Almost Everything in American Politics has Happened Before, Even Donald Trump—Bruce Carlson from My History Can Beat Up Your Politics

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 10 July 2018

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Cable news pundits tell you everything is “breaking news.” TV pundits discuss politics in a vacuum. But in nearly every case, the politics of today have long roots in history. This includes media celebrities winning elections by manipulating the press and lobbing gross insults (Huey Long in the 1920s), breakdowns in the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico (the 1840s Mexican-American War) and fears of presidential executive overreach (the 1780s with George Washington).

In this episode I talk with Bruce Carlson, host of the My History Can Beat Up Your Politics podcast about how nearly every issue in U.S. politics has an analogue in the past. He uses history to elevate the discussion of today's politics.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of North America podcast is a sweeping historical saga of the United States,
0:09.3	Canada, and Mexico from their deep origins to our present epoch.
0:14.1	Join me, Mark Vinet, on this exciting, fascinating epic journey through time, focusing on the compelling,
0:20.7	wonderful, and tragic stories of North America's inhabitants, heroes, villains, leaders,
0:27.1	environment, and geography.
0:29.5	I invite you to come along for the ride!
0:59.5	Welcome to the History Unplugged Podcast, the unscripted show that celebrates unsung heroes,
1:14.5	Mythbust's historical lies, and rediscover the forgotten stories that changed our world.
1:21.2	I'm your host, Scott Rank.
1:29.6	If you live in the United States, it can feel like in 2018 that we're living in unprecedented times.
1:35.0	A populous and media star is President of the United States.
1:39.0	There are clashes between fascists and neo-nazis with protesters.
1:44.0	Many people think that free speech is under assault.
1:47.2	Political party primaries are completely rigged so that the person with the support of the
1:51.8	establishment wins over a rabble-rousing upstart.
1:55.3	Today, my guest Bruce Carlson, whose host of the show My History Can Beat Up Your Politics,
2:00.2	lets us know that there's absolutely nothing new that's under the sun.
2:04.6	For example, there have been plenty of populists who achieved high levels at politics.
2:09.7	Maybe they weren't celebrities in the vein of Donald Trump,
2:12.6	but there were people like Kiwi Long and Louisiana who loved to insult his opponents in the
2:16.9	pettiest ways possible. He was a radio celebrity, gave his best speeches while drunk,
2:22.1	and there have been other people who had no political experience,
	...

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