American History Hit

A Supreme Court decision that sent shockwaves across America. Dred Scott v Sandford, 1857. Who was the Chief Justice responsible for the decision? On what grounds did he rule that Dred Scott, and by extension all African Americans, was not a citizen of the US? Don is joined by renowned historian Kate Masur, author of "Until Justice Be Done: America's First Civil Rights Movement".Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Producer is Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Why not have a go at understanding one of the most famous conspiracies of the 20th Century?We will probably never get an answer for what really happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963. But in this episode, we're questioning why? What is the evidence that prevents us from believing the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone gunman.To explore this, Don is joined by Jefferson Morley. Jefferson is a former Washington Post writer and the journalist responsible for the JFK Facts substack, where he investigates the evidence and any new evidence as it comes to light.Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Was 'Bleeding Kansas' a dress rehearsal for the Civil War to come? During the 1850s pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers clashed in the newly created territory of Kansas. From guerrilla raids and political chaos to the rise of key figures like John Brown, we uncover how this brutal conflict exposed the deep national divide — and ask whether the Civil War truly began long before 1861.Our guest is Dr Kristen Epps is a historian of slavery, the sectional conflict, and the Civil War. She is an associate professor at Kansas State University. Her first book was Slavery on the Periphery.Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.

How did the pre-Christian commemoration of Samhain travel across the seas from Ancient Ireland to America? And how did it evolve into the Halloween we know and love to this day?In this special spooky episode Don welcomes Dr Kelly Fitzgerald, Head of the School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore at University College Dublin, to take us through Halloween's stateside origins.Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Freddy Chick.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.

What makes a war a World War? If it's the involvement of multiple major world powers, will France, Spain and the Netherlands do?If it's battles fought globally, do Canada, West Africa, India and the Mediterranean count? On top of the 13 colonies?In this episode, Don is joined by Richard Bell from the University of Maryland. Richard is the author of ‘The American Revolution and the Fate of the World'.Edited by Tim Arstall and Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

‘No occurrence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations.' This was George Washington's response when the idea of his becoming 'King' was put to him.But what if he had? What would an American royalty look like? Who would have succeeded Washington? And why did this not happen?Don is joined for this episode by Michael Hattem, author of The Memory of ’76: The Revolution in American History’ and ‘Past and Prologue: Politics and Memory in the American Revolution’.Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

On October 22 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced that Soviet missiles has been discovered in Cuba. Over the following days, the fate of the Americas was on the line.In this episode, Don is joined once again by Renata Keller to explore the causes and events of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and to discuss what might have happened had the situation not been resolved.Renata's new book 'The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War' shows how this was not just a Soviet-US event. She explores how leaders and citizens throughout South America, the area at most risk from nuclear missiles, impacted on the events of October 1962.Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

The Agency. The Company. Langley.Without the Central Intelligence Agency, would we talk about conspiracy theories as much as we do? Who would be in power in Guatemala? What about Iran? Would the Bourne films ever have been made?Don is joined by Jeffrey Rogg to discuss what would have happened had the CIA never been founded. Jeff is a Senior Research Fellow at the Global and National Security Institute at the University of South Florida. His book is The Spy and the State: The History of American Intelligence.Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Sophie Gee. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.

Happy 250th Birthday to the US Navy! Today Don asks, who was John Paul Jones and did he really father the US Navy? Our guest is historian James L. Nelson, author of 'Washington's Secret Navy'.In July 2026, tall ships of the world will be coming to Port of New York and New Jersey. Find out more here: https://sail4th.org/Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Freddy Chick. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  You can take part in our listener survey here.All music from Epidemic Sounds.American History Hit is a History Hit podcast.