Culture
Episode 0 - Pilot
In the pilot episode of 'A History of the United States,' host Jamie introduces the podcast's mission to explore the complex and multifaceted story of America from its early voyages to ...
Episode 0 - Pilot
Culture •
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Interactive Transcript
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Hello and welcome to a history of the United States episode zero, pilot.
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It would be the bold historian to say that, since its declaration of independence in 1776,
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any country has had a greater influence on the world than the United States of America.
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A country founded on the simple idea that all men were created equal and that all had the right to life,
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liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Over the following 200 years, this squabbling
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strip of states along the Atlantic seaboard would grow to become a global superpower.
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It is a rather impressive, rags-to-richest tale, but there was a dark side to the American dream,
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slavery, the treatment of Native Americans, in short, all those the American dream left behind.
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It is certainly a complicated story, which is exactly why I'd like to tell it.
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This podcast is going to tell the whole story. We will start with the early voyages to North America,
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trace the development of the colonies, watch the mature interstates, chart the revolution,
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and the creation of the federal government. We will go through the era of good feelings,
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the civil war, the reconstruction, and examine how America became a superpower.
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We will go through to world wars, the Great Depression, right up to the end of the Cold War.
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Mr. Gorbachev, tear it down this wall.
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But that isn't all. We're going to tell the whole story. We will be covering politics,
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warfare, but social history, economics, cultural stuff. There will be no political slant,
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no edge, just the facts. If something is just my opinion, believe me, I will make you well aware of it.
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I mention this as I don't want you to think that I'm going to be doing any American bashing,
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but likewise I'm not going to be chanting you were so, you were so.
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I'm hoping the fact that I'm pretty should give me adequate distance to tell the story fairly.
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I suppose, since we're going to be spending a lot of time together, I should actually introduce
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myself. Hi guys, I'm Jamie from Manchester, England. I am a historian. My academic focus is
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Roman history, but the skills are quite transferable, so trust me, I know what I'm doing.
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I have a bachelor's degree in ancient history and a master's degree in classics in ancient history.
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My dissertation was an analysis of grand strategy on Rome's northern frontier in the late
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fourth and early fifth century. I speak five languages, English, obviously, Latin, ancient
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Greek, some Spanish, and I'm learning Italian. I'm currently planning on starting a PhD in September
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2016. I've been podcasting for over five years. There is a bit of a series of 19th century Irish
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history that was essentially me learning how to make a podcast, but don't listen to that and
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don't try and find it online. It's really not worth it. I've since released a history of Alexander
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the Great, a series on Hannibal and the Punic Wars, one on the Arab Spring, and 20th century Middle
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East in history. I'm now hoping to take my podcasting a professional, or at the very least, semi-professional.
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That is the reason behind launching this particular series. While there will be this feed,
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which is free, there will also be a membership feed. Should you wish to support the show,
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you can go to the website, thehistoryofpodcast.com, and buy subscription to the membership feed.
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It is five dollars a month about the cost of a cup of coffee. This is a listener-funded endeavour,
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and so if you support the idea and want it to continue, please become a member. The membership
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feed will be bonus episodes, so it will be possible to understand the story by just listening to
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the free feed, but you will not be getting the full picture. This should become clearer,
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with time once we actually get involved with the story, but at the moment, the plan is for this
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to be a weekly show and for the membership feed to be quite weekly. I shall of course keep you
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updated with events as they develop. I've already mentioned the website, thehistoryofpodcast.com,
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but there are plenty of ways to stay up to date with the show. You can like the show's Facebook
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page, Facebook.com, forward slash, the history of podcast, and follow me on Twitter at HistoryJayme.
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You can also send me an email. Should you have any questions or anything, the history of podcast at gmail.com.
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I'll see you next week for the official first episode when we will get into the narrative properly.
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Thanks for listening.