Step Back History
How the Police Became an Occupying Army
We’ve heard quite a bit about the institution of the police lately. We see them in places like Portland or Minneapolis sporting military weapons, driving armoured personnel carriers, and dressed like the jackboots from a dystopian 70s...
Step Back History
Ruby Ridge, Waco, and the Apocalypse
Today we're going to talk about White Power's move to rebrand, as well as their massive clashes with the police at Ruby Ridge and Waco. These events ramped up a sense of an impending apocalypse. Something so scary, we'd eventually see...
Jack Rackam
Father of the Supreme Court | The Life & Times of John Marshall
We return once more to the USA! Chief Justice John Marshall, after turning down jobs as state attorney and attorney general, turned out to be one of the most influential justices the Supreme Court has ever had, and is more or less the...
Step Back History
How the Klan "Continued" the Vietnam War at Home
A group of Vietnamese Refugees in Texas in the late 1970s saw their lives turn into a horror show, as the white community terrorized them. What's worse is the Ku Klux Klan got involved. This resulted in a violent clash of communities...
Step Back History
Dinesh D'Souza: Infinity War
Dinesh D'Souza is an infamous right-wing provocateur. In 2016 he published an 'expose' on the Democratic party which not only misrepresents the history it covers but belies a darker motive.
Financial Times
Mapping how railroads built America - Ep 3
A new look at antique US railroad maps reveals how cities grew over the past 200 years. The FT's Alan Smith and Steven Bernard trace how cities, people and the economy spread from coast to coast.
Step Back History
The Most Dangerous Woman in America
I often get asked who my favourite historical figure is, and I can think of no person who represented the moral endurance and strength of Emma Goldman. Let's hear her story and maybe she'll be your favourite historical figure too.
Step Back History
The Massacre That United the Far-Right
In 1979, the murder of five communist protestors sealed an alliance between America's two largest factions of the far-right, the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis. This event says a lot about the state's reply to right-wing violence and the...
Weird History
How 'Kilroy Was Here' Was The First Meme Ever
From the hulls of ships to the sides of trucks to the walls of bathroom stalls across the world - and even engraved into national monuments - one iconic phrase has appeared in seemingly every place across the globe: "Kilroy was here."
Step Back History
The Anarchist Who Shot the President
On September 6, 1901, an Anarchist Steelworker named Leon Czolgosz shot and killed the President of the United States, William McKinley. This assassination led to a xenophobic panic, sometimes described as a historical war on terror,...
Step Back History
How Kyle Rittenhouse Got Away with M-----
The video in which I explain how to get away with murder with only centuries of history, and American superstructure.
Step Back History
When White Supremacists Declared War on America
Born in the fires of Vietnam, the White Power movement decided in 1983 to overthrow the government of the United States. But to do so, you need recruits, weapons, organization, and money. This is how they tried to build it.
Weird History
Life As An Inmate At Alcatraz
The federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island, located off the coast of San Francisco, CA, opened in 1934. Until it closed nearly three decades later, Alcatraz was reserved for some of the most ruthless criminals.
Weird History
The Life of Typhoid Mary
The story of the real Typhoid Mary - In the early 1900s, germ theory was a relatively new concept, and many – including doctors – were unaware of how diseases spread. At the time, bacterial diseases like typhoid and dysentery could still...
Weird History
Tesla Facts that May Shock You
Yes, pun intended. In this, the age of the Internet, Nikola Tesla has enjoyed a posthumous surge in popularity that makes Einstein look like an old french fry. It took an entire David Bowie to fill his shoes in The Prestige. Our RL Iron...
Weird History
How Woodstock 99 Went Off The Rails
The 30th anniversary celebration of the Woodstock music festival took place in Rome, NY, from July 22-25, 1999. But what was originally conceived as a modern homage to the landmark hippie-fueled musical lovefest of the 1960s ended up...
Curated Video
Civil War Innovation & Technology
It was the most destructive conflict in US history – but the American Civil War also saw the emergence of new technologies and innovations born from a will to win.
Weird History
Fort Knox Is More Mysterious Than You Think
Located just outside Louisville, Kentucky, Fort Knox is a top-secret United States Army post surrounded in mystery and conspiracy theories. Not only does it house a majority of the nation's gold reserve, it's so exclusive that even U.S....
Weird History
What It Was Like During the Golden Age of Flying
The 1950s and '60s are often regarded as the golden age of airlines, offering luxurious seating, fancy meals, and beaming flight attendants. But while it was certainly roomier than today's modern sardine can technique of travel, there...
Step Back History
Why is Puerto Rico not a State?
Puerto Rico lies at a strange place in the greater American empire. It's one of the oldest colonized places in the Americas, and a debate about its fate has roiled for centuries. Let's talk about it!
Jack Rackam
The Moses of Oklahoma | The Life & Times of John Horse
What's this? A person who actually did some good in his life? Talk about off-brand! Still, I think he's got an amazing story. From fighting the US in the Seminole Wars and in Washington, breaking out of Fort Marion, old enemies turning...
Weird History
What It Was Like to Be a Civil War Soldier
The Civil War was the bloodiest in US history: more Americans perished in five years than in all other conflicts combined. What was it like to fight? Soldiers faced new technology on the field, like rifle-muskets that could cut down...
Weird History
What Life Was Really Like On the Oregon Trail
Life on the Oregon Trail was both incredibly boring and extremely dangerous. Pioneers had to exercise extreme caution and a lot of bravado to cross the 2,170 mile stretch of land starting in Missouri and ending in Oregon. Accidents and...
Weird History
The Feud Between Guns N Roses and Nirvana
Even before Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift, rock and roll feuds tore both bands and fans apart. The transition from big hair in the late '80s to dirty hair in the early '90s created one of the most memorable rock beefs in history:...