In the 16th and 17th centuries, a new type of agriculture began appearing in the new world: the plantation. Focused exclusively on cash crops for an international market, but lacking industrial technology, plantations were dependent on cheap, human labor in order to turn a profit. A lot of labor, the cheaper the better. After finding […]
Afghanistan and the Global History of Drugs and Diplomacy
It is estimated that Afghanistan produces up to 85% of the world’s opium and heroin. With that in mind, today we take a close look at the global drug trade, its connections to Afghan state formation, and the role of the United States’ military presence and imperial project. Our guest is James Tharin Bradford, author […]
The History of America’s Forgotten Black Pioneers with Anna-Lisa...
Long before the Civil War, thousands of African Americans owned property and worked the land as homestead farmers in the Northwest Territory, or the present-day states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. On today’s episode, guest host Richelle Wilson and news director Molly Stentz uncover the forgotten history of Black pioneers on the first […]
Nixon, Trump, and the History of Impeachment with Michael Koncewicz
As Congress takes up impeachment proceedings against President Trump, Esty and co-pilot Zoe Sullivan spend the hour with political historian Michael Koncewicz to discuss presidential abuses of power and the history of impeachment through the lens of his book They Said No to Nixon. Michael Koncewicz is a political historian and Cold War Collections specialist the […]
The Myth of Free Enterprise in American History
What is “free enterprise” and how has it shaped American politics? That’s the topic of today’s episode with Lawrence Glickman, author of Free Enterprise: An American History. He spends the hour unpacking the history, narrative, and myth of free enterprise—and how it has shaped our common sense and political attitudes since the New Deal—with guest […]
The History of Food Safety with Deborah Blum
Why did USDA commissioner Harvey Washington Wiley poison his coworkers? Believe it or not, this isn’t the start of a murder mystery but rather a story about the history of food safety in the United States. Wiley assembled this “poison squad” to test the health effects of new additives to food in the late 19th […]
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