S8 Ep229: THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR AND THE PROBLEM OF SUCCESSION Colleagues Gaius and Germanicus, Friends of History Debating Society, Londinium, 91 AD. In the final segment, Gaius and Germanicus analyze the New York Times characterizing the Trump presidency as a "

S8 Ep228: THE GILDED AGE, GROVER CLEVELAND, AND THE ASSERTION OF SOVEREIGNTY Colleagues Gaius and Germanicus, Friends of History Debating Society, Londinium, 91 AD. The second segment pivots to a historical comparison involving Grover Cleveland, the only American p

S8 Ep228: THE ACTOR-EMPEROR AND THE SHIFT FROM DIGNITAS TO INTIMACY Colleagues Gaius and Germanicus, Friends of History Debating Society, Londinium, 91 AD. In this session, set against the backdrop of a cold winter in Londinium, Gaius and Germanicus explore the evo

S8 Ep227: THE MUTINY PLOT AND THE DECISION TO EXECUTE Colleague Richard Snow. Spencer's "mutiny" plot is revealed to a steward, triggering Mackenzie's paranoia. Mackenzie arrests Spencer, Cromwell, and Small without concrete evidence of an uprising. An irregular co

S8 Ep227: THE MUTINY PLOT AND THE DECISION TO EXECUTE Colleague Richard Snow. Spencer's "mutiny" plot is revealed to a steward, triggering Mackenzie's paranoia. Mackenzie arrests Spencer, Cromwell, and Small without concrete evidence of an uprising. An irregular co

S8 Ep227: THE OVERCROWDED SOMERS AND SPENCER'S ISOLATION Colleague Richard Snow. Snow describes the Somers as a fast, overcrowded school ship filled with teenage midshipmen. He details Spencer's isolation due to his physical disability and surly demeanor. Spencer v

S8 Ep227: THE SOMERS MUTINY: SPENCER AND CAPTAIN MACKENZIE Colleague Richard Snow. Snow introduces the Somers mutiny, focusing on midshipman Philip Spencer, a troubled youth obsessed with pirates, and Captain Mackenzie. Mackenzie, who changed his name for an inheri

S8 Ep227: THE COCKPIT HUMILIATION AND FRANKLIN'S TRANSFORMATION Colleague Richard Munson. Munson describes the "Cockpit" humiliation in London, which transformed Franklin from a royalist mediator into a revolutionary. They discuss his founding of the American Philo

S8 Ep227: ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS AND THE FRANKLIN STOVE Colleague Richard Munson. The discussion focuses on Franklin's electrical experiments, including the Leiden jar and conservation of charge. Munson explains that the kite experiment had practical origins for li

S8 Ep227: FRANKLIN'S PRINTING SUCCESS AND SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS Colleague Richard Munson. Munson details Franklin's success in the "high-tech" printing industry, which generated the wealth necessary for his scientific pursuits. The segment covers his political battle

S8 Ep227: ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS AND THE FRANKLIN STOVE Colleague Richard Munson. The discussion focuses on Franklin's electrical experiments, including the Leiden jar and conservation of charge. Munson explains that the kite experiment had practical origins for li

S8 Ep226: DUELING MONUMENTS AND THE HEART OF DARKNESS THEME Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. The feud extends into the 20th century with "dueling monuments" in Ohio, where the Cresap Society and local residents erect competing memorials near the site of Logan's Elm t

S8 Ep226: JEFFERSON, LUTHER MARTIN, AND THE CANONIZATION OF A FALSE ACCUSATION Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Thomas Jefferson publishes "Logan's Lament" to argue against French theories of American inferiority, but in doing so, he canonizes the false accusation ag

S8 Ep226: THE TRAGIC FATE OF LOGAN AND JEFFERSON'S DISCOVERY Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. The narrative reveals the tragic fate of the Mingo leader, Logan. In 1794, a surveyor encounters a Native American who admits to killing his uncle, Logan, near Lake Erie aro

S8 Ep226: CRESAP'S RIFLEMEN, DEATH IN NEW YORK, AND A HERO'S FUNERAL Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Michael Cresap leads his riflemen to Boston, fueled by press coverage depicting them as America's invincible "secret weapons" against the British. However, upon arri

S8 Ep226: LORD DUNMORE'S WAR AND CRESAP'S PATRIOT TURN Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Following the massacre, Logan abandons diplomacy for vengeance, killing nearly twenty people and provoking Lord Dunmore's War. Simultaneously, the Continental Congress calls for r

S8 Ep226: THE YELLOW CREEK MASSACRE AND THE TRUE PERPETRATORS Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. This segment details the chaotic environment following the British withdrawal from Fort Pitt, which created a power vacuum and a border war between Pennsylvania and Virgini

S8 Ep226: BEWILDERMENT, THE OHIO COMPANY, AND COLONIAL EXPANSION Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Parkinson explains that "bewilderment" is the central theme of his book, drawing a thematic parallel to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness to describe the confusion and v

S8 Ep226: LOGAN'S LAMENT AND THE CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Host John Batchelor introduces Professor Robert G. Parkinson and his book, Heart of American Darkness, which investigates the complex relationship between colonials and Native

S8 Ep225: THE SCANDAL'S LEGACY AND POST-CIVIL WAR DIVORCE Colleague Barbara Weisberg. Weisberg discusses the scandal's legacy, noting that divorce rates spiked significantly after the Civil War, though the guilty party was legally forbidden to remarry. She explains