We consider some of the major events of this year in light of their historical roots, from the abortion ruling to the Ukraine war; in particular, we consider the Twitter controversy in light of the history of media monopolies beginning with the telegraph, and the crisis over railroad labor in light of the railways strike of 1922, exactly one century ago.
First video segment of Dr. Sam’s appearance on the Katie Halper Show.

Quick Sample:
Relevant articles:
- On the history of abortion as invoked in the Dobbs debate in the New York Times.
- On the roots and history of the anti-abortion movement:
- On Western Union and its choke-hold on the telegraph system: How Robber Barons hijacked the “Victorian Internet”
- Book sources on railway labor history: Rebecca Edwards, “New Spirits: Americans in the Gilded Age”; Joseph McCartin, “Labor’s Great War” and “Labor in America”
Here are the most popular ways to listen:
Apple Podcasts
SoundCloud
Patreon
YouTube
Explore more in the History as it Happens: The News in Historical Context Playlist
Things You Don’t Know
page 1
page 2
page 3
page 4
page 5

How did Tisquantum (popularly known as Squanto) already know how to speak English before the Pilgrims had ever arrived?

Ever heard that Florida has no history? Dr. Sam wants you to know how incorrect that common perception actually is…

How did so much of the Epic of Gilgamesh remain hidden and forgotten – but preserved – for over 2,000 years until being rediscovered in modern times?

What did Netflix’s movie “The Dig” miss about the most dramatic part of the whole Sutton Hoo discovery?

What does the English Civil War of the 1640s tell us about the American Civil War, and about the present?

What can we know about enslaved Africans who were held in a specific New England house, even without written records?

Who were the Freemasons of the 1700s? How did they grow from a local Scottish fraternity to a global network?

How can one mid-sized U.S. city – Tulsa, Oklahoma – serve as a microcosm of so much of the triumphalism and tragedy of American history?

Why can no one agree on what “capitalism” actually is? And why does a lack of clear definition call into question so many other myths of the modern world?

How – and why – did universities begin in the Middle Ages, long before the scientific revolution and the “Enlightenment”?

Why is the dramatic 2019 fire at Paris’ Notre Dame actually a common occurrence for cathedrals around Europe?

What did followers of the ancient and secretive branch of Christianity, Gnosticism, actually believe?

How did changes in the climate in the 1600s lead people to think they were living in the Apocalypse? How did this help spur the creation of institutions and forces that still shape the world today?

Could all of British history have turned out differently if the winds on the English channel had shifted direction on just one day in 1066?