15-Minute History

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  Pop Quiz | "Common Good Conservatism" 17.09.2026 6dk

  Can conservatives promote the "common good" and public virtue using the power of government?This will be our last new pop quiz before the start of Season 10 in a few short weeks. We hope you've enjoyed these quizzes as much as we've enjoyed having these conversations!
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  Associating Evil | LBJ & Ho Chi Minh (Repost) 14.09.2026 14dk

  During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on February 12, 2024.---As we look at villains in history, we want to look at actions and their effects. The policies of Lyndon Baines Johnson and Ho Chi Minh were the reflection of two leaders operating in different contexts. Though the method by which they exercised their intentions was different, the root of their “why” is in question. Join us as we look at both the intention and result from each leader by examining comparisons of policy during their tenure. The context of culture may require different methods for enacting said policies, but the intentions and subsequent outcomes show the result. We examine those today.
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  Pop Quiz | Prosperity & Debt (Or "Well that Escalated Quickly!") 10.09.2026 9dk

  Joe asked a perfectly legitimate question about the definition of prosperity, and within minutes Jon was ranting about other podcasters. The conversation then turned to the national debt's real impact on American life. Fun times!!
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  The Trail of Tears | Forever Lost (Repost) 08.09.2026 16dk

  During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on April 22, 2024.---"In the chill of a drizzling rain on an October morning, I saw them loaded like cattle or sheep into six hundred and forty-five wagons and started toward the west.One can never forget the sadness and solemnity of that morning. Chief John Ross led in prayer, and when the bugle sounded and the wagons started rolling, many of the children rose to their feet and waved their little hands goodbye to their mountain homes, knowing they were leaving them forever. Many of these helpless people did not have blankets and many of them had been driven from home barefooted." - From the Journal of Private John Burnett, 2nd Regiment. Join us as we teach you about the Trail of Tears, its root causes, and its effects.
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  Pop Quiz | Perks or Wage Slavery? 03.09.2026 6dk

  During the Gilded Age, companies paid employees in scrip redeemable at corporate stores instead of in hard cash. Is this similar to modern job benefits like health insurance and pensions?Join us every Thursday for new pop quizzes, and stay tuned for the start of our new season in just a few weeks!
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  Colt, Gatling, and Browning | Gun Pioneers (Repost) 31.08.2026 15dk

  During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on March 22, 2022.---Samuel Colt’s name is forever linked to the company he founded and the revolver he called the “Peacemaker.” Born in Connecticut in 1814, he was steeped in America’s gun culture from an early age. His grandfather had served in George Washington’s army, and Samuel inherited an old flintlock pistol from the family hero when he was only six. At the age of fifteen, while working in his father’s textile plant, he built a galvanic cell (basically an early battery) and used it to set off explosives beneath the surface of a nearby pond during the Fourth of July. He continued to experiment with chemicals and combustion—as many young men do—and became fascinated by inventors’ work to create a firearm that could shoot more than bullets before needing to reload.Join us as we teach you about Samuel Colt, Richard Gatling, and John Browning. In this episode, you'll learn about their work, their impact on history, and how their names are culturally relevant - beyond the brand - in our world today. 
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  Pop Quiz | The "Bank War" (and an Audience Question) 27.08.2026 7dk

  What was the Bank of the United States, and why did Andrew Jackson work so hard to destroy it?And why is Eva Braun always referred to as Adolf Hitler's "mistress" even though he was not married?Find out the answer to both questions on this week's pop quiz!
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  Mark Twain | Rhyming History (Repost) 24.08.2026 16dk

  During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on October 4, 2021.---The steamboat passed the port and he looked out at the brown, muddy water. The heat was failing and the humidity began to soak his clothes. Soon it would be twilight and the lighting bugs would begin to flash on the shoreline. As the boat moved downriver, he saw an old wooden raft hitched to a tree near the shore. It had a battered steering rudder, and the logs that were tied together looked so beaten he would have guessed it impossible to serve any function other than kindling. He watched the water move the raft back and forth and smiled to himself, thinking about the hands that made it and what possible experiences someone might have on a craft like that.He turned to the north in the direction they were heading and wondered how a craft like that could get up the river without capsizing. He wondered what would have happened if he had a craft like that. It didn’t make sense now, but it would have been wonderful for his youth. He wondered how he might have used it. He wondered, and he dreamed.Join us as we teach you about Mark Twain, his life, and his contribution to the literary world. 
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  Pop Quiz | Lessons from Rome's Fall 20.08.2026 6dk

  Is America approaching an end similar to Rome's?No.But are there lessons from how the Roman Empire collapsed in the West that nations and leaders can apply to their own situations? Of course, so Joe and Jon explore those topics today.Join us every Thursday this summer for new pop quizzes and on Mondays for rebroadcast episodes!
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  Fredrick Douglas | Pinnacle of Freedom (Repost) 17.08.2026 15dk

  During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on November 14, 2022.---"I once knew a little boy whose mother and father died when he was six years old. He was a slave and had no one to care for him. He slept on a dirt floor in a hovel, and in cold weather would crawl into a meal bag head foremost and leave his feet in the ashes to keep them warm. Often he would roast an ear of corn and eat it to satisfy his hunger, and many times has he crawled under the barn or stable and secured eggs, which he would roast in the fire and eat.That boy did not wear pants like you do, but a tow linen shirt. Schools were unknown to him, and he learned to spell from an old Webster's spelling-book and to read and write from posters on cellar and barn doors, while boys and men would help him. He would then preach and speak, and soon became well known. He became Presidential Elector, United States Marshal, United States Recorder, United States diplomat, and accumulated some wealth. He wore broadcloth and didn't have to divide crumbs with the dogs under the table. That boy was Frederick Douglas."Join us as we teach you about Fredrick Douglas, his early life, his escape to freedom, and his profound effect on ending slavery in the United States.     
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  Pop Quiz | The Image of a Villain 13.08.2026 4dk

  Why do people continue to believe the worst about historical villains even if the facts prove they aren't quite as bad as some people thought?Join us every Thursday this summer for new pop quizzes and on Mondays for rebroadcast episodes!
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  Casting the Dice | The American Revolution (Repost) 10.08.2026 14dk

  During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on October 20, 2025.---America is often described as a nation of ideas because its founders risked everything for principles in which they believed. But the revolutionaries had to overcome fears in their own hearts and those of their more hesitant countrymen. In this episode, Jon takes us through how America found these ideas, overcame those fears, and clung to hope of victory.Join us for new episodes and discussions every Monday, and comment below with your questions and thoughts, or your own ideas, fears, and hopes. We love hearing from our audience!
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  Pop Quiz | The Glorious Past 06.08.2026 4dk

  Why do politicians always call back to an idea--real or imagined--of the past? Is it as simple as wanting to make their country great again, or is there a deeper motivation?Join us every Thursday this summer for new pop quizzes and on Mondays for rebroadcast episodes!
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  Changing the Constitution | The Progressive Amendments (Repost) 03.08.2026 15dk

  During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on February 9, 2026.---American progressives at the turn of the 20th century saw major flaws in the United States Constitution and worked to correct them through the process of amendments. Each one was the subject of debate and controversy, and all four made measurable changes to American society (though one can debate the merits of some). Join us for this survey of the four progressive amendments--as well as a funny story from Jon's classroom--and tune in next week for our discussion about how these amendments shaped the future course of American history.
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  Pop Quiz | The Dunkirk "What If" 30.07.2026 4dk

  Would Britain have surrendered if Germany had destroyed its army at Dunkirk? This week, Joe and Jon explore one of the classic "what ifs" of the Second World War.Join us every Thursday this summer for new pop quizzes and on Mondays for rebroadcast episodes!
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  War of 1812 (Part 2) | The Fire That Reforged a Nation (Republish) 27.07.2026 18dk

  During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on December 1, 2025.---Washington burns. The White House is in flames. But from the smoke and ashes, a nation discovers what it means to be American.The War of 1812's darkest hour became its defining triumph. As British veterans fresh from defeating Napoleon torched the capital, as rockets rained on Fort McHenry, as peace was signed but war raged on, Americans transformed humiliation into legend.Join us for the explosive conclusion of our two-part series on the War of 1812. In this second installment, we witness Perry's amazing victory on Lake Erie, the death of the great Tecumseh, the night America's capital burned to the ground, and Andrew Jackson's stunning victory at New Orleans - a battle that remade American identity, fought two weeks after the war had already ended.
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  Pop Quiz | Air Conditioning 23.07.2026 3dk

  The Europeans may envy America's mighty air conditioners, but what would our country look like without this wondrous invention?Join us every Thursday for new Pop Quizzes this summer!
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  The War of 1812 (Part 1): Humiliation, Hawks, and Heroism (Republish) 20.07.2026 19dk

  During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on November 17, 2025.---Detroit falls without a fight. War Hawks demand blood. But on a blood-slick deck, four words become legend: Don’t give up the ship.The War of 1812 is often dismissed as a minor conflict, overshadowed by the Revolution and the Civil War. But this overlooked war forged American identity through fire and defiance on land and sea. Join us as we launch our two-episode exploration of the War of 1812. In this first installment, we experience the gathering storm of grievances - from British impressment and economic strangulation to frontier clashes with Tecumseh's confederacy - that propelled a young nation into battle, the early disasters that followed, and the pivotal moment on Lake Erie when the tide of the war turned.
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  Pop Quiz | Summer Reading List 16.07.2026 3dk

  Jon didn't give his students a reading list this summer, but if he had, what books would he have assigned?Join us every Monday for rebroadcast episodes this summer and on Thursdays for new Pop Quizzes!(Even when they're late--Jon got his dates mixed up because he's a teacher on summer break...)
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  John Adams | "I Know I Am Right" (Repost) 13.07.2026 14dk

  During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on November 3, 2025.---In the popular mind, John Adams' life and one term as President of the United States is often treated as a footnote alongside the careers of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. But Adams left an indelible mark on his country's history. So as we continue our look into the revolutionary period, this episode shares three elements from his life that capture the essence of this fascinating man.