Rewatching It's a Wonderful Life in 2025

In this special holiday episode, Jake, Justin, and Molly gather to talk about It's a Wonderful Life - not just as a Christmas classic, but as a deeply historical film shaped by war, economic depression, and the unsettled, unstable world of 1946. What starts as a cozy movie night quickly turns into a wide-ranging conversation about community, capitalism, trauma, and why Frank Capra's vision of America still hits a nerve nearly eighty years later.

The trio digs into the film's historical moment, Jimmy Stewart's wartime experience, and why Bedford Falls feels both comforting and painfully distant in 2025. Along the way, they wrestle with Mr. Potter, Mary Bailey, the Great Depression, and the unsettling realization that many of us may already be living in Potterville.

This episode of Public History with Justin, Jake, and Molly explores:

• It's a Wonderful Life as a post–World War II home-front story
• Jimmy Stewart, combat trauma, and why George Bailey feels so real
• Bedford Falls, Potterville, and the economics of community
• Mary Bailey as the emotional backbone of the entire film
• Why the FBI once thought this movie was communist
• "We don't want characters here"

Happy holidays - and here's to finding a little Bedford Falls wherever we can.