Episode #231 - Why President McKinley? (...

In this bonus episode Sebastian takes questions about the recent shows on Paul Bunyon and the Children's Crusade. The host takes some time to further unpack the idea of fakelore and draw some distinctions between "authentic" lore and the creations of money writers. Sebastian also ... Show More

In the year 1212 something strange happened in Western Europe, but none of the contemporary historic sources can agree on exactly what it was. Later historians would claim that a religious movement made up of children under twelve sprang up in rural France. After gathering togeth ... Show More

Season 12 begins with the trip to the Northwoods! For over a century Paul Bunyan has been America's best loved lumberjack hero. Statues honoring the gigantic woodsman dot the mid-west. His smiling face has been used to sell everything from building materials to loaves of bread. B ... Show More

<p>It's impossible to assess the historical reputation of President William McKinley without tangling with the Spanish-American War. In this final part of the William McKinley trilogy Sebastian gets into the debate around what actually lead to the war. Could a war with Spain have ... Show More

<p>Why does the Secret Service protect the President of the United States? And what can we learn from McKinley's life and presidency, not just his assassination?</p><br><p>Don speaks with Kim Kenney, Executive Director at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum. Together, they ... Show More

Students, teachers and historians reflect on what has changed — and should change — about the way we teach presidential history today. This special episode features presidential experts Barbara Perry and Julian Zelizer, “How the Word Is Passed” author Clint Smith, and the AP gove ... Show More

In September 1901, President William McKinley visited the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York to deliver a speech celebrating American achievements at home and abroad. But waiting in the crowd in Buffalo was an embittered Polish-American laborer seeking to prove his comm ... Show More

<p>On 6th September, 1901, President William McKinley attended a public reception at the Pan American Exposition, a 6-month-long World’s Fair, in Buffalo, New York. He was at the height of his power, having been re-elected at the beginning of the year. But one of the people who s ... Show More

Money and politics have always been intertwined in America, but before the days of Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg, there was Rockerfeller, Carnegie and Morgan, titans of industry whose political power may have become absolute if they hadn’t underestimated an upstart politician by the ... Show More

Media pundits love to say America is 'divided as never before' -- but how true is that? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into multiple Congressional debacles, from that time a civil war almost happened (before the actual civil war) to that time one guy literally assault ... Show More

It's no secret that politics can often have a dark side -- smoky backrooms, corruption and graft have always had their place in American history. And, amid all the corruption, few institutions are as infamous as Tammany Hall. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the or ... Show More

Who was Grover Cleveland, and why is he one of the most controversial American Presidents of all time? Why was the run up to his first term, in 1884 at the height of the Gilded Age, so pivotal to American politics? How did he rocket to the heights of political power? What dark se ... Show More

<p>Sandwiched between Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson is our 26th President of the United States, William Howard Taft. Did he have the confidence, belief and vision necessary to become a president? And why was he criticised for spending too much time on the golf course?</p> ... Show More