Podcasts · History · Kids & Family

American History Tellers

Audible

300 episodes · in order

The Cold War, Prohibition, the Gold Rush, the Space Race. Every part of your life - the words you speak, the ideas you share - can be traced to our history, but how well do you really know the stories that made America? We'll take you to the events, the times and the people that shaped our nation. And we'll show you how our history affected them, their families and affects you today. Hosted by Lindsay Graham (not the Senator). From Wondery, the network behind American Scandal, Tides of History, American Innovations and more.

More about the show

Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of American History Tellers ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app.

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. Philippine-American War | Under the Free Flag | 2

    · 42 min · S40 E2

    In 1898, America’s victory over Spanish forces in the Philippines suddenly thrust the United States onto the global stage. It also drew the country into a more complicated conflict with the very people it claimed to be…

  2. Philippine-American War | A Howling Wilderness | 3

    · 37 min · S40 E3

    In March 1901, American forces launched a daring raid to capture the Filipino revolutionary leader Emilio Aguinaldo. Head of U.S. Philippine forces, General Arthur MacArthur, hoped that his surrender would finally…

  3. Philippine-American War | Acts of Sedition | 4

    · 41 min · S40 E4

    With the war officially over, William Howard Taft took over authority as the Governor of the Philippines. Taft was a deep believer in the U.S. policy of “benevolent assimilation” and turned to schooling and political…

  4. Philippine-American War | The Path to Independence | 5

    · 50 min · S40 E5

    The Philippine-American War marked the emergence of America as a global power. But what has been the legacy of the war in the country in which it was fought? How did the war set the stage for Philippine independence,…

  5. Billy the Kid | Born to Lose | 1

    · 36 min · S41 E1

    Henry McCarty was born in an Irish slum in New York City in 1859. By the time he died from a lawman’s bullet twenty-one years later in New Mexico, he was notorious throughout the world under a different name: Billy the…

  6. Billy the Kid | The Lincoln County War | 2

    · 37 min · S41 E2

    In 1877, Billy the Kid was saved from a life of crime by a wealthy Englishman named John Tunstall, who saw potential in the teenage outlaw. Soon, however, Billy was drawn into a vicious war between Tunstall and a rival…

  7. Billy the Kid | Dead or Alive | 3

    · 39 min · S41 E3

    With the bloody Lincoln County War finally over, Billy the Kid tried to make a truce with his arch enemy, Jimmy Dolan. But his plan backfired, and he wound up forced to go on the run, implicated in a murder Dolan…

  8. Billy the Kid | Man, Myth, Legend | 4

    · 43 min · S41 E4

    Billy the Kid has become one of the most iconic figures of the American West. But many details of his life remain unknown or heavily debated among scholars and historians, from his childhood prior to his arrival in New…

  9. The Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body | The Counterfeiters | 1

    · 36 min · S42 E1

    In the 1870s, a gang from Chicago hatched one of the most audacious criminal plots in American history. They planned to steal the body of Abraham Lincoln from his tomb in Springfield, Illinois, then hold the…

  10. The Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body | The Roper | 2

    · 32 min · S42 E2

    By 1876, criminal boss Big Jim Kennally was ready to put his Lincoln body-snatching plan into motion. But his gang of thieves needed one more member before they could attempt the heist. Soon, they found their new…

  11. The Plot to Steal Lincoln's Body | The Manhunt | 3

    · 34 min · S42 E3

    By 1876, criminal boss Big Jim Kennally was ready to put his Lincoln body-snatching plan into motion. But his gang of thieves needed one more member before they could attempt the heist. Soon, they found their new…

  12. The Fight for Women's Suffrage | Created Equal | 1

    · 42 min · S43 E1

    On July 19th, 1848, 300 female and male delegates gathered in a church in Seneca Falls, New York for America’s first women’s rights convention. After two days, 100 of the attendees signed the Declaration of Sentiments,…

  13. The Fight for Women's Suffrage | The Trial of Susan B. Anthony | 2

    · 39 min · S43 E2

    On Election Day 1872, Susan B. Anthony walked into a polling place in Rochester, New York and boldly cast her ballot. Her action was an escalation in women’s fight for the vote. Days later, she was arrested for voting…

  14. The Fight for Women's Suffrage | Passing the Torch | 3

    · 41 min · S43 E3

    As the 20th century dawned, a new generation of women rose to take control of the suffrage cause. These young activists were going to college, delaying marriage, and pursuing careers. Their political savvy helped the…

  15. The Fight for Women's Suffrage | Silent Sentinels | 4

    · 41 min · S43 E4

    In March 1913, thousands of suffrage activists converged on Washington, D.C. for a new form of protest. They were going to march down Pennsylvania Avenue to demand an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing…

  16. The Fight for Women's Suffrage | The 19th Amendment | 5

    · 42 min · S43 E5

    As America entered World War I, the suffrage movement split into a two-pronged attack. Alice Paul and her National Woman’s Party took their protests to the White House gates. Meanwhile, Carrie Chapman Catt and her…

  17. The Fight for Women's Suffrage | Portrait of a Struggle | 6

    · 37 min · S43 E6

    For Alice Paul and other leading white suffragists, image was important. They published their own newspapers and staged dramatic public protests to gain press attention and shape public opinion. But all too often,…

  18. Lewis and Clark | Into the Wild | 1

    · 40 min · S44 E1

    In 1803, Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark began a westward journey that would transform America. Their mission was to head up the Missouri River and find a route through the uncharted west to the Pacific…

  19. Lewis and Clark | Across the Rockies | 2

    · 37 min · S44 E2

    In the spring of 1805, Lewis and Clark resumed their journey up the Missouri River in search of the Pacific. But to reach the ocean, they would have to cross the towering Rocky Mountains. It was a forbidding task, and…

  20. Lewis and Clark | The Long Way Home | 3

    · 37 min · S44 E3

    After 18 months and over two thousand miles, Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery had reached the Pacific Ocean. Now, they would have to find their way back. And in a last-ditch bid for glory, they would split up the…

  21. Lewis and Clark | The Journey and the Journals | 4

    · 38 min · S44 E4

    The Lewis and Clark expedition changed the course of American history. But after its bold, charismatic leader, Meriwether Lewis, ended his life in an apparent suicide, the expedition was largely forgotten. Not until…

  22. The Great Mississippi Flood | When the Levee Breaks | 1

    · 39 min · S45 E1

    In the winter and spring of 1927, record-setting rain fell across the central United States. The Mississippi River swelled to capacity, and by April, the water breached major levees. It was the start of the most…

  23. The Great Mississippi Flood | Dirty Water | 2

    · 39 min · S45 E2

    Early in the morning on April 22nd, 1927, flood waters from a break in the Mound Landing levee entered the town of Greenville, Mississippi. Within hours, the town was submerged in 10 feet of water. Thousands of…

  24. The Great Mississippi Flood | Master of Emergencies | 3

    · 39 min · S45 E3

    Herbert Hoover’s management of the flood relief garnered widespread praise and put him in position to secure the Republican nomination for President. But the African-American press told a different story, one of…

  25. The Great Mississippi Flood | Media Storm | 4

    · 41 min · S45 E4

    In 1927, a slow-moving catastrophe like the Great Mississippi Flood was perfect material for a relatively new medium: radio. Over the airwaves, the flood became the first natural disaster that Americans could follow…

  26. Encore: The Age of Jackson | Washington Burns | 1

    · 35 min · S46 E1

    In 1814, British troops burned down the White House. That fire would be extinguished, and the Executive Mansion would be rebuilt. But another fire smoldered on – a fire that would eventually consume the United States.…

  27. Encore: The Age of Jackson | Good Feelings | 2

    · 32 min · S46 E2

    In the summer of 1817, President James Monroe toured the country in an effort to unify the ever-growing United States. His optimistic presidency ushered in what became known as “The Era of Good Feelings.” But in…

  28. Encore: The Age of Jackson | King Mob | 3

    · 33 min · S46 E3

    On Andrew Jackson’s inauguration day, citizens mobbed the White House, breaking furniture and fine china. It was a sign of troubles to come. Elected as a populist president, Jackson was dogged by chaos and controversy…

  29. Encore: The Age of Jackson | Great White Father | 4

    · 36 min · S46 E4

    During his military career, Andrew Jackson won several ruthless victories over indigenous people. After becoming president in 1829, he waged political war against them, too. Jackson championed “Indian removal” – the…

  30. Encore: The Age of Jackson | The Little Magician | 5

    · 35 min · S46 E5

    During the last years of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the American economy flourished. But when his successor, Martin Van Buren, took office, he inherited a financial crisis. Before he became president, Van Buren’s…

  31. Encore: The Age of Jackson | Manifest Destiny | 6

    · 40 min · S46 E6

    In 1845, newly inaugurated President James Polk made America’s westward expansion a centerpiece of his administration. Before long, the phrase “Manifest Destiny” was used to describe this growing sense of inevitability…

  32. Encore: The Age of Jackson | A Nation Divided | 7

    · 42 min · S46 E7

    The Age of Jackson was a time of intense change and tremendous growth in the United States. But it was not without controversy. In the years leading up to the Civil War, slavery and the rising abolitionist movement…

  33. Civil War | The Gathering Storm | 1

    · 40 min · S48 E1

    Over the first decades of the 19th century, Americans fought over whether slavery should be allowed to expand into newly settled western territories. The debate grew so fierce that it led to a bloody attack right on…

  34. Civil War | First Blood | 2

    · 41 min · S48 E2

    On April 19th, 1861, an angry mob of Confederate sympathizers in Baltimore tried to stop a regiment of Union soldiers rushing to protect the capitol. Soon, four soldiers and 12 locals lay dead, and dozens more were…

  35. Civil War | Emancipation | 3

    · 40 min · S48 E3

    The Civil War began as an effort to hold the country together. Few Northern soldiers marched into battle to end slavery. But tens of thousands of enslaved men, women, and children took matters into their own hands,…

  36. Civil War | The Fires at Home | 4

    · 38 min · S48 E4

    As the Civil War raged on, families on the homefront faced increasingly heavy tolls, enduring crippling economic turmoil, food shortages and explosive class tensions. Meanwhile, Presidents Abraham Lincoln and…

  37. Civil War | Gettysburg | 5

    · 38 min · S48 E5

    In the summer of 1863, General Robert E. Lee made a daring bid for victory. He marched his army north to invade Pennsylvania. For three sweltering days, two massive armies locked in combat in the Battle of Gettysburg,…

  38. Civil War | March To The Sea | 6

    · 41 min · S48 E6

    In 1864, Ulysses S. Grant took charge of the entire Union Army and laid out his ambitious plans to finally win the war. Grant pursued Lee in Virginia in a campaign unrivaled in the history of the war for its brutal,…

  39. Civil War | Bind Up the Nation's Wounds | 7

    · 38 min · S48 E7

    In early 1865, after four long years of bloodshed, the Confederacy was on the brink of defeat. General William Tecumseh Sherman marched his army through South Carolina, where Union soldiers sought vengeance against the…

  40. Civil War | Finding Freedom | 8

    · 37 min · S48 E8

    During the Civil War, Black people in America took the opportunity to free themselves and to serve the Union cause. At great personal risk, tens of thousands of refugees -- men, women and children -- fled Southern…

  41. Encore: The Walker Affair | The Gray-Eyed Man of Destiny | 1

    · 40 min · S49 E1

    In the mid-1800s, the United States was full of adventurers and entrepreneurs looking to take advantage of the country’s ever-expanding boundaries. One of them was a young lawyer and newspaper editor from Tennessee…

  42. Encore: The Walker Affair | Nicaragua's Yankee President | 2

    · 42 min · S49 E2

    In 1855, William Walker faced a criminal trial in the United States for his illegal, and unsuccessful, invasion of Mexico. But he emerged from court fully acquitted, and to some, a national hero. Emboldened by his…

  43. Encore: The Walker Affair | The Last Filibuster | 3

    · 37 min · S49 E3

    When he escaped Nicaragua in 1857, American William Walker was a failed despot responsible for the death of thousands of people and the destabilization of Central America. But he returned to New Orleans with fanfare,…

  44. The Age of Pirates | A Gold Chain Or A Wooden Leg | 1

    · 36 min · S50 E1

    At the end of the 17th century, pirates stalked the coast of North America and the waters of the Caribbean, attacking merchant vessels from every nation. But they were more than just armed robbers of the high seas.…

  45. The Age of Pirates | Captain Kid's Adventure | 2

    · 37 min · S50 E2

    As England waged war against France in 1689, Scottish sailor William Kidd led a deadly mutiny aboard a French privateer in the Caribbean. It was his first act in becoming one of the most feared sea captains of his…

  46. The Age of Pirates | Blackbeard and the Flying Gang | 3

    · 37 min · S50 E3

    In 1717, the pirate known as Blackbeard launched an attack along the Atlantic seaboard, disrupting international trade and striking terror into sea captains and colonial governors. Working with his sidekick, the…

  47. The Age of Pirates | Women of the High Seas | 4

    · 36 min · S50 E4

    During the Golden Age of Piracy, two female pirates became infamous despite their short careers. Anne Bonny and Mary Read went down as some of the fiercest pirates in popular mythology.. Dr. Rebecca Simon is a…

  48. Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 | Outbreak | 1

    · 38 min · S51 E1

    In the hot and humid summer of 1793, a deadly epidemic struck Philadelphia, then the capital of the United States. Thousands suffered high fevers, yellow skin, and bloody vomit. Many died within days. At first, the…

  49. Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 | Fears & Falsehoods | 2

    · 43 min · S51 E2

    In September 1793, yellow fever continued to ravage Philadelphia. As the death toll mounted, Dr. Benjamin Rush raced to find a cure. Rush used an aggressive and controversial treatment to battle the grisly disease,…

  50. Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 | Friends We Have Lost | 3

    · 39 min · S51 E3

    In 1793, Philadelphia served as the nation’s temporary capital, and the yellow fever epidemic crippled the federal government. After fleeing the capital, President George Washington struggled to make decisions and…

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them. Explicit shows are for adult profiles only, and children’s profiles hear only children’s shows. More about this list.