About this season
NPR’s Peter Sagal takes us on an irreverent romp through American history to reveal how money makes the world go around.
Episodes (4)
1. Watergate
Aired 18 November 2019
Like a burger and fries, Nixon and scandal have always gone together. But why did his men break into the Watergate office building? Why did Nixon crave personal wealth? The answers lie with JFK, Howard Hughes, and... the Nixonburger!
2. Civil War
Aired 18 November 2019
Why, as a teenager in New Jersey in the 1980s, was Peter Sagal taught the Southern myth of the Civil War? How did Gone with the Wind became a national parable? Why is Robert E. Lee an American hero? Slaves = money = power.
3. Transcontinental Railroad
Aired 18 November 2019
The movies have taught us that the west was won by rugged individuals with a gun on one hip and a gal on the other. But those Americans who settled the west, those icons of freedom and independence, lived at the mercy of the railroad tycoons.
4. Cold War
Aired 18 November 2019
The Cold War was won not by weapons of war, but blue jeans, silk stockings, and fast food. Just follow the money.