Curated Video
Brother Jourdan's Response
Todays episode features a scathing response to possibly the most ill advised “take me back” letter ever and some wisdom from an ancient African proverb. The response came from a formerly enslaved man named Jourdan Anderson, who lived...
Curated Video
The Devil Half Acre
Lumpkin’s jail also known as The Devil Half Acre was one of the most notorious slave sites in the south run by Robert Lumpkin as a slave trading post in 1840. This slave-trading complex operated from the 1830s until the end of the...
The Wall Street Journal
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain on Washington After the Midterms
Ron Klain discusses how Republican control of the House will impact the president’s agenda to combat inflation, fund the government and support Ukraine.
Weird History
Facts About The Stanford Prison Experiment
In 1971, professor Philip Zimbardo put together one of the most intriguing and famous psychology experiments ever: the Stanford Prison Experiment, designed to study the effects of incarceration on prisoners and guards. Using an...
Curated Video
Ulysess S Grant: Profile of a Leader
In 2020, a statue of former US President Ulysses S Grant was toppled by Black Lives Matter protesters. A Civil War hero who helped bring about an end to slavery, he was a controversial figure too.
Curated Video
10 things we never knew about Aretha Franklin
Multiple Grammy winner and "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin was known for such hits as "Respect," "Freeway of Love" and "I Say a Little Prayer." The fourth of five children, Aretha Louise Franklin was born on March 25, 1942, in Memphis,...
Curated Video
The Story of Earl Simmons aka DMX
Rapper DMX was one of America's biggest stars in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and his achievements secured him a spot in music history when he became the first artist to see his first five albums ranked at number one. In the United...
Curated Video
The Brutalisation Story of Abner Louima
Abner Louima is an activist against police brutality. In the summer of 1997, he was arrested and severely brutalized by New York police while leaving a club. The Louima case was one of the few times in which a jury trial resulted in...
Curated Video
Mary Turner: A Young Black Woman Dehumanized
On May 16, 1918, a plantation owner was murdered, prompting a manhunt which resulted in a series of lynchings in May 1918 in southern Georgia, United States. White people killed at least 13 black people during the next two weeks. Among...
Curated Video
Alex Haley: Author of 'Roots' and 'The Autobiography of Malcolm X'
Alex Haley served in the U.S. Coast Guard for two decades before pursuing a career as a writer. He eventually helmed a series of interviews for Playboy magazine and later co-authored The Autobiography of Malcolm X. The following decade,...
Curated Video
The Little Rock Nine: Separate and Unequal
Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in the United States that permitted segregation in everything water fountains to buses to schools. Services were definitely separate in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, but...
Curated Video
Della Reese: the First Black Woman to Host a Talk Show
Decades before Oprah, Della Reese was the first Black Woman to host a talk show. Born in Michigan in 1931, Della Reese began making records and performing on television variety shows in the 1950s. Reese was the first black woman to host...
Curated Video
Akai Gurley
Akai Gurley, a 28-year-old man, was fatally shot on November 20, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, by a New York City Police Department officer. The two police officers were patrolling stairwells in the New York City...
Curated Video
Mary Fields aka Stagecoach Mary
Mary Fields, also known as Stagecoach Mary and Black Mary, was the first African-American female star-route mail carrier in the United States. Born Mary Fields in around 1832, Fields was born into slavery, and like many other enslaved...
Mr. Beat
The American Presidential Election of 1836
The 13th episode in a very long series about the American presidential elections from 1788 to the present. I hope to have them done by Election Day 2016. In 1836, the Whig Party emerges and runs four candidates against incumbent Martin...
Curated Video
Anna Arnold Hedgeman
Anna Arnold grew up in Anoka, Minnesota. Even though veryone was white except her family, she did not experience segretation growing up. However, when she went out into the world, she found that she had to fight for people to see her and...
Mr. Beat
Speaker of the House
What does the Speaker of the House do? After the recent news of John Boehner resigning as Speaker of the House, Mr. Beat explains the (arguably) most important position in the United States Congress, and he also decides to run for...
Mr. Beat
The American Presidential Election of 1876
The 23rd Presidential election in American history took place on November 7th, 1876. Boy was this one controversial! Let's get right to it. President Ulysses Grant actually considered running for a third term, and he would have been the...
Mr. Beat
The American Presidential Election of 1840
The 14th episode in a very long series about the American presidential elections from 1788 to the present. I hope to have them done by Election Day 2016. In 1840, the Whig Party brings Tippecanoe and Tyler, too, and Van Buren faces an...
History Hit
Maps That Made America
Susan Schulten presents a selection of maps from the fascinating collection of maps that feature in her book 'A History of America in 100 Maps'.
Amor Sciendi
Empathic Image, or Dangerous Ideology?
The classic image of Middle America is loved by some and hated by others.
Curated Video
Doris Miller: Hero of Pearl Harbour
Doris Miller was a United States Navy cook third class who was killed in action during World War II. He was the first Black American to be awarded the Navy Cross. In this episode, we take a brief look at his heroic life and his amazing...
Curated Video
What are Sundown Towns?
A sundown or sunset town was a city, town or neighborhood in the US that excluded non-whites after dark. The term sundown came from the signs that were posted at the towns borders stating "Negro, Don't Let the Sun Set On You Here." A...