History Author Show

   April 1, 2024 - Where would an enslaved man who escaped the South find the courage to return to the Confederacy as a Union Spy? In this episode, we meet such a man thanks to Robert Hilliard, author of “In Freedom’s Shadow.” The novel is based on the heroic true story of John Scobell, an enslaved African American who escaped early in the Civil War. Recruited by the Union to return south and gather intelligence, Scobell found new purpose as a spy. These was no ritzy James Bond missions, but daring border crossings, nerve-wracking dead drops, and a man at risk every moment of exposure, which would mean torture and death. Rob has written about sports, history, and the outdoors for over two decades. He last joined us to discuss his book, “A Season on the Allegheny.” You can listen to that interview in our archives wherever you enjoy the show and find Rob on Twitter and Facebook.

 October 11, 2023 - In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard Brent Butt, who those of you in the Great White North know as the creator and star of the sitcom "Corner Gas," so beloved by Canadians that it has spawned an animated version and a movie. He's also host of the Butt Pod, which — since you probably have your phone out right now — I suggest you swipe over and subscribe to for some really insightful interviews. Brent Butt puts his talents to work on the thriller genre in "Huge: A Novel." The story hits the circuit of nameless clubs in Western Canda where two comedians — one, a veteran in the business from America; the other, a lady newcomer from Ireland — meet the aspiring headliner who'll change their lives, and perhaps end them. You can read more at HugeTheNovel.com and — speaking of our guest always growing, refusing to be pigeonholed by one genre — these days, Brent Butt is transitioning to publishing more content on Substack as he transitions away from @BrentButt on Twitter.

   September 4, 2023 - How did airship R101 — embodying the British Empire’s global ambitions — die in fireball of dreams, romance, and hubris and turn to ashes in the pages of history? S.C. Gwynne brings us this story of reaching for the sky in “His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine.” S.C. Gwynne previously joined us to discuss his books, “Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War,” and “The Perfect Pass: American Genius and the Reinvention of Football.” His 2010 book, “Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Visit our guest at SCGwynne.com or @SCGwynne on Twitter and @S.C.Gwynne on Facebook.

   July 30, 2023 - What did service in the World Wars mean to women who found new opportunities to enter the workforce and join the fight as never before? We’ll go on a fictional ride with one of those service members with today’s novelist, Jenni Walsh. Her novel is “The Call of the Wrens,” the third she joined us to discuss after her debut, “Becoming Bonnie,” and its sequel, “Side By Side,” about “the crash of the century,” when Bonnie Parker met Clyde Barrow. You can find those conversations in our archives wherever you enjoy the show or via the links above. In “The Call of the Wrens,” Jenni introduces us to the women of Britain's Women's Royal Naval Service who are shaped by service in the Great War and twenty years later in World War Two, when they're confronted by a life-changing moment that they meet head on at 70 miles an hour. It's a vivid, emotional saga of love, secrets, resilience—and the knowledge that the future will always belong to the brave souls who fight for it. Visit our guest at JenniLWalsh.com, follow her @JenniLWalsh on Twitter and Instagram, and like her page on Facebook. Special thanks to Shannon Hargreaves of @the_reel_bookery on Instagram for submitting a video question for this interview.

   The New York Sun - ‘Baseball, Nazis & Nedick’s Hot Dogs’ Is a Story of Fathers, Sons, and a Lost America - Dean Karayanis June 17, 2023 - Reading about history is one thing, but what happens when a legendary sportswriter looks back nearly a century to recall his upbringing in Newark, New Jersey, during the trying decades of the ‘30s and ‘40s – as a Jewish kid, mind you — while Wall Street crashed and Hitler made war on the world? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard a real time-traveler — at least, that’s how I like to think of people who bring us their memories from days few of us lived. His name is Jerry Izenberg, and his memoir — the most personal of his many books — is titled, “Baseball, Nazis & Nedick’s Hot Dogs: Growing up Jewish in the 1930s in Newark.” Jerry Izenberg is one of just two daily newspaper columnists to have covered the first 53 Super Bowls. He’s also been there for 54 consecutive Kentucky Derbies and the last five Triple Crown-winning horses. He earned the Red Smith Award for sports writing, has been named the New Jersey Sportswriter of the Year five times – oh, and is an inductee in in 17 Halls of Fame. In his memoir, Mr. Izenberg – now in his 90s – casts his keen eye back on his first two decades of life, the ones that made him who he is today, as he faced antisemitism, the Great Depression, and World War II to find love, community, and purpose. It’s a life well lived, and it ain’t over yet. Thanks to David Pietrusza, author of the upcoming book, “Gangsterland: A Tour Through the Dark Heart of Jazz-Age New York City,” for submitting a video question for his fellow baseball writer. You can enjoy my previous interviews with David here: Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR’s 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR ― Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series Too Long Ago: A Childhood Memory. A Vanished World

   The New York Sun - ‘It Ain’t Over’ Documents Yogi Berra’s Amazing American Life - Dean Karayanis May 11, 2023 - Who was the greatest Major League Baseball catcher of all time? If the name Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra doesn’t spring to mind, have I got the movie for you. It’s the story of a kid from St. Louis and D-Day veteran whose life story has the power to uplift not just fans, but people from all walks of life. In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard sports journalist Lindsay Berra, whose here to talk about the new documentary made about the life of her grandfather, New York Yankees legend Yogi Berra. The film is called “It Ain’t Over,” and if you grew up with Berra as just a pitchman, if you know him only from his Yogisims or the Hanna-Barbera rip-off cartoon Bear Who Shall Not Be Named, you are missing out on a chance to be inspired. For more on Yogi Berra’s service in World War II, check out the event I emceed at the at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center in Little Falls, New Jersey, conducted in partnership with the Bob Feller Act of Valor Foundation. It was titled: Sacrifice & Courage — A Tribute to D-Day.

   The New York Sun - ‘Mourning the Presidents’ Considers How the Republic Eulogizes its Leaders - Dean Karayanis May 1, 2023 - When a president of the United States dies, what does how we memorialize his life and service say about the republic? Our time machine welcomes back Dr. Lindsay M. Chervinsky to give her insights as we discuss “Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture,” co-written with Matthew R. Costello. The book includes observation of several scholars, bringing to life a vision shared by the White House Historical Association and the Southern Methodist University Center for Presidential History where Dr. Chervinsky is a senior fellow in addition to her responsibilities teaching about the presidency at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. Dr. Chervinsky last joined us for an interview about her debut book, “The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution,” which earned the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Excellence in American History Book Award and the Thomas J. Wilson Memorial Prize. Visit LindsayChervinsky.com for more or find our guest on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. You can also subscribe to her email newsletter, Imperfect Union, which sends valuable and interesting observations straight to your inbox. Thanks to presidential historian Louis Picone for submitting a video question for this interview. You can enjoy our three conversations about his special books in our archives. Grant’s Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon Where the Presidents Were Born: The History & Preservation of the Presidential Birthplaces The President is Dead! The Extraordinary Stories of the Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials, and Beyond

   The New York Sun - Stephen F. Knott – Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy - Dean Karayanis March 21, 2023 - How did a man who worked at the JFK Presidential Library grapple with the 35th president’s legacy over his own lifetime to deliver portrait of the real man behind the myths of Camelot? In this episode, our time machine welcomes back Stephen F. Knott, author of “Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy.” We previously welcomed Mr. Knott onto the show way back in 2015 to discuss the book he co-authored with Tony Williams: “Washington & Hamilton: The Alliance that Forged America.” Mr. Knott is a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College and worked on Senator Ted Kennedy’s campaign in 1976. Find him at StephenFKnott.com or on Twitter and Facebook.

January 23, 2023 - How did the relationships of two pairs of U.S. presidents — Theodore Roosevelt with William Howard Taft and Franklin Delano Roosevelt with freshman Congressman Lyndon Baines Johnson — change the course of history, and the world we live in today? In this episode, presidential historian Mike Purdy brings us Presidential Friendships: How They Changed History. Mike is an opinion contributor to The Hill and founder of PresidentialHistory.com, where you can find his award-winning presidential history blog. He joined us last to chat about his previous book, 101 Presidential Insults: What They Really Thought About Each Other — and What It Means to Us. Visit Mike @PresidentialHistorian on Instagram, on Twitter @PREShistory or follow his Facebook page Mike Purdy Presidential History. Thanks to Mike’s fellow presidential historians who supplied questions for his interview. They are Feather Schwartz Foster, who joined us to discuss Mary Lincoln’s Flannel Pajamas: And Other Stories from the First Ladies’ Closet, and David Pietrusza, whose conversations you’ll find below. Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR’s 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR ― Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series Too Long Ago: A Childhood Memory. A Vanished World

 The New York Sun - ‘Muppets in Moscow’ Recounts How Sesame Street Reached Red Square - Dean Karayanis December 19, 2022 - How did Kermit the Frog, Big Bird, and the rest of the Sesame Street expand their neighborhood to Moscow after the collapse of the USSR? In this episode, we meet the woman who adapted a beloved American TV show for an audience newly freed from behind the Iron Curtain. TV producer and filmmaker Natasha Lance Rogoff who brings us, “Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia.” It’s the true story of the Soviet Union tearing down its walls and a reborn Russia opening its doors to the best the West had to offer -- despite assassinations, armed attacks, and even the kidnapping of Elmo at the barrel of AK-47s. Visit her at NatashaLanceRogoff.com, where you can navigate through to her social media accounts on all the major platforms, including @LanceRogoff on Twitter.

   November 21, 2022 - If you could ride along in a Humvee with one of the most admired American combat leaders of the last half century, what would you hope to learn? In this episode, our time machine welcomes back internationally acclaimed military historian and U.S. Army veteran Mike Guardia. We last caught up with Mike to discuss his book, Skybreak: The 58th Fighter Squadron in Desert Storm. Mike returns to discuss his acclaimed biography of Lt. Gen. Hal Moore, titled, Hal Moore: A Soldier Once...and Always. Mike Guardia served six years on active duty as an Armor Officer and got to know his subject, whose leadership you may recall from the Mel Gibson's portrayal in the film We Were Soldiers. Visit our guest at MikeGuardia.com, or on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

October 24, 2022 - Something special this week for the season of pumpkins, ghosts, and Candy Corn: A YouTube feature on what Hollywood gets right and wrong about yesterday called History Author Showtime. It’s a video breakdown of the 1975 movie, “The Legend of Lizzie Borden,” starring Elizabeth Montgomery, who you may remember as Samantha Stevens from “Bewitched.” I often ask authors what they think of the film or TV portrayals of the past, and for this week, I pulled some soundbites from Cara Robertson, who I interviewed about her book, “The Trial of Lizzie Borden.” “The Legend of Lizzie Borden” was her favorite portrayal of the tried-but-not-convicted alleged murderess. I’ve previously published Showtime breakdowns of AMC’s “The Americans,” which featured former KGB agent Jack Barsky, who I interviewed about his book, “Deep Under Cover. My Secret Life & tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America.”   I also covered “The Dummy,” a 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone. Anne Serling, author of “As I Knew Him: My Dad Rod Serling” had a surprising and amusing recollection of the infamous ventriloquist dummy used in show that I just felt deserved to be highlighted.    Thank you for subscribing at YouTube.com/@historyauthorshow to support more time travel adventures.

October 10, 2022 - What if historical fiction could give someone the courage that saves their life? In this episode, Judith F. Brenner shares her debut novel The Moments Between Dreams, which has the power to do just that, as we mark Domestic Violence and Polio Awareness Months. The book has been described as "edutaining,' both educational and entertaining, as we return to the 1940s and ‘50s for a story set during the polio epidemic wrapped around housewife Carol’s carefully concealed abusive marriage. Judith F. Brenner is a journalist by training and runs Creative Lakes Media, LLC, a freelance writing and editing services company. Her personal essays have been published in Writers in the Know literary magazine and Minnesota Parent magazine. Find our guest at JudithFBrenner.com, where you can navigate through from there to all her social media accounts, on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

   Featured in The New York Sun - Biden’s Tumble at Air Force Ceremony Stands Out in Long List of History’s Presidential Pratfalls - Dean Karayanis September 26, 2022 - How did Franklin Delano Roosevelt win reelection with 46 of the 48 states in 1936, despite America being in the throes of the Great Depression? In this episode, legendary historian David Pietrusza to discuss his new book, Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR's 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal. Enjoy his previous appearances in our archives where we discuss his books: TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR ― Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny Too Long Ago: A Childhood Memory. A Vanished World Find our guest @DPietrusza on Twitter or DavidPietrusza.com. Special thanks to Mike Purdy for submitting a video question for this interview. He appeared on the History Author Show to discuss his book 101 Presidential Insults: What They Really Thought About Each Other and What It Means to Us. He’ll be back to talk Presidential Friendships: How They Changed History.

   September 3, 2022 - On the morning of September 8th, 1900, disaster struck the vibrant, prosperous island of Galveston, Texas, tearing out its heart. In this episode, our time machine travels back to the turn of the last century to meet sixteen-year-old Clara and the Gladys family, against the backdrop of the worst natural disaster to ever strike the United States -- that killed between 6,000 and 8,000 on the island of Galveston. Our guide on this journey is international award-winning author Anna J. Walner who brings us Saltwater and Driftwood: A Historical Novel. Anna is a native Texan and began her career as a fantasy novelist, delivering the Enrovia Series and the four-volume Uluru Legacy, a story of vampires and werewolves. Visit our guest at AnnaJWalner.com, or on social media through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

   Featured in The New York Sun - After 77 Years, Hiroshima Bombing Stands Up to Second-Guessing - Dean Karayanis August 22, 2022 - What if you were a Midwestern haberdasher-turned-senator, who served just three months as vice president, before finding yourself thrust into the Big Chair, charged with winning World War II? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard journalist Jeffrey Frank who brings us, The Trials of Harry S. Truman: The Extraordinary Presidency of An Ordinary Man, 1945-1953. Jeffrey Frank is the best-selling author Ike and Dick: Portrait of a Strange Political Marriage. He has published four novels, among them the Washington Trilogy — The Columnist, Bad Publicity, and Trudy Hopedale — and is the coauthor, with Diana Crone Frank, of The Stories of Hans Christian Andersen: A New Translation from the Danish, which won the 2014 Hans Christian Andersen Prize. He was a senior editor at the New Yorker, the deputy editor of The Washington Post’s Outlook section and is now a contributor to major publications nationwide. Visit him at JeffreyFrank.com, or on Facebook and @JeffreyAFrank on Twitter. Special thanks to Sally Mott Freeman for offering her insights in a video question for this interview. You can check out our conversation about her excellent book, The Jersey Brothers: A Missing Naval Officer in the Pacific and His Family's Quest to Bring Him Home.

   August 8, 2022 - In the late summer of 1942, the First Marine Division sought to wrest Guadalcanal from the Japanese Empire. We’ll meet one of only two reporters on hand to record the carnage, as the spot in the Pacific earned its nickname, the Island of Death. In this episode, our time machine travels back war zones to meet in intrepid journalist who told soldiers’ stories to the folks back home. Our guide on this journey is Ray E. Boomhower, a senior editor at the Indiana Historical Society Press, biographer, and former reporter, who brings us Richard Tregaskis: Reporting under Fire from Guadalcanal to Vietnam. For more, visit RayBoomhower.Blogspot.com and @RayBoomhower on Twitter. Special thanks to Deborah A. Cohen for submitting a video question for this interview. In the History Author Show archives, you can watch or listen to our conversation about her book Last Call at the Hotel Imperial: The Reporters Who Took on a World at War.

   July 25, 2022 - How did the worlds of hip-hop and boxing unite, blending together music, race, sports, and politics? In this episode our time machine welcomes back Dr. Todd D. Snyder who brings us Beatboxing: How Hip-Hop Changed the Fight Game. We previously caught up to discuss his previous book: Bundini: Don't Believe the Hype. Meeting Muhammad Ali's hype man, Drew "Bundini" Brown, was an experience that really stuck with me, in a way that made me scared to think I might never have known a thing about him, if not for today's guest. Todd D. Snyder, an Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Writing at Siena College in Albany, New York, who grew up in West Virginia as the son of a boxing trainer. He's excellent at divining the poetry in rap and how it developed this symbiotic relationship with the sweet science. His previous books include 12 Rounds in Lo's Gym: Boxing and Manhood in Appalachia. Visit him at HillbillySpeaks.com, or on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

   July 2, 2022 - Who were the citizen spies who risked their lives to bring General George Washington the intelligence he needed to win the War for Independence? In this episode, we take a fictional trip back to the American Revolution, to meet the people who fought for liberty with their wits and secrecy, not muskets and cannon. Our guide on this journey is S.W. O'Connell who brings us, The Patriot Spy, Book One of the Yankee Doodle Spies Series, followed by Book 2, The Cavalier Spy, and Book 3, The Winter Spy. S.W. O'Connell is a retired U.S. Army intelligence officer who has served in a wide variety of counterintelligence assignments around the world. Upon retirement, he decided to mix his love and study of history with his military experiences to craft historical novels. Visit him at Yankee Doodle Spies Dot Blog Spot Dot Com, on Facebook, or @SWOconnell on Twitter. Special thanks to Thomas J. Howley for submitting a video question for this interview. Watch or listen to the History Show interview about his novel Wolf of Clontarf: The Irish, the Vikings and the Foreigners of the World.

   June 27, 2022 - How did revolutions in the two great English-speaking nations -- the United States and the United Kingdom -- give birth to the American Constitution, and what does its creation have to tell us about the challenges we face over 200 years since its ratification? In this episode, we dig into those questions, traveling back to when it all started with James D. R. Philips, a lawyer and visiting lecturer at the University of Sydney’s Law School in Australia. His book is Two Revolutions and the Constitution: How the English and American Revolutions Produced the American Constitution. In the interview we discussed the dispersion of power that makes the U.S. government almost coup-proof, as well as the New York Sun column where I quoted James Philips: It’s Dangerous for January 6th Hearings To Portray Our Republic as a Fabergé Egg. Visit our guest at JamesPhilips.net, or on Twitter and Facebook.