space, but it sure changed what the goals of going to space became. We look at the trends of inflation and space exploration on this episode.

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.

From his bamboo shaker to his views on prohibition, all about Franklin Roosevelt and drinking.

As the world attention focuses on a soccer game, behind the surface is a disturbingly hidden suppression of a previously strong democracy.

A discussion of the 26th Amendment, the story behind it. John Lennon and his attempt to mobilize youth voting, and how Nixon countered it. And a look at the 18-29 year-old vote in recent elections including the recent midterm. Parts from 2013 and parts recorded this year.

When one person tried to vote for Ulysses S. Grant, his Attorney General called for criminal charges. That's because that person couldn't vote yet in America. But they tried. A look at Susan B Anthony's Story, Also a Promising 1908 Candidate that was not too be.

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.

a story of 1970's British politics. A change in country is behind every corner of the smoking room, every staircase, and every pint of ale. On benches red and green, members make moves. A pipe-smoker, a yacht champion, a grocer's daughter a former (maybe current?) spy.

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.

Nixon's first presidential midterm election (the election in which the House and Senate would be up for election) would turn out to be his last, but no one knew it at the time. Nixon tried something Presidents hadn't tried and took off in Air Force One to boost GOP candidates and attack hippie "thugs" across the country. He hoped to reverse the midterm trend. He did not, and he blamed bad audio and unhelpful political science. He may have done better than he thought.

SIDE A: Ford's Bad Day - Dylan's Troll - High School Riot - Howard Cosell's Politics SIDE B: One Hit Wonder - Skylab Falls - Austin Gets Weird - Global Cooling and Warming