Not Running for President – A History

Horatio Seymour chaired his party’s national convention when his worst horror occurred. His party was nominating HIM, the chair, for President. No “I must not be President,” he insisted. It couldn’t matter less. “Ohio does not accept his declination!” was the response. That meant Governor Seymour was running for President anyway. Seymour’s reluctant run is…

Special Episode, For Patrons!

Get extra episodes when you subscribe to MHCBUYP’s Patreon (www.patreon.com/mhcbuyp). Including this episode about the American Revolution after Yorktown, from the British and American side. Not only do you get extra episodes to listen to when you subscribe to Patreon rom My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, but you’ll help support the show. There…

Disco Demolition and The First South Carolina Primary

This episode looks at the confluence of events in 1979 and 80, including a reaction to disco, Dylan’s Christian turn and a new music delivery device. And one state helps out a candidate by converting their stodgy convention to a state primary. Originally aired 2020.

We Are Part of Airwave Media Podcast Network

LOS ANGELES, Cali – Airwave Media, the award-winning production company behind the popular podcast Kickass News announced plans to form a brand new podcast network called Airwave. Airwave will officially launch this May 24, and it will be a curated collection of shows featuring some of the leading storytellers and thought leaders in audio entertainment….

You Break Everybody’s Back: The 1988 Presidential Election, Part Six: Theoretical Dukakis

In our final episode of our six-part series on the 1988 Presidential Election, Vice President Bush has a lead over Mike Dukakis. It’s close enough for a comeback, and people have suggestions for a different Dukakis message. Lots of them. There’s a comeback, though maybe there wasn’t. There’s a chance, though maybe there wasn’t. What if the way the…

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History Favors Running Incumbent Presidents, Wherever Possible

There is a lot of discussion about to run Biden or run someone else. I can’t tell you, in the scope of this podcast, who you should vote for President, or who you’d prefer to lead your country, but if you look at chances of a party winning or losing an election – History could…

The Asterisk: Bush vs. Reagan in Iowa 1980

In 1980, George Bush did the impossible. He went from three percent in the polls, an asterisk in the polls, as he called himself, to defeating front-runner Ronald Reagan in the Iowa caucuses. The issue: electability, moderation, and age. The event upset a rage and nearly changed history. Indeed, it put the Bush name into…

Black Hawk and Black Hawk’s “War”

The story of Black Hawk’s War is central to the development of the Midwest of the United States. Notably, the securing of Illinois and the development of Iowa. But was it war? Was it worth fighting? Zachary Taylor has an opinion, among others. We tell the story of that war that involved two Presidents and…

Undeniably Unconsecutive: Grover Cleveland’s Third Election

Grover Cleveland’s road to the only non-consecutive Presidential term was not an easy one. He’d have to pass a series of political tests to get his chance. The first obstacle that had to be overcome was: Grover himself. Did he want to do it? Then he’d have to navigate rivals and frenemies. And through it…

New Deal Beer: The Story of 3.2

A way to get around Prohibition as Franklin Roosevelt became President still has echoes today. And it is a great way to examine the line between safety policy and libertarian rights.

W.E.B. DuBois and The Wounded World w/ Chad L. Williams

In 1917, the most prominent spokesperson for African Americans, W.E.B. DuBois, shocked many when he threw his support behind enthusiastic and patriotic participation in World War I. He thought it was the key to expanding rights and treatment for African Americans. He was only to be later disappointed by the treatment of soldiers in France,…

FALL OF USSR: Part 6 – Two Bears in a Cave

In our final episode of the series. Tanks start moving and planes start racing. Plotters confess and in betweeners swear they had nothing to do with any coup! A rescued Gorbachev quickly realizing that he might be in yet another seizure of power. But this one happening quietly over a few tiring days. And with…

FALL OF USSR: Part 5 – “I Cannot Forsake Principles!”

The first blood is spilled. We look at the right-wing of Soviet Society which triggered the putsch. And the rebellious elements that also existed. Jeans, rock and roll, religion, revisionism and weakness. Music by Lee Rosevere and Theme Song by Chris Novembrino We are part of Airwave Media Network – check out Ben Franklin’s World,…

FALL OF USSR: Part 4 -Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears

As barricades are built and citizens turn to a protective barrier, the Soviet culture they come from might be the very thing that keeps them going. Music by Lee Rosevere and Theme by Chris Novembrino. We are part of Airwave Media Network To hear the next two episodes right now – sign up for our…

FALL OF USSR: Part 3 – Athens vs. Sparta

The role of the military and the press is explored in this episode of our series on the fall of the Soviet Union. The emergency committee decides its time to go public and reassure everyone. A mayor decides to directly confront the generals. A TV anchor decides to slip the guards. A reporter decides to…

FALL OF USSR: Part 2 – The Steam Bath of History

Yeltzin has stood on a tank, but so what? Few have seen it. Crowds shift from the traditional protest places to a new one. They bring heavy metal. What on Zemlya is happening? Whatever it is, it all started in a steam bath. Sort of. In order to understand the events of August 19th, 1991,…

FALL OF USSR: Part 1 – “Wake Up, Cassandra!”

Soviet citizens wake up to tanks outside their windows in 1991. Media is censored. The President is detained. Another president escapes, maybe just escapes… A third President is powerless. Is this the end of everything? Music by Lee Rosevere and Theme Song by Chris Novembrino The first in our “FALL OF USSR: series. To listen to more ad-free…

SUPPORT US ON PATREON AND GET “DRAFT JOHNSON”

Support the program on Patreon and get our special MHCBUYP episode on Lyndon Johnson. Draft Johnson takes a look at Lyndon Johnson’s actions in 1968 which run contrary to his well-known speech declaiming interest in the Presidency. In this special 90-minute cast we review a variety of sources and Johnson’s actions up to the Chicago…

Soccer and Repression: The 1978 World Cup in Argentina

As the world attention focuses on a soccer game, behind the surface is a disturbingly hidden suppression of a previously strong democracy.  

A History of Student Loans and Higher Ed Financing in the U.S.

College costs have been an issue since the founding of the Republic, as we discuss in this issue, And equally, the desire to provide education to young minds has been strong. What’s different about the era we live in is that college is closely associated with debt. Debt that cannot be removed by bankruptcy, and…

Nixon Versus Plywood, Ike and Gas, LBJ and Copper and Other Presidential Inflation Stories

Stories of Presidential inflation fighting and fund-raising that seem to have a similar ring to today’s events, in this episode. Nixon’s plans to cut housing costs by reducing prices on the key element of housing inspires timber companies but riles environmentalist. Johnson uses his air fleet to shuttle the right people around to get the…

You Break Everybody’s Back: The 1988 Presidential Election, Part 3 – Attack Videotape

In the wake of a front-runner’s withdrawal, the campaigns struggle to get traction and block rival campaigns. The best weapon. An attack videotape. A story of three attack videotapes. One sent to a reporter which took out a major player in the campaign. Another in the snows of New Hampshire that saved a candidate, and…

You Break Everybody’s Back: The 1988 Presidential Election, Part Two – You Slayed My Dragon!

We tell the story of Gary Hart, the frontrunner in the Democratic side of the 1988 race, but also the aftermath. After Hart’s fall, all the campaigns are lost because they had hoped to slay the Hart dragon and get the press attention off a win or “surprising showing” against Hart. Now what? We have to stand on…

Update on UK Politics w/ Stephen Byrne

We talk to Stephen Byrne, host of What Am Politics about events in the United Kingdom with some contrasts to politics in the United States. In the UK currently, the government is very unpopular but there’s nothing they or anyone else can do about it for at least six months, and probably a year. Meanwhile,…

The Jacksonians and Their Role in Today’s Politics, w/ John Ellis

Explanations of the 2016 and 2020 elections often get into “The Rust Belt.” Our guest does not see it that way. With John Ellis of News Corp, NBC, The Globe and currently of News-Items.com, we discuss the current political situation and a group of exurban and rural voters that seem to align with the values of 19th…