Podcast Episode 62 - In The Shadow Of The Dam

Building Hoover Dam was difficult and deadly work. But there was a Great Depression going on and dam work paid real money. If it could be said that there was a choice between your family starving to death or you risking your life on building the engineering marvel of the age, you chose the dam.

Author Kelly Stone Gamble’s historical novel Ragtown tells the story of the dam and the desperate people who lived in its shadow. It’s a great story and great history.

Ragtown is available for preorder now and releases on September 12, 2023.

Check out the links below to get your copy of Ragtown and check out Kelly’s other books.

https://www.amazon.com/Ragtown-Kelly-Stone-Gamble-ebook/dp/B0CCF5PV4Y

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kelly-Stone-Gamble/author/B00JIPDBMW

Podcast Episode 61 - I'll Trade You A General - Part II

On our last episode, we left our favorite oppositionally-defiant crank, American Major General Charles Lee, in a precarious situation.


Good news, though. Someone was actively trying to save him.

Podcast Episode 60 - I'll Trade You A General, Part I

American Major General Charles Lee had picked a great place to hide.

Like big-city mobsters two centuries later, George Washington’s second in command had discovered that New Jersey was a great place to lay low if someone was after you.

Charles had a lot of people after him in December 1776. First and foremost was the British Army, commanded in that area by Lord Charles Cornwallis. After a string of British successes against the Continentals in New York, it wasn’t George Washington the English high command was afraid of.

It was Charles Lee.

So the British send some dragoons to nab the general and take him prisoner. Which they do. Which makes quite a lot of Americans sad. And it inspires one American in particular to find a British officer of high enough rank to trade for General Lee. 

As luck would have it, he finds one.

  

Podcast Episode 59 - Remember The Ladies

There's an awful lot of testosterone on History's Trainwrecks. 

I tend to think it's because men are far more likely than women to self-sabotage in a big way. But as Abigail Adams told her husband John, we should always "remember the ladies." 

Samantha Wilcoxson, author of the phenomenal Women of the American Revolution, joins me to talk about her book and see how the stories we've always been told about the women of the founding generation are really just the beginning. 

You can find Samantha Wilcoxson's books here:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Samantha-Wilcoxson/author/B00IGVWSCI

And all her other shenanigans:

Blog https://samanthawilcoxson.blogspot.com/
Twitter https://twitter.com/carpe_librum
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/samantha_wilcoxson
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PlantagenetEmbers/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/samanthajw
Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/samantha_wilcoxson/

Podcast Episode 58 - Great Mind In History - George Washington

It occurred to me that we’ve been doing quite a lot of talking about George Washington in this series—or more accurately, talking AROUND George, so I thought it would be a good time to stop and focus on the man himself, and delve into what made him so darn indispensable.

I didn’t exactly HAVE a George Washington episode, but I knew someone who did.

If you’ve been listening for a while, you know that I am a huge fan of the Drinks With Great Minds in History Podcast. The show is not only lots of fun to listen to, but the host, Mr. DGMH, otherwise known as Zach Debacco, has a historical insight that I truly admire. His approach to his great minds in history is unique, and he comes up with brilliant revelations about these historical figures that I had never before considered.

It's a great show, and if you aren’t already subscribed to it, you should be. If it helps, I can tell you that Drinks With Great Minds in History is the only history podcast that Mrs. History’s Trainwrecks listens to.

With all that that implies.

Podcast Episode 57 - The Men Who Would Be Washington, Part VIII

Here I thought things would get better for General Charles Lee once he got loose from British captivity before the Battle of Monmouth Court House.

Nope. Because Charles just couldn't help himself. 

We wrap up our story of Charles Lee, and talk about why he's such a great historical trainwreck. 

Podcast Episode 56 - The Men Who Would Be Washington, Part VII

Christmas 1776 wasn't such a great time for two American generals. George Washington was wrapping a Christmas present for the Hessian garrison at Trenton, New Jersey. He was going to cross the Delaware and drop it down their metaphorical chimney like some kind of badass Santa Claus.

Second in command Charles Lee had checked into a tavern and sent his dogs and his army down the road a ways. With only a few guards and a dirty shirt, he was cooling his heels while waiting to decide to follow Washington's orders to join up with him.

In the meantime, British General Cornwallis, who was way more scared of Lee than Washington, sent Charles's old regiment of dragoons to find him and capture him.

Which they did. Merry Christmas, Charles...