HISTORY This Week

A century-old engineering gamble that carved tunnels beneath the Hudson. A dramatic 1905 rail yard collapse and a swallowed locomotive during construction. The bold push by Alexander Cassatt to link the Eastern Seaboard by rail. Today’s massive rehabilitation, political funding battles, and the huge economic stakes if the tunnels fail.

Phil S. Dixon, author and Negro Leagues researcher, provides scholarly context. Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, highlights cultural and economic significance. They discuss the 1920 Kansas City meeting that birthed the Negro National League. They cover barnstorming teams, Rube Foster’s leadership, the hardening color line, and how organization changed Black baseball.

Jeremy Dauber, professor and author of American Comics, offers historical perspective on superheroes and industry shifts. David Hajdu, cultural critic and author of The Ten-Cent Plague, traces the rise of the anti-comics movement. They explore the 1950s moral panic, courtroom showdowns, the Comics Code’s creation, horror comics’ collapse, and the culture that spawned underground comix.

Pam Flowers, sled-dog musher and children’s author, and Bob Thomas, historian and husky expert, revisit the 1925 serum run to Nome. They recount the desperate relay across brutal Arctic terrain. Stories highlight Togo and Leonhard Seppala’s perilous leadership, the stormy Norton Sound crossing, and how dog teams triumphed when every minute mattered.

Explore the incredible journey of the VW Beetle, from its inception as Hitler's 'people's car' to a symbol of peace for the hippie movement. Learn about the paradox of its Nazi origins, design innovations, and how Ferdinand Porsche took on the challenge. Discover the challenges of building a mass-production factory and the dark history of forced labor intertwined with its production. This story reveals not just the evolution of a car, but the societal transformations it underwent along the way.

Join acclaimed sports writer Joe Posnanski as he dives into the mesmerizing world of Harry Houdini, born Erik Weisz. Discover how Houdini transformed from a struggling magician to America’s most famous escape artist. Posnanski shares insights on Houdini's daring milk-can escape and the evolution of his act as he embraced themes of death. The discussion also explores Houdini's obsession with the afterlife, spurred by personal losses, and the tragic events leading to his untimely death. A captivating look at a legend's life and legacy!

Stephen Puleo, an accomplished author and historian, dives into the intriguing tale of the Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919. He vividly describes the catastrophic moment when a massive molasses tank burst, unleashing a wave that devastated Boston's North End. Puleo highlights the community's prior warnings that went unheeded and the subsequent legal battles that transformed construction regulations. The discussion reveals how this bizarre disaster reshaped safety standards, demonstrating the far-reaching impact of one tragic event.

Editor’s note: This episode originally aired January 9, 2023. Lt. Col. Harry Stewart Jr. passed away in February 2025 at the age of 100. Lt. Col. James Harvey III still resides in New Jersey, now 102 years old. -- January 11, 2022. Lt. Col. James Harvey arrives at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada for the first time in 73 years. He’s there to accept a plaque celebrating the last time he was there, for the Air Force’s first-ever weapons competition. Back then, Harvey and the other Tuskegee Airmen on his team had squared off against the best military pilots around. They tackled high-skill tests of simulated aerial warfare… and they won. But over the decades, the official record of their victory was lost or neglected. Who were these exceptional Black pilots? And what did it take to rescue their accomplishments from obscurity and bring them into the light? Special thanks to our guests: Lt. Col. James Harvey III; and Lt. Col. Harry Stewart Jr., who passed away in February 2025 at the age of 100. Lt. Col. Stewart was the co-author of Soaring to Glory. Thanks also to Zellie Rainey Orr, author of Heroes in War, Heroes at Home, and to Daniel Haulman, retired historian at the Air Force Historical Research Agency and author of Misconceptions About the Tuskegee Airmen. -- Get in touch: historythisweek@history.com  Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

January 3, 1924. Archeologists crowd into an ancient Egyptian tomb to uncover what awaits them in the unopened burial chamber. The world is waiting to find out. That’s because two years before, the discovery of the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun revealed antiquities so dazzling that a media frenzy ensued – newspapers, newsreels, and Hollywood movies vied to show audiences these wonders of ancient Egypt. Now, lead archaeologist Howard Carter pushes open the door to find a majestic stone sarcophagus. Inside lies Tutankhamun, whose regal face of gold and azure blue has lain in darkness for millennia. He’s about to meet the new century … and dazzle the world anew. How did an unknown pharaoh become a sensation? And how did a modern revolution change the fate of Egypt's most precious artifacts? Special thanks to our guests, Professor Christina Riggs, author of Treasured: How Tutankhamun Shaped a Century; and Heba Abd el Gawad, Heritage Specialist and Museum Researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, University College of London, and researcher with Egypt’s Dispersed Heritage project. ** This episode originally aired January 2, 2023. Get in touch: historythisweek@history.com  Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree has brought joy and sparkle to Midtown Manhattan since the early 1930s. The annual festivities may seem steady and timeless but this holiday icon actually has a surprisingly dramatic history. Millions tune in each year to watch the tree lighting in a music-filled ceremony on NBC, and tens of thousands more will crowd around the tree’s massive branches during the holiday season, adjusting their phones for that perfect holiday selfie. But the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree is more than just decor. The tree has reflected the mood of the United States itself — through good times and bad. The first tree at this site in 1931 became a symbol of hope during the Great Depression. With the dedication of the first official Christmas tree two years later, the lighting ceremony was considered a stroke of marketing genius for the grand new “city within a city” funded by JD Rockefeller Jr. The tree has also been an enduring television star — from the early years in the 1950s with Howdy Doody to its upgrade to prime time in the 1990s. Join Greg Young for this festive holiday history featuring kaleidoscopic lighting displays, painted branches, whirling snowflakes, reindeer and a very tiny owl. ** This episode originally aired in December 2021. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices