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PODCAST

American History Hit

Join Don Wildman twice a week for your hit of American history, as he explores the past to help us understand the United States of today.We’ll hear how codebreakers uncovered secret Japanese plans for the Battle of Midway, visit Chief Powhatan as he prepares for war with the British, see Walt Disney accuse his former colleagues of being communists, and uncover the dark history that lies beneath Central Park.From pre-colonial America to independence, slavery to civil rights, the gold rush to the

history

All Episodes

35:43

Inside Benjamin Franklin's House

American History Hit ·

2023/01/09

Join Don as he visits Benjamin Franklin's home of nearly 16 years: 36 Craven Street, London. Now a museum, its director Marcia Balisciano explains what brought the famous polymath to London, how he lived and the various things the famed scientist, diplomat, philosopher, inventor and Founding Father of the United States got up to while he was there - including his role in the beginnings of the American Revolution.Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.For

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29:50

Lessons from the Civil War

American History Hit ·

2023/01/05

Gone with the Wind, released in 1939, is the highest-grossing film of all time. Based on Margaret Mitchell's novel published a few years earlier, it is a story of romance set against the backdrop of the civil war and reconstruction era. But, as Sarah Churchwell tells Don, it whitewashes the horrors of slavery, while condemning those who abolished it. And it is not alone. This is something that has happened in popular culture and the media since the civil war and continues today.Produced by Benjie

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27:38

Downton Abbey

American History Hit ·

2022/12/29

It’s December 1912 and we’re joining in with the festivities at Highclere Castle, in London England. The prime minister is Herbert H. Asquith and King George V is on the throne. Across the Atlantic, America has left the Gilded Age behind and elected Woodrow Wilson as president.Downton Abbey, the hugely popular television series, was filmed at Highclere Castle. The show is of course fiction, but it’s set in a home where the history is real, and no doubt the food was delicious…that is, if you like

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1:04:16

The First Americans

American History Hit ·

2022/12/22

Modern humans thrived in the Americas for thousands of years before the first European colonists arrived, but how and when did they get there?What's more, did their arrival spell disaster for indigenous megafauna such as giant ground sloths and wooly mammoths, or was there another culprit behind the mass extinctions across North, Central & South America?This is an episode is from our sister podcast, The Ancients. Host Tristan is joined by Professor David Meltzer, an archeologist from Southern

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22:54

The French & Indian War with Dan Snow

American History Hit ·

2022/12/19

As the British and French colonies in North America expanded in the middle of the 18th century, they inevitably clashed. Fighting between the two sides and their respective Native American allies began in Ohio Country (now western Pennsylvania) in 1754. Dan Snow tells Don how fighting began in 1754 in Ohio country (now western Pennsylvania) and spread, over almost a decade, across disputed territory in the Great Lakes region and into New France (modern-day Canada). As a result of the Treaty of

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44:24

The War of 1812

American History Hit ·

2022/12/15

In the early 19th century, amidst the Napoleonic wars, the British began restricting the United States’ trade with Europe. On top of this, the British Navy began recruiting American sailors by force. As a result, on 18th June, 1812, the US declared war. The conflict, between the United States and the British and their Native American allies, lasted until February 1815. With America still a very young nation, trying to assert itself on the world stage, it is often called the second American war of

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40:05

The Assassination of President McKinley

American History Hit ·

2022/12/12

On 5th September, 1901, President William McKinley attended a public reception at the Pan American Exposition, a 6-month-long World’s Fair, in Buffalo, New York. He was at the height of his power, having been re-elected at the beginning of the year. But one of the people who stood in line to meet him was an anarchist, determined to carry out the first US presidential assassination of the 20th century.Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.For more History Hit

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35:30

Pearl Harbor

American History Hit ·

2022/12/08

On the morning of 7th December 1941, hundreds of Japanese planes took off from aircraft carriers and attacked Pearl Harbor, on Oahu island, Hawaii. They took out ships, bombed airfields and killed thousands of Americans. Japan intended to neutralise the US navy, to prevent it from interfering in the Pacific, where Japan was expanding its empire. But the effect was the opposite. America declared war on Japan, as well as Germany and Italy and entered World War 2. Don recounts the damage done in 90

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40:04

Start of the Space Race

American History Hit ·

2022/12/05

Space historian Jay Gallentine tells Don how World War 2 weapons paved the way for space rockets, igniting a space race between the USA and the USSR that would see the first projectiles, satellites and people leave Earth’s atmosphere.Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newslettershere.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit

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25:56

Capturing Lincoln’s Assassin

American History Hit ·

2022/12/01

On shooting President Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth fled Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC on horseback, eventually heading south. But Lincoln’s was not the only assassination planned that night. Michael Kauffman tells Don about the others - attempted and abandoned - on the evening of April 14th, 1865, and the ill-fated run from the law of Booth and his co-conspirators.Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.For more History Hit content, subscribe to our

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40:30

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

American History Hit ·

2022/11/28

On the evening of 14th April, 1865, the Union was celebrating victory in the civil war, won 5 days earlier with General Lee's surrender at Appomattox. President Abraham Lincoln was watching a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC. But some Southern sympathisers still thought the Confederacy could be restored. Among them was the actor John Wilkes Booth. He entered the theatre, made his way to Lincoln's box and carried out the first assassination of a US president. Michael Kauffman takes Don through

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45:10

The First Thanksgiving

American History Hit ·

2022/11/24

In the fall of 1621, a year after the pilgrim ship the Mayflower landed on the coast of New England, the settlers of the Plymouth Colony celebrated their first successful harvest. Joining them at the three day feast were the Wampanoag people, Native Americans who had to taught the settlers how to grow corn, ensuring the community would survive the coming winter. Richard Pickering tells Don about the difficulties faced by the pilgrims as they made their way from Europe and how the first Thanksgiving

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46:54

Ronald Reagan: The Peacemaker

American History Hit ·

2022/11/21

When Ronald Reagan became President in 1981, he was initially written off by many as a reckless B movie cowboy who would lead the US to nuclear war.However, as William Inboden tells Don, Reagan would go on to defy the odds on the international stage. Navigating complex foreign policy challenges, from Grenada to Lebanon and of course the Cold War. Taking the Soviets and the World to the brink of the unthinkable, while charting an unpredictable path to peace.Produced by Benjie Guy. Edited & Mixed by

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31:11

Who Really Invented the Light Bulb?

American History Hit ·

2022/11/17

While Thomas Edison is widely credited as the inventor of the electric lightbulb in 1879, it had existed in one form or another since the the beginning of the 19th century. But as Hugh Price tells Don, another American - Lewis Latimer - had his own light bulb moment: tweaking Edison’s invention a year later to create a longer-lasting and more affordable light bulb, able to light the buildings and streets of America, and the world.Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.For

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47:29

The Whiskey Rebellion

American History Hit ·

2022/11/14

The Whiskey Tax, imposed in 1791, was the first federal tax on a domestic product by a United States government. It was introduced by Alexander Hamilton to pay the interest on war bonds that had been issued to wealthy backers of the the American Revolution. But many Whiskey distillers in Western Pennsylvania refused to pay a tax that would only benefit a few rich bond holders. Over the course of three years, there were attacks on federal and local tax collectors and the region became a law unto

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37:07

African Americans in WW2

American History Hit ·

2022/11/10

The experience of African Americans in World War 2 was, to say the least, a gross double standard. While fascism was confronted in the name of liberty and justice, those same ideals were denied to African Americans, who suffered racism and segregation, at home and on the front line. As Matthew Delmont tells Don, to African Americans, what was happening in Europe and elsewhere was an ugly reminder of the prejudice and bigotry they faced in their own nation.Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan

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54:10

The Race for the North Pole

American History Hit ·

2022/11/07

On April 6th 1909, deep inside the Artic Circle after months on the ice, Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and their four Inuit guides reached what they thought was the North Pole. But, as Edward J. Larson tells Don, Peary’s measurements and the speed of their journey were immediately called into question. Nonetheless, Congress voted to recognise Peary’s expedition as the first to reach the North Pole, dismissing a rival's claim to have done it a year earlier.Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan

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35:09

Becoming FDR

American History Hit ·

2022/11/03

In August 1921, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was 39 years old, he contracted Polio, paralysing him from the waist down. Jonathan Darman tells Don how, despite some telling FDR that any political aspirations he might have were over, he went on to become the 32nd President of the United States.Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long. For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries,

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32:51

Sleepy Hollow & the Haunted Hudson

American History Hit ·

2022/10/31

On Halloween, Elizabeth Bradley tells Don about Washington Irving's famous story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, its headless horseman and the influence of European folklore on this famous American gothic tale.Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Thomas Ntinas. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!

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40:48

America's Psychedelic '60s: Timothy Leary and LSD

American History Hit ·

2022/10/27

In 1963, a Gilded Age estate in Millbrook, New York, became a venue for academic research into therapeutic uses for LSD, led by psychologist Timothy Leary. Over the next few years evolved into the home of the psychedelic movement of 1960s America.Guests were invited to turn on, tune in, drop out. Bemused locals first saw their new neighbours as harmless. But, as Devin Lander tells Don, as their number and notoriety grew, so did a moral panic across America.Produced and mixed by Benjie Guy. Senior

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