Skipped History

<p>Today, Doug Gordon explains how America almost stopped cars in their tracks.</p><p>In Life After Cars: A Guide to Getting Around Without Driving, Doug Gordon and Sarah Goodyear (along with Aaron Naparstek)—hosts of...

<p>Today, Professor Miguel Tinker Salas explains how oil transformed Venezuela from a fractured agricultural economy into a nation vulnerable to foreign manipulation—and how the U.S. just attempted regime change “on the...

<p>Today, Professor Benjamin Wilson reveals how “arms control” became a euphemism for endless weapons development—and how the scientists who claimed to oppose the arms race often profited from it.</p><p>In Strange...

<p>Today, Dr. Vanessa S. Williamson dismantles some myths about taxes—and reveals how they’ve been weaponized throughout U.S. history.</p><p>In The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American...

<p>Today, Jelani Cobb teases out the through lines of his celebrated commentary in The New Yorker—and warns us about some patterns we might’ve been ignoring.</p><p>In his new essay collection, Dr. Cobb moves from a 1986...

<p>Today, Dr. Brian Jones reframes some stories we thought we knew—and reveals a few others we were never taught.</p><p>In Black History Is for Everyone, Dr. Jones takes us through Bacon’s Rebellion, the Haitian...

<p>Today, a dose of Malcolm X and a timeless critique of our troubling times.</p><p>In Nobody Can Give You Freedom: The Political Life of Malcolm X, Professor Kehinde Andrews pushes back on myths spread by The...

<p>Another week, another late night show host gone: first Stephen Colbert, now Jimmy Kimmel. I think it’s fair to be shocked, but not surprised by Kimmel’s dismissal. As Professor Fara Dabhoiwala told me, there’s long...

<p>For anyone in NYC, the encore of my live, comedic show about Robert Moses is Monday (9/8) at 7 PM at Caveat (on the Lower East Side). In today’s video, I talk about why I’m doing this project now. Would love to see...

<p>Y'all, this week we have a doozy. We're talking about "the I word"—insurance—and how insurance companies not only profited from, but actively spurred, the burning of American cities in the 1970s.</p><p>My guest is...

<p>As summer reaches its peak, I spoke with Aquinnah Wampanoag author Joseph Lee about tribal history on Martha’s Vineyard. We discussed the challenges of maintaining Indigenous identity amid tourism and displacement...

<p>With conspiracy theories (one in particular) dominating headlines, I spoke with Professor Philip Kadish about how conspiracies have evolved. We traced the history of racist hoaxes dating back to the mid-1800s and...

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit skippedhistory.substack.com<br/><br/><p>Evening, y’all! Before sending out an interview on conspiracy theories, I wanted to share a few thoughts on the...

<p>As we approach our nation’s 250th anniversary (our Semiquincentennial), I’m speaking with some of the country’s most prominent historians, all published by W. W. Norton, to ask them five questions about the founding...

<p>A fight for equality with long odds. An entrenched, bigoted, and powerful right wing. Liberals resistant to critiques from the left. The year wasn’t 2025, but 1963.</p><p>In Freedom Season: How 1963 Transformed...