About this episode
Apr 2025
The Cu Chi tunnels of the Vietnam War
9m 43s
Yesterday
Triumph of the Will: A Nazi propaganda film
10m 38s
Mar 6
The invention of the mobility scooter
10m 15s
Nov 2019
The Confederacy Dominated the Early Civil War. So Why Did It Ultimately Lose?
44m 43s
Dec 2021
How Lincoln Almost Lost it All
33m 56s
Oct 2023
The Origins of the KKK and its First Death in the 1870s
39m 10s
Jul 2021
The Lost Robert E. Lee Oath Theory (1975) w/ John Reeves
23m 15s
Oct 2023
What if the South Won the Civil War?
42m 24s
Feb 2024
Origins of the Civil War
34m 54s
May 2022
Reconstruction I: Secession on Trial
39m 24s
Feb 2024
Part One: Robert E. Lee: A Lifetime of Failure
1h 2m
Feb 2023
SYMHC Classics: Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
28m 22s
May 2022
Reconstruction IV: Voting Rights At Last
44 m
The US Civil War of 1861-65 left 700,000 troops dead. The Southern Confederate states rebelled against the Union of the North because the Confederates wanted to protect the right to own slaves. The hero of the rebel cause, General Robert E Lee, was charged with treason and had his citizenship revoked. So why did Congress reinstate his citizenship in 1975 more than one hundred years after his death? Claire Bowes has been speaking to former Democrat Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman who was one of just ten members of Congress to vote against the rehabilitation of General Lee and to John Reeves author of the book, The Lost Indictment of Robert E Lee. They describe how the proposal, put forward by a pro-segregationist Senator from Virginia, passed without even the mention of slavery.
Photo: General Robert E Lee courtesy of the Library of Congress
During the Vietnam War, North Vietnamese VietCong guerrillas built a vast network of tunnels in the south of the country as part of the insurgency against the South Vietnamese government and their American allies. The tunnel network was a key base and shelter for the North Vietna ... Show More
In 1934, one of the most controversial propaganda movies ever made - Triumph of the Will – was filmed at the Nazis’ Nuremberg rally. The two-hour picture was directed by Leni Riefenstahl, once described as Adolf Hitler’s favourite filmmaker. Over four days, scenes of military mar ... Show More
In 1967, American plumber Al Thieme promised his wife with multiple sclerosis that he would find her an alternative to a wheelchair. He came up with a battery-powered seat on wheels. He called it an ‘amigo’ and soon other people wanted one too. In 1968, he founded Amigo Mobility ... Show More
The Confederacy won the early battles of the Civil War, led by brilliant generals Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee (to name a few) against blundering Union commanders like the endlessly dithering George McClellan. The war only turned after Lincoln found the right generals such ... Show More
December 11, 1862. Union Army engineers are urgently constructing a bridge, one that will carry soldiers into the town of Fredericksburg, Virginia, a Confederate stronghold. Union leaders are banking on the element of surprise and are desperate for a victory. But, by the time it’ ... Show More
The Ku Klux Klan was arguably America’s first organized terrorist movement. It was a paramilitary unit that arose in the South during the early years of Reconstruction. At its peak in the early 1870s, the Klan boasted many tens of thousands of members, no small number of them lan ... Show More
<p>It’s July 22nd. This day in 1975, Congress voted to restore citizenship to Robert E. Lee, more than a hundred years after his death.</p>
<p>Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by author John Reeves to talk about why this vote took place, how it tied into a false theory about a ... Show More
<p>What if the Civil War had ended differently, with the South seceding from the Union? Would slavery have continued? Would the southern states have continued as a whole? Would any other states have followed suit?</p><br><p>To explore this hypothetical history, Don spoke to Aaron ... Show More
<p>The war between the Union and the Confederacy is a major turning point in the history of the United States. But why did it happen?</p><br><p>From slavery and states' rights, to economic, legislative, moral, and political issues, in this episode, Don and Professor Adam Smith ex ... Show More
May 10, 1865. Jefferson Davis is awakened by gunshots. The president of the defeated and disbanded Confederate States of America is on the run, and today, federal troops finally catch him. His arrest puts the face of the Confederacy behind bars. But it also creates a problem for ... Show More
<p>Robert sits down with Jason Petty aka Prop to begin the epic story of Robert E. Lee, prominent furry, slave owner and Confederate General.</p> <p>(4 Part Series)</p> <p>Sources:</p> <ol> <li><a href="https://archive.org/stream/memoirsrobertel01wriggoog/memoirsrobertel01wriggoo ... Show More
In 2016, Secretary of Education Dr. John B. King Jr. joined Tracy to discuss the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which gave rebelling states 100 days to return to the Union or have their enslaved population freed during the U.S. Civil War.See omnystudio.com/listener for pr ... Show More
May 26, 1965. One hundred years after the Civil War, Congress is debating a bill whose goal is to enforce the 15th amendment, which, in 1870, promised the right to vote regardless of race. But that’s not what happened. Now the Civil Rights movement is saying: It’s time to make re ... Show More