Was James Bond really in Austin? Is the Alamo the most historically important structure in Texas? Who was Cactus Jack? Can Texas divide itself into five states? The topic for this episode are the top ten myths and or interesting historical fact

Is Aaron Burr in need of an image upgrade?

Apr 5th, 2022 17m 53s

Whenever the story of Alexander Hamilton or Thomas Jefferson is told, Aaron Burr always takes the role of villain. However, is that accurate? Is it time for Aaron Burr to get an image upgrade?Please check out my YouTube Channel:https://www.yout

A few historical and linguistic aspects of the Chinese Language!

Mar 21st, 2022 17m 50s

I am excited to do this episode because I have a very special guest, my Chinese Language teacher, Su, Yi-Wen. She was born in Taiwan and is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She has been a Chinese language teacher for many years,

The Controversy over Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社)

Mar 9th, 2022 14m 24s

For this episode, we are going to the island nation of Japan. It is one of my favorite countries. I am fortunate to have lived there for several years, I still try to keep with the language as best I can, and I still keep in touch with many Jap

Why was Sam Houston removed from the office of Texas Governor in 1861?

Feb 17th, 2022 12m 23s

This episode will address the following question ~ why was a person like Sam Houston, who so important to the history of Texas, removed from the office of governor in 1861? Please check out my YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/ThreeMin

What was the appeal of Malcolm X, really?

Feb 3rd, 2022 17m 14s

This podcast episode will analyze the appeal of Malcolm X, through activities and speeches delivered to African Americans in northern American cities during the 1950s and 1960s. Does dismissing Malcolm X as the violent counterpart to the largel

Bacon's Rebellion of 1676

Jan 20th, 2022 13m 57s

The topic for this episode is Bacon’s Rebellion. It was the first popular revolt in England’s North American colonies. The questions that will frame our discussion is, what was the pivotal event that led the colony of Virginia to turn to ensla

Sweatt v. Painter: The End of Segregated Education in America?

Jan 6th, 2022 13m 56s

On this episode we’ll talk about the importance of the 1950 Supreme Court case Sweatt v Painter. That case began in Austin, TX when in 1946, Heman Marion Sweatt, a black man, applied for admission to the University of Texas Law School. State la

William Eaton and the Epic Mission of 1805!

Oct 24th, 2021 14m 30s

The story of William Eaton and the Mission of 1805 represents the end of Federalist Party power and the rise of Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic Republican Party. It also is a story in which the first time a nation declared war on the United State

The Hidden Christians of Edo Period Japan.

Oct 10th, 2021 11m 21s

Throughout the Edo Period (江戸時代) to about five years after the Meiji Restoration (明治維新), that’s 1603 to 1873, Christianity was banned in Japan. It wasn’t just banned, but violently put down by the Tokugawa Shogunate (徳川幕府). This led to many C

But seriously, was President Richard Nixon really that bad?

Sep 25th, 2021 17m 39s

On September 23, 1952, California senator Richard Milhous Nixon reserved time on national television to make an important speech. Many historians consider it to be the most important speech of his political career. He hoped to silence claims th

The Controversy of Chiang Kai-shek

Sep 10th, 2021 14m 53s

On this episode, I will explore the controversy over Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正) within US foreign policy as well as in Taiwan. He was born on October 31, 1887 and was the leader of the Republic of China, first in mainland China from 1928 until 1949

The KKK Trials of Williamson County, Texas (1923-1924)

Aug 28th, 2021 14m 10s

We are heading to the Williamson County Courthouse is to talk about a series of trials that took place there from September 1923 to February 1924. Members of the Ku Klux Klan were put on trial, found guilty, and given significant jail time. The

To what degree was the New Deal a big deal?

Aug 14th, 2021 15m 35s

In a general sense, the New Deal was a response to the calamity of the Great Depression. But over the course of a decade, it came to encompass a multifaceted domestic policy that transformed the role of the federal government, improved the live

The Japanese Holdouts of WWII

Jul 31st, 2021 15m 41s

The story for this podcast will be the Japanese holdouts (残留日本兵). They were soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy who continued fighting even after the surrender of Japan in August 1945. Japanese holdouts either doub

French Colonial Louisiana

Jul 17th, 2021 14m 8s

This is the last of a three-part series. In the first episode I gave the political, economic, and social contexts of the Atlantic World ~ that is, Europe, Africa, and the Americas ~ to show that the Atlantic World as a defined frame work provid

The English Colony of Virginia

Jul 11th, 2021 17m 44s

This is part two of a three-part series that will argue that local and regional factors facilitated policies of exploitation and that nothing was pre-determined in the Europeans assuming an exploitative balance of power. The last episode gave

The Atlantic World

Jul 4th, 2021 18m 42s

I am excited because this will be the first of a three-part series that examines on THE DEVELOPMENT OF EXPLOITATIVE PRACTICES IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD, by focusing on the English colony of Virginia in episode two and the French colony of Louisiana

The Transcontinental Railroad!

Jun 27th, 2021 16m 17s

The transcontinental railroad is considered to have been one of the greatest American technological accomplishments of the nineteenth century. It was completed on May 10, 1869 with the driving of the “golden spike” in Promontory Point, Utah and

Taiwan in the 20th Century

Jun 6th, 2021 18m 10s

In an earlier podcast episode, I argued that in Taiwan’s history, the 17th century was the most important. It was significant because a failed attempt at European colonization was followed by a successful attempt by the Han Chinese. In a centur

The Iran Hostage Crisis (1979-1981)

May 30th, 2021 20m 27s

Do you remember the Iran hostage crisis, from 1979 to 1981? It was an event in which Iranian protestors seized 66 American citizens at the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held them hostage for 444 days. The crisis took place during the chaotic afte

Taiwan in the 17th Century

May 9th, 2021 16m 15s

Taiwan is an extremely beautiful island nation with a complicated history! Its complex history is still visible in the buildings, the culture, the faces of the people, and the food. Going over the important events in that history in just one po

The Influence of Conspiracy Theories on Historical Narratives

May 2nd, 2021 20m 27s

My original plan was to present a straight forward history of conspiracy theories throughout the world. I thought it would be interesting to see how, if at all, conspiracy theories had changed over time. But once I got started with the research

The Chinese Texans!

Apr 18th, 2021 20m 33s

With the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 the United States for the first and only time in its immigration history had restricted immigrants specifically based on their race. Its passage resulted from decades of protest over the gro

John Adams VS Thomas Jefferson

Apr 11th, 2021 17m 11s

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson are considered by many historians to be “the odd couple of the American Revolution.” Profoundly different in physical appearance and demeanor - Jefferson was tall, elegant and philosophical, while Adams was short