"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, including the experts, believe that this little downturn will blow over with time, just like past economic troubles. Avoiding the word “panic,” President Herbert Hoover comes up with a new term meant to describe how minor this downturn will be. He calls it a “depression.” He also pushes volunteerism. Congress cuts taxes. The Fed cuts the discount rate. Americans feel they are in good hands.

But national productivity keeps going down. Unemployment keeps going up. Breadlines are getting longer and a drought has hit the heartland. Then major banks start going under, both in the US and abroad. Britain goes off the gold standard. As “Hoovervilles” spread and Great War vets march to DC, Bert Hoover—the famous “Master of Emergencies”—finds himself facing an economic challenge unlike any ever faced by a president.

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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 Humanitarian Herbert Hoover’s efforts to feed children in Europe with his “Invisible Guest” dinners. Another president, “Silent Cal” Coolidge, holds the first National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony in 1923, cementing electric tree lights into our celebrations. And carols on the radio are coming into full swing, with live broadcasts from musicians like the Mount Holyoke Carol Choir. 

And who can forget America’s proud tradition of consumerism? Ok, that didn’t start in the 1920s, but this is definitely the decade for some really swell presents. The Great War is over, wages are high, and it’s time to buy! Santa Claus himself appears at a 1928 Knoxville parade through the streets and stores, delighting children and business owners alike. After the Crash, Christmases get a bit more economical, so let’s celebrate while we still can. Merry Christmas and happy holidays! 

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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.

But what exactly is a stock market? How does the American financial system work in the 1920s? And how did the Crash of 1929 happen? From the origins of the NYSE to the development of the Federal Reserve System, we’ll unravel it all before it all unravels as we also meet the man that 1920s Americans overwhelmingly want to lead the nation. He’s a man known for his gifted abilities when handling a crisis. They call him the “Great Humanitarian.” Welcome to the White House, President Herbert Hoover. 

Check out this Spotify playlist if you’re looking for other HTDS episodes on economic panics, which are episodes 19, 27, 29, 30, 91, 97, 98, and 127.

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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 who has written extensively about 1920s American culture, including her acclaimed book Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of the Great Gatsby.

The conversation with Professor Churchwell includes fascinating takeaways from the 1920s that continue to resonate in our contemporary lives. These include the rise of American youth culture and the desire by older adults to be youthful like the popularity of monkey gland injections as a predecessor to modern-day Botox injections. They talk more about the birth of Tinseltown AKA Hollywood, radio, music and enduring literature like F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, The Great Gatsby…if you read it in high school but have forgotten, or if you’ve never read it, we get right to the major themes of it and why it’s still relevant today. 

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In the recent Halloween episode #168 of History That Doesn’t Suck, we uncovered the undead story of the 1922 classic vampire film Nosferatu. While the movie isn’t a scene-for-scene lift from author Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel, Dracula, it’s close enough that Bram Stoker’s widow, Florence, sued the filmmakers for copyright infringement. In that episode we also explored Dracula. So today, we thought it’d be fun to introduce a new podcast that tells the whole story of the book that launched an entire genre.

What you’re about to hear is from the new Wondery Plus podcast, The Real History of Dracula hosted by Professor Jackson's friend Lindsay Graham. The series reveals how author Bram Stoker raided ancient folklore and exploited Victorian fears around sex, science and religion. And how even today, we remain in thrall to his strange creatures of the night.

You can listen to the rest of this episode, and then binge the entire The Real History of Dracula series exclusively and ad-free right now with Wondery Plus. Join Wondery plus in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify and start your free trial today.   

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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—enough to build a copyright lawsuit—but, fortunately for us, Nosferatu weathered the controversy via unlicensed copies and has survived into the twenty-first century. The film isn’t just Dracula revamped though, it contributed brand new techniques to the horror genre. The cinematography is also state-of-the-art for the 1920s, tastefully employing physical film tricks (à la Georges Méliès) and practical effects. 

We’ll take you through the film so you can truly appreciate it, following Herr Thomas Hutter and his young wife Ellen as they meet Count Orlok and face the consequences. Without spoiling too much: it gets bloody. 

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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 for some last-minute fun and games. 

The 1920s is the Golden Age of Sports—fans can’t get enough of the races, the ring, the court, or the gridiron. Of course, in the case of horse racing and boxing, the love of the competition is combined with the heady rush of gambling. But even when there’s no money changing hands, sports still draw people in. There’s simple bloodlust; boxing legends like John L. Sullivan and Jack Johnson are ruthless, and football actually gets so savage that it’s almost banned entirely until Teddy Roosevelt and a few others intervene, (much to the relief of fans today). There’s also novelty. James Naismith’s game “basketball” is a true original. But the most compelling factor is probably witnessing human excellence, best exemplified by the American Olympian dubbed “the greatest athlete in the world.” 

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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 impact on the social advancement of America.

It’s the perfect time to share more about the history of the Negro Leagues because, in the spring of 2024, Major League Baseball officially incorporated the statistics of over 2,300 Negro Leagues players from 1920–1948 into its record books. These statistics are now a permanent part of American professional baseball history. Read more about this milestone and peruse some of the updated records at MLB.com. You can also read about the rigorous process by historians to gather and validate these records in this 2020 memo from MLB.

Want extra innings? Become a premium member to hear an extra segment from this conversation with Bob Kendrick, where we talk about Major League Baseball, finally adding player stats from the Leagues into the official record.

Bob Kendrick has been associated with the museum in one way or another since its founding. He was first a volunteer during his 10-year newspaper career with The Kansas City Star. Then he became the museum’s first Director of Marketing in 1998 and held various other leadership roles before being appointed president of the organization in 2011. And while he doesn’t fashion himself to be a historian, Bob has become one of the leading authorities on the topic of Negro Leagues Baseball history and its connection to issues relating to sports, race and diversity. 

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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 enjoyed an occasional game of catch—but baseball as we know it only emerged around the 1850s. That’s also about the time when people started forming leagues: the National League, the American League, the Federal League, yada yada, you get the picture. There are quite a few, and they’re mostly the same, except for the Negro League, headed by Andrew “Rube” Foster (pitcher and president extraordinaire). Professional baseball remains segregated until Jackie Robinson breaks the color line in the late 1940s. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! 

Baseball evolves from its colonial beginnings to become an entertainment staple by the early twentieth century. In the 1920s, the good name of the game has just been sullied by the 1919 World Series scandal, but baseball’s popularity hasn’t taken a serious hit. This era boasts a panoply of players, and people can’t seem to stay away from the stands. You see, George Herman "Babe" Ruth has just been traded to the New York Yankees, and he’s always playing to win.

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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 finding that the only way out is up—to the North. Driven by Jim Crow discrimination and harsh economic realities, hundreds of thousands of African Americans head to cities like Chicago (the “promised land”) or Harlem (“Black Mecca”). This Great Migration fosters communities of gifted artists, and eventually, the rest of the country takes notice. 

By the 1920s, Black culture is truly blooming. Up-and-coming writers including Zora Neal Hurston and Langston Hughes are crafting literature we still consume some 100 years later. Master musicians like Cab Calloway and Ella Fitzgerald are scattin’ up a storm in New York clubs. And let’s not forget the visual arts! The Harlem Renaissance features countless artists that contribute mightily to American culture and Black identity: let’s meet just a few. 

(Audio of Cab Calloway was recorded in 1982 at the White Plains Public Library in White Plains, NY, and used with their permission. We are grateful to the library and encourage listeners to support their local public library for the services they provide.)

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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 just aren’t drawing the same numbers anymore (for good reason), and burlesque and variety shows abound. The earliest “official” musical, The Black Crook takes several notes from these sometimes scandalous shows, as do Flo Ziegfeld’s new “revues.” By the 1920s, composers, writers, and choreographers are experimenting with what a musical production can do: using songs to advance the plot (thanks Hammerstein!), and incorporating new music genres like jazz. 

Big players including George Gershwin, Noble Sissle, and Irving Berlin all play a role in crafting the perfect environment for the American musical to emerge, but the production Show Boat really gives a glimpse of the future of musical theater. It entertains even as it tackles heavy topics, and the score is seriously moving. It’s difficult to anticipate how audiences will receive this new form—less pompous than a European operetta, but definitely more substantial than one of Ziegfeld’s musical revues. So, without further ado . . . take your seat, the show’s about to begin. 

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