logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2024
32m 39s

John Birch vs. the PTA

Pushkin Industries
About this episode

In the 1960s, a right-wing organization led by a former candy tycoon rose to fame in America for their anti-communist campaigns. They called themselves the John Birch Society. Then, they tried to take over the Parent-Teacher Association. This week, what the battle between the two organizations tells us about the fate of American politics, and the history of your Halloween candy.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Nov 2024
Gambling with Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis, host of Against the Rules and author of Moneyball, The Big Short, Liar’s Poker, and Going Infinite, joins Malcolm to talk about the wild world of sports betting. Then, a preview of Against the Rules season 4, which is legal in New Jersey (listen to find out why), o ... Show More
52m 33s
Dec 2024
A Very Terminator Christmas
What happens when the biggest movie star in the world directs the smallest Christmas film on basic cable? A holiday miracle.  Today on the show: The never-before-published, extremely bizarre story of the making of ‘Christmas in Connecticut’... the remake.  See omnystudio.com/list ... Show More
44m 18s
Jan 2025
How to Trust and Be Trusted with Rachel Botsman
Rachel Botsman, Oxford University Lecturer and author of the new Pushkin audiobook How to Trust and Be Trusted, joins Malcolm to talk about how to make smart decisions about trust. Then, a preview of How to Trust and Be Trusted, which is available on Spotify, Audible or wherever ... Show More
35m 52s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2024
John Birch vs. the PTA
In the 1960s, a right-wing organization led by a former candy tycoon rose to fame in America for their anti-communist campaigns. They called themselves the John Birch Society. Then, they tried to take over the Parent-Teacher Association. This week, what the battle between the two ... Show More
33m 8s
Jul 2024
Listen Now: American History Tellers, First Ladies
The Cold War, Prohibition, the Gold Rush, the Space Race. Every part of your life - the words you speak, the ideas you share - can be traced to our history, but how well do you really know the stories that made America? We'll take you to the events, the times and the people that ... Show More
7m 55s
Jun 2025
Part One: The Black Bloc: It’s a Tactic, Not an Organization
Margaret talks with Molly Conger about the history of protestors wearing black and masks while fighting neoliberalism and fascism. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
58m 30s
Feb 2024
Part One: The Easter Rising: How a Bunch of Irish Poets and Union Organizers Took On the British Empire, Died, and Then Won
Margaret talks with Katy Stoll about the motley collection of rebels who sparked Irish independence.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 
57m 43s
Oct 2024
How Lobbying Led to Crony Capitalism, with Brody Mullins
<p>As the United States elections draw near, everyone is wondering who will take control of Washington next. In this week’s Capitalisn’t episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Brody Mullins reveals how the real winner will be neither Democrats nor Republicans. Rather, it will b ... Show More
43m 7s
Jun 2024
Season 3, Episode 8: James & Tom Risen, The Last Honest Man: the CIA, the FBI, the Mafia, and the Kennedy's - and one Senator's Fight to Save Democracy
Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs in his conversation with authors James and Tom Risen on their important, new book The Last Honest Man, a gripping biography of Idaho Senator, Frank Church.  The Risens describe the remarkable events of 1975, when Senator Church almost single-handedly ... Show More
52m 20s
Nov 2023
Black Scare / Red Scare with Charisse Burden-Stelly
<p class="MsoNormal">The Red Scare — perhaps most well known through the era of McCarthyism that dominated the social, political, and legal spheres of the U.S. in the 1950s — is actually much more than just a brief window of time where communists in the United States were vilifie ... Show More
1h 4m
Oct 2024
Why Don't Sex Scandals Matter Anymore?
<p>In 1987, Gary Hart was a young charismatic Democrat, poised to win his party’s nomination and possibly the presidency. Many of us know the story of what happened next, and even if you don’t, it’s a familiar tale. Back in 2016, we examined how, when this happened, politicians a ... Show More
43m 34s
Mar 2020
Kristen Hoerl, "Bad Sixties: Hollywood Memories of the Counterculture, Antiwar, and Black Power Movements" (UP of Mississippi, 2018)
On this episode of the New Books Network, Dr. Lee Pierce (she/they)--Asst. Prof. of Rhetoric and Communication at the State University of New York at Geneseo--interviews Kristen Hoerl (she/hers) on her impressive new book The Bad Sixties: Hollywood Memories of the Counterculture, ... Show More
57m 20s
Apr 2025
[BEST OF] Texas and the Roots of U.S. Fascism w/ Gerald Horne
<p><em><strong>ORIGINALLY RELEASED Feb 4, 2023</strong></em></p> <p>In this episode of <a href= "https://guerrillahistory.libsyn.com/">Guerrilla History</a>, we unpack Gerald Horne's explosive and essential work <em data-start= "321" data-end="409">The Counter-Revolution of 1836: ... Show More
1h 32m