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History That Doesn't Suck

Prof. Greg Jackson

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HTDS is a bi-weekly podcast, delivering a legit, seriously researched, hard-hitting survey of American history through entertaining stories. To keep up with History That Doesn’t Suck news, check us out htdspodcast.com or follow on Facebook and Instagram: @Historythatdoesntsuck; on Twitter/X: @HTDSpod. Become a premium member to support our work, receive ad-free episodes and bonus episodes.
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“There will be no more mercy now; anyone who stands in our way will be butchered.” This is the story of Adolf Hitler and the collapse of the Weimar Republic. A dropout. A failed applicant to Vienna’s prestigious Academy of Fine Arts. A decorated but low-ranking soldier who attempts to overthrow the state and is convicted of treason. But only a deca…
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“Italy, Gentlemen, wants peace, wants quiet, wants work, wants calm; we will give it with love, if that be possible, or with strength, if that be necessary.” This is the story of Italy’s Benito Mussolini’s creation of fascism and rise to power in interwar Italy. Benito starts life the way his father intended—as a socialist—and the often moving, you…
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This is the story of interwar preparation–not that the United States realized it was preparing for World War II, new technologies, innovation, and a constant pushing of the limits in the 1930s did indeed help Uncle Sam prepare for the fight to come. To get us into an interwar mindset of praying for peace while preparing for war, Professor Jackson t…
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“If he is lost it will be the most universally regretted single loss we ever had. But that kid ain’t going to fail.” This is the story of the high-fliers in early twentieth-century American aviation. Wright brothers Orville and Wilbur stunned the nation and the world with their pioneering flight in 1903, and since then, aviation has spread its wing…
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“If this is to be a skyscraper… why not make it scrape the sky.” This is the story of the race for the tallest building in New York City—in the world. Erstwhile partners-turned-bitter rivals, architects William Van Alen and Craig Severance are both looking to build the tallest skyscraper in New York City. William is working with automobile titan Wa…
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“Everybody says it can’t be done.” This is the story of San Francisco’s two great bridges. The bustling cities of Oakland and San Francisco are separated by less than ten miles of water, but for early twentieth-century Bay Area residents, it may as well be thirty—that’s the distance traveling around the Bay. Meanwhile, the mile of water across the …
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“I felt no distress whatever…I was perspiring freely and was as limber and helpless as a wet rag. It was an exhilarating experience.... It was then and there that I first conceived the idea of the reclamation of the desert.” This is the story of the Hoover Dam. A wild, precarious, and dangerous river, the Colorado tears across the American southwes…
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This is a conversation to kick off the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Retired U.S. Army Major General and history buff, Bill Rapp, drops some knowledge on how the colonies weren't exactly gung-ho for a full-blown revolution before April 1775. Turns out, they were mostly ticked off and feeling rebellious in response to intolerable Bri…
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A discussion of the recent HTDS narrative episodes on FDR and the New Deal. Think of it as a book club for additional insights into these latest chapters of the HTDS chronological story of America. Professor Greg Jackson is joined by Professor Lindsey Cormack to discuss the government's response to the Great Depression and the legacy of the New Dea…
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“No matter how great and good a man may be, executive aggrandizement is not safe for democracy.” This is the story of Franklin’s second term and his battle with the Supreme Court. It’s no secret that SCOTUS hasn’t really been ruling in the New Deal’s favor. But with such an overwhelming victory at the polls, Franklin feels confident that he can cir…
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“I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet.” This is the story of FDR’s first term after facing down the initial emergency. 100 days down, about 1,300 more to go—for this term at least. After the whirlwind of new bills and “alphabet agencies” (AAA, CCC, etc.), the nation is adjusting to and examining FDR’s New De…
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“[We] had forgotten to be Republicans or Democrats. We were just a bunch of men trying to save the banking system.” This is the story of FDR’s first 100 days in office. In early 1933, banks foreclose on thousands upon thousands of homes and farms every month. The banks have little choice–they too are failing! Meanwhile, unemployment is hovering nea…
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“First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself-–nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” This is the story of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s journey to the White House. Even as a young boy, Franklin admires his fifth cousin Theodore Roosev…
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"Too much praise cannot be given to the President for the prompt and resolute and skillful way in which he has set about reassuring the country after the financial collapse.” This is the story of Herbert Hoover’s facing the early years of the Great Depression. Just after the stock market crash of 1929, people aren’t expecting the worst. Most, inclu…
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“There is a million dollars here for the asking!” This is the story of Christmas in the 1920s. Yeah, the whole decade—why not? One hundred years ago, people were just beginning (or reviving) traditions that are entrenched in our holiday celebrations today. Charitable giving at Christmas is ever present, and the winter of 1920 features the Great Hum…
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“A wise man never sells out at the first sign of trouble. That’s for the pikers.” This is the story of the 1929 Wall Street Crash. On October 24, or “Black Thursday,” stock prices plunge unexpectedly. Early the next week, whatever was left of the bottom falls out on “Black Tuesday.” The New York Stock Exchange has crashed. The Roaring 20s are over.…
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Our last few episodes have reveled in stories of the popularization of movies, music and sports during the Roaring 1920s. In this epilogue episode, Professor Jackson steps out of storytelling mode and into classroom mode (that doesn’t suck). To help us better understand the lasting cultural impact of this period, he’s invited Dr. Sarah Churchwell w…
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“His Lordship from Transylvania would like to purchase a nice house in our small town . . . it will take a bit of effort . . . a bit of sweat and perhaps . . . a bit of blood . . .” This is the story of the Great Death in Wisborg in 1838. Nosferatu is a 1922 classic horror film, one of the first ever made. It sort of recalls Bram Stoker’s Dracula—e…
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“We have a basket and a ball, and it seems to me that would be a good name for it.” This is the story of America’s varied athletic endeavors (besides baseball). Though each sport could provide enough material for an entire episode, it would probably run us into overtime, and the 1920s are drawing to a close. As Black Thursday approaches, it’s time …
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As a follow up to episode 165 America’s Favorite Pastime: Baseball, we’re proud to share an interview with Bob Kendrick, the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, MO. Founded in 1990, the NLBM is the world’s only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of African-American baseball and its profound im…
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"As I hit the ball, every muscle in my system, every sense I had, told me that I had never hit a better one . . . I didn't have to look. But I did. That ball . . . hit . . . exactly the spot I had pointed to." This is the story of the most American sport: baseball. Americans have been playing ball for a good long while now—even General Washington e…
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“Harlem is the queen of the black belts, drawing Aframericans together in a vast humming hive . . . from the different states, from the islands of the Caribbean, and from Africa . . . It is the Negro capital of the world.” This is the story of the Harlem Renaissance. In the early twentieth century, many Black families and individuals down South are…
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“Miller, Lyles, and I were standing near the exit door . . . Blake stuck out there in front, leading the orchestra—his bald head would get the brunt of the tomatoes and rotten eggs.” This is the story of American musical theater and the dawn of modern Broadway. Popular entertainment is evolving fast in the early twentieth century. Minstrel shows ju…
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“Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain’t heard nothing yet!” This is the story of the silver screen. In the late nineteenth century, technology is advancing rapidly. Eadweard Muybridge’s trip-wire camera work, made famous by a “motion study” of a galloping horse, is giving way to smoother and longer projections. Some see these short films simply as…
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Cheers to Professor Jackson’s post Prohibition conversation with distinguished author Daniel Okrent! Dan is the the author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, winner of the American Historical Association’s prize for the year’s best book of American History when it was published in 2011. Last Call was a go-to book in the HTDS bibliograp…
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“Only Capone kills like that.” This is the story of the rise and fall of Al Capone, and the last gasps of Prohibition. No other gangster compares to Scarface. He’s remained prominent in the American consciousness for 100 years due to his overt violence and lavish lifestyle, funded by *ahem* unsavory business practices. He brazenly orders murders li…
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“Don’t ask me nothin’! You hear me? Don’t ask! And don’t bring anybody in here for me to identify. I won’t identify them even if I know they did it!” This is the story of the nation’s up-and-coming criminal underground. By 1920, with few exceptions, producing, buying, and selling alcohol is outlawed, but that doesn’t stop enterprising Americans. Ma…
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“You’re Bill McCoy.” “Never heard of him.” This is the story of a crazy decade-plus when America outlawed booze…but the liquor kept flowing. The Prohibition era marks a partial return to the Golden Age of Piracy, with bootleggers frequenting old haunts in the Caribbean, including Nassau, capital of The Bahamas. These sailors are also buying, sellin…
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Episode Description: “Farewell, you good-for-nothing, God-forsaken, iniquitous, bleary-eyed, bloated-faced old imp of perdition, farewell!” This is the story of the path to prohibition. Early America drinks a lot – I mean, A LOT. Alcohol doesn’t give you dysentery, it’s used as a medicine, and in the first decades of the Republic, whiskey is cheape…
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“I believe I can swing it.” This is the story of the Coolidge Administration. Calvin Coolidge isn’t the most talkative guy–he’s painfully shy, to be frank–but “Silent Cal” does care deeply about public service. Over the years, the thrifty, hard-working New Englander moves up the ranks, from municipal offices to state offices, until, as Massachusett…
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“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, War…
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The Prof. 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! ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into e…
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“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. As unions spread across the Progressive-Era United States, West Virginia mine owners manage to keep them out. They have some good reasons (tough margins) and s…
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“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 F…
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“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 dete…
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“I keep wondering if the Unknown Soldier is one of my men.” This is the story of the United States coping with and facing the aftermath of World War I. The American Expeditionary Force in France is breaking up but that means a lot of different things as doughboys occupy Germany, go fight in Russia, convalesce, or just head home. If only going home …
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The Episode to end all … World War I episodes. Professor Jackson sits down with Kelsi Dynes to talk through all the things that didn’t make it into the final Great War episodes and go big picture on the Meuse-Argonne, Armistice, and Treaty of Versailles. Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendat…
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“The circumstances under which we are spending this particular Christmas are unusual.” This is the story of the Christmases of World War I. Germans and British troops, singing carols together. French and German troops, kicking, playing sports and exchanging treats. It may not last, but for a brief moment–for Christmas of 1914–these opposing armies …
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“A Peace which cannot be defended in the name of justice before the whole world would continually call forth fresh resistance” This is the story of peacemaking in 1919–a fraught peacemaking. With the Armistice signed, some 30 nations (led by the major Allied Powers) are gathering in Paris, France, to deliberate on the terms they’ll give to Germany.…
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“The German delegation has come to receive the proposals of the Allied Powers looking to an armistice.” This is the story of guns falling silent across war-ravaged fronts–the story of the Great War’s armistice between Germany and the Allied Powers. Sailors are mutinying. Soldiers are breaking. A revolution–possibly a Bolshevist revolution–is knocki…
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“If I can but reach that bridge,” thought Ichabod, “I am safe.” This is the story of schoolmaster Ichabod Crane and his ride home after an evening spent trying to woo Katrina Van Tassel at a party hosted by her father at their idyllic farm in rural New York. It’s a terrifying ride–perhaps as deadly as Ichabod’s pursuer is headless. For this third H…
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Professor Greg Jackson sits down with legendary documentary filmmaker Ken Burns about his latest film The American Buffalo which has a two-part premiere in the US on PBS beginning Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. Some refer to Ken Burns as a historian, but he would be quick to tell you that he considers himself a storyteller. His latest documentary The Ameri…
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“All right, General. We’ll take it, or my name will head the list.” This is the story of Meuse-Argonne and the Americans’ continued struggles to take the Kriemhilde Line. Tennessean Alvin York hates war, yet he finds himself an unlikely hero when his youthful days of hunting turn him into a prisoner-taking sharpshooter as the US First Army presses …
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“Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake, stop it.” This is the story of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive’s beginnings. “Tout le monde à la bataille.” So says Ferdinand Foch as the Allies hit the Germans from several pressure points at once. For the Americans, that means fighting between the thick woods of the Argonne F…
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Time to review! Greg and Kelsi talk through the main takeaways of the American story in World War I to date, from causes to new inventions and social changes. We get a little behind the scenes on episodes, a few stories that didn’t make in, and set the stage for the last battle of the Great War. ____ Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com and go deep i…
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“Something has happened to one of the boys.” This is the story of the Great War’s flyboys – particularly, Americans taking to the skies to fight for France. Long before the United States will enter the Great War, hundreds of American men head to Europe to fight for the French Republic. Some drive ambulances. Some fight in the French Foreign Legion.…
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“Is there any regulation which specifies that a Navy yeoman be a man?” This is the story of the United States in the Great War and the role of women in that changing world. Women of the Progressive Era are all about change. They’re fighting for several reforms — including their own right to vote — and as the United States enters the Great War, they…
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“My men never retire. They go forward, or they die!” This is the story of the 15th New York, a.k.a, the 369th, or the Harlem Hellfighters. James “Big Jim” Europe is one of the most talented musicians in the world. His ragtime and early jazz sounds electrify New York City. That’s exactly why Colonel William “Big Bill” Hayward, who’s just been named …
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“Marshal Foch, you have no authority as Allied Commander-in-Chief to call upon me to yield up my command of the American Army and have it scattered among the Allied Forces where it will not be an American army at all.” This is the story of the first battle of the First American Army. Fresh off of an Allied victory at Amiens, Supreme Commander Ferdi…
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