#176: Marcus Gadson - "Sedition: How America's Constitutional Order Emerged from Violent Crisis"
From the publisher:Since protestors ripped through the Capitol Building in 2021, the threat of constitutional crisis has loomed over our nation. The foundational tenets of American democracy seem to be endangered, and many citizens believe this danger is unprecedented in our history. But Americans have weathered many constitutional crises, often accompanied by the same violence and chaos experienced on January 6. However, these crises occurred on the state level. In Sedition, Marcus Alexander Gadson uncovers these episodes of civil unrest and examines how state governments handled them.Information on his book can be found at https://nyupress.org/9781479828883/sedition/Marcus Gadson can be reached on social media at https://x.com/MarcusAGadsonAxelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at https://twitter.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://instagram.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://facebook.com/axelbankhistory
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#175: Suzanne Cope - "Women of War: The Italian Assassins, Spies, and Couriers Who Fought the Nazis"
From the publisher: The gripping, true, and untold history of the Italian anti-fascist resistance during World War II, told through the stories of four spectacularly courageous women fightersFrom underground soldiers to intrepid spies, Women of War unearths the hidden history of the brave women who risked their lives to overthrow the Nazi occupation and liberate Italy. Using primary sources and brand new scholarship, historian Suzanne Cope illuminates the roles played by women while Italians struggled under dual foes: Nazi invaders and Italian fascist loyalists.Cope’s research and storytelling introduces four brave and resourceful women who risked everything to overthrow the Nazi occupation and pry their future from the fascist grasp. We meet Carla Capponi in Rome, where she made bombs in an underground bunker then ferried them to their deadly destination wearing lipstick and a trenchcoat; and Bianca Guidetti Serra who rode her bicycle up switchbacks in the Alps, dodging bullets while delivering bags of clandestine newspapers and munitions to the anti-fascist armies hidden in the mountains. In Florence, the young future author of Italy’s new constitution, Teresa Mattei, carried secret messages and hid bombs; while Anita Malavasi led troops across the Apennine Mountains. Women of War brings their experiences as underground resistance fighters, partisan combatants, spies, and saboteurs to life.Dr. Suzanne Cope's website can be found at https://www.suzannecope.com/Information on her book can be found at https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/747060/women-of-war-by-suzanne-copeAxelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at https://twitter.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://instagram.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://facebook.com/axelbankhistory
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#174: Judith Giesberg - "Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families"
Perhaps the worst punishment that can be inflicted on someone is to be forced away from one's own family. When the slave trade was active in the United States, potentially a million people were sold away from their families either for punishment or profit. After slavery ended, many of those who had not seen their families for years took out ads in newspapers, hoping for a clue that would help them reunite with their families. In "Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families," Dr. Judith Giesberg shows how freedpeople used newspapers to keep their ultimate dream alive and rebuild their families. In this episode, she also describes how her team of researchers have cataloged thousands of those advertisements, in hopes of shedding light on the fight for human dignity, and so that descendants of slaves might learn about what their families went through.Information on Judith Giesberg's book can be found at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Last-Seen/Judith-Giesberg/9781982174323The "Last Seen" project can be found at informationwanted.orgAxelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at https://twitter.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://instagram.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://facebook.com/axelbankhistory
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#173: Clay Risen - "Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism and the Making of Modern America"
In "Red Scare," Clay Risen traces the cultural differences in contemporary America to McCarthyism and the disagreements in the 1940s and 50s over how the United States should respond to Russian efforts to influence American society. He shows how the American political system was weaponized against those deemed worthy of suspicion, and how that destroyed the lives of thousands of people. He also shows how disagreements over the New Deal and how to respond to a growing nuclear threat morphed into culture wars that are still present today. Clay Risen's website can be found at https://www.clayrisen.com/Information on his book can be found at https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Red-Scare/Clay-Risen/9781982141806Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at https://twitter.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://instagram.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://facebook.com/axelbankhistory
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#172: Rebecca Brenner Graham - "Dear Miss Perkins: A Story of Frances Perkins’s Efforts to Aid Refugees from Nazi Germany"
As Dr. Rebecca Brenner Graham shows us in this episode, the story of the first cabinet secretary who was a woman - Frances Perkins - has been missing its most consequential chapter. Dr. Graham discovered the story of how Frances Perkins organized and prodded the Federal government to allow Holocaust victims to escape before it was too late. Graham tells the story of how Perkins wielded power in Washington, and how a rare impeachment of a cabinet secretary began to curtail that power. But, she managed to save tens of thousands of people from death camps, thanks to empathy she felt from a young age for people who desperately needed protection.Information on her book can be found at https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author/rebecca-brenner-graham/Her website can be found at https://rebeccabrennergraham.com/She on social media at https://x.com/TheOtherRBGAxelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at https://twitter.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://instagram.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://facebook.com/axelbankhistory
"Axelbank Reports History and Today: Conversations with America’s top non-fiction authors and why their books matter right now" approaches our past and present in a way that makes anyone want to listen. National-award winning TV news reporter Evan Axelbank interviews writers of history and current events to explore how America works and how it has been shaped by both the powerful and the powerless. In conversational and engaging fashion, listeners learn about the most important events, themes and figures in American history. This podcast shows why we have no choice but to understand where we have been, to know where we are going.
South Africa