This episode is something different. After a year of tracing U.S. history from the pre-Columbian period through the War of 1812, I wanted to step back and talk about&nbsp;why&nbsp;I’m doing this — and what I think history can actually teach us about the world we’re living in now.In this manifesto, I lay out the purpose behind&nbsp;How the Hell Did We Get Here?: to cut through the noise of hot takes and partisan shouting, and use history to make sense of the present. From Vietnam to Iraq, from Reconstruction to the Gilded Age, I explore how the pendulum of American politics keeps swinging — and what those patterns might tell us about where we’re headed next.If you’re tired of volume over substance and want a deeper conversation about how we got here — and what “here” even means — this one’s for you.🎧&nbsp;New to the show?&nbsp;Start here. It’s the heart of what this project is all about.

What the Hell Did the Market Economy Undo in America?

Want to understand U.S. history better? This show will help anyone better comprehend the present condition of the United States' government, society, culture, economy and more by going back to the origins of the U.S., before it was even an independent country and exploring the fundamental aspects of U.S. history up to the present moment. The episodes chronologically examine different periods--Colonial, Revolutionary, Antebellum, Civil War/Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, Progressive Era, Roaring 20s, Depression & WWII, the Cold War/Civil Rights era and the later 20th and early 21st century--of U.S. history to show the country's 500-year-long evolution. 

I will be your narrator, as someone who has been intensely interested in the study of history for most of my life and who has taught the subject in various formats for decades. I will rely on the scholarship of various historians but will make the content accessible to everyone, regardless of prior knowledge of the subject. Whether you know a lot about U.S. history or not very much at all, this show will provide you with some excellent context and information and help you to better understand how the hell we got here!