My History Can Beat Up Your Politics

Bruce Carlson

Since 2006, this podcast has been using history to elevate today's political debates. "The perfect antidote to bloviating talking heads, My History is thoughtful, nuanced, and highly engaging." -Columbia Journalism Review

  • 41 minutes 36 seconds
    MCMXCIII: Bill Clinton's Year One (2nd part)

    Healthcare, Bosnia and Belief In The President.

    All are in doubt.

    The second part of our series on Bill Clinton's first year, 1993.

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    19 February 2026, 5:00 am
  • 53 minutes 40 seconds
    MCMXCIII: Bill Clinton's 1993 - Part One

    It's 1993. A new President jogs through his first year, with an unexperienced staff and a hostile White House press corps.

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    16 February 2026, 7:29 pm
  • 54 minutes 41 seconds
    TRUSTBUSTING, A HISTORY

    A look at the histories and realities of breaking up trusts, from T.R.'s era to the present.

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    12 February 2026, 5:00 am
  • 41 minutes 53 seconds
    THOMAS WOLFE TURNS AGAINST TOTALITARIANISM

    The writer Thomas Wolfe, known for his large novels and spewing prose, was a fan of Germany. On a trip there for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, he found joy and worry. Initially he admired the changes, but would soon change his opinion after a series of events and a near run-in with Hitler himself.

    He didn't live to see the true extent of Nazism, but left a warning for history.

    [One note: Thomas Wolfe, the 1930's author should not be confused with Bonfire of the Vanities author Tom Wolfe. Also a good author, different guy.]


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    9 February 2026, 5:00 am
  • 30 minutes 20 seconds
    LBJ 's "CELL PHONE" AND HIS DECISION TO JUMP ON THE TICKET IN 1960

    In answering a question about JFK's health and its role in Lyndon Johnson's decision to accept the Vice Presidency, Bruce takes a look at the people and factors surrounding Johnson's decision, Kennedy's motivations, Eisenhower's indirect role, and the confusing hours in a Los Angeles hotel that changed history.

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    5 February 2026, 5:00 pm
  • 12 minutes 41 seconds
    WHY TALK ABOUT LBJ TODAY?

    Why talk about LBJ? There's a few reasons.

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    5 February 2026, 3:00 pm
  • 31 minutes 43 seconds
    RUSHING PELL-MELL INTO MADNESS?: The Twenty-Fifth Amendment and its Critics

    On the surface, the 25th Amendment is a perfect mechanism for providing a stable transition of Presidential power. But that's not what early state ratification critics thought. And it's not how Hollywood writers oft envision it. When debating the 25th amendment to the US Constitution, one state legislator called it rushing "pell-mell into madness." Another said it did not complete the very purpose it intended and should go back to Congress for fixing. And still another said it has a huge hole around the vice presidency.

    These state quibbles were enough for a scare, but the states ratified anyway, in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis and a bipartisan push. But were the arguments valid?

    Although the 25th is designed to potentially remove a President, it is also designed to avoid doing that if at all possible. It was written by politicians to avoid politics, and as several TV and movie writers have found, it could create lots of politics.

    If you find it confusing, you aren't alone. Some opponents during its ratification took a look at what came out of the hard work of Sen. Kefauver and Bayh and said - why was it written this way? And not all their criticisms were answered.

    In this episode we look at the 25th and objections raised in Pennsylvania, Arkansas and Colorado that might have sunk the amendment.


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    2 February 2026, 5:00 am
  • 48 minutes 29 seconds
    LEFTOVER NOTES FROM THE ZACHARY TAYLOR SERIES

    From a town in California named for Zachary Taylor, to a famous letter sent by Frederick Douglass, we tell a few stories that didn't make it in to the series.

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    26 January 2026, 5:00 am
  • 1 hour 23 minutes
    ZACHARY TAYLOR - Part 3

    It comes down to milk and cherries? Plans change when a nation's hero falls, and historians go to work, reinterpreting the events of 1850.

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    19 January 2026, 5:00 am
  • 28 minutes 5 seconds
    SHOW UPDATE: Zachary Taylor's VP, Commentary on Recent News

    Mostly a pitch for the Patreon. Thanks for listening.

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    15 January 2026, 3:20 am
  • 48 minutes 13 seconds
    ZACHARY TAYLOR PART 2

    They thought he was an illiterate frontier colonel. They thought he'd never use the veto. Never comment on issues. Let Congress do the heavy lifting. But he has a plan.

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    12 January 2026, 5:00 am
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