Long Walk of the Navajo

More from American History Hit All episodes →

1. 

   E409 · 10 Aug 2026 · 43 min

   Reconstruction Era: A False Dawn of Freedom?

   With the end of the Civil War, four million formerly enslaved people in the South were now free. It was the beginning of a remarkable experiment: rebuilding the South on the foundations of freedom and equal citizenship. For a brief moment, the United States of America begins its first real attempt at establishing a multi-racial democracy. Our guest today is Bradley Rebeiro, Associate Professor of Law at BYU Law School. He is the author of ‘ Until the Last Yoke is Broke: The Constitutional Vision of Frederick Douglass ’, which is out on September 29th of this year. Edited by Aidan Lonergan.…

2. 

   E408 · 6 Aug 2026 · 39 min

   Plessy v. Ferguson: The Supreme Court Case That Enshrined Jim Crow

   In 1896 the Supreme Court ruled that Jim Crow segregation laws were not unconstitutional in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. This is the case that Brown v. Board of Education would eventually overturn but not until six decades of Jim Crow laws had been endured. Who was Plessy? Who was Ferguson? And how on earth did the Supreme Court reach its conclusions? Don Wildman's guest today is Dr Michael Ross, historian of constitutional history with a focus on Reconstruction era at the University of Maryland. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. Produced by Freddy Chick and Tomos Delargy. Sign up to History Hit…

3. 

   E407 · 3 Aug 2026 · 41 min

   What Happened to the Confederates?

   Across the defeated Confederacy, there had been an expectation that those who had taken up arms against their citizens would be punished. This did not happen however and instead ex-Confederates were gradually brought back into the fold. Decades later, they managed to cultivate a dangerous mythology that obscured the truth about the nature of the Confederacy and the Civil War in general... Our guest today is Brigadier General Ty Seidule, Professor Emeritus of History at West Point and teaches at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. He’s the author of ‘ Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner’s…

4. 

   E406 · 30 Jul 2026 · 43 min

   How Did the Supreme Court Claim Power?

   Can you think of a time in history when a law has been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court? Having been used over 180 times, judicial review is one of the most important powers that the US Supreme Court has. So where did it come from? In this episode, Don and is joined by Professor Cliff Sloan to discuss the 1803 ruling of Marbury v. Madison. Cliff has served on all three branches of the Federal Government during his career. He now teaches at Georgetown Law, serves on the board of the Journal of Supreme Court History and is the author of 'The Court at War: FDR, His Justices and the…

5. 

   E405 · 27 Jul 2026 · 37 min

   Life in Mobland Chicago

   Just how dangerous was it to live in Chicago during the 1920s? Was it all gangsters, tommy guns and spilt moonshine? Don is finding out what it was like to exist alongside the likes of Al Capone with Paul Durica, Director of Exhibitions at Chicago History Museum. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. 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 . All music from Epidemic Sounds. American History Hit is a History Hit…

6. 

   E403 · 20 Jul 2026 · 44 min

   The Robin Hood of the Wild West

   Robbing from the rich to give to the poor and downtrodden - this is the legend of Joaquin Murrieta. But how true was it? Murder rates in 1850s California were 30 times higher than they are today, and Joaquin was part of this violence. Was he a social bandit, or was he fuelled by self-interest? Don is finding out today with historian John Boessenecker, author of ‘Bring Me the Head of Joaquin Murrieta'. Edited by Aidan Lonergan. 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…

7. 

   E402 · 16 Jul 2026 · 48 min

   The Best Presidential Speeches

   The words of an American president have often carried the power to shape not only public opinion, but the course of the nation itself. In this episode, we explore three landmark presidential speeches, examining the historical moments that inspired them, the ideas they advanced, and the lasting imprint they have left on American political culture. Our guest today is Professor Jeremi Suri, historian and Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. His works include ‘ Civil War By Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy ’ and 'The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and…

8. 

   E401 · 13 Jul 2026 · 39 min

   The Truth about Billy the Kid

   We're heading west again, this time looking for Billy the Kid. Who was he? What crimes did he really commit? Is there any chance he survived that final ambush? Don is joined by author George R. Matthews, who went back to the sources for his book 'Billy the Kid: The Life Behind the Legend'. Edited by Hannah Feodorov. 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 . All music from Epidemic Sounds. American History…

9. 

   E400 · 10 Jul 2026 · 38 min

   Staten Island v. New York City | Revisionist History

   On the 250th anniversary of the United States, Revisionist History, bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood, investigates the story of what was, at the time, the biggest secession movement in the U.S. since the Civil War. The Staten Island Problem reconstructs the battle for New York City amidst the turbulent early 1990s — the rise of Rudy Giuliani, the peak of the homicide rate, the Wu-Tang Clan, young Donald Trump, and the first Black mayor of New York — all through the prism of the city’s Forgotten Borough. Staten Island’s secession movement…

10. 

    E399 · 9 Jul 2026 · 38 min

    America's Deadliest Battle: Gettysburg

    By July 1863, the American Civil War had reached a critical turning point. As Robert E. Lee led his army into the North, the two sides collided at Gettysburg in the deadliest battle of the war... How did three days of fighting at Gettysburg change the course of the Civil War? And how has the battle been remembered in the American consciousness since? Our guest today is award winning author Garry Adelman. He’s the Chief Historian at the American Battlefield Trust and has been a licensed battlefield guide at Gettysburg for thirty-one years. Edited by Tim Arstall, produced by Tom Delargy.…