15-Minute History
Walking in the footsteps of history, fifteen minutes at a time. Join us for a 15-minute episode covering a person, place, or event in history, and stay for an extended discussion. New episodes and discussions every week.
Episodes
Pop Quiz | "Common Good Conservatism"
Can conservatives promote the "common good" and public virtue using the power of government?This will be our last new pop quiz before the start of Season 10 in a few short weeks. We hope you've enjoyed these quizzes as much as we've enjoyed having these conversations!
Associating Evil | LBJ & Ho Chi Minh (Repost)
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on February 12, 2024.---As we look at villains in history, we want to look at actions and their effects. The policies of Lyndon Baines Johnson and Ho Chi Minh were the reflection of two leaders operating in different contexts. Though the method by which they exerci
Pop Quiz | Prosperity & Debt (Or "Well that Escalated Quickly!")
Joe asked a perfectly legitimate question about the definition of prosperity, and within minutes Jon was ranting about other podcasters. The conversation then turned to the national debt's real impact on American life. Fun times!!
The Trail of Tears | Forever Lost (Repost)
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on April 22, 2024.---"In the chill of a drizzling rain on an October morning, I saw them loaded like cattle or sheep into six hundred and forty-five wagons and started toward the west.One can never forget the sadness and solemnity of that morning. Chief John R
Pop Quiz | Perks or Wage Slavery?
During the Gilded Age, companies paid employees in scrip redeemable at corporate stores instead of in hard cash. Is this similar to modern job benefits like health insurance and pensions?Join us every Thursday for new pop quizzes, and stay tuned for the start of our new season in just a few weeks!
Colt, Gatling, and Browning | Gun Pioneers (Repost)
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on March 22, 2022.---Samuel Colt’s name is forever linked to the company he founded and the revolver he called the “Peacemaker.” Born in Connecticut in 1814, he was steeped in America’s gun culture from an early age. His grandfather had served in George Washington’
Pop Quiz | The "Bank War" (and an Audience Question)
What was the Bank of the United States, and why did Andrew Jackson work so hard to destroy it?And why is Eva Braun always referred to as Adolf Hitler's "mistress" even though he was not married?Find out the answer to both questions on this week's pop quiz!
Mark Twain | Rhyming History (Repost)
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on October 4, 2021.---The steamboat passed the port and he looked out at the brown, muddy water. The heat was failing and the humidity began to soak his clothes. Soon it would be twilight and the lighting bugs would begin to flash on the shoreline. As the boat move
Pop Quiz | Lessons from Rome's Fall
Is America approaching an end similar to Rome's?No.But are there lessons from how the Roman Empire collapsed in the West that nations and leaders can apply to their own situations? Of course, so Joe and Jon explore those topics today.Join us every Thursday this summer for new pop quizzes and on Mondays for rebroadcast episodes!
Fredrick Douglas | Pinnacle of Freedom (Repost)
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on November 14, 2022.---"I once knew a little boy whose mother and father died when he was six years old. He was a slave and had no one to care for him. He slept on a dirt floor in a hovel, and in cold weather would crawl into a meal bag head foremost and leav
Pop Quiz | The Image of a Villain
Why do people continue to believe the worst about historical villains even if the facts prove they aren't quite as bad as some people thought?Join us every Thursday this summer for new pop quizzes and on Mondays for rebroadcast episodes!
Casting the Dice | The American Revolution (Repost)
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on October 20, 2025.---America is often described as a nation of ideas because its founders risked everything for principles in which they believed. But the revolutionaries had to overcome fears in their own hearts and those of their more hesitant countrymen. In th
Pop Quiz | The Glorious Past
Why do politicians always call back to an idea--real or imagined--of the past? Is it as simple as wanting to make their country great again, or is there a deeper motivation?Join us every Thursday this summer for new pop quizzes and on Mondays for rebroadcast episodes!
Changing the Constitution | The Progressive Amendments (Repost)
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on February 9, 2026.---American progressives at the turn of the 20th century saw major flaws in the United States Constitution and worked to correct them through the process of amendments. Each one was the subject of debate and controversy, and all four made measur
Pop Quiz | The Dunkirk "What If"
Would Britain have surrendered if Germany had destroyed its army at Dunkirk? This week, Joe and Jon explore one of the classic "what ifs" of the Second World War.Join us every Thursday this summer for new pop quizzes and on Mondays for rebroadcast episodes!
War of 1812 (Part 2) | The Fire That Reforged a Nation (Republish)
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on December 1, 2025.---Washington burns. The White House is in flames. But from the smoke and ashes, a nation discovers what it means to be American.The War of 1812's darkest hour became its defining triumph. As British veterans fresh from defeating Napoleon to
Pop Quiz | Air Conditioning
The Europeans may envy America's mighty air conditioners, but what would our country look like without this wondrous invention?Join us every Thursday for new Pop Quizzes this summer!
The War of 1812 (Part 1): Humiliation, Hawks, and Heroism (Republish)
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on November 17, 2025.---Detroit falls without a fight. War Hawks demand blood. But on a blood-slick deck, four words become legend: Don’t give up the ship.The War of 1812 is often dismissed as a minor conflict, overshadowed by the Revolution and the Civil War. But
Pop Quiz | Summer Reading List
Jon didn't give his students a reading list this summer, but if he had, what books would he have assigned?Join us every Monday for rebroadcast episodes this summer and on Thursdays for new Pop Quizzes!(Even when they're late--Jon got his dates mixed up because he's a teacher on summer break...)
John Adams | "I Know I Am Right" (Repost)
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on November 3, 2025.---In the popular mind, John Adams' life and one term as President of the United States is often treated as a footnote alongside the careers of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. But Adams left an indelible mark on h
Pop Quiz | Extremism and the "Political Pendulum"
How do we know when a political party goes "too far" on policy? And what happens when there is a backlash against their ideas?Join us every week this summer for rebroadcast episodes and new pop quizzes!
Theodore Roosevelt | A Strenuous Life (Republish)
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on January 26, 2026.---"You must make your body." An asthmatic boy in wire-rimmed spectacles nods. Decades later, shot in the chest, he'll deliver a 90-minute speech: "It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose."Theodore Roosevelt is often
Summer Special | America's 250th Birthday!
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we've re-recorded an episode from season 1 entitled "Their Safety and Happiness," which looks at the historical and philosophical roots of the document. Joe and Jon then have a new discussion about America's best moments in history, the Declaration's role in our history, and dangerous fun involving fireworks!We hope you all hav
Pop Quiz | Sanctuary Cities
A political question this week -- what are sanctuary cities and where do they come from?Join us on Mondays this summer for rebroadcast episodes and on Thursdays for new Pop Quizzes. Stay tuned for some additional original content in the coming weeks!
Summer Special | Their Safety and Happiness
To celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we've re-recorded an episode from season 1 entitled "Their Safety and Happiness," which looks at the historical and philosophical roots of the document.We hope you all have a happy Independence Day!
Pop Quiz | Preventing World War
Winston Churchill's insights into the Second World War's outbreak are a fascinating combination of prediction and justification. He knew Germany was a threat, but his postwar memoirs also include knowledge learned during and after the conflict that make it difficult for historians to judge how much he knew as Hitler rose to power. In this episode, Joe asks about how the war could have been
More Security, Less Cost | A Discussion on the "New Look"
How did the Central Intelligence Agency both flourish and decline during the Cold War? What effects did both the Suez Crisis and Hungarian Revolution have on the wider world? And how might the world look different in a few years now that the post-Cold War international order is breaking down?
Sketches in History | Thirteen Days in October
Welcome back to Sketches in History! This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story; it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life!In this episode, Lottie finds a torn piece of paper tucked beneath a heavy book on her grandfather's desk: a handwritten note in small, slanted pencil, with n
More Security, Less Cost | The "New Look"
Presidents have always had to balance economic costs with national security. In the 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower took what he called a "new look" at defense policy, which made fundamental changes to how the United States confronted worldwide threats--and had dramatic consequences for allies, enemies, and innocent bystanders.Join us every Monday for episodes and discussions, and on Thursdays
Pop Quiz | A Republic in Danger
How close has America actually come to falling apart? Not in the way politicians throw the word "crisis" around today, but in real, documented, military-was-deployed, states-were-leaving moments. In this Pop Quiz episode, Jon walks through the moments that nearly broke the republic, what these moments had in common, and the one thread that kept pulling us back from the edge each time. Jo
The Witness & the Spy | A Discussion on Hiss, Chambers, and the Rosenburgs
Join us as we discuss the trial of Alger Hiss, why Whittaker Chambers became disillusioned with communism, the Rosenbergs, and the effects of the Red Scare on American society.Join us every Monday for episodes and discussions and on Thursdays for pop quizzes and Sketches in History!
Sketches in History | The Witness and the Secret
Welcome back to Sketches in History! This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story; it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life!In this episode, Lottie finds two things tucked beneath the lamp on her grandfather's desk: a folded newspaper with the headline HISS CONVICTED OF PERJURY and
The Witness and the Spy | Hiss, Chambers, and the Rosenbergs
It is August 3, 1948, and a former Communist Party member named Whittaker Chambers walks into a House committee room in Washington, D.C., and says something that no one in the room ever expected to hear. Alger Hiss is a spy. Hiss was not some offhand bureaucrat. He had helped organize the United Nations and attended Yalta. He had been, for much of the 1940s, one of the most respected foreign polic
Pop Quiz | Conspiracies and Grievances
Why are conspiracy theories everywhere online these days? Why is everyone mad at someone else for every problem in their lives? And what does history teach us about this kind of environment?Join us every Thursday for pop quizzes and Sketches in History!
Storm of War | A Memorial Day Special
"We shall not fail now. Let us move forward steadfastly together into the storm and through the storm."- Winston Churchill, February 1942This Memorial Day, we're republishing our favorite episode where we brought together both parts of our original Storm of War series into one complete telling of the Second World War, with speeches from Churchill, Eisenhower, and others who led throu
Pop Quiz | What Historians Remember
Jon didn't remember to publish a pop quiz yesterday--but it was the last day of school and his brain was a bit full. So please accept our apologies and listen to this episode about what historians choose to remember and why!
Dan's Back! | A Discussion on the Korean War
Our beloved interloper Dan returns to join us for a conversation about the Korean War and how it influenced later conflicts and the role of the military in political affairs. He also shares his thoughts on Lewis "Chesty" Puller and comments on the Marine Corps' role in the American military. You won't want to miss it!
Sketches in History | Surrounded
Welcome back to Sketches in History! This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story, it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life!In this episode, Lottie finds a dented olive-green tin on her grandfather's desk, cold to the touch, with a folded note tucked underneath in careful pencil ha
Victory Lost | The Korean War
The cold froze rifles in their hands, turned oil to sludge, and stiffened fingers until pulling a trigger became an exercise in willpower. Men slept in shallow foxholes they'd hacked out of frozen ground, ate C-rations turned to ice, and wrapped themselves in as many layers as they could. Decades later, the veterans of America's X Corps recalled the weather more than anything else.Join us
Pop Quiz | What Historians Have Missed
Let's have a conversation about what historians may have missed about the Founders of the United States, what may have been glossed over, and the reasons for both. Join us every Thursday for Pop Quizzes and Sketches in History, and be sure to tune in on Mondays for our episodes and discussions. We love to hear from you as well, so post your comments below!
The Arsenal of Democracy | A Discussion on Home Front USA
How did the American home change once the soldiers returned from the war. How long did it take for the country to recognize that its injustices were choices? And why did American culture seem to break in the decades that followed the war?Join us every Monday for episodes and discussions and on Thursdays for pop quizzes and "Sketches in History."
Sketches in History | One Bomber Every 63 Minutes
Welcome back to Sketches in History! This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story, it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life!In this episode, Lottie finds a small piece of metal on her grandfather's desk, shiny silver on top and duller gray underneath, a row of tiny holes punched through it in
The Arsenal of Democracy | Home Front USA
It's tempting to view the Second World War primarily through the lens of combat, but students of American history must also look at the transformation that occurred on the home front, in the rhythms of daily life, and of the structure of the nation itself. This is the story of how the United States of America reinvented itself at home while its soldiers fought in the greatest war on history
Audience Member Pop Quiz | The French at War
The French nation has a reputation for being willing to surrender in battle, but is that a fair assessment?This question came from an audience member, and we love getting these from you all. So leave a comment below if you have question you'd like Joe and Jon to answer!
Henry Ford | A Discussion on the Man of Contradiction
Henry Ford paid his workers more than anyone thought reasonable, then beat them when they tried to organize. He put ordinary Americans on the open road and gave Nazi Germany a hero to admire. This week, we're sitting with the uncomfortable reality that both things are equally, undeniably true.What do you think? Can a legacy be great and monstrous at the same time, or does one eventually cancel
Sketches in History | Men of Steel and Oil
Welcome back to Sketches in History! This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story, it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life!In this episode, Lottie finds a telegram on her grandfather's desk, its edges yellowed and its paper thin and crinkly, printed in faded capital letters with a
Henry Ford | The American Contradiction
Henry Ford didn't just build a car. He built the world we drive through, the suburb we live in, and the weekend we take for granted. He paid his workers more than anyone thought reasonable, and beat them when they tried to organize. He gave ordinary Americans freedom of movement and gave Nazi Germany a hero to admire.In this episode, we sit with one of the most consequential and troubling Amer
Pop Quiz | What the Founders Got Wrong
Let's step into a time machine and tell the American Founding Fathers what they should have done as they were writing the Constitution!Join us every Thursday for Pop Quizzes and Sketches in History, and be sure to tune in on Mondays for our episodes and discussions. We love to hear from you as well, so post your comments below!
The Men Who Owned the World | A Discussion on the Titans of Industry, Then and Now
Join us as we talk about the era of industrial titans. In this discussion, we trace the Gilded Age from Carnegie's steel mills and Rockefeller's stranglehold on oil to the garages and server farms of Amazon, Google, and Apple. Join us every Monday for episodes and discussions, and Thursdays for pop quizzes and Sketches in History. We love hearing from you, so leave a comment below!
Pop Quiz | The "War of the Worlds" Radio Drama
On Halloween night in 1938, a radio drama shocked the American people by describing a Martian invasion. This event demonstrated the power of the spoken word delivered electronically as much as FDR's "fireside chats." Joe is a big fan of the show, so Jon asked him about it (while also getting the date wrong--so please shame him in the comments below).
The Men Who Owned the World | Titans of Industry, Then and Now
Every era has its titans. Men who look at the rules of commerce, find the gaps, and build empires inside them, until society catches up and writes new rules to contain what they created.In this episode, we trace the Gilded Age from Carnegie's steel mills and Rockefeller's stranglehold on oil to the garages and server farms of Amazon, Google, and Apple. The methods changed. The underlying l
Sketches in History | This Sunday. Ten O'Clock. The President Speaks.
Welcome back to Sketches in History! This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story, it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life.In this episode, Lottie finds an old chrome microphone on her grandfather's shelf, with a handwritten card tucked beneath it: This Sunday. Ten o'clock. Th
What the Medium Made | A Discussion on How New Technology Reshaped the American Presidency
Join Jon and Joe as they discuss how presidents have used, and sometimes botched, major communication mediums from radio to social media, and what it tells us about leadership in modern America.
Sketches in History | The Secret at Teapot Dome
Welcome back to Sketches in History! This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story, it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life.In this episode, Lottie finds a mysterious bottle of oil and a folded newspaper and follows. The notebook takes her to the Wyoming plains of 1922, where a powerfu
What the Medium Made | How Every New Technology Reshaped the American Presidency
Every president wants to speak directly to the American people. This has looked different in every era, with the technology helping to shape the man, and most importantly, the perception of the man.In this episode, we trace how the microphone, the television camera, and everything that followed didn't just deliver the president's words. These mediums rewrote the rules for who could lead an
Pop Quiz | Remember the California Wildfires?
Remember the California Wildfires? Most of us watched the footage, maybe donated to the cause, and moved on. But what happened after the cameras left? Are the homes rebuilt? Why are permits nearly impossible to get? And where did the FireAid concert money go? The people who lost everything are still waiting for answers. It may feel like yesterday, but this is already history, and it's exactly
Temptations of Power | A Discussion on Presidential Scandals
The modern presidency's power is beyond anything our founders could have dreamed. Its limits often seem ill-defined, as are efforts to hold elected officials accountable for their actions. So what can be done?Join us every Monday for episodes and discussions, and check out our Thursday pop quizzes and Sketches in History episodes!
Pop Quiz | Taiwan
What happens when a powerful nation attacks a long-standing rival? No, we aren't talking about the United States and Iran (though that conversation is coming). What would happen if China tried to retake the island of Taiwan as it as long planned to do so. What are the historical forces in play? And how would America and the world respond to this kind of aggression?Join us on Thursdays for pop
Temptations of Power | Scandals in the American Presidency
Americans love a scandal, especially when it involves those in power. In this episode, we take a look at three of the most scandal-ridden presidencies in American history (none of which involve living chief executives) and try to understand what each one tells us about the abuse of power and the institutions that work to both preserve and restrain it.Join us every Monday for episodes and discussio
Sketches in History | Marching for Progress
Welcome back to Sketches in History! This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story; it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life.In this episode, Lottie travels to 1913 Washington, D.C., where thousands of women in white march down Pennsylvania Avenue demanding the right to vote. But this m
The Grey Ghost | The USS Enterprise (Repost)
By popular demand, the 15-Minute History team is re-airing one of our most popular episodes. This originally aired on April 8th, 2019. New episode next Monday, March 2nd. ____The name “Enterprise” is not exclusive to fictional starships or the space shuttle; in fact, nineteen ships of the British Royal Navy and nine of the United States Navy have born the name (spelled either with an S or a Z). Un
Pop Quiz | Steve Jobs
Walter Isaacson's biography paints Steve Jobs as a visionary genius. But was Jobs truly the inventor and designer he's often portrayed as?In this pop quiz, we talk Steve Jobs's leadership style, his contributions, and whether the company has actually lost its edge without him.Join us every Thursday for pop quizzes and Sketches in History, and comment below with your thoughts and questi
Changing the Constitution | A Discussion on the Progressive Amendments
This discussion covers the four progressive amendments and how each changed Americans' relationship with their government. Joe and I also delve into some broader topics about constitutional changes and how our society continues to evolve in its understanding of the rule of law.Join us every Monday for new episodes and discussions, and let us know your thoughts and questions in the comments bel
Pop Quiz | Containment or Integration?
Historians have often compared current Russian aggression toward Ukraine with the two world wars of the last century. But what does history tell us about an aggressor's fate after a conflict ends? Should other nations try to contain them, isolating these aggressive states with strong alliances and large military arsenals? Or is it better to bring them into the so-called "family of nations
Changing the Constitution | The Progressive Amendments
American progressives at the turn of the 20th century saw major flaws in the United States Constitution and worked to correct them through the process of amendments. Each one was the subject of debate and controversy, and all four made measurable changes to American society (though one can debate the merits of some). Join us for this survey of the four progressive amendments--as well as a funny st
Sketches in History | The President Who Slept Under the Stars
The 15-Minute History Podcast team welcomes you back to another Sketches in History. This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story; it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life.In this episode, she travels to May 1903 to witness an unlikely camping trip that changed America forever. Standing beside
Theodore Roosevelt | A Discussion and Reckoning
"What struck you most about Roosevelt?" The question hangs in the air as we return to last week's episode. The spectacles, the gymnasium, the Badlands, the Bull Moose - each moment revealing layers we're still unpacking.Roosevelt's life demands conversation - about privilege and responsibility, grief and reinvention, the price of the strenuous life, and whether we're equa
Pop Quiz | Monopolies
Why do so many large corporations, especially the tech giants, seem to avoid federal antitrust legislation?Join us every Thursday for pop quizzes and Sketches in History episodes, and leave a comment below if you have questions or ideas about topics we should cover!
Theodore Roosevelt | A Strenuous Life
"You must make your body." An asthmatic boy in wire-rimmed spectacles nods. Decades later, shot in the chest, he'll deliver a 90-minute speech: "It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose."Theodore Roosevelt is often reduced to caricature - the Rough Rider, the big game hunter, the face on Mount Rushmore. But this oversimplified image misses the man who transformed person
Sketches in History | The Panama Canal
The 15-Minute History Podcast team welcomes you back to another Sketches in History. This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story; it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life.In this episode, she travels to 1907 to witness one of humanity's greatest engineering challenges: the constru
"Daring Mighty Things" | A Discussion on the Panama Canal and America's Role in Latin America
In this week's discussion, we cover more detail about the building of the canal and the herculean medical and engineering feats American and Panamanian workers achieved. (Joe even gets to put on his doctor's hat and tell us about yellow fever.) We then get into some of the current-day events and what the future might hold for America and its southern neighbors.Join us every Monday for disc
Pop Quiz - Iran, then and now
With events in Iran moving hour by hour, Joe asked about the Iranian Revolution of 1979, how that regime could hold onto the country for so long, and why we are now seeing a possible change in government in the coming weeks (or perhaps even days).Join us each Thursday for pop quizzes and Sketches in History, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
"Daring Mighty Things" | The Panama Canal and American Intervention in Latin America
Over a century ago, the United States blasted its way through a continent in one of the largest engineering projects in world history. The Panama Canal's construction brought with it decades of American involvement in Latin America--the effects of which are still felt today.Join us every Monday as we explore topics in American history leading to our 250th birthday in July and for pop quizzes a
Pop Quiz | Communism vs. Fascism (Repost)
During the holiday break, Jon and Joe wanted to reshare some of their favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on December 14, 2023. New episodes starting this Monday, January 12. __Have an idea for a topic? Want to try and stump Jon? Send it to us at 15minutehistory@gmail.com or submit it to our website at https://www.15minutehistorypodcast.org. We promise not to give him any hints.
Arrows vs. Knights | How England Defied the Odds at Agincourt (Repost)
During the holiday break, Jon and Joe wanted to reshare some of their favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on January 27, 2025. New episodes starting next week!___The Battle of Agincourt, though small by modern standards, stands as a turning point in European history by bringing democracy to the battlefield. Joe takes us through the battle in all its detail and asks whether Henry V'
Pop Quiz | Answering an Audience Question & The Overton Window (Repost)
During the holiday break, Jon and Joe wanted to reshare some of their favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on June 5, 2025.___In this double pop quiz, Jon answers a question from an audience member and then discusses the Overton Window and how the range of "acceptable" political discourse changes over time.Join us every other week for these pop quizzes during the summer, and
America's Utopian Mores (Repost)
During the holiday break, Jon and Joe wanted to reshare some of their favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on June 23, 2025.___This season has been about good and bad ideas, and we are concluding with Jon's thoughts on a journey he's been on through early American history. In his 1989 book Albion's Seed, Dr. David Hackett Fischer describes how four groups of English settler
Special Christmas Episode | The History of the Nativity (Repost)
The imagery of Jesus' birth has evolved over the century, but its meaning to all humanity remains as simple as ever in this holiday season.Special thanks to my Uncle Matt for giving me the idea for this episode! - JonThis episode originally aired on December 23, 2024.
Low Songs, Holy Songs
In this last episode of 2025, Jon takes us on a journey through time and space to learn the stories of several beloved Christmas carols. We hope you enjoy them, and we look forward to seeing you in January with new episodes, discussions, pop quizzes, and "Sketches in History." Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!Music: O Come All Ye Faithful
Pop Quiz | A (Very Incomplete) History Reading List
What are the essential works of history every curious reader should know, and where should someone actually start when diving into them? Join Jon and Joe for the first of many conversations about the timeless texts that shaped civilization.Join us each Thursday for Pop Quizzes and Sketches in History, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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