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…

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,…

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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,…

Speaker Election of 1855, 20th Amendment, and a Show Update

We talk a bit about Nathaniel Banks, the Speaker of The House of Representatives that (still) took the most ballots to be elected. Kevin McCarthy joins the ranks of Speakers that needed multiple ballots – we discuss the implications. A brief look at Frederick Gillett, the last Speaker to even need two ballots in 1923,…

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….

Drinking with FDR

From his bamboo shaker to his views on prohibition, all about Franklin Roosevelt and drinking. Suffice it to say with this President, it is not an unimportant part of his Presidency.

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…

FDR is Saved, Sidney Poitier, Lunar Bases? and More

a gun attack by a crazed man nearly ended the FDR Presidency before it began. As it was it took the life of a Chicago Mayor. Also FDR’s battle with a Chicago news titan, Sidney Poitier’s life, discussion of lunar bases, and more in the hodge-podcast.

Infringe: History of a Word and the Debate Over Guns

What’s in a word? Lots, maybe, when its a key word in the most contentious debate in America. The word “infringe” determines the threshold of how the Constitution should be enforced and what laws to pass. We seem to use it to mean a “minor trespass” but that runs counter to its etymological roots [the…

“Wrong Forever on the Throne!” – William Jennings Bryan and the Democratic Party in His Later Years

The Democratic Party had a problem in the nineteen teens and twenties. What to do with a candidate that could stir up crowds but not enough electoral votes? Though pleased to nominate him in 1896 and introduce a new kind of politics to their party, some Democrats grew tired of William Jennings Bryan especially in…

We Need to Talk. About the 72nd Congress

The 72nd Congress of 1931 was, as elected, a very narrow Republican House 218 R – 216 D. Close, but for President Hoover, good enough. That is until, 14 Congressmen-elect died. Not all at once – that would be weird – over 13 months, for all kinds of reasons but heart attacks and pneumonias leading…