395 The Great New York Fire of 1776

What if loyalty, not rebellion, was the default position in revolutionary British North America? It’s easy to forget that before 1776, most colonists identified as proud Britons. They didn’t see them...

23 Sep 20251h 1min

When we think of the American Revolution, we often focus on the patriots who fought for independence. But what about the Loyalists—those who chose to remain faithful to the British crown? In this epi...

16 Sep 20251h 10min

When we think about the founding of the United States, we often focus on the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and those first landmark elections. But how did the United States actually build its f...

9 Sep 20251h 20min

Each September, Constitution Day marks the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787. But beyond celebration, this commemoration invites deeper reflection: Whose voices helped shape this...

2 Sep 20251h 16min

What happens when the very people meant to uphold justice become the ones exploiting it? In the 1760s, North Carolina farmers watched sheriffs pocket their tax payments, judges rule in favor of corru...

26 Aug 20251h 4min

Revolutionary upheaval didn't just reshape governments—it transformed daily life for ordinary families across colonial America.  In this revisited episode, historian Cynthia Kierner reveals the remar...

19 Aug 20251h 5min

We often learn about slavery in early America through broad economic or political terms—cotton, sugar, markets, revolutions. But what happens when we turn our focus to the lived experiences of enslave...

12 Aug 20251h 2min

When we think about slavery in early America, we often rightfully focus on the human toll–the violence, the exploitation, the dehumanization that defined the institution. But slavery wasn’t just a sys...

5 Aug 202552min