Mar 20, 2022 – The Start of Biotech – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 418

Biotechnology has been important to other US industries from the auto industry to medicine and agriculture, before eventually becoming its own industry, dominated by venture capitalists. Bill and Rachel.

Links and notes for ep. 418 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/AFD-Ep-418-Links-and-Notes-Fermentation-Biotechnology-and-Penicillin.pdf

Theme music by Stunt Bird.

Mar 15, 2022 – Westinghouse Air Brakes – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 417

Bill and Rachel discuss a specific air brake technology from 1872 that eventually had profound effects on the US economy and rail labor safety, especially after a Progressive Era bill mandated it.

Links and notes for ep. 417 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/AFD-Ep-417-Links-and-Notes-Westinghouse-Air-Brakes.pdf

Theme music by Stunt Bird.

[Unlocked] Mar 9, 2021 – Early Air Conditioning – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 357

Unlocked from our Patreon: Air conditioning began as a process for controlling humidity in industrial factory processes before it became about cooler human comforts. But it was also a key part of the military-industrial complex. Bill and Rachel.

Links and notes for Ep. 357 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/AFD-Ep-357-Links-and-Notes-Early-Air-Conditioning.pdf

Theme music by Stunt Bird.

Feb 27, 2022 – Industrial Cheeses – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 416

Rachel and Bill discuss the history of US industrial cheese production from cream cheese and Kraft American cheese to US Government Cheese in the 1980s.

Links and notes for Ep. 416 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AFD-Ep-416-Links-and-Notes-Industrial-Cheeses.pdf

Theme music by Stunt Bird.

[Bonus] That 70s Woe: The Last Price Controls – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 415

A series on understanding the transition of the US economy in the Crisis of the 1970s: The Price Controls episode. (A Bill solo episode recorded Feb 21, 2022.) Subscribe to our Patreon.

Links and notes (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/That-70s-Woe_-The-Last-Price-Controls-Episode-2.pdf

Feb 20, 2022 – You Wouldn’t Steal A Book – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 414

The causes (and effects on the US publishing industry) of the International Copyright Act of 1891. Rachel and Bill.

Links and notes for ep. 414 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AFD-Ep-414-Links-and-Notes-You-Wouldnt-Steal-a-Book-International-Copyright-Act-of-1891.pdf

Theme music by Stunt Bird.

Feb 13, 2022 – An Explosives Empire – Arsenal For Democracy Ep. 413

The 19th century US economy and armed forces needed industrial production of explosives (and fertilizer), eventually reaching monopoly status, and in turn the economy and armed forces supported the overseas Guano empire necessary to obtain those materials.

Links and notes for ep. 413 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/AFD-Ep-413-Links-and-Notes-The-Explosives-Empire.pdf

Theme music by Stunt Bird.