Dec 2019

Best of 2019: Nefertiti

Here’s one of our listeners’ most requested episodes of 2019: This famous Queen ruled Egypt during the mid-14th century, BC, over a period of immense religious upheaval. With her husband, she conspired to convert all of Egypt from the traditional polytheistic religion to the wors ... Show More

44m 3s

Dec 2019

Father Miguel Hidalgo

For centuries, Mexico lived under the rule of Spain. In that time, a discriminatory caste system was created to keep non-Europeans in their place. However, one priest, inspired by the thinkers of the Enlightenment, would cast the first stone and help bring about Mexico’s independ ... Show More

48m 8s

Nov 2019

Pope Gregory XIII

Best remembered for his invention of the calendar we still use today, Pope Gregory XIII became a voice for reform in the Catholic Church by pulling the Vatican out of the dark ages and into the modern era. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

49m 45s

Apr 2022

Jackie Robinson Tries Out for the Majors

April 16, 1945. Jackie Robinson is ready. He’s won a tryout with the Boston Red Sox, and if he makes the team, he will become the first player to break baseball’s long-standing racial divide. Robinson puts his supreme athletic skills on full display… but never hears back from the ... Show More

31m 27s

Nov 2022

Jackie Robinson Tries Out for the Majors (History This Week Replay)

April 16, 1945. Jackie Robinson is ready. He’s won a tryout with the Boston Red Sox, and if he makes the team, he will become the first player to break baseball’s long-standing racial divide. Robinson puts his supreme athletic skills on full display… but never hears back from the ... Show More

29m 3s

Sep 2016

How the Negro Leagues Worked

A decade before the U.S. officially segregated in 1896, baseball banned black players. A decade before the US integrated, baseball broke the color barrier. Between, the Negro Leagues produced some of the finest players to ever take the field. Learn more about your ad-choices at h ... Show More

54m 39s

Jul 2023

Trying to Reverse the Decline of Black Players in Major League Baseball

Baseball was once known for breaking racial barriers in the U.S. But now, Black representation in the major leagues is at its lowest level in decades. This year, MLB did something to try and change that, by staging the first annual HBCU Swingman Classic. It's an opportunity for p ... Show More

12m 51s

Feb 2012

Jack Johnson and the Fight of the Century

During Jack Johnson's time, the heavyweight championship was unofficially a whites-only title. Despite discrimination, he fought title-holder Tommy Burns in 1908. Johnson became the first black heavyweight champion, but some questioned his legitimacy. Learn more about your ad-cho ... Show More

28m 57s

Jan 2023

Second Place Finishers: Larry Doby, Judith Resnik & The Dave Clark Five

We love historical “Firsts” so much that we end up ignoring the people who come right after them. But without these runners-up, the trailblazers are just one-offs or oddities––instead of the beginning of big change. Mo celebrates the Black baseball great who joined the major leag ... Show More

47m 1s

Feb 2024

How college footballers led the fight against racism in 1969

It's 1969 at the University of Wyoming, where college football is treated like a second religion. But after racist treatment at an away game, 14 Black players decide to take a stand, and are hit with life-changing consequences. From our play cousins across the pond, our own B.A. ... Show More

32m 30s

Jan 2023

Jeremy O. Harris

When asked what Slave Play is about, Jeremy O. Harris responds, “Slave Play is a slave play. And you should go see it.” The play, which wrestled with sex and race, was as controversial as it was successful. Today we talk about his time spent at the Yale School of Drama, the origi ... Show More

39m 23s

Feb 2022

Black Baseball Goes Pro

Feb 13, 1920. For over thirty years, Black baseball players have been locked out of the major leagues. So on this day in Kansas City, Rube Foster, a former pitcher and now a team owner, is trying to make his own league just for Black players. He has gathered owners of other Black ... Show More

31m 26s

Dec 2022

Remix: Brian Flores and Colman Domingo on Black America

This season on The Limits, host Jay Williams has spoken to some incredibly successful people. But no matter how famous they've become or how high they've risen on the corporate ladder, they always circle back to the role of race in their lives and their industries. In this final ... Show More

18m 2s