The Year That Was Podcast
1) Radical and Agitator: William Monroe Trotter and the Fight for Justice
William Monroe Trotter was among the richest, best-educated, and most-well-connected African-American men in the United States--and he dedicated every ounce of his privilege into helping his fellow bl...Show More
2) There Is No Justice Here: The Red Summer of 1919
A constant threat of violence hung over the lives of African Americans in the early 20th century, an unrelenting terror that served to deter economic progress and enforce a racist social order. But 19...Show More
3) Reign of Terror: The First Red Scare
Americans felt under attack in 1919 as a series of riots, strikes, disasters, and bombings hit the country. After radicals attempted to blow up the house of Attorney General Mitchell Palmer, he decid...Show More
4) Pie in the Sky: The Wobblies and the Fight for Labor
The I.W.W. was a tough, militant, radical union, and its very existence terrified business owners, factory bosses, and the entire U.S. government. Since its founding, the law had been out to get the W...Show More
5) Send All Available Personnel: The United States and the Great Molasses Flood
The Purity Distilling Company molasses tank dominated the North End of Boston, standing 50 feet tall over the surrounding tenements. Residents of the area were accustomed to the sight of tank oozing s...Show More
Send All Available Personnel: The United States and the Great Molasses Flood
59:19 | Nov 26th, 2019
6) The Great Tide of Our Age: Colonies, Mandates and the Failed Promise of Self-Determination
Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points promised self-determination to colonies around the globe, raising hopes of independence and freedom for millions. But Wilson and the Allies had no intention of letting...Show More
7) A Grubby Little War: The Collapse of the Ottoman Empire
The collapse of the Ottoman Empire set off a mad scramble for territory. No one paid any attention to what the people who actually lived in the former empire actually wanted. But in the heart of Anato...Show More
8) No Question of Undue Severity: The India Independence Movement
At the end of World War I, Great Britain promised India increased autonomy with one hand and took civil rights away with another. The furious population welcomed the leadership of a nationalist with a...Show More
9) Giving the Natives a Free Hand: The Irish Fight for Independence
The Irish had tried to free themselves from British control for centuries, always to fail. But in 1922, the Irish Free State took its place among the world's independent nations. Learn how an election...Show More
10) No Cause for Panic: The Spanish Flu Pandemic
The emergence of the flu virus that swept the globe between 1918 and 1920 was entirely unexpected, but the resulting pandemic can't be called an entirely natural disaster. Governments made decisions t...Show More