For a long time, it seemed like not much happened in the 1970s. Today it seems like so much of what’s happening can be traced back to those same years.

The 1970s was a pivotal decade in American history. In a ten-year span, the United States admitted defeat in Vietnam, saw a President (and Vice President) resign in shame, and came face to face with its leaders’ abuse of power at home and abroad. At the same time, American citizens directly experienced a score of problems, including “stagflation,” an energy crisis, and the consequences of environmental devastation. Yet in this era of deconstruction and disappointment, the political coalitions than defined the US from the 1980s until (today/recently?) were forged.

In this episode, Jefferson Cowie joins us to talk about his book Stayin Alive: The 1970s and the Last Days of the Working and what happened in the decade in which everything now seems to have happened.

Dr. Jefferson Cowie is James G. Stahlman Professor of History at Vanderbilt University and the author of multiple award-winning books, including Freedom’s Dominion: A Saga of White Resistance to Federal Power, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2023. You can hear him discuss Freedom’s Dominion in episode #255, and check out his multiple appearances on the show by searching You can find out more about Jefferson Cowie and his work at his website by clicking here.

This is a rebroadcast of episode #115, which originally aired on December 18, 2017. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.