Dr. Lynn Price Robbins and Isaac S. Loftus are joined by Dr. Tore Olsson to explore the wildly popular video game Red Dead Redemption 2. How does it reflect the history of the West, a world of the first megacorporations, the labor movement, and infamous characters like Jesse James? And what can we learn from it today?

Please support this podcast by checking out our patreon:

www.patreon.com/primarysourcemedia

TRANSCRIPT: coming soon 

OUTLINE:

0:00 - Introduction

3:10 - How Historically Accurate is Red Dead Redemption?

8:45 - Biggest Inaccuracies

14:44 - Disputes Over Capitalism

17:06 - Defining the American West

18:43 - How Did This Become a College Course?

30:44 - Was the Course Effective?

32:51 - History Has a Lot of Lore and Crafting a Book

34:40 - 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition

41:37 - The Anxiety of a Changing System and Losing Masculinity

45:56 - TR’s Obsession with American Masculinity

47:40 - The Role of the Transcontinental Railroad

51:15 - Who Were the Pinkertons?

55:41 - The Southern Stories 

01:00:35 - The Fictionalization of the Time Period

01:03:01 - Audiobook Version!

01:04:46 - Historic Sites to Visit and Where you can find Tore

EPISODE LINKS:

Tore Olsson – https://history.utk.edu/person/olsson-tore/

Red Dead's History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past – https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250287700/reddeadshistory

Audiobook - https://www.audible.com/pd/Red-Deads-History-Audiobook/B0CKM6FB83

Red Dead Redemption 2 – https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/red-dead-redemption-2

Pinkerton Detective Agency – https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pinkerton-National-Detective-Agency

Labor Movement – https://www.loc.gov/collections/american-federation-of-labor-records/articles-and-essays/timeline/

Jesse James – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jesse-James-and-Frank-James

Wild Bill Hickok – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wild-Bill-Hickok

John D. Rockefeller – https://www.britannica.com/money/John-D-Rockefeller

Dr. Olsson’s class - https://history.utk.edu/tore-olsson-in-the-conversation-why-i-turned-the-red-dead-redemption-ii-video-game-into-a-history-class-on-americas-violent-past/

Oregon Trail – https://oregontrail.ws

Chicago World’s Fair – https://www.britannica.com/event/Worlds-Columbian-Exposition

Frederick Jackson Turner – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-Jackson-Turner

Theodore Roosevelt – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodore-Roosevelt

History of “Dude” – https://blog.oup.com/2022/12/dude-a-long-history-of-a-short-word/

Allen Pinkerton – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Allan-Pinkerton

Lynching of Sicilians in New Orleans – https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1148&context=hon_thesis

Deadwood, South Dakota – https://www.deadwood.com/ 

PODCAST INFO:

Podcast website: 2c4hpod.com

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/2-complicated-4-history/id1664183536

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3svQpZfxhVQnYJMESpp842?si=514780ada34d4aab

Full episodes playlist:   

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX2x56DEw1y7EYWxfufgfSR951RrdsXet&si=TuDcpAjaeQx-vjkH

SOCIAL:

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/2c4h_Podcast

- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/2c4hPodcast

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/2c4h_podcast

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices