Description: From tin pan alley sheet music and player pianos to phonograph records, Muzak, and corporate consolidation, the history of the American music industry is the history of US industrial development after the Civil War. Bill, Kelley, and Rachel discuss.
Links and notes for Ep. 356 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AFD-Ep-356-Links-and-Notes-The-Industrialization-of-Music.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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Full episode on Patreon. Bill and Rachel discuss dropped ceilings and the rise and fall of the mid-century office. It’s an area that could probably use some academic study.
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Description: Bill and Kelley review primary source documents to understand the disastrous failure of the 1911 Illinois Central Railroad Shopmen’s strike and lessons it might hold for today.
Links and notes for Ep. 354 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AFD-Ep-354-Links-and-Notes-Illinois-Central-Shopmens-strike-of-1911.pdf
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Full episode on Patreon: During WWI, a Chicago ad man pitched the Bureau of Investigation on a volunteer secret police, which grew to nearly 300,000 unpaid agents and foreshadowed strategies of the later US intelligence state. Friend of the show Ben aka @housetrotter joins Bill and Rachel to discuss.
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Description: The sanitized grade school version of Helen Keller removes her lifelong socialism and IWW activism. Kelley, Rachel, and Bill discuss.
Links and notes for Ep. 352 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AFD-Ep-352-Links-and-Notes-Helen-Keller-was-a-Radical-Leftist.pdf
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This week’s bonus episode on Patreon: In the early 19th century, the New England region of the United States emerged as the global leader of a lucrative new industry that would change the world: Harvesting and transporting ice from ponds and rivers. Nate and Bill discuss.
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Description: In the late 1940s and 1950s, Republicans desperate to regain control of the federal government and roll back the New Deal launched a massive purge and witch-hunt of gay federal employees. Guest John Leavitt joins Bill and Rachel to discuss.
Links and notes for Ep. 350 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AFD-Ep-350-Links-and-Notes-John-Leavitt-on-the-Lavender-Scare.pdf
Theme music by Stunt Bird.
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