This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, I speak with historian Terry Golway, author of, Frank and Al: FDR, Al Smith, and the Unlikely Alliance That Created the Modern Democratic Party. It’s a remarkable story of two unlikely allies – one a patrician who went to Harvard and the … [Read more...]
Episode 149 FDR, Al Smith, and the Origins of the Modern Democratic Party
Episode 117 How Activist Government in Post-War America Expanded Opportunity and Spread Prosperity
This week at In The Past Lane, the American History podcast, we look at the decades following World War II when the federal government passed civil rights laws and enacted social programs concerning public health, housing, education, transportation, and anti-poverty initiatives that aimed to provide … [Read more...]
091 The Origins of Labor Day: Protesting Inequality in the Gilded Age
This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I take a deep dive into the origins of Labor Day. It's a holiday that most Americans these days take for granted. But it was born out of the crisis of the Gilded Age, that tumultuous last third of the 19th century that saw both the US economy boom … [Read more...]
Episode 086 How One US Government Agency Saved Thousands of Jews during World War II
This week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, I speak with historian Rebecca Erbelding about her book, Rescue Board: The Untold Story of America's Efforts to Save the Jews of Europe. It’s a fascinating book about a forgotten World War II story about the War Refugee Board, a US agency created … [Read more...]
Episode 046 How the US Government Segregated America in the 20th Century
Last week at In The Past Lane, the history podcast, we focused in the Pilgrims in the early 1600s. This week, we jump ahead 4 centuries to the mid 20th century to look at the history behind the unending problem of racial segregation in American society. I’ll speak with scholar Richard Rothstein … [Read more...]