American History Hit

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1. Salem Witch Trials

   26 oktober 2026 · 54 min

   Afspelen
   It all started with two young girls and three accused women. It ended with more than 200 accused, 20 executed and the name Salem forever connected with another word: witch. Lees meer

   Don is joined by Professor Mikki Brock from Washington and Lee University to find out what really happened in Salem Village in the late 17th century.

   Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aliza Dams. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

   Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

   You can take part in our listener survey here.

   All music from Epidemic Sounds.

   American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2. Takeover of Alcatraz Island

   22 oktober 2026 · 1 uur 11 min

   Afspelen
   In November 1969 a group of Native American activists, protesting against centuries of forced relocation, broken treaties and the erosion of tribal sovereignty, launched a daring operation to take over the old prison on the Island of Alcatraz. Over the following nineteen month, it would become one of the most remarkable acts of protest in American history... but who were the figures that led this movement? And what did it achieve? Lees meer

   Our guest today is Kent Blansett, Professor of Indigenous Studies and US History at the University of Kansas. He is the author of ‘A Journey to Freedom: Richard Oakes, Alcatraz, and the Red Power Movement’.

   Produced by Tomos Delargy. Edited by Aliza Dams. Senior Producer is Freddy Chick.

   Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

   You can take part in our listener survey here.

   All music from Epidemic Sounds.

   American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3. The Truth About Alexander Hamilton

   19 oktober 2026 · 45 min

   Afspelen
   We're rerunning a classic episodes today from a mini-series we did all about Alexander Hamilton. Who really was he, and what do we actually know about his life? Lees meer

   A Founding Father, he fought in the Revolutionary War, founded the American financial system and was the first ever Secretary of the Treasury. But who really was Hamilton? How did his face come to be on our bank notes? Did he love his wife? And why would he go to duel even after his son had died in doing so? Don Wildman is talking to William Hogeland to find out. William is the author of 'The Hamilton Scheme: An Epic Tale of Money and Power in the American Founding' and his substack can be found here.

   This was the first of a 4 part series on American History Hit, you can find the rest by going back to April 2024.

   Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

   Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

   You can take part in our listener survey here.

   All music from Epidemic Sounds.

   American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4. The Boston Courthouse Bombing

   15 oktober 2026 · 33 min

   Afspelen
   On April 22, 1976 a bomb went off at Suffolk County Courthouse in Boston. 22 people were injured in the blast, but no one was ever tried for the crime. Lees meer

   Kevin Galvin joins Don today to explore who bombed the courthouse, why they did it, and who was caught up in it.

   Kevin has been a correspondent for the Associated Press, a feature writer for The Seattle Times, and deputy national editor of the Boston Globe. His book is 'Troubled Times: The Boston Courthouse Bombing of 1976'.

   Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

   Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

   You can take part in our listener survey here.

   All music from Epidemic Sounds.

   American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5. Life Down a California Goldmine

   12 oktober 2026 · 55 min

   Afspelen
   In 1848, James Marshall's discovery of gold in California's American River kicked off one of the biggest Gold Rushes in U.S. history. But what was life really like in California's Gold Fields? Who was actually making money? And how did gold fever shape a nation? Lees meer

   Our guest today is Stephen Aron, Calvin and Marilyn Gross Director and President and CEO of the Autry Museum of the American West. Stephen is Professor of History, Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles.

   Produced by Hannah Feodorov. Edited by Tim Arstall. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

   Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

   You can take part in our listener survey here.

   All music from Epidemic Sounds.

   American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

   History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

6. Fur Trapping, Empire & the Hudson’s Bay Company

   8 oktober 2026 · 43 min

   Afspelen
   Did you know that almost 40% of the land that is now Canada was once owned by a single commercial company? Lees meer

   The Hudson's Bay Company surrendered this area for the sum of £300,000 in 1869. But how did they come to control it? What was life like for fur traders in North America? And what was the Pemmican War?

   Don is joined today by Stephen R. Bown, author of ‘The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson’s Bay Empire’.

   Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Aliza Dams. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

   Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

   You can take part in our listener survey here.

   All music from Epidemic Sounds.

   American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

   History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

7. Winter at Valley Forge: Washington's Darkest Hour?

   4 oktober 2026 · 44 min

   Afspelen
   After suffering defeat after defeat, George Washington’s battered army was forced to retreat into the forests of rural Pennsylvania, where they set up camp to wait out the winter. The encampment at Valley Forge would be their home for the next six months, during which thousands would endure freezing temperatures, hunger and disease... Lees meer

   Our guest today is Prof. Rick Herrera, Senior Historian at the U.S. Army War College. He is the author of the award-winning 'Feeding Washington’s Army: Surviving the Valley Forge Winter of 1778' and 'For Liberty and the Republic: The American Citizen as Soldier, 1775-1861.'

   Produced by Tomos Delargy. Edited by Aliza Dams. Senior Producer is Freddy Chick.

   Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

   You can take part in our listener survey here.

   All music from Epidemic Sounds.

   American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

8. Nazi Scientists in America: Operation Paperclip

   1 oktober 2026 · 40 min

   Afspelen
   Why would the United States have welcomed Nazis after the Second World War? Through Operation Paperclip, more than 1,500 German and Austrian scientists and engineers moved to America to share technology developed in the Third Reich. Lees meer

   Don is joined by Eric Lichtblau in this episode to find out who these people were, why the US needed them, and whether any of them should have faced punishment.

   Eric Lichtblau is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author of 'The Nazis Next Door - How America Became A Safe Haven For Hitler’s Men'.

   Produced by Sophie Gee. Edited by Tim Arstall. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

   Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

   You can take part in our listener survey here.

   All music from Epidemic Sounds.

   American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

   History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™

   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

9. Early Humans of Ice Age America

   28 september 2026 · 48 min

   Afspelen
   When did the first humans arrive in America? Archaeologists have long pushed the theory that human habitation in the Americas dates back only to about 10,000 years. But now there's overwhelming evidence that humans have been in the Americas for over 30,000 years. And perhaps much longer. Lees meer

   Our guest today is Dr. Paulette Steeves, professor of geography, archeology, and land stewardship at Algoma University. She is also author of the books The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere, and Reclaiming Deep Human Histories of the Western Hemisphere: Archaeologists Who Braved Prejudice to Reveal the Evidence.

   Produced by Hannah Feodorov. Edited by Tim Arstall. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

   Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

   You can take part in our listener survey here.

   All music from Epidemic Sounds.

   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

10. LBJ & the Vietnam War

    24 september 2026 · 56 min

    Afspelen
    How did a President who was so reluctant to ramp up America's presence in Vietnam become the one who increased it more than any other? When Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President, he had big plans for his domestic agenda... but it would be his foreign policy decisions that eventually brought him down. Lees meer

    Our guest today is Pierre Asselin, professor of American Foreign Relations at San Diego State University. He is a leading authority on the Vietnam War and is the author of A Bitter Peace: Washington, Hanoi, and the Making of the Paris Agreement and Hanoi’s Road to the Vietnam War, 1954-1965.

    Produced by Tomos Delargy. Edited by Tim Arstall. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.

    Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

    You can take part in our listener survey here.

    All music from Epidemic Sounds.

    American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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