We can't navigate safely to the future unless we understand what lies behind us. That's why the move by cowardly politicians to limit the history we're taught is so inexcusable. Sanitized hero worship does not move us forward. Enter Mike's new podcast, the irreverent Prick the Balloon. It features Mike deflating popular myths and telling history that's true, complete, impertinent, well-researched and funny. It's a look at our real past, wherever that might lead us. Learning lasts a lifetime, and it might as well be enjoyable. Remember, anyone who says they don't like history just had a shitty history teacher.
Listen to Prick the Balloon Here
Episodes of PTB and some reading suggestions
PTB 1 - Andrew Jackson Read about the Trail of Tears and screw Jackson. John Ehle wrote a good book about the Cherokee experience, and Gloria Jahoda has a more general history. There are books about the Choctaw and Chickasaw. J. Leitch Wright, Jr. wrote about my grandmother's tribe in Creeks and Seminoles. Also In a Barren Land by Paula Mitchell Marks is a good one on Indian dispossession.
PTB 2 - American Labor Unions Tons to choose here, but maybe The Battle of Blair Mountain by Robert Shogan is a solid place to start.
PTB 3 - Hollywood Blacklist It is Hollywood after all, so watch the movie Trumbo and Aaron Sorkin's Being the Ricardos. Not perfect, but fun. For a book, Glenn Frankel's High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic is one entre to the subject.
PTB 4 - U.S. Grant Read Grant's autobiography. It is fabulously honest. Ron Chernow's biography is the latest of many, but I swear read the man's own words.
PTB 5 - Pilgrims and Puritans Sarah Vowell is always a fun read, so you might check out The Wordy Shipmates. I don't even mention it in the podcast, but King Philip's War is a big thing in the history of this time and place, and you might want to read The Name of War by Jill Lapore.
PTB 6 - Most Corrupt State There are so many people mentioned, but the classic T. Harry Williams biography of Huey Long is always good. There are also multiple books about Ma and Pa Ferguson, both Texas governors. The most recent is the well-researched In the Governor's Shadow by Carol O'Keefe Wilson.
PTB 2 - American Labor Unions Tons to choose here, but maybe The Battle of Blair Mountain by Robert Shogan is a solid place to start.
PTB 3 - Hollywood Blacklist It is Hollywood after all, so watch the movie Trumbo and Aaron Sorkin's Being the Ricardos. Not perfect, but fun. For a book, Glenn Frankel's High Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic is one entre to the subject.
PTB 4 - U.S. Grant Read Grant's autobiography. It is fabulously honest. Ron Chernow's biography is the latest of many, but I swear read the man's own words.
PTB 5 - Pilgrims and Puritans Sarah Vowell is always a fun read, so you might check out The Wordy Shipmates. I don't even mention it in the podcast, but King Philip's War is a big thing in the history of this time and place, and you might want to read The Name of War by Jill Lapore.
PTB 6 - Most Corrupt State There are so many people mentioned, but the classic T. Harry Williams biography of Huey Long is always good. There are also multiple books about Ma and Pa Ferguson, both Texas governors. The most recent is the well-researched In the Governor's Shadow by Carol O'Keefe Wilson.