“My men never retire. They go forward, or they die!” This is the story of the 15th New York, a.k.a, the 369th, or the Harlem Hellfighters. James “Big Jim” Europe is one of the most talented musicians in the world. His ragtime and early jazz sounds electrify New York City. That’s exactly why Colonel William “Big Bill” Hayward, who’s just been named commander of New York’s newly established Black regiment (the 15th) wants the young machine gun officer to step into his rightly earned celebrity stat...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Marshal Foch, you have no authority as Allied Commander-in-Chief to call upon me to yield up my command of the American Army and have it scattered among the Allied Forces where it will not be an American army at all.” This is the story of the first battle of the First American Army. Fresh off of an Allied victory at Amiens, Supreme Commander Ferdinand Foch has new ideas for a combined Allied strategy along the Meuse and in the Argonne forest. But his plan comes at a cost to the Americans, ready...
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast “Every time I have felt annoyed since then at France, this picture comes to mind and my anger softens.” This is the story of the Great War’s turning point. After a fourth and failed Spring Offensive operation, German General Erich Luddendorf is ready to make a fifth push. He’s making a pincer movement around the city of Reims, and to its west, on the banks of the Marne River, the US 3rd Division finds itself caught in a fight that the French present call worse than Verdun. It’s a slaughter, but ...
Jun 19, 2023•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast The impact of the 1918 Battle of Belleau Wood on the US Marine Corps is hard to overstate. Though in existence since 1775, the Corps was reborn in those woods. Not only did it give rise to new lore, but a whole generation of future leaders. Given its significance, Greg sits down with Captain Mac Caldwell of the US Marine Corps to go several cuts deeper on Belleau Wood and its legacy right into the twenty-first century. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographi...
Jun 05, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is the story of the first real battles of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in World War I. Carrying out his third operation of the German Spring Offensive, General Erich Ludendorff is hoping to distract the French before delivering a KO punch to the Brits farther north in Flanders. But this offensive is going far too well to let up. German troops are advancing rapidly down here. This mere diversion has taken them to Château-Thierry on the banks of the Marne River! Erich can’t help but...
May 22, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Lafayette, nous sommes ici!” (Lafayette, we are here!) This is the story of a nation building an army from nothing. After years of trying to avoid entanglements with and war in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson has asked Congress for a declaration of war against Germany. But that’s easier said than done. The US might be the world’s greatest industrial producer and have a large population, but will the nation’s population of heavily first- and second-generation American citizens (or non-citizens)...
May 08, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast “I still think I see the struggling of poor passengers in the water.” This is the story of the United States’ path into the Great War. The United States wishes to stay out of the Great War. Woodrow Wilson wins reelection (barely) on that very basis. But as Germany contends with Britain’s blockade, its submarines, or “U-boats,” are attacking merchant and passenger ships (like the RMS Lusitania) without warning. This policy is touch and go, but worse still, the US learns in February 1917 that Germ...
Apr 24, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Starting the Great War (World War I) and covering this massive conflict up to 1917 has been a pretty big task unto itself. So, before we go in close on America's role, Greg and Kelsi sit down to digest and talk through a few aspects of the War, as well as share a few additional stories and experiences. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette com...
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast To say Russia had a difficult go of it during World War I would be a gross understatement. Millions of dead, lost territory, soldiers charging into battle without guns, starvation, a less than savory holy man influencing the Czar and Czarina, and of course, revolution! How do we even begin to wrap our heads around all of that, let alone contemplate the impact on the United States? Simple: we talk it out with Greg’s UVU colleague, Deputy Provost Kat Brown. A historian and expert on Russia, Kat jo...
Mar 27, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast “In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row.” This is the story of the first two and a half years of the Great War, particularly, of the Western Front. These are the years leading to the United States’ entry. After saving two German warships, the Ottoman Empire joins the Great War as a Central Power. Meanwhile, the work of death is moving forward on a scale unlike any other seen. Improved, or altogether new, weapons—rapid firing repeating rifles, machine guns, gas, flam...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Sopherl, Sopherl! Don’t die on me. Live for our children.” This is the 99-year story of Europe’s descent into total war. The Napoleonic Wars devastated Europe. The continent’s five great powers responded by meeting in Vienna in 1815 to establish a balance of power between them. In the future, no single power should be able to lead the continent into war. They also agree to meet as a “Concert of Europe” to hash out future developments. The years give way to decades. The Concert endures the risin...
Feb 27, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast “It would be the irony of fate if my administration had to deal chiefly with foreign affairs.” This is the story of the lesser-known aspects of Woodrow Wilson’s presidency–the events outside of World War I. The Progressive Era is still in full force as Woodrow Wilson enters the White House. Amid constitutional amendments 16 and 17, Woodrow continues to carry this wave of reform with a new central banking system, income tax, and monopoly-checking regulations. He does so, however, at the expense o...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast “Now, how would you like to be a reporter, if you have got nothing better to do?” This is the story of a reporter–a muckraker–answering a boy who wants to know if Santa Clause actually exists. And somehow, it’s an answer that manages to mention Theodore Roosevelt. This is Jacob Riis’ Is There a Santa Clause? ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations join discussions in our Facebook community get news and discounts from The HTDS Gazet...
Dec 19, 2022•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast So much to say–it’s been a while! Kelsi and Greg share stories that they wish made it into some episodes, but alas, just couldn’t (looking at you, Ellis Island). Greg expresses his deep sympathy for K-12 teachers that are expected to teach “all” US history in a single year because that’s just an impossible task. And there’s a bit of discussion about newsletters and HTDS LIVE in New York City! ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendations...
Dec 05, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Transcript available on Metacast “It’s true. But it takes more than that to kill a bull moose.” This is the story of one of the most unique, bitter, impactful, and noteworthy elections in US history: the presidential election of 1912. President William H. Taft is sure that he’s carrying on the progressive legacy of his dear friend and mentor, Theodore Roosevelt. But TR disagrees. Returning from an African safari and European tour, Teddy feels compelled to challenge his old friend for the GOP nomination as he touts his progressi...
Nov 21, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Not in a thousand years would man ever fly.” This is the story of two brothers and the dream of controlled, sustained, and powered flight in a heavier-than-air flying machine. The Wrights are a tight-knit bunch. A supportive family. So perhaps it’s not surprising that, when Wilbur sinks into a deep, dark depression brought on by a terrible beating, his brother Orville is there for him. Just like Will and their sister Kate are there for Orv when Typhoid nearly takes his life. These siblings are ...
Nov 07, 2022•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast “I am writing this under an appreciable mental strain, since by tonight I shall be no more.” This is the story of a lonely, isolated figure who escapes a decaying castle only to have a frightful realization. It is also the story of a WWI sailor meeting unknown terrors in the middle of the Pacific. Welcome to the mind of Edgar Allan Poe’s successor; one whose impact on popular culture defies quantification; an author whom Stephen King has dubbed “the twentieth-century horror story’s dark and baro...
Oct 24, 2022•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Your car is self-contained–it carries its own power-plant … keep at it.” This is the story of the rise of the automobile and mass production. Powerful steam engines. Electric lights and telephones. The Second Industrial Revolution is radically remaking the turn-of-the-century United States. It’s in this world of technological change that a Michigan farm boy finds himself drawn into the growing “horseless carriage” craze, and particularly, to an emerging technology known as the internal combusti...
Oct 10, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast “I am not quite sure of the exact place or exact date of my birth, but at any rate, I suspect I must have been born somewhere and at some time.” This is the story of a hardening Jim Crow color line. Lynchings and race riots. Black troops in Brownsville being summarily discharged “without honor.” Black Americans are indeed watching as Reconstruction-Era progress erodes. What can they do? Booker T. Washington has a vision. This Southerner of self-reliance–a former slave who’s gained an education a...
Sep 26, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast “President Wilson, how long must we wait for liberty?” This is the story of women’s suffrage. According to the legal doctrine of coverture, a married woman is “covered” by her husband. Legally, economically, politically—she largely ceases to exist. Yet, does widowed colonial Lydia Taft get to vote? And why does Revolutionary New Jersey buck the system, specifically writing a voting law that describes voters as “he or she,” then later disenfranchise women? Decades pass, but the idea of women’s su...
Sep 12, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast “That’s the light of freedom! Remember that. Freedom.” This is the story of 40% of modern America’s ancestors—this is the story of Ellis Island. Religious persecution. Economic devastation. Stifling political regimes. Whether fleeing for their lives or simply to improve them, Europeans—especially Eastern and Southern Europeans—are flocking to turn-of-the-century America. But no port is busier than New York City. The journey is no laughing matter. Many immigrants are traveling nearly penniless as...
Aug 29, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast With the Presidency of Teddy Roosevelt covered, Greg sits down with Zach and Kelsi to talk favorite stories (especially those that didn’t make it in the episodes) and take in the big picture of this bigger-than-life President. Zach’s settled in. Greg’s owning his botched pronunciation of “Reading, PA.” Kelsi’s landing some jabs. The sarcasm and snark is almost as strong as the history in this one! ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommenda...
Aug 15, 2022•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast “I [will] be obliged to interfere, by force if necessary, if the Germans [take] any action which look[s] like the acquisition of territory in Venezuela.” This is the story of foreign policy (“Big Stick” Diplomacy) in the Theodore Roosevelt White House. TR loves the West African proverb: “Speak softly and carry a big stick: you will go far.” It defines the Cowboy President’s approach to life—particularly to foreign affairs—and as Germany rattles the saber at indebted Venezuela, Monroe Doctrine-su...
Aug 01, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Legendary podcaster and composer (but not US Senator) Lindsay Graham is a dear friend of HTDS and an integral part of the podcast's sound. Today, he gets behind the mic with the Prof. to interrogate the oft-repeated adage "those who don't study history are doomed to repeat it." So ... is it true? Centering the conversation around our current HTDS period (Gilded Age and into the Progressive Era) while pulling from various philosophers and thinkers (Hegel, Twain, Churchill, Santayana, and more...
Jul 18, 2022•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Very well then–I so declare it.” This is the story of the final “C” of President Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal: conservationism. Teddy loves the outdoors. He loves to challenge himself in the American wilderness. He also fears the nation’s natural resources and various species are disappearing. And TR won’t let that stand. From Florida’s Pelican Island to the Arizona Territory’s extremely large canyon—perhaps “grand,” you might say—and far beyond, TR is out to create bird reserves, national ...
Jun 20, 2022•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast “In Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress you may recall the description of the Man with the Muck Rake …” This is the story of another “C” in Teddy’s Square Deal: “consumer protection.” The nation is grappling with new ideas on how involved the Federal Government should be in the lives of US citizens. Earthquake and fire levels San Francisco but no one expects executive action. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is torn on the Constitutionality of New York’s Bakeshop Act and TR’s Chicago meatpacking investigato...
Jun 06, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast “If we have done anything wrong, send your man to my man and they can fix it up.” This is the first story of President Theodore Roosevelt’s Square Deal: “corporate regulation.” J. Pierpont Morgan hates economic volatility. He’s determined to eliminate that plaguing element from some of his railroad lines by making the competing Union Pacific a friend. He’ll do so by creating a stockholding company called “Northern Securities.” But is this an illegal trust? Or just good business? Teddy and his At...
May 23, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast “I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.” This is the story of (another) presidential assassination and the life of the man it brings to the White House: Theodore Roosevelt. Though a sickly and asthmatic child, “Teedie,” as his family calls the child, works hard to build his physical strength. To take on the bullies who pick on him. Teddy grows up to become a rowing, boxing, and mountaineering athlete with an equally inquisitive mind. Assemblym...
May 09, 2022•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Greg, Zach, and Kelsi sit down for a chat about America’s surprisingly compact burst of turn-of-the-century overseas expansion (Age of Imperialism). They talk through an overarching overview of the era; highlight some of the things that, while in previous episodes, might have been less obvious (coaling stations, anyone?); and wax eloquent on historical research while sharing a small behind-the-scenes comedy of errors that went down amid the research for an episode. Hope you enjoy it. ____ Connec...
Apr 25, 2022•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast “Only dead men can tell the truth in this world. It can be published after I am dead.” This is the story of imperialism and presidential politics: the election of 1900. US President William McKinley is looking for reelection. The economy is strong, the nation is powerful, and it's expanding overseas. For many Americans, that all sounds and looks rather good. But for others, this overseas imperial expansion is a betrayal of American values. With famous names like Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie be...
Apr 11, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
