American History Hotline

Release Date

All Episodes

Can We Add a Fifth Face to Mount Rushmore? The History and Future of the Monument

Could a new president ever be carved into Mount Rushmore? It depends on who you ask. We call up historian Matthew Davis (author of A Biography of a Mountain: The Making and Meaning of Mount Rushmore) to learn about the history of the monument and what its future might hold. It’s ... Show more

. 38min 0sec

Are These Really the Best Movies of the 21st Century? Debating the NYT’s Top 100

What is the greatest movie of the 21st century? The New York Times says it’s Parasite, but not everyone agrees. We call up Rotten Tomatoes correspondent Mark Ellis to debate the NYT’s list of the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century and explore how cinema has changed in the past 2 ... Show more

. 29min 10sec

Death by Lightning: What Netflix Got Right (and Wrong) About a Presidential Assassination

Netflix’s Death by Lightning is gripping, dramatic and TRUE. Or is it? We call up historian and New York Times bestselling author Alexis Coe for a lightning round fact check of Netflix’s new James A. Garfield series Death by Lightning. What does the series gets right? What does i ... Show more

. 55min 4sec

Was Johnny Appleseed a Real Person? The Man Behind the Myth

Was Johnny Appleseed a real person or just another American tall tale? We get to the core of the issue with author William Kerrigan (Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard: A Cultural History) to see how one man's true story inspired an enduring folk legend. In this episode Bo ... Show more

. 32min 48sec

The Surprising History of Vaccines in America with Kathryn Olivarius

Many Americans have turned their backs on the vax, but early Early Americans would literally have killed for some vaccines. In this episode, we explore the history of America's first vaccines, which can be traced to a mandate from none other than General George Washington. Dr. Ka ... Show more

. 35min 5sec