Lectures in History

Rider University professor Myra Gutin teaches a class on presidents and communications in both their campaigns and while in office, starting with Teddy Roosevelt in the early 20th century and continuing to the present day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brigham Young University professor Jay Buckley teaches a class about Lewis and Clark’s expedition across the American West after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brooklyn College Professor KC Johnson taught a class on Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon’s Supreme Court nominations. He described Johnson’s plan to fill the bench with liberal justices and the difficulties he ran into getting them confirmed. He outlined the resistance from conservative senators in the confirmation hearings and concluded with background on some of Nixon’s nominations to the court. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Heather Cox Richardson talked about the new roles women assumed in the workforce and in politics during the late-19th century. She described the gains women made in fields such as nursing, teaching, and social work. She also spoke about the growth of political organizations run by women that focused on issues such as Prohibition and women’s suffrage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Maria Cristina Garcia talked about the United States' refugee policy since World War II. She spoke about qualifications to be a refugee and how those have changed as well as legislation governing quotas and procedures. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Thomas Balcerski talked about the culture of Congress in the Antebellum Era. He described how members of Congress in the early 1800s bonded across party lines through tobacco use, social clubs, and living together in boarding houses. However, he said these friendships and alliances disintegrated as the Civil War approached, revealing the sectional divisions in national politics at the time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Minnesota professor Erika Lee talks about Asian immigration to the West coast from 1830 to 1930, including the role of San Francisco Bay’s Angel Island in the 20th century. She compared the Angel Island and Ellis Island experiences, describing how Asian immigrants in California had more extensive background checks and longer holding times than European immigrants in New York. This class was from a course called “American Immigration History.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Jack Rakove talked about some of the issues debated during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, such as the number of representatives for each state and the method of presidential elections. He described the arguments put forth by James Madison and how delegates tried to reach compromises despite competing State interests. This class was from a course called “The Constitution: A Brief History.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Martha Jones talked about the mid-19th century court case of Celia, a female slave who killed her master after repeated sexual assaults. Topics included what options Celia may have had, and the involvement of her fellow slaves and her master’s white neighbors in her court case. This episode may contain content that is sensitive to some listeners. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of California, Davis Professor Alan Taylor spoke on alcohol use in the early American republic. By 1830, annual alcohol consumption in America reached four gallons per person, the most in the history of the nation before or since. Professor Taylor talked about why Americans drank so much, the consequences of so much drinking, and how it spawned the temperance movement in the 1830s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Davidson College professor Sally McMillen talked about the polio epidemic in the United States in the early to mid-20th century. Fear of contracting polio grew following a series of outbreaks, including one in 1916 that started in Brooklyn, New York, and eventually killed more than 6,000 people. She also spoke about the efforts of President Franklin Roosevelt to help find a cure, in part by starting the March of Dimes organization. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Michael Kazin taught a class about culture and society in the 1920s. He spoke about Prohibition and the exploits of the gangster Al Capone, who eventually went to prison on tax evasion charges, the motion picture industry and the new production codes that sought to reduce sexuality in films, and the 1925 State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes trial, in which a high school teacher faced charges of unlawfully teaching evolution in a state-funded school. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Phyllis Schlafly, founder of the Eagle Forum and author or editor of 20 books - talked about the roots and development of the modern conservative movement, as well as the role of women’s issues in conservative politics. Phyllis Schlafly was a guest lecturer at The Citadel Military College in Charleston, South Carolina, in a course called “The Conservative Intellectual Tradition in America,” taught by Professor Mallory Factor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Columbia University history professor Eric Foner examines the rise of socialism in America in the early 20th century. He talks about the Socialist Party in New York City and Milwaukee, and looks at the Socialist Party of America presidential campaigns of Eugene Debs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

American History Professor Quintard Taylor looks at the Civil Rights Movement from the 1940s through the 1960s. Professor Taylor focuses on the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Brown v. Board of Education and the 1957 integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. This two-hour class took place at the University of Washington in Seattle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor David Farber teaches twentieth-century American history at Temple University in Philadelphia. In this lecture to a history class he focused on the origin of the 1960s Vietnam anti-war movement, and his view of how it helped to expand the nation’s democratic process. This episode was recorded in 2010. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

History professor Marcus Rediker lectured during a course on Colonial America at the University of Pittsburgh in 2010. He talked about the origins of the slave trade to the Americas between 1640 and the early 1800s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Texas at Austin professor Jeremi Suri teaches an online class about President Ronald Reagan and the end of the Cold War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Weber State University professor Branden Little teaches a class about the U.S. military in the 1890s. He covers reforms designed to make the officer corps more professional, a new focus on sea power, and an international incident with Chile. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Professor Natalia Mehlman Petrzela of the New School teaches a class about the 1980s fitness industry and culture in the United States. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Joseph Glatthaar teaches a class on the 1898 Spanish-American War. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duquesne University president Ken Gormley teaches a class looking at constitutional issues stemming from the Watergate scandal that arose during the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Tennessee College of Law professor Glenn Harlan Reynolds teaches a class about free speech and the legal cases that have impacted the courts' interpretation of this part of the First Amendment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

George Mason University professor Sam Lebovic taught a class about U.S. politics and economics of the early Cold War period of the late-1940s and 1950s. He argued that with extreme ideologies such as fascism and communism completely discredited or out of favor, a consensus formed in the U.S. around centrist political views to the point where the political parties were barely distinguishable. On the economic front, a belief in a “mixed economy” ruled, meaning a broad acceptance of some government involvement in the market. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wellesley College professor Brenna Greer debunked some of the myths about Rosa Parks and the 1955-56 Montgomery bus boycott. She addressed that Parks was not the first African American woman who refused to give up her seat and that the boycott had planning and precedent. She also explored with the class why a simplified version of this history has become so widespread. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Baylor University professor David Smith taught a class about the growth of the internationalist worldview in 1890s America. He argued that economic, moral and political impulses caused Americans to consider a larger role in the world for their nation. Smith then detailed the actions they took, such pursuing missionary work, arguing for the expansion of the navy, and searching for new economic markets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

La Sierra University professor Alicia Gutierrez-Romine taught a class about laws and policies regarding abortion. Starting in the 19th century, she tracked changes in medical practice and public opinion through court cases and newspaper coverage. She also described abortion restrictions, access to illegal abortions, costs, and health risks in different time periods and states. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grove City College president Paul McNulty taught a class about the development of the U.S. Constitution and what he believes are its main principles: republicanism, the separation of powers, and federalism. Mr. McNulty served as deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration from 2006 to 2007. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Virginia Commonwealth University Professor Nicole Myers Turner taught a class on the lives of formerly enslaved African Americans following emancipation. She explained how they defined freedom for themselves while the federal government debated political and legal definitions. Professor Turner also discussed the important role of religious and educational institutions in newly freed African American communities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stony Brook University Professor Nancy Tomes taught a class about the 1918 influenza pandemic and public information efforts in the United States to stop the spread of the disease. She described methods such as canceling public gatherings, social distancing, and propaganda about good hygiene, which are still implemented. This class was filmed on March 10, 2020, during the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. Professor Toms compared the symptoms, economic impact, and national response between 1918 and today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

White House Historical Association historian and American University lecturer Matthew Costello taught a class on White House myths. He talked about the realities and legends behind often repeated stories such as the tunnel system, a gift alligator, how decorating traditions began, and Dolley Madison rescuing George Washington’s portrait. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of North Carolina at Pembroke professor Jamie Martinez taught a class about the Confederacy’s economic policies during the Civil War. She explained how a pre-war focus on cotton exports over food production combined with wartime farm labor disruptions led to food shortages and riots in the South in 1863. This, she said, forced the Confederate government into developing more nationalized policies for food production and resource allocation that ran counter to their constitution’s emphasis on a decentralized government. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Longwood University President W. Taylor Reveley IV and Political Science Professor Emeritus William Harbour taught a class about the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, exploring the major events and policies during their tenures in the Oval Office. They also compared the two men’s backgrounds and leadership approaches. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Utah State University Professor Maria Angela Diaz taught a class on the Civil War in the West and looked at the conflict in states and territories such as Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and Arizona. She explored how the diverse populations of the region reacted to the war and chose between siding with the Union or the Confederacy. Professor Diaz also focuses on the larger role guerrilla warfare played in the West. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor William Sturkey taught a class about expanding rights in the 1960s and '70s, looking at women’s liberation and the gay rights movement. He covered topics such as birth control, the Equal Rights Amendment and the Stonewall riots. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Madison University professor Andrew Witmer taught a class about the evolution of rural areas after the Civil War. Using his own hometown of Monson, Maine as a case study, he examined rural industry such as slate mining and the rise of country tourism aided by the expansion of railroad networks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Maryland professor Christopher Bonner taught a class about the concept of “power” in antebellum slave societies. He explored the different ways owners and enslaved people exerted or expressed their will and looks at how these dynamics played out in the context of individual plantations. He also discussed how the invention of the cotton gin and resulting expansion of both slavery and the cotton industry impacted the relationship between owners and the enslaved. 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

University of Minnesota Professor Saje Mathieu taught a class about “neutrality” and what that concept meant in World War I America. She explained how neutrality did not mean inactivity, as the U.S. sold materials to both the Allied and Central Powers, helping both sides continue the fight. She also talked about how the U.S. viewed itself as the defender of democracy and sought to police certain nations and ethnic groups, yet faced criticism for how it treated its own dissenters and minorities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Grove City College Professor Paul Kengor explored the tense days of October 1962 when the United States and the Soviet Union faced off over missiles in Cuba in one of the “hottest” episodes of the Cold War. He explained how the ideological militancy of Cuban leader Fidel Castro worried leaders in both Moscow and Washington who did not truly desire nuclear conflict despite their tough talk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Emory University professor Carol Anderson taught a class about efforts in the early 1960s to register African American voters in Mississippi. She described some of the leaders of the movement, their tactics and the opposition they faced from segregationists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Boston College professor Seth Jacobs discussed President Lyndon Johnson and the factors that led him to escalate the war in Vietnam following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clemson University professor C. Bradley Thompson teaches a class about the preamble of the Declaration of Independence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iowa State University professor Carmen Bain teaches a class on women's work on family farms during the 20th century. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor William G. Thomas III teaches a class on some of the lawsuits brought by enslaved people who sued for their freedom in the antebellum period. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Wofford College professor Mark Byrnes teaches a class about U.S. public opinion, the rise of radio, and the debate about whether to enter World War II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Johnson County Community College professor Tai Edwards teaches a class about the expansion of the United States during the Spanish-American War and the acquisition of Hawaii. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gettysburg College professor Timothy Shannon teaches a class on Colonial-era diplomatic ties between the Iroquois Confederacy of the eastern Great Lakes region and European settlers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Daniel Richter of the University of Pennsylvania teaches a class on 18th century power struggles between Native Americans, colonial settlers and European empires. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. Air Force Academy professor Stephen Randolph teaches a class about President Richard Nixon, his National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, and their strategy for the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices