Sultana: Civil War's Last Forgotten Disaster
In the spring of 1865, just days after the Civil War ended and President Lincoln was laid to rest, one final tragedy struck a nation desperate to move on. On the night of April 27, the overcrowded Uni...
29 Dec 202512min
When Bloodletting was the Cure
For more than two thousand years, one medical treatment dominated Western medicine: bloodletting. From ancient Greece to the 19th century, physicians believed that draining a patient's blood could cur...
28 Dec 202514min
WWII's Battle Against Venereal Disease
During World War II, the U.S. military fought enemies on beaches, in jungles, and in the skies, but it also faced a quieter, deeply embarrassing crisis within its own ranks. Venereal disease sidelined...
27 Dec 202512min
Why History Matters, with David McCullough
In this interview episode, I'm joined by Dorie McCullough Lawson and Michael Hill, the editors behind History Matters, a powerful collection drawn from the words and work of David McCullough. Together...
26 Dec 202521min
JFK's Hidden Health Crisis
To the American public, John F. Kennedy embodied youth, energy, and vigor—a president who promised a New Frontier and appeared to stride confidently into history. Behind the scenes, however, the reali...
25 Dec 202514min
The Teenager Who Invented the Television
Television reshaped the modern world, but its invention did not begin in a laboratory funded by a major corporation. It started in a plowed field. As a teenager growing up on a Utah farm, Philo Farnsw...
24 Dec 202513min
Bigfoot: America's Most Enduring Legend
Long before grainy videos and blurry photographs flooded the internet, stories of a mysterious, human-like creature roaming the forests of North America were already deeply rooted in Indigenous tradit...
23 Dec 202513min
What is the Secret to Happiness? Harvard's 80 Year Old Study's Findings
In the late 1930s, Harvard researchers began an unprecedented study: tracking hundreds of people across their entire lives to answer a deceptively simple question: what makes us happy? For more than e...
22 Dec 202511min
