Ed Ayers

An author's search for the "real" Christopher Columbus.

Columbus Day is here again -- along with the controversy over its namesake. How have earlier generations understood him?

Caroline Winterer tells Peter about a debate over practicality and purpose in higher education after the Civil War, and how the humanities offered a solution.

On the phenomenon of “hiring out” enslaved persons prior to the Civil War, and how this introduced some slaves to the world of wages.

Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech is widely known as one of the greatest abolitionist speeches ever.

How a legal footnote in a Santa Clara County railroad case and the judges who built on it created modern models of corporate personhood.

An explanation of the Manhattan Company, a bank disguised as a municipal water corporation that helped to transform Early Republican politics.

On factional strife in the Early Republic, and why parties themselves were universally despised.

The early controversy over whether or not to build the Washington Monument on the National Mall.

The enormous scale of death in the Civil War, and how it altered the American way of dying.

The hosts discuss the history of American war memorials.

The anxiety about “Mexicanization” that ran through Reconstruction-Era politics, as Americans saw disturbing political parallels with their southern neighbor.

The Mexican origins of the birth control pill, and the trade dispute with the U.S. it generated.

Exploring the origins and impacts of the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom," on that event's 50th anniversary.

As the 150th of the Battle of Gettysburg approaches, it's time to question the popular account of a war that tore apart the nation.

The history of haunted houses in the movies.

On America's iconic monuments and the idea of national remembrance.

Two court cases that defined and changed the nature of personhood.

On the movement away from midwifery towards hospital births.

From the Stamp Act of 1765 to the Tea Party Movement, how have – and haven't – American attitudes about taxes changed over time?