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History Hit

Join Don Wildman twice a week for your hit of American history, as he explores the past to help us understand the United States of today.

 

We’ll hear how codebreakers uncovered secret Japanese plans for the Battle of Midway, visit Chief Powhatan as he prepares for war with the British, see Walt Disney accuse his former colleagues of being communists, and uncover the dark history that lies beneath Central Park. 

 

From pre-colonial America to independence, slavery to civil rights, the gold rush to the space race, join Don as he speaks to leading experts to delve into America’s past.

 

New episodes every Monday and Thursday.

 

Brought to you by History Hit, the award-winning podcast network and world’s best history channel on demand, featuring shows like Dan Snow’s History Hit, Not Just The Tudors and Betwixt the Sheets.

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. 

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

American History Hit

It's known as the deadliest single day in American history: the Battle of Antietam.

After weeks of Union defeats, Confederate forces pushed north into Maryland and carried the war onto Northern soil for the first time. Near a quiet creek in Maryland, two armies faced one another and engaged in a battle that would decide the course of American history.

To take us through today's episode, we welcome our guest Garry Adelman. Garry is an award-winning author and vice president of the Center for Civil War Photography. He works full time as Chief Historian at the American Battlefield Trust.

For those who are interested, here are some of images referenced in the episode: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2021644156/

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Tomos Delargy. 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. 

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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

America's Bloodiest Day: Battle of Antietam

Heroic cowboys on horseback. Bands of outlaws. Brawls in small town saloons.

This is the Wild West as popular culture remembers it. But was it really as “wild” as we’ve been led to believe? Did the violence of the frontier truly revolve around outlaws and lawmen... or were much larger forces shaping life on the Frontier?

To explore this question, we welcome Tore Olsson as our guest for this episode. Tore is Professor of History at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and his most recent work is Red Dead’s History: A Video Game, An Obsession, and America’s Violent Past.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Tomos Delargy. 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. 

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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

How Wild Was the Wild West? | The Frontier

Franklin D Roosevelt is consistently considered one of the United States' best Presidents. Elected four times, he oversaw the end of the Great Depression and victory in the Second World War.

But was all of this actually his work? Did FDR solve the depression? And how do both his failure to support an anti-lynching bill and the internment of thousands of US citizens during the war impact his legacy?

Don is joined by David Beito, Professor Emeritus at the University of Alabama and author of 'FDR: A New Political Life'.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan, produced by Sophie Gee. 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. 

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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

What Did FDR Get Wrong?

In the first instalment of our Frontier miniseries, we explore one of the most iconic symbols in American history: the Oregon Trail. For decades, thousands of Americans packed their lives into wooden wagons and set out for the West. They crossed sun-scorched plains without shade, climbed mountains without roads, and forded rivers that could turn deadly in an instant. Along the way, many buried loved ones beside the trail and pressed on.

What compelled ordinary people to leave everything behind and walk nearly two thousand miles into uncertainty? How much did they truly understand about the dangers ahead? And what was daily life really like - day after exhausting day - on the trail?

Our guest today is Stephen Aron, Calvin and Marilyn Gross Director and President & CEO of the Autry Museum of the American West. Stephen is Professor of History, Emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. His works include ‘The American West: A Very Short Introduction,’ and most recently ‘Peace and Friendship: An Alternative History of the American West.’

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Tomos Delargy. 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. 

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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

Life and Death on the Oregon Trail | The Frontier

Known by the end of his life as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, the Black Nationalist leader best known as Malcolm X died at just 39. Despite his short life, however, his legacy continues to this day.

Don is joined by Clarence Lang today, who introduces us to this legendary figure and takes us through the events that made him who he was.

Clarence is the Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts and professor of African American studies at Penn State. He is currently working on his third book, 'Malcolm X: A Political Biography of Black Nationalism and the African American Working Class'.

Edited by Tim Arstall, produced by Sophie Gee. 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. 

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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

The Making of Malcolm X

The Origins of Slavery in America, from its early colonial history to its expansion after the Revolutionary war, is the darkest chapter of American history. In this episode, we'll explore how European colonists first brought enslaved Africans to the Americas, how legal frameworks were devised to uphold the practice and what they were forced to endure on the plantations.

Today we welcome Justene Hill Edwards, Historian and Professor at University of Virginia, as our guest on today’s episode. Justene is the author of Savings and Trust: the Rise & Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank, which was the Winner of the 2025 Frederick Douglass Book Prize.

Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Tomos Delargy. 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. 

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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

Darkest Hours: Origins of Slavery

Roughstock, roping and risk - the sport and spectacle of rodeo has become one of the most iconic American pastimes over the last couple of centuries. But where did it begin and how has it changed over time?

Don is joined by Dr Tracey Hanshew, Assistant Professor of History at Eastern Oregon University. Tracey's article, 'Here she comes wearin’ them britches!’ Saddles, Riding Skirts, and Social Reform in the Turn-of-the-Century Rural West,' was recently published in Montana The Magazine of Western History.

Edited by Tim Arstall, produced by Sophie Gee. 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. 

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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

Rodeo: An All American History?

On May 4 1970, four students were shot dead by the Ohio National Guard during a protest. What were they protesting? Why were the National Guard brought in? And what chain of events led them to shoot?

Don is joined by historian Brian VanDeMark, formerly of the United States Naval Academy, whose latest book is Kent State: An American Tragedy.

Edited by Aidan Lonergan, produced by Sophie Gee. 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. 

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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

Darkest Hours: The Kent State Shootings

A two-hundred-year-old presidential speech has shaped how the United States sees its role in the world ever since. At the time, it sounded like a modest declaration from a young and uncertain nation. What would come to be known as the Monroe Doctrine would grow into something far more powerful... and far more controversial.

Christopher Nichols, Professor of History at Ohio State University, joins us for this episode. Chris is the Wayne Woodrow Hayes Chair in National Security Studies and his works include ‘Rethinking American Grand Strategy’ and ‘Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of the Global Age’. He has previously appeared on Ep. 261 ‘President Eisenhower: War on Soviets and Segregation’

Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Tom Delargy. 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. 

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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

The Monroe Doctrine

The Great Depression was, as Professor John Moser puts it, the result of a perfect storm. So what brought it on? What was it like to live through it? And could it have been prevented in any way?

In this second episode of our series on America's Darkest Hours, we are examining the disastrous fall out of the great depression with John Moser. John is a Professor at Ashland University and author of 'Global Great Depression and the Coming of World War II'

Edited by Aidan Lonergan, produced by Sophie Gee. 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. 

All music from Epidemic Sounds.

American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

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

What Did FDR Get Wrong?

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