At the height of America’s postwar boom, no region was more vital to the nation’s economic strength than the Great Lakes. It was the beating heart of the global economy—possessing all the power and prestige that Silicon Valley enjoys today. This industrial dominance depended on Great Lakes freighters getting iron ore from the shores of Lake Superior to the factories in Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland.Few endeavors have bound time so mercilessly to money as Great Lakes shipping did at its peak, and no vessel had been more perfectly designed to maximize both than the S. S. Edmund Fitzgerald. At 75 feet wide and 729 feet long, the Fitzgerald was at the time of her launch the largest ship on the lakes, and she repeatedly broke her own records for the largest loads, the fastest runs, and the biggest season hauls throughout her career. She was a champion heavyweight, sprinter, and workhorse, all in one.But on November 10, 1975, when the “storm of the century” threw 100 mile-per-hour winds and 50-foot waves on Lake Superior, the Mighty Fitz found itself at the worst possible place, at the worst possible time. When she sank, she took all 29 men onboard down with her, leaving the tragedy shrouded in mystery for a half century. In THE GALES OF NOVEMBER, award-winning journalist John U. Bacon presents the definitive account of the disaster, drawing on more than 100 interviews with the families, friends, and former crewmates of those lost. Bacon explores the vital role Great Lakes shipping played in America’s economic boom, the uncommon lives the sailors led, the sinking’s most likely causes, and the heartbreaking aftermath for those left behind—“the wives, the sons, and the daughters” as Gordon Lightfoot sang in his unforgettable ballad.Focused on those directly affected by the tragedy, THE GALES OF NOVEMBER is both an emotional tribute to the Fitzgerald’s captain and crew and a propulsive, page-turning narrative history of America’s most-mourned shipwreck.About the Author:John U. Bacon has authored fourteen books on sports, business, and history, the last seven of which are critically acclaimed national bestsellers, including five New York Times bestsellers. He lives in Ann Arbor and Northern Michigan with his wife and son.#edmundfitzgerald #authorpodcast #podcast #johnubacon

Drawing on vivid contemporary accounts, this is a fascinating exploration of how and why the Revolutionary War descended into a brutal existential struggle.This engrossing history of the Revolutionary War conclusively shows that those caught up in it believed they had nothing to lose by fighting without regard for the rules of so-called “civilized warfare.” The clarion call to arms “Liberty or Death” was far more than just rhetoric. At its grimmest level, it was a conflict in which military restraint was more the exception than the rule, a struggle in which combatants believed their very existence was in question. This led to an acceptance of violence against persons and property as preferable to a defeat equated with political, cultural, and even physical extinction. It was war with an expectation and acceptance of ferocity and brutality – anything to avoid defeat.A number of historians have previously concluded that United States' founding struggle reached a level of ferocity few Americans now associate with the movement for independence. However, these studies have described what happened, without looking in detail at why the conflict took such a violent a turn. Written by two esteemed Revolutionary War historians, War Without Mercy does exactly that. Based on years of research and enlivened by little known primary sources, this is an intriguing and fresh look at a period of history we thought we knew.Mark Edward Lender is Professor Emeritus of History at Kean University. He is author or co-author of more than a dozen books including, with James Kirby Martin, the acclaimed A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763–1789 (Wiley, 2015) – which for several years was required reading at West Point – and, with Garry Wheeler Stone, the award-winning Fatal Sunday: George Washington, the Monmouth Campaign, and the Politics of Battle (University of Oklahoma Press, 2016). He served on the design team for the Army’s special 250th Anniversary Exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. Army. He lives in Richmond, Virginia.#americanrevolution #americanrevolutionarywar #1776 #authorpodcast #speakingofwriterspodcast

REAR WINDOW: The Making of a Hitchcock Masterpiece in the Golden Age of Hollywood examines this complex, fascinating film, its multiple layers and subsequent cinematic impact. Made at his creative peak, Hitchcock’s Rear Window influenced filmmaking in the years that followed, and its timeless themes now align with today’s digital culture. This deep dive will also strike a chord with cultural history buffs fascinated by the turbulent politics of Hollywood and America in the 1950s.Jennifer O’Callaghan has worked as a reporter for Metro News, Shaw TV, and CKUA radio in news, entertainment, and lifestyle beats. She has also appeared as a red-carpet reporter for the web entertainment site MyBroadway.com, and as host on Paradetown USA on NYC-TV. She has interviewed celebrities including Will Ferrell, Meryl Streep, Liza Minnelli, and Cameron Diaz, and appeared as a featured model on The Today Show and The View. She currently lives in Toronto.#speakingofwriterspodcast #alfredhitchcock #authorpodcast #podcast #jennifer O'Callaghan #books #bookpodcast

Tim McGrath, award-winning author of James Monroe: A Life, brings readers an epic, revelatory account of the Battle of Gettysburg in THREE ROADS TO GETTYSBURG. He shines a light on George Meade, Lincoln’s unexpected choice to lead the Union army and not often mentioned historical figure today, who defeated Robert E. Lee and changed the course of the Civil War and the path to reunification for our country.#gettysburgbattlefield #gettysburg #civilwar #speakingofwriterspodcast #authorpodcast

When Frank Leahy retired from Notre Dame after the 1953 season, he had the second-best record in the history of the game (107-13-99, .864). Seven decades later, he still does.Award-winning sportswriter Ivan Maisel brings the forgotten legend of Notre Dame head football coach Frank Leahy back to life, based on rare and complete access to Fighting Irish football historical archives and the Leahy family. Ivan Maisel has covered college football for more than four decades, most prominently at ESPN from 2002 to 2021, where he wrote for the network. com, appeared on television, ESPN Radio, and on podcasts. He also served as Editor-at-Large for ESPN College Football 150, a multi-platform history project that commemorated the sesquicentennial of the sport in 2019. Before joining ESPN, Maisel covered national college football for Sports Illustrated, Newsday, and The Dallas Morning News. Most recently, he served as Vice-President, Editorial, and part-owner of On3, the college sports website/app. Maisel left the site in June 2023 to focus on writing books, but retains his share of ownership. He has been honored nine times for Best Story by the Football Writers Association of America and twice by The Associated Press Sports Editors. He is a member of the Sports Hall of Fame in Mobile, his hometown, and in 2025 began a three-year term as a member of the College Football Playoff Selection Committee. Maisel earned a bachelor’s degree in American Studies at Stanford University in 1981. #notredamefootball #notredame #ivanmaisel #collegefootball #podcast #authorpodcast

Rattlesnakes on the practice field, fist fights on the team plane, bounced checks, paternity suits, house bombings by the Ku Klux Klan, stadium fields covered in circus elephant dung, one-legged trainers, humiliating defeats, miraculous wins, All-Pro quarterbacks getting drunk at halftime, sex in a phone booth, and even a future Hall of Fame coach stealing a taxi cab. Sounds like the craziest football fiction movie that Hollywood could come up with. Well, it was all true. The 1952 Dallas Texans are nearly lost to history. This single season in the most football-mad region of the U.S., is a kaleidoscope of every larger-than-life Texas football folktale. David Fleming perfectly captures the zaniness of the zaniest team in NFL history with his new book, A BIG MESS IN TEXAS: The Miraculous, Disastrous 1952 Dallas Texans and the Craziest Untold Story in NFL History,#nfl #dallastexas #dallascowboys #davidfleming #authorpodcast #speakingofwriters #books #bookpodcast

In its duration, geographical reach, and ferocity, World War II was unprecedented, and the effects on those who fought it and their loved ones at home, immeasurable. The heroism of the men and women who won the war may be well documented, but we know too little about the pain and hardships veterans endured upon their return home. Drawing from veterans’ memoirs, oral histories, and government documents, acclaimed historian David Nasaw illuminates a hidden chapter of American history—one of trauma, resilience, and a country in transition in THE WOUNDED GENERATION: Coming Home After World War II. Nearly 16.4 million Americans served in the U.S. Armed Forces in World War II. This book “is an account of the aftereffects that lived on in the bodies, hearts, and minds of those who fought, those who awaited their return, and the nation that had won the war but had now to readjust to peace.”As Nasaw makes evident, the veterans who returned to America were not the same people as those who had left for war, and the nation to which they came back was not the one they left behind. Contrary to the prevailing narratives of triumph, here are the largely unacknowledged realities the veterans—and the nation—faced, radically reshaping our understanding of this era as a bridge to today, as we mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.Nasaw presents a complicated portrait of those who brought the war home with them, among whom were the period’s most influential political and cultural leaders, including John F. Kennedy, Robert Dole, and Henry Kissinger; J. D. Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut; Harry Belafonte and Jimmy Stewart. In The Wounded Generation, Nasaw illustrates the indelible stories of veterans and their loved ones as they confronted the aftershocks of World War II.David Nasaw is a historian, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and bestselling author of The Last Million, named a best book of the year by NPR, Kirkus Reviews, and History Today; The Patriarch, a New York Times Five Best Non-Fiction Books of the Year; Andrew Carnegie, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and the winner of the American History Book Prize; and The Chief, winner of the Bancroft Prize. He was the Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Professor of History at the CUNY Graduate Center and the president of the Society of American Historians. In 2023, he was honored by the New York Public Library as a “Library Lion.” Nasaw’s father served in the Army Medical Corps in Eritrea during World War II. He lives in New York City.#worldwar2 #authorpodcastPhoto Credit: Alex Irklievski

The epic of the American West is America’s great creation myth—and one whose telling is now as contested as oncewas the land. From a widely accepted tale of progress, redemption, and glorious conquest a new, darker story emerged: one of ghastly violence, racism, and environmental exploitation. In THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY: Triumph, Tragedy, and the Shaping of the American West (Dutton),acclaimed historian Paul Andrew Hutton gives readers a masterful narrative of both soaring triumph and terrible tragedy to reveal a new, surprising epic that defines America and its people.

Paul Andrew Hutton, the author of The Apache Wars and Phil Sheridan and His Army, is an American cultural historian, award-winning author, documentary writer, film consultant, and television personality. He is also Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus atthe University of New Mexico, a former executive director of the Western History Association, and former president of the Western Writers of America. He currently serves as interim curator of the Buffalo Bill Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, in Cody, Wyoming.