15-Minute History

Welcome back to Sketches in History! This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story, it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life.In this episode, Lottie finds an old chrome microphone on her grandfather's shelf, with a handwritten card tucked beneath it: This Sunday. Ten o'clock. The President speaks. In this episode, your kids will discover what persuasion looks like, why the way a message is delivered can matter just as much as the message itself, and how the tools a leader uses to reach people can shape what those people believe.Listen and subscribe to the 15-Minute History podcast to hear Sketches in History every other Thursday. Got a favorite historical moment? Share it with us at 15minutehistory@gmail.com, and it might just make its way into the notebook!

Join Jon and Joe as they discuss how presidents have used, and sometimes botched, major communication mediums from radio to social media, and what it tells us about leadership in modern America.

Welcome back to Sketches in History! This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story, it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life.In this episode, Lottie finds a mysterious bottle of oil and a folded newspaper and follows. The notebook takes her to the Wyoming plains of 1922, where a powerful government official is making a very secret deal beside a rock that looks just like a teapot. But secrets like this can't stay hidden forever. What happens when they are discovered? In this episode, your kids will discover what it means to hold public trust, why integrity matters most when no one seems to be watching, and how honest people doing unglamorous work can hold powerful people accountable.Listen and subscribe to the 15-Minute History podcast to hear Sketches in History every other Thursday. Got a favorite historical moment? Share it with us at 15minutehistory@gmail.com, and it might just make its way into the notebook!

A tour of how changing technologies remade presidential communication across eras. It looks at radio's intimacy, television's image power, and the rise of websites and social platforms. The conversation examines who now controls presidential speech and how each medium amplifies character over simple facts.

Remember the California Wildfires? Most of us watched the footage, maybe donated to the cause, and moved on. But what happened after the cameras left? Are the homes rebuilt? Why are permits nearly impossible to get? And where did the FireAid concert money go? The people who lost everything are still waiting for answers. It may feel like yesterday, but this is already history, and it's exactly the kind of history we can't afford to forget.Join us on Thursdays for pop quizzes and Sketches in History and on Mondays for episodes and discussions. Send us your thoughts in the comments below.

The modern presidency's power is beyond anything our founders could have dreamed. Its limits often seem ill-defined, as are efforts to hold elected officials accountable for their actions. So what can be done?Join us every Monday for episodes and discussions, and check out our Thursday pop quizzes and Sketches in History episodes!

What happens when a powerful nation attacks a long-standing rival? No, we aren't talking about the United States and Iran (though that conversation is coming). What would happen if China tried to retake the island of Taiwan as it as long planned to do so. What are the historical forces in play? And how would America and the world respond to this kind of aggression?Join us on Thursdays for pop quizzes and Sketches in History and on Mondays for episodes and discussions. Send us your thoughts in the comments below.

A lively tour through three scandal-plagued presidencies, from Gilded Age corruption to oil lease bribery and the fallout of secret recordings. Episodes chronicle financial schemes, patronage and loyalty-driven graft, and how institutions responded. Short, sharp segments trace investigations, trials, and reforms that reshaped public trust.

Welcome back to Sketches in History! This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn't just a story; it's an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life.In this episode, Lottie travels to 1913 Washington, D.C., where thousands of women in white march down Pennsylvania Avenue demanding the right to vote. But this march is just the beginning. Lottie discovers an era when Americans rewrote their own rulebook four times in seven years. Your kids will learn what progress really means, why one amendment had to be completely undone, and how a single letter from a mother changed the course of history forever.Listen and subscribe to the 15-Minute History podcast to hear Sketches in History every other Thursday. Got a favorite historical moment? Share it with us at 15minutehistory@gmail.com, and it might just make its way into the notebook!

By popular demand, the 15-Minute History team is re-airing one of our most popular episodes. This originally aired on April 8th, 2019. New episode next Monday, March 2nd. ____The name “Enterprise” is not exclusive to fictional starships or the space shuttle; in fact, nineteen ships of the British Royal Navy and nine of the United States Navy have born the name (spelled either with an S or a Z). Undoubtedly, the most famous USS Enterprise is the World War Two-era aircraft carrier, which fought in more battles in the Pacific War than any other vessel, earned twenty battle stars, and is today the most decorated ship in American naval history. “The Big E,” (first of her many nicknames) was commissioned in May 1938 and attached to the Atlantic fleet for her first year of service. As tensions rose with Japan and the Navy Department realized the importance of aircraft carriers in the Pacific, the Enterprise was transferred to the Pacific Fleet and based first at San Diego and then at Pearl Harbor.Join us as we teach you about the most decorated ship in the history of the US Navy, the USS Enterprise. We talk about her history, engagements, and why she was called, The Grey Ghost. When it comes to the United States Navy, names carry with them the legends of those ships which came before, and history will surely not forget the name Enterprise.