American history

In The Secret War Against Hate, Steven J. Ross details the racist, anti-Semitic groups that sprang up in the latter half of the 20th century — and the spy network that worked to bring them to justice.

My guest is the author Rhae Lynn Barnes. In the late 1800s, as professional minstrel shows were becoming obsolete, amateur blackface shows became one of the most popular forms of entertainment, and that's where Barnes' focus is. The new book "Darkology" uncovers the hidden history of blackface.

Author Chris Jennings talks the apocalyptic religious views that fueled the standoff between federal agents and the family of Randy Weaver — and the use of force rules that made it so deadly.

Burns' PBS documentary includes the perspectives of women, Native Americans, and enslaved and free Black people — all of whom were initially excluded from the declaration "all men are created equal."

In Savings and Trust, historian Justene Hill Edwards tells the story of the Freedman's Bank. Created for formerly enslaved people following the Civil War, its collapse cost depositors millions.

Author Frank Guridy. His new book is called "The Stadium: An American History Of Politics, Protest, And Play."

Lance's new book, Chamber Divers, is about research conducted by scientists at University College London before and during World War II — including protocols for operating the miniature submarines used on scouting missions in advance of D-Day.

Psychedelic science began much earlier than you may think - back in the 1920s and '30s. At the center of that research was Margaret Mead, the famous anthropologist, and her third husband, Gregory Bateson, one of the most controversial anthropologists of his time. That early history is covered in the new book by my guest, Benjamin Breen. The book is called "Tripping on Utopia: Margaret Mead, The Cold War, and the Troubled Birth of Psychedelic Science".

As a journalist and historian who has covered the White House and issues related to national intelligence, my guest, Garrett Graff, thinks that some of the conspiracies about the so-called deep state have their roots in conspiracy theories about UFOs. His new book, "UFO: The Inside Story Of The US Government's Search For Alien Life Here - And Out There "begins in the 1940s and is about the history of reported UFO sightings, how the government investigates those sightings, what the military knows and what it keeps secret and how UFO conspiracy theories start and spread.

Journalist James Risen tells the story of Sen. Frank Church, who exposed the dirty laundry of the CIA and the FBI nearly 50 years ago, and inspired congressional oversight of intelligence agencies.