American History Hotline

During the Great Depression, millions of Americans were out of work, but they still managed to make it to the movies. In fact, Hollywood didn't just survive one of our country's greatest economic downturns, it thrived.
So how did movie studios stay afloat when audiences could barely afford food? And why did people keep buying movie tickets during one of the darkest economic periods in U.S. history?
We dial up Rotten Tomatoes correspondent Mark Ellis to explore how Hollywood weathered the Great Depression and how this period changed filmmaking for rest of the 20th century. From the rise of sound films and lavish musicals to monster movies, gangster films, and sweeping epics like The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind, film became a national escape during a difficult decade.
It’s a historical look at Hollywood that resonates today with new threats (like AI and consolidation) constantly emerging.
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She was just 16 years old when she rode nearly 40 miles through the night rallying the militia as the British attacked during the American Revolution.
Bob calls up Karen Romano Young (Sybil Ludington: Revolutionary War Hero) to get the story of Sybil Ludington. They explore what parts of her story are fact or fiction, and why she was nearly forgotten.
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In 1804, Vice President Aaron Burr shot and killed Alexander Hamilton in the most infamous duel in American history. But what happened next?
Did Burr face murder charges? Was he convicted? And why did he go full Gary Busey? (You'll have to listen to understand that reference!)
Bob calls up Yale historian Joanne Freeman (The Essential Hamilton: Letters and Other Writings) to unpack the astonishing second act of Aaron Burr’s life. From criminal indictments to conspiracies, a treason trial and exile, the duel was just the beginning for Aaron Burr.
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No, Benjamin Franklin did not invent Daylight Saving Time. But he did muse about its practicality in a 1784 essay. So, if Franklin didn't invent DST, where did all this springing forward come from?
Bob calls up Chad Orzel (A Brief History of Timekeeping: The Science of Marking Time, from Stonehenge to Atomic Clocks) to get to the bottom of this question.
Oh, and don't forget to change your clocks on March 8th!
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Was the Disney movie Balto actually based on a true story? A listener wants to know if this heroic snow dog was real—or just a Hollywood invention.
To get answers, Bob calls up Dr. Nicole Burt of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. It turns out, the real Balto is actually IN her museum. What?!
Bob and Nicole dive into the truth behind one of the most beloved animated films of the 1990s by exploring the real 1925 serum run to Nome, Alaska. How did a deadly diphtheria outbreak create a hero sled dog? And what happened to Balto once the spotlight of fame dimmed?
It’s an episode that will have you heading to Alaska and hop on a dog sled! Or, at least, pop in an old VHS of Disney’s Balto.
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