Lectures in History

Pepperdine University professor Loretta Hunnicutt taught a class about baseball during the Great Depression. She looked at the role of baseball in American culture and the origins of sports journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Maryland history professor Michael discussed, in the second of a two part lecture, the 1893 trial of Lizzie Borden. She was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe. The murders and trial received widespread publicity at the time and Lizzie Borden became a lasting figure in American popular culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Maryland history professor Michael Ross discussed the 1893 trial of Lizzie Borden, who was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe. The murders and trial received widespread publicity at the time and Lizzie Borden became a lasting figure in American popular culture. This is the first of a two-part lecture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard Brookhiser has written and edited for National Review magazine for over 50 years. He has also written books about George Washington, James Madison, John Marshall, Alexander Hamilton, and "gentleman revolutionary" Gouverneur Morris. Now comes his latest, "Glorious Lessons: John Trumbull, Painter of the American Revolution." Trumbull, who lived between 1756 and 1843, was most famous for his 4 very large paintings about the Revolutionary War on the walls of the rotunda in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first week of publication of Erik Larson's latest book, "The Demon of Unrest," sales put it at the very top of the bestseller list. It's about the start of the Civil War, with a focus on the five months between Abraham Lincoln's election and the day of the first shot fired on Fort Sumter, which is off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina. That was April 12, 1861. In his introduction, Erik Larson writes: "I invite you now to step into the past, to that time of fear and dissension…I suspect your sense of dread will be all the more pronounced in light of today's political discord…" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1943, in the middle of World War II, the Allied leaders FDR, Winston Churchill, and Josef Stalin were planning to meet secretly in Tehran. The Nazis wanted to kill them. In his book "Night of the Assassins," author Howard Blum tells the story of "Operation Long Jump," the code name for the Nazi plan to assassinate the Allied leaders. In telling this story, author Blum says: "I wanted to write a suspenseful character-driven story of men, heroes, and villains caught up in a tense, desperate time, who needed to find courage and cunning to do their duty for their countries and to fulfill their own sense of honor." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Indiana University history professor Carolina Ortega discussed the 1929 Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, and the impact that the economic crash had on various populations, including Mexican- Americans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Dallas history professor William Atto discussed the decade leading to the 1787 Constitutional Convention and the key compromises that led to the ratification of the United States Constitution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Florida State University history professor Paul Renfro discussed the life and death of Indiana teenager Ryan White, who emerged as one of the faces of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boston College communications professor Michael Serazio discussed how baseball connects Americans to their past and culture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of North Carolina at Pembroke history professor Jamie Myers discussed Southeast Native American tribes during the 18th century and the impacts of colonialism, the American Revolution, and the emergence of the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hillsdale College history professor Mark Moyar discusses competing interpretations of the Vietnam War when it comes to questions about the necessity of the conflict and whether it was winnable for the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Georgetown University English professor Christopher Shinn discussed the history and cultural reception of Truman Capote's 1967"In Cold Blood" as well as its impact on the genres of pulp fiction and true crime novels. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of North Carolina at Pembroke professor Ryan Anderson discussed the rise of a Bohemian culture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that rejected conventional societal restraints and embraced the arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky discussed how presidential foreign policy and warmaking powers evolved from the time of George Washington to the modern era Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ohio State University history professor Hasan Kwame Jeffries discussed historical narratives of the Civil Rights Movement and modern understandings of victories, defeats and what the movement was trying to achieve. Professor Jeffries is the brother of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

College of the Ozarks professor David Dalton, who teaches a class on 19th Century American history, discussed the rise of American industry in the Gilded Age. College of the Ozarks is located in Point Lookout, Missouri. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American University Professor Joseph Campbell taught a class on public opinion and election forecasting. He spoke about some of the most significant polling misses in American politics. American University is located in Washington, D.C. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Former President Barack Obama’s keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention was the topic of a class taught by University of Kansas political communication professor Robert Rowland. The University of Kansas is in Lawrence, Kansas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duquesne University president Ken Gormley taught a class looking at constitutional issues that arose during the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He gave particular focus to the Watergate investigation and questions of control over Nixon’s secretly recorded White House tapes, as well as issues surrounding Ford’s pardon of Nixon following the 37th president’s resignation in August 1974. Duquesne University moved its classes online due to the coronavirus pandemic, and video of the class is courtesy of the school. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hillsdale College Professor Richard Gamble taught a class on American churches and religion during World War I. He discussed how American pastors, ministers, and rabbis spoke about the Great War before and after the U.S. entered the conflict. This lecture was part of a course titled “The U.S. from the Great War to the Cold War.” Hillsdale College is located in Hillsdale, Michigan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of California, Davis, history Professor Kathryn Olmsted taught a class on how the ‘Red Scare’ evolved into a wide-ranging conspiracy theory in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Benjamin Bankhurst talked about Appalachia in the American imagination. He described how the regional stereotype has changed over time, from the view of “backwards hillbillies” during the Industrial Revolution to a people respected for their folk culture in the early 20th century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Purdue University Professor Kathryn Brownell taught a class about political advertising in the 1950s, highlighting Dwight Eisenhower’s presidential campaigns. She compared radio and early televised ads and examines what components made them successful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Guilford Technical Community College Professor Jeff Kinard taught a class about Civil War weaponry and shared artifacts such as muskets, carbines, and revolvers. He described technological advances, such as breech loading and rifled barrels, that allowed soldiers to fire faster and with more accuracy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texas Woman’s University history professor Cecily Zander discussed the federal government’s efforts to explore and control the American west from the early 1800's through the Civil War. Texas Woman’s University is located in Denton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of California, Davis, law professor Mary Ziegler discussed the history of abortion and contraception laws in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Molly Worthen taught a class about the history and the intellectual underpinnings of Protestant fundamentalism in 20th century America. She began with the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, which pitted the teaching of evolution versus creationism in public schools and gained national attention. Later she delved into the origins and growth of Pentecostalism, which strives for a personal connection with the Divine and includes such aspects as faith healing and speaking in tongues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Adrian Lewis talked about about Omaha Beach and the 1944 D-Day landings in Normandy, France, during World War II. He described the German and Allied military strategies as well as the command structure on each side. He also enumerated the challenges American troops faced when trying to land on Omaha Beach and argued that the outcome was not inevitable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Calvin University Professor Micah Watson discussed C.S. Lewis’s views on law, politics, and government and how they connected to his Christian beliefs. This lecture took place at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Notre Dame military history professor Ian Ona Johnson discussed the contest for control of Atlantic sea routes during World War II. The University of Notre Dame is located in Indiana. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prairie View A&M history professor Malachi Crawford discusses the evolution of civil rights law from efforts to dismantle Jim Crow and racial segregation to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Tech lecturer Taulby Edmondson discussed unionization efforts in the West Virginia mining industry that led to a series of armed conflicts in the 1910s and 1920s. Virginia Tech is located in Blacksburg. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tulane University History Professor Rien Fertel discusses the erection of Confederate monuments in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century at the same time as efforts to integrate and unionize Black and white dock laborers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Ronald Reagan's 1982 address to the British Parliament was the topic of a class taught by University of Kansas political communication professor Robert Rowland. The University of Kansas is in Lawrence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

North Carolina Central University history professor Jasmin Howard discussed student activism and the civil rights movement at Historically Black Colleges and Universities in North Carolina. North Carolina Central University is located in Durham. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, political science professor William Blake discusses early 20th century Supreme Court cases on laws regulating minimum wages and maximum hours for female workers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Kentucky writing and rhetoric professor Brandon Erby discussed the legacy of Mamie Till-Mobley and her efforts to bring awareness to the 1955 murder of her son Emmett Till. The University of Kentucky is located in Lexington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chapman University history professor Luke Nichter discusses Richard Nixon’s 1968 campaign and the issues in that year’s presidential election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prairie View A&M history professor Ronald Goodwin discussed the early Republic and how Americans tried to define equality and interpret the Constitution in the first decades of the United States. Prairie View A&M University is an historically black university located in Prairie View, Texas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of California, Davis, law professor Mary Ziegler discussed the history of abortion and contraception laws in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wayne State University Professor Elizabeth Faue discussed the American working class and labor movements during the 1970s. Wayne State University is located in Detroit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texas Woman's University history professor Cecily Zander discussed the federal government's efforts to explore and control the American west from the early 1800's through the Civil War. Texas Woman's University is located in Denton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Maryland, Baltimore County lecturer Jae Yang discussed the history of emergency medical services from the pre-industrial era through the development of 911 and modern state EMS agencies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Montana history professor Leif Fredrickson discusses the 1909 labor protests in Missoula, Montana that sparked a high-profile fight over free speech and police violence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boston College nursing professor Lindsey Camp discussed the individuals and events that shaped American and global public health systems. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Maryland history professor Michael Ross discussed the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial about teaching evolution and its cultural significance in 1920s America. This is the second of a two-part lecture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Maryland history professor Michael Ross discussed the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial about teaching evolution and its cultural significance in 1920s America. This is the first of a two-part lecture. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Houston political science professor Brandon Rottinghaus discussed presidential scandals and how public reaction to them has changed over time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Princeton University history professor Matthew Jones taught a class on the history of artificial intelligence and the debates over its development. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices