In this episode, we dissect President John F. Kennedy's assassination and discuss why historians have been reluctant to talk about the event. We discuss the conspiracy behind the President's death, we place his assassination within a global Cold War context, we examine why every American (young and old) should care about this event, and we name names. Join us for a fascinating conversation with Kennedy assassination expert and historian Dr. Steve Blankenship.

Just in time for the UAW strike against Ford, GM, and Stellantis. The UK has a Labor party. Why doesn't the United States? Join History Matters for a discussion that looks at this question as we chart it across American history from Jefferson's Empire of Liberty to the Reagan Revolution.

In this episode we discuss the U.S. Civil War, the mythology of the Lost Cause, and whether a second civil war looms on the American horizon. 

Clifton, Steve, and I make our predictions on the 2022 midterm elections in Georgia and for the federal midterm elections. Our conversation then turns to vitality of democracy and the potential existential threats to democracy that make this midterm election so important. Is this the end of the world as we know it?  

Steve Blankenship, Clifton Pucket, and Shannon Bontrager discuss the importance of the Mid-term elections and the state of politics in Georgia and the U.S. 

Why are so many history teachers planning to leave the K-12 system? What are the causes of this academic great resignation? Marcus "Sankofa" Nicks, founder of History Heals Consulting L.L.C, a business devoted to using African American history as a vehicle to aid schools, institutions and businesses in fostering healthy and inclusive environments, joins us to discuss the problems and potential solutions currently facing K-12 history teachers.

Ben Stahl was a former student of Steve's who served in Afghanistan. After two tours in Afghanistan, he earned the GI Bill to put himself through college and law school. Now a lawyer, Ben sat down with us in a local pub to talk about his personal memories and the issues that he believes prevents Americans from remembering the American war in Afghanistan. 

The story of American nurses who made up Hospital # 65 in France during the First World War. They worked during a pandemic with no vaccines to protect them. The duty and care they showed to their patients, no matter their race, ethnicity, or national identity, is inspiring and worthy of commemorating even if no monument yet exists to remember their heroic actions. 

In this episode we discuss the recent opinion editorial I wrote on the digital front Ukrainians opened up to defend themselves against the Russian invasion, why this front makes this a new kind of war, and how it will make it difficult for us to remember and commemorate the aftermath. You can read the entire editorial on the History News Network (HNN) here: A New Kind of Memory for a New Kind of War? 

A historical review of the Netflix original series Munich at the Edge of War and how historical fiction can influence historians to reassess the past. Turning from the past to the present, the reassessment of Neville Chamberlain's legacy from Munich allows us to discuss the current military buildup on the Russian-Ukraine border and how historians might use the past to think about the present.