American history

Kirk Wallace Johnson tells the story of a bitter conflict that arose along the Gulf Coast when Vietnam war refugees began trawling for shrimp in the area. His book is The Fishermen and the Dragon.

Kelly Lytle Hernández's book, Bad Mexicans, tells the story of the rebels who fled from Mexico to the U.S. to publish an oppositional newspaper that would help spark revolution in Mexico.

Juneteenth celebrates the day slavery ended in Texas, June 19, 1865. Historian Annette Gordon-Reed studies the early American republic and the legacy of slavery. Originally broadcast May 25, 2021.

White Lies author A.J. Baime tells the story of Walter White, a light-skinned Black man whose ancestors had been enslaved. For years White risked his life investigating racial violence in the South.

David Blight's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography traced Douglass' path from slavery to abolitionist and inspired HBO's documentary, Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches. Originally broadcast in 2018.

In her new book, All That She Carried, historian Tiya Miles tells the story of an enslaved woman who, upon hearing her child was to be sold off, hastily packed her a bag with a few personal items.

Gallagher was court martialed for shooting at civilians from a sniper's post and murdering a defenseless captive in Iraq. New York Times correspondent David Philipps chronicles the case in Alpha.

Author Scott Anderson chronicles the formative years of America's spy agency by focusing on four soldiers who became intelligence agents after World War II. Originally broadcast Sept. 1, 2020.

Fifty years ago this week, The New York Times published the first in a series of articles based on a classified Defense Department study that was leaked to the paper by Daniel Ellsberg.

Bradlee was the executive editor of The Washington Post from 1968 to 1991. The biggest story covered under Bradlee's watch was Watergate, which forced the resignation of President Nixon.