Author: Brendan Dowd

  • Special Baseball Mini-sode with Eric Vickrey!

    Special Baseball Mini-sode with Eric Vickrey!

    Let’s play ball! On this special baseball opening weekend mini-sode, Eric Vickrey joins me to talk his book Season of Shattered Dreams: Postwar Baseball, the Spokane Indians, and a Tragic Bus Crash That Changed Everything. Come listen! Buy Season of Shattered Dreams Check out Eric’s website

  • A Greek Tragedy by Jeanne Carstensen

    A Greek Tragedy by Jeanne Carstensen

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for A Greek Tragedy: This was not a relaxing Mediterranean cruise. Quick synopsis: The story of the 2015 refugee shipwreck off the Greek island of Lesvos. Fact for Non-History People: There have been approximately 25,000 deaths and disappearances in the Mediterranean Sea since 2014. Fact for History Nerds: The UNHCR recorded 3,160…

  • William Geroux joins the podcast to talk World War II Nazi POWs in America!

    William Geroux joins the podcast to talk World War II Nazi POWs in America!

    Let’s make an exchange! Author William Geroux joins me to discuss his book The Fifteen: Murder, Retribution, and the Forgotten Story of Nazi POWs in America. Come listen! Buy The Fifteen

  • The Fifteen by William Geroux

    The Fifteen by William Geroux

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for The Fifteen: A very one-sided trade proposal. Quick synopsis: The story of a prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Germany during World War II of soldiers facing the death penalty. Fact for Non-History People: There was approximately 400,000 German POWs in the U.S. during World War II. Fact for History Nerds:…

  • Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

    Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Everything is Tuberculosis: A cure made complicated. Quick synopsis: A look at the current state of the curable (but not eradicated) tuberculosis. Fact for Non-History People: Over a million people died of tuberculosis in 2023. Fact for History Nerds: Tuberculosis is also known as phthisis. My Take on Everything is Tuberculosis:…

  • NPR’s Emily Feng joins the podcast to talk China and its people!

    NPR’s Emily Feng joins the podcast to talk China and its people!

    Let’s bloom! NPR Correspondent Emily Feng joins me to talk her book Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping’s China. I learned a lot and hope you do, too. Come listen! Buy Let Only Red Flowers Bloom Check out Emily’s Website

  • Let Only Red Flowers Bloom by Emily Feng

    Let Only Red Flowers Bloom by Emily Feng

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Do as we say, not as we said. Quick synopsis: A look at contemporary China and how many Chinese are adapting or pushing back. Fact for Non-History People: The Cultural Revolution starting in the 1960s killed at least an estimated half a million people. Fact for…

  • Boutwell by Jeffrey Boutwell

    Boutwell by Jeffrey Boutwell

    Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Boutwell: The dude behind the dude. Quick synopsis: The life of Civil War era politician, George Boutwell. Fact for Non-History People: During Reconstruction, President Grant only declared martial law once and it was in South Carolina. Fact for History Nerds: The number of slaves in the U.S. tripled between 1790 to…

  • Gary Krist joins the podcast to talk San Francisco and True Crime!

    Gary Krist joins the podcast to talk San Francisco and True Crime!

    Let’s go digging! Author Gary Krist joins me to talk his book Trespassers at the Golden Gate: A True Account of Love, Murder, and Madness in Gilded-Age San Francisco. Come listen! Buy Trespassers at the Golden Gate