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

  • 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
  • 56 minutes 5 seconds
    ZACHARY TAYLOR - Part 1

    A new President comes to Washington. No one knows what to expect.

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    6 January 2026, 6:01 pm
  • 58 minutes 14 seconds
    WAR POWERS

    Presidents and Congress and use of military. A look at history. Presidents and Congresses, and a specific legislation that applies that is used, ignored, lightly used, skirted, enforced, unenforced and criticized throughout its 53 year history.

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    4 January 2026, 9:24 pm
  • 1 hour 10 minutes
    EVEN MORE 90's EPHEMERA

    CNN confirms that a missile strike hit for the White House, Japanese politics implodes, a grunge music tragedy and strange local traditions make mainstream in our extra episode of leftovers from the previous 1990's ephemera.

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    31 December 2025, 9:11 pm
  • 46 minutes 57 seconds
    NIXON IN FULL: Part 2

    A great accomplishment and a historic scandal. And not the scandal you are thinking of, probably.

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    24 December 2025, 5:00 am
  • 45 minutes 55 seconds
    NIXON IN FULL, Part 1

    Nixon - a mix of what you know and what you may not. First part of a 2014 episode. I don't know whether time has changed this cast, or if this cast has more meaning now, or less, that is for the listener to judge.


    Sponsored by:

    The University of Aberdeen:

    https://on.abdn.ac.uk/online-history-courses/




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    22 December 2025, 5:00 pm
  • 50 minutes 21 seconds
    MORE ABOUT THE KEN BURNS AMERICAN REVOLUTION DOCUMENTARY AND BEN FRANKLIN

    Deeper dive on Ken Burns documentary and Franklin and Iroquois Confederacy debate. Plus: Iran Iraq war and midterms.

    Sponsored by:

    The University of Aberdeen:

    https://on.abdn.ac.uk/online-history-courses/



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    7 December 2025, 3:03 pm
  • 43 minutes 54 seconds
    IRAN-IRAQ WAR - PART TWO

    Stalemate breaks in a surprise operation. An apathetic America gets involved on both sides. The fighting stops, but nothing is the same after 1988.

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    6 December 2025, 5:00 am
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