Bill and Rachel look at the history of industrialization of nail fastener production in the United States and its profound effects on the economy, and then talk about nail guns.
Links and notes for ep. 438 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/AFD-Ep-438-Links-and-Notes-The-Industrial-Nail-and-Nail-Guns.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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Bill and Rachel look at the intersection of modern, Second Industrial Revolution cities and the old scourge of urban fires through the lens of the Great Boston Fire of 1872.
Links and notes for ep. 437 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/AFD-Ep-437-Links-and-Notes-Fire-Alarm-Telegraphy-and-the-Great-Boston-Fire-of-1872.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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Unlocked from our Patreon: Rachel presents a very short bonus episode on the history and science of the kitty litter industry. Source article: https://cen.acs.org/articles/82/i17/KITTY-LITTER.html (Theme music by Stunt Bird.)
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Unlocked from our Patreon: Fish Cops at 151 – A fun mini-episode. Find out why the US government had fish cops whipping around the ocean in fast boats arresting Canadians. (Links/notes.) Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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On the 50th anniversary of the 1972 revelation of the unethical Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments begun in 1932, Bill and Rachel look back at the huge national push against syphilis in the 1930s United States (before penicillin) and the many strange effects of that campaign.
Links and notes for ep. 436 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AFD-Ep-436-Links-and-Notes-The-1930s-Syphilis-Campaign-and-Tuskegee.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird
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60 years ago this week, on July 23, 1962, President Kennedy addressed the US and Europe simultaneously by video via a Telstar satellite link. As with the transatlantic telegraph cable about a century before, it was a major development. (Bill and Rachel.)
Links and notes for ep. 435 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AFD-Ep-435-Links-and-Notes-Telstar.pdf
Intro music by Stunt Bird.
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Bill and Rachel explore how Western Union went from the first nationwide US telegraph monopoly to putting the first US commercial communication satellite into space and becoming the global remittance leader.
Links and notes for ep. 434 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AFD-Ep-434-Links-and-Notes-Western-Union.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird. Special outro cited in notes.
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