Encore: The Space Race | Starting Gun | 1

On January 15, 1919 a giant storage tank holding more than two million gallons of molasses collapsed, sending a deadly wave crashing into the streets of Boston’s busy North End. The flood was over in minutes, but it left death and destruction in its wake. Victims and their families demanded justice, initiating a long, and contentious court case that raised questions about a possible anarchist bombing, faulty building plans, and a rush for profit in the World War I economy. Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

26 Apr 202341min

After she was deposed by powerful American business interests, Hawai’i’s Queen Liliʻuokalani lived out the rest of her days advocating for her people. Julia Flynn Siler, author of Lost Kingdom: Hawaii's Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America's First Imperial Adventure, joins Lindsay to discuss the rise and fall of Hawaii’s only queen, and her legacy.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

19 Apr 202340min

On December 7, 1941, Hawai’i was hit by one of the most unexpected military assaults in modern warfare. More than 300 Japanese fighter planes and dive bombers attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor, killing 2,400 people and plunging the United States into World War II. After the assault, many of Hawai’i’s nearly 160,000 residents of Japanese descent were viewed with suspicion and fear. But eventually thousands of Japanese-American men enlisted in the Army and went on to fight with valor. Their heroism would in time contribute to Hawai’i becoming America’s 50th state.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

12 Apr 202341min

After Hawai’i became a U.S. Territory in 1900, tourism to the islands exploded. Luxury steamships brought tourists eager to buy fashionable Hawaiian shirts, try their hand at surfing, and stay at fancy hotels that began to dot the beach at Waikiki. The U.S. military expanded its presence, too – bringing thousands of sailors and soldiers to the islands. But as tourism transformed the economy, Native Hawaiians became further marginalized. Then a sensational murder case exposed the dark underside of race and class divisions in Hawai’i’s changing society.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

5 Apr 202336min

In the early 1900s, an enterprising young American named James Dole introduced pineapples to a windy plateau in Central Oahu. He’d been warned that the crop was perishable and unprofitable and that his venture was sure to fail. But within a decade, his plantation – and the immigrant workers brought in to farm it – reshaped the landscape and economy of the Hawaiian Islands. Dole’s savvy marketing helped build the mystique that made Hawai’i a tourist destination. But his reign as Hawai’i’s “Pineapple King” would be cut short.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

29 Mar 202338min

In 1893 the independent island kingdom of Hawaiʻi flourished under the leadership of its monarch, Queen Lili’uokalani. But as the leaders of Hawaiʻi’s lucrative sugar industry gained power, the Queen struggled to maintain control. Soon, the so-called sugar barons, with the backing of American politicians, began plotting to overthrow the Queen.The contested and controversial removal of Hawaiʻi’s last reigning monarch would pave the way for the kingdom to be annexed as a U.S. territory, forever changing the fate of the islands.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

22 Mar 202341min

Was Aaron Burr raising an army to invade Mexico? Plotting to break apart the Union? Overthrow the government? Or was his trial for treason – the greatest legal spectacle in our young nation’s history – all much ado about nothing? Kalamazoo College History Professor James E. Lewis, Jr., wrote The Burr Conspiracy: Uncovering the Story of an Early American Crisis. He joins host Lindsay Graham to discuss the mysteries that still surround the Burr conspiracy, and what his highly partisan era can teach us about our own.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

15 Mar 202338min

In the summer of 1807, Richmond, Virginia hosted the most sensational trial in the young nation’s history. At stake was the life of Aaron Burr, who stood accused of plotting an armed insurrection against the United States. The battle over Burr’s guilt or innocence pitted President Thomas Jefferson, who wanted to see his former vice president convicted of treason, against Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, who was committed to the idea that any American citizen, even an alleged traitor, deserved a fair trial.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

8 Mar 202340min