The Surprising History of Christmas Gifts (HT...

June 28, 1971. It’s the second annual “Unity Day” rally at Columbus Circle in New York City, organized by the Italian American Civil Rights League. Joe Colombo is the very public face of the League, a group that actively fights discrimination and ugly stereotypes against the Ital ...  Show more

Malcolm Gladwell and President Barack Obama introduce us to one of the most chaotic,complicated, and fascinating times in American history, revealing why Reconstruction stilldefines our country today.Listen to Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise on Audible, or wherever you get ...  Show more

“There is a million dollars here for the asking!” This is the story of Christmas in the 1920s. Yeah, the whole decade—why not? One hundred years ago, people were just beginning (or reviving) traditions that are entrenched in our holiday celebrations today. Charitable giving at Ch ...  Show more

Why are our lives filled with so much stuff? In Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America (U Chicago Press, 2023), Wendy Woloson, Professor and Chair in the Department of History at Rutgers University, tells the history of these objects and things, from the early years of peddler ...  Show more

Rachel Herrmann charts the long history of America’s famous holiday – from modern parades and celebrations to the first feast From the fabled first feast between the Pilgrims and Native Americans to the darker side of the holiday's history, the American tradition of Thanksgiving ...  Show more

This episode looks at the early days of Christmas trees, the origin of glass ornaments, and the practice of mounting lit candles on trees before electric bulbs were invented. 

Research:

·     “36 Perish as Pa ...