History That Doesn't Suck

09/05/2024

If you would like to learn more about the topic of our most recent episode (Episode 155), HTDS recommends "The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country" by Latin McCartney.

07/05/2024

"Is this really the 'worst election ever'?"

This year's election is already bringing out the fear and "worst ever" language. While still not getting partisan, my goal with this talk is to help us gain some historical perspective–to help us remember (or learn) that it's pretty bold if not down right hubristic to think that past generations had it easier. I don't say this to excuse or dismiss our present concerns, but actually to give a bit of hope: if they could overcome their challenges and pass the torch of American democracy down to us, then we should be able to do the same.

Hope you enjoy it:

Political passions run hot in an election year. What can we learn from the past about partisanship and electioneering? A lot. History is complicated. It requ...

06/05/2024

“If you knew of a great scandal in our administration, would you for the good of the country and the party expose it publicly or would you bury it?”

This is the story of a brilliant man’s presidency and the greatest presidential scandal to precede Watergate. This is the story of Warren G. Harding and the Teapot Dome Scandal.

Growing up in Ohio, Warren–or little “Winnie,” as his mom calls him–shows his brilliance from day one. The smart, charismatic, and handsome boy grows up to become a newspaperman and falls in love with politics while reporting. He soon becomes a rising star, holding Ohio then national offices. Taking the reins of government after World War I, the Republican hopes to return the post-war, economically downtrodden, and fearful nation to “normalcy.”

But can he return the nation to “normalcy” while his friends in the “Ohio Gang” are making shady deals? And what does Warren know of these deals? Is he naive? Or is the several-times adulterous president, who copes with the stress of office through drink and gambling, in on it? That’s the question we’ll ask ourselves as we follow his less-than-a-full-term presidency.

Find it now where you get your podcasts!

30/04/2024

235 years ago today George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States.

Rewind all the way back to Episode 1 of HTDS to learn about a young George Washington and the events that led him to the presidency.

25/04/2024

On April 25, 1898 the US Congress declared war on Spain, one day after Spain declared war on the US. Tensions between the two countries had escalated since the February explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor.

Rewind to episode 104 of HTDS to learn more about the road to the Spanish-American War.

24/04/2024

Professor Jackson sits down with fellow Prof. Ben Sawyer of the Road to Now Podcast and Middle Tennessee State University to chat through the last volume episodes. Russia, the Red Scare, the second Klan, and more, while Ben gets Greg to share behind-the-scenes details on the writing process. Enjoy!

22/04/2024

We had a great time at our show in CT!

20/04/2024

The hit podcast "History That Doesn't Suck" is on a new live tour. The show combines 100 years in 100 minutes and audiences learn about history through music, media and laughs. Greg Jackson, professor at Utah Valley University and Host of "History That Doesn’t Suck" joins CBS New York to discuss.

15/04/2024

This quote was written by Franklin to French physicist Jean Baptiste Le Roy in a letter dated Nov. 13, 1789. However, he was not the first to use a variation of this phrase. It first appeared in a 1716 play called “The Cobler of Preston” by Christopher Bullock. Regardless of it is origins, it is one of the most widely used expressions (especially on tax day... thanks, Ben!). Happy Tax Day!

09/04/2024

On this day in 1865, General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to U.S. Army General Ulysses S. Grant, the beginning of the end of four years of bloody, deadly conflict.



Witness this and other important moments in the first 100 years of American history as told live on stage by Professor Greg Jackson, with live music and video, based on his popular podcast History That Doesn't Suck, 7:30pm Thursday, April 18th at Sacred Heart University Community Theater in Fairfield, CT and 2:00pm Sunday, April 21st at NJPAC in Newark, NJ.
Tickets and more info at https://buff.ly/47OVCv0

HTDS Live! Join the Prof and team for a legit, hard-hitting history of this American Union Click the city link below for tickets.  More dates and cities to be announced soon. May 26 - 27, 2023 — San Antonio, TXAugust 25, 2023 — Loveland, CO - Sold out!September 16, 2023 — Kalispell, MTOctober...

08/04/2024

“I want to say make no settlement until they sign up that every bloody murderer of a guard has got to go.”

This is the story of the largest uprising in the United States since the Civil War. Episode 153: "West Virginia's Mine Wars: From Trouble in Matewan to the Battle of Blair Mountain" is available now!

Photo: MW officials and members of the "miner's army" display a bomb dropped on them during the Battle of Blair Mountain. Originally published in the Charleston Gazette on December 11, 1921.

28/03/2024

The two wives of President Wilson were quite different from each other. Ellen passed away just a year into Wilson's presidency. He married Edith not long after. She was very influential in his presidency, especially after he suffered a stroke in October 1919. If you want to learn more about these two First Ladies, HTDS recommends "Ellen and Edith: Woodrow Wilson's First Ladies" but Kristie Miller. You can also hear more about them in Episode 147 of HTDS.

Get the book here: https://amzn.to/3vioiOl

25/03/2024

“Every official except one elected yesterday at the first municipal election of this borough had been endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan.”

This is the story of the Second Ku Klux Klan.

It’s been nearly half a century since the Third Enforcement Act killed off the Klan in 1871. But amid Jim Crow segregation in 1915, the lynching of a Jewish Georgian Leo Frank, coupled with a new film, The Birth of a Nation, inspires William Simmons to resurrect the Klan.

This new Klan has a longer list of enemies. While still opposed to Black Americans fully integrating into American society, this K*K also targets Jews and Catholics. It’s also more politically connected than the first Klan. While Klansmen will participate in violence–including the near annihilation of the Black quarter of Tulsa, Oklahoma–most Kluxers are more focused on politics. As membership swells into the millions, the Klan’s endorsed candidates will win seats in Congress, state houses, and city councils across the nation. Yet, the Klan will come crashing down almost as quickly as it rose in the 1920s. We’ll find out why.

Episode 152 is available now!

23/03/2024

"I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" These famous words were spoken on March 23, 1775 by Patrick Henry. He was speaking to The Second Virginia Revolutionary Convention at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. Henry was a Founding Father and major influence during the Revolutionary War.

While on tour in Virginia, Professor Jackson got to visit St. John's Church and have a discussion with "Patrick Henry". You can hear more about Patrick Henry in Episode 5 of HTDS.

20/03/2024

We are introduced to "Molly Pitcher" in Episode 10 of HTDS. But who is Molly Pitcher? Is she Mary Ludwig Hays who fought in the Battle of Monmouth? Or is she Margaret Corbin who fought the Hessian troops at Fort Washington? It has even been suggested that "Molly Pitcher" could be a generic term for the brave women who took part in the Revolutionary War.

Podcast

Photo: The women of '76: "Molly Pitcher" the heroine of Monmouth
Currier & Ives. - LOC Prints and Photographs Division

18/03/2024

As we continue to highlight women in history for Women's History Month, HTDS recommends "The First, The Few, The Forgotten: Navy and Marine Corps Women in World War 1" by Jean Ebbert and Marie-Beth Hall. Get it here: https://amzn.to/3uY1vrd

Hear more about these heroic women in Episode 139 of HTDS.

13/03/2024

Anna Blair Etheridge (Annie or "Gentle Annie") was a Union Nurse and Vivandière who served during the Civil War. She was famous for her courage during battle as she would frequently ride to the front lines to tend to the wounded soldiers. Etheridge was one of two women honored with the Kearny Cross for her bravery in service. We were introduced to Annie in Episode 63: Wounded and Dying: Nurses, Doctors, and Disease in the Civil War.



Photo: LOC

11/03/2024

“Palmer, do not let this country see red.”

This is the story of America’s First Red Scare. On June 2, 1919, Attorney General Mitchell Palmer is just going to bed when the first floor of his home is blown apart. It was a bomb, and part of a larger plot to attack several national leaders. It’s the work of anarchists.

Shaken to the core, Mitch is determined to use his position as AG to rid the nation of such extremist, violent leftists–anarchists, Bolsheviks, and the like. Mitch turns to the Bureau of Investigation (the predecessor of the FBI) to help round up foreign Reds. He’ll find a bright young lawyer named J. Edgar Hoover particularly useful in his “Palmer Raids.”

But as famed socialist Eugen Debs goes to prison for speaking against the war and union workers get treated like they’re a part of the far left, some start to wonder: is the AG still protecting the nation from violent radicals, or is he conducting a witch hunt? With bombings scaring the nation and Wall Street, the nation must debate where to draw the line between security and liberty.

Check out our latest episode! Available now.

photo: A. Mitchell Palmer and Gov. Woodrow Wilson (ca1910-1915) Bain News Services, Publisher; LOC

09/03/2024

When war broke out many young girls, like Katherine Schaub, went to work in factories to help with the war effort. Schaub was one of the Radium Girls who contracted radiation poisoning while painting watch dials with luminous paint that contained radium.

You can learn more about Katherine and the other "shining girls" on Episode 139 of HTDS or we recommend reading "Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women" by Kate Moore.

07/03/2024

It's Women's History Month and we will be highlighting some of the women we've met in past episodes of HTDS. Opha May Johnson was born May 4, 1878 in Kokomo, IN. She became the first woman to enlist in the Marine Corps on August 13, 1918 (because she was first in line of over 300 women waiting to enlist in the Marine Corps Reserve during World War 1).

You can learn more about Opha May Johnson in Episode 139: From Yeomen (F) to "Hello Girls": American Women in WW1.

05/03/2024

On March 5, 1904 Nikola Tesla tried to explain the phenomenon of "ball lightning" in Electrical World and Engineer. Here is a famous photo taken several years earlier of Tesla, with his equipment for producing high-frequency alternating currents. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Rewind to episode 96: "The War of the Currents: Thomas Alva Edison vs Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse" to learn more about this young genius and his quest to illuminate the world.

28/02/2024

If you'd like to learn more about the Unknown Soldier, HTDS recommends "The Unknowns: The Untold Story of America's Unknown Soldier and WW1's Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home" by Patrick K. O'Donnell.

26/02/2024

Ray Christian has voiced several Black Americans on HTDS in the past. Once again, he’s lent his gifts to Episode 150, bringing Blaise Diagne and Marcus Garvey to life.

You can hear Ray on his podcast "What's Ray Saying?". He is also featured on . Follow him on X . Thank you, Ray!

26/02/2024

24/02/2024

New episode coming Monday! Find out what happens after WW1. Find it wherever you get your podcasts.

22/02/2024

Happy birthday, George-ous!

George Washington was born 292 years ago today on Feb. 22, 1732. Technically, though, he was born on Feb.11th on the Julian calendar, which was still in use for the first twenty years of our first president's life.

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19/02/2024

We had a great time at our live shows over the weekend. Hope you are enjoying a day off today for President's Day. If you could add one president to Mount Rushmore who would it be?

16/02/2024

We are always trying to bring you merch that doesn't suck. You know how we do that... Rewind.

Get yours today! https://htds-team-shop.fourthwall.com