116: The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds

116: The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds

In this episode, Boyd Cothran and Cathleen Cahill sit down with James H. McCommons to discuss his sweeping new book, The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds — publishing March 17, 2026.


📘 Pre-order now:

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250286895/thefeatherwars/


At a moment when conservation feels both urgent and politically contested, McCommons takes us back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when Americans nearly drove some of their most iconic bird species to extinction — not primarily for food, but for fashion. Millions of birds were killed to supply the booming plume trade. Entire rookeries were destroyed so feathers could adorn women’s hats.


But The Feather Wars is about far more than birds. It is a story about how societies change.


McCommons shows that reform required not only outrage, but organization; not only persuasion, but law. The eventual passage of federal wildlife protections reshaped American culture and preserved species that might otherwise have vanished.


As we confront our own era of environmental crisis, this story raises enduring questions: How does a society move from normalization to moral reckoning? When does law follow culture — and when must it lead? What does it take to create durable change?

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Avsnitt(132)

124: A Workplace of their Own: Rockefeller, Roche, and Labor's Battle Over Industrial Democracy

124: A Workplace of their Own: Rockefeller, Roche, and Labor's Battle Over Industrial Democracy

This week we are joined by María E. Montoya to discuss her new book, A Workplace of Their Own: Rockefeller, Roche, and Labor’s Battle Over Industrial Democracy, just published by Oxford University Pre...

9 Sep 1h 11min

123: Magic Lantern Art with Terry Borton

123: Magic Lantern Art with Terry Borton

The Gilded Age and Progressive Era Podcast is back! After our summer hiatus, we're kicking off a new season and returning to our regular every-other-week release schedule. Thanks for your patience ove...

26 Aug 57min

122: The History and Legacy of Anthony Comstock and the Comstock Laws Part 1

122: The History and Legacy of Anthony Comstock and the Comstock Laws Part 1

This week we talk to the editors and authors of a forum on The History and Legacy of Anthony Comstock and the Comstock Laws which was published in the Journal of Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Link t...

3 Juni 1h 1min

121: Speed Capital: Indianapolis Auto Racing and the Making of Modern America

121: Speed Capital: Indianapolis Auto Racing and the Making of Modern America

Today our guest is Dr. Brian Ingrassia Associate Professor of History at West Texas A&M University. He specializes in modern American history with a focus on the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, as wel...

20 Maj 45min

120.5 OAH Conference Sampler

120.5 OAH Conference Sampler

Here's a little bonus for you. A couple of weeks ago, the Organization of American Historians (OAH) held its annual conference in Philadelphia, PA.The Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Prog...

13 Maj 42min

120: Theodore Roosevelt and the Tennis Cabinet

120: Theodore Roosevelt and the Tennis Cabinet

In this episode, we speak with renowned-Roosevelt scholar and former host of the podcast Michael Patrick Cullinane about his new book Theodore Roosevelt and the Tennis Cabinet. We often imagine Theodo...

6 Maj 46min

119: Old Women, Race, and Power

119: Old Women, Race, and Power

We have a special treat for you today - we get to listen in on a panel from the conference Old Women, Race, and Power recorded at the Huntington Library in Pasadena CA.. The panel, "Challenging Coloni...

22 Apr 1h 4min

118: Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress -- And How to Bring it Back

118: Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress -- And How to Bring it Back

Why does it feel like government can’t get things done? From housing to infrastructure to climate, even widely supported policies often stall. In this episode, Boyd Cothran speaks with Marc J. Dunkelm...

8 Apr 1h 3min

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