Journalism History

Episode 86: Woodrow Wilson’s Ministry of Propaganda

Author John Maxwell Hamilton analyzes the propaganda spread during World War I by President Woodrow Wilson’s Committee on Public Relations. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Episode 85: Making Jesse James a Folk Hero

Researcher Cathy Jackson explains the outsized role that newspapers played in making a folk hero out of Jesse James. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/. 

Episode 84: Life Magazine’s “College Girl”

Researcher Lindsay Hargrave discusses the history of Life magazine and how college-aged women were portrayed in the 1930s. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Episode 83: America's "Tory" Printer

Historian Autumn Lorimer Linford tells the real story of James Rivington, the most infamous printer of the American Revolution. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Episode 82: The Hutchins Commission

Historian Stephen Bates recounts the creation and findings of the Hutchins Commission ahead of the 75th anniversary of the “A Free and Responsible Press” report. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Episode 81: The Plucky Path of Nellie Bly

Author Brooke Kroeger reviews the daring career of Nellie Bly, the newspaper reporter who feigned insanity to investigate abuse at an asylum and traveled the world in a record-breaking 72 days. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Podcast Trailer

Learn more about the Journalism History podcast through our trailer.

Episode 80: The Tulsa Race Massacre

Journalist Randy Krehbiel discusses his book, Tulsa, 1921: Reporting a Massacre, for the 100th anniversary of this long ignored moment in history. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Episode 79: Hoover and the Fourth Estate

Author Matt Cecil explains how J. Edgar Hoover built and protected a heroic narrative for the FBI by manipulating journalists and information. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/.

Episode 78: The Commercialization of PBS

Historian Camille Reyes charts the history of the Public Broadcasting Service as a platform for new ideas and information that has been haunted and hobbled by capitalism and cronyism. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/