Uncovering the Civil War

"Uncovering the Civil War" wraps up its first season with this special 90 minute look back at our first twenty-eight episodes. Join host Antonio Elmaleh for a wide-ranging discussion as we uncover "Uncovering the Civil War!"

In the second part of our special two-part series, Pulitzer Prize for History recipient James M. McPherson joins host Antonio Elmaleh for an in-depth look at the navies of the Civil War and uncover the strategic roles they played in determining the outcome of the war.

In the first part of our very special two-part series, Pulitzer Prize for History recipient James M. McPherson joins host Antonio Elmaleh for an in-depth look at the navies of the Civil War. Join us as we uncover the strategic roles the navies played in determining the outcome of the war.

Arguably no other time period in American history is as important but also as misunderstood as Reconstruction. Our guest this episode is Eric Foner, a leading expert on the post-Civil War era and the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for History for his book, "The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery." Join us as we discuss the impact of Reconstruction on the United States, both then and now.

Join us for part II of our discussion with Terry Winschel, former Chief Historian of Vicksburg National Military Park, as we uncover the crucial campaign for Vicksburg - and control of the Mississippi River - during the Civil War. Whoever controlled the river would control the fate of the war and, by extension, the fate of the United States. Join us for a mesmerizing, entertaining episode!

We welcome Terry Winschel, former Chief Historian of Vicksburg National Military Park, as our guest for a special two-part series uncovering the crucial campaign for Vicksburg - and control of the Mississippi River - during the Civil War. Whoever controlled the river would control the fate of the war and, by extension, the fate of the United States. Join us for a mesmerizing, entertaining discussion!

Edwin Stanton served as Secretary of War under Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and under Andrew Johnson during Reconstruction, cementing his place as one of the most influential politicians in American history. But who was Edwin Stanton, and what was the character of the man who wielded so much power during a seminal period in American history? We talk to William Marvel, author of “Edwin Stanton: Lincoln’s Autocrat” to uncover the truth.

Thanks to Ken Burns's documentary series on the Civil War, letters written during the war have become synonynous with the conflict in the public consciousness. Join us and our guest Christopher Hager, author of "I Remain Yours: Common Lives in Civil War Letters" as we go deeper and seek to uncover how everyday men and women used letter writing to make sense of the unfathomable and to maintain connections that had never been under so much strain. We'll also take a look at how letter writing during the Civil War changed the US Post Office and turned the country's mail service into a democratic means of personal expression.

Do you know what a "breeches role" is? Or how theater during the mid-nineteenth century helped pave the way for women's sufferage? If your only knowledge of theater during the 1860s is that Lincoln was assassinated while watching a play, we have a treat in store for you! Join host Antonio Elmaleh and his guest, Dr. Elizabeth Mullenix, Professor of Theater and Dean of Creative Arts at Miami University, for an illuminating discussion as they uncover theater during the Civil War.

Please join us for the second part of our discussion with Gregory Downs, author of "After Appomattox: Military Occupation and the Ends of War." The Union Army was sent to occupy the South after the war ended, which had a far-ranging effect on Reconstruction and is still being felt today. Be there as we uncover this fascinating and important time in US history!

Join us for a fascinating discussion with Gregory Downs, author of "After Appomattox: Military Occupation and the Ends of War" as we uncover the Union army occupation of the South after the Civil War and how it affected Reconstruction and beyond.

Join us as we uncover one of the most fascinating friendships between two well-known Americans: Mark Twain and Ulysses S. Grant. By the summer of 1884, Grant was broke and secretly dying of esophageal cancer. Worried about leaving his family destitute, he decided to write his memoirs at the urging of Mark Twain, who offered to publish them and give Grant an unheard of 75% royalty. The memoirs became best sellers and kept the Grant family out of poverty. Dr. Ron White is our guest as we discuss the unlikely friendship between the humorist and the general and uncover the truth about Grant's presidency and Reconstruction.

In this episode we uncover Rutherford B. Hayes and learn how he came to be known as the “Man of the Middle.” Dustin McLochlin, curator of Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, joins us for a fascinating examination of Hayes’s surprising impact on the United States as the country recovered from the Civil War.

Dr. Jonathan White joins us to discuss one of the mysteries of the Civil War: why wasn't the Supreme Court more active during the conflict, which would seem to be the definition of a constitutional crisis? Join us as we seek to uncover the tension between Abraham Lincoln and the Supreme Court in this little examined corner of US Civil War history.

Our guest Dr. Clarissa Confer joins us for a fascinating discussion on the Civil War and its impact on Native Americans. We take a deeper dive into how the conflict devastated the Cherokee Nation, which had just suffered through the Trail of Tears only to be swept up in what became truly a "brothers' war" for members of the tribe. Please join us!

In our second part of our conversation with Dr. Judith Giesberg, author of "Sex and the Civil War: Soldiers, Pornography, and the Making of American Morality," we dive even deeper into how the Civil War coincided with the mass production of pornographic materials that were easily disseminated to soldiers, and how the American public reacted to what they saw as a menace to public morality and values.

The Civil War coincided with the rise of photography and the ability to mass produce cheap books - which were used to create illicit materials. Soldiers consumed obscene imagery and texts in vast quantities, leading to a public outcry about a decline in the country's morality. Our guest Dr. Judith Giesberg, author of "Sex and the Civil War: Soldiers, Pornography, and the Making of American Morality" joins us for a fascinating conversation about smut during the Civil War and the attempts to stop its dissemination.

In the last of our three part series on uncovering the press during the Civil War, we talk to Dr. Debra van Tuyll, author of "Journalism in the Fallen Confederacy" and "The Confederate Press in the Crucible of the American Civil War." Join us for a fascinating discussion as we look at how the Confederacy shaped and molded its news coverage of the Civil War.

Our guest this episode is Dr. David Sachsman, author of "A Press Divided: Newspaper Coverage of the Civil War." Join us for an in-depth conversation about propaganda, censorship, “Fake News,” journalistic ethics, and objectivity - both then and now.

Please join us as we start a three part series on journalism during the Civil War. In our first episode, our guest Dr. Ford Risley talks to us about the state of the press in the north, from abolition to jailing journalists. Dr. Risley is a professor of communications and associate dean of the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications at Penn State University. He is the author or editor of three books, including Civil War Journalism and Abolition and the Press: The Moral Struggle Against Slavery. His latest book, “Dear Courier”: The Newspaper Correspondence of Editor Melvin Dwinell," will be published in 2018.

Join us for an intriguing discussion as we follow the money and examine the role banking played in maintaining the institution of slavery. Our guest is Dr. Sharon Ann Murphy, a professor of history at Providence College and the author of "Other People's Money: How Banking Worked in Early America." We'll discuss the banking system before and during the Civil War, and uncover how the war lead to our modern banking system today. We'll also take a long, hard look at how financial institutions were intimately intertwined with the practice of slavery.

Please join us and our guest, Jim Burgess, for a fascinating discussion on the weapons of the Civil War. Jim Burgess works for the National Park Service as a museum specialist at Manassas National Battlefield Park and has served there continuously since 1980. Among his various duties, he supervises the park's historic weapons program of musket and artillery firing demonstrations. Jim's knowledge of Civil War firearms is drawn from 44 years of experience shooting such arms in North-South Skirmish Association live fire competition. He is also a member of the Society of American Bayonet Collectors and a past president of the Virginia Gun Collectors Association.

Join us as we talk to our guest Steven Siler, chef and author of "Hardtack and Haversack: Recipes and Their Stories From the American Civil War." Steven has also written over twenty best-selling “Signature Tastes” cookbooks, and he has a new book recently released in 2017, “Palmettos and Pluffmud: Tales of a Lost Lowcountry Life.” He is also a firefighter in Bellingham, Washington. Help us uncover what they ate during the Civil War!

Our guest this podcast is Ronald White, who is an author of three award-winning and bestselling books on Abraham Lincoln. He is a graduate of UCLA and Princeton Theological Seminary with a Ph.D. in Religion and History from Princeton University, and has taught at a variety of universities and theological seminaries, and is currently a Fellow at the Huntington Library and a Senior Fellow of The Trinity Forum. Join as we discuss the Second Great Awakening and how this evangelical Protestant revival shaped social attitudes before, during and after the Civil War.

Our guests this podcast are David Price, the Executive Director of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, and Jake Wynn, the Program Coordinator at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. Join us as we uncover the fascinating history of medicine during the Civil War. The nation’s bloodiest war led to numerous advances in health care that we still benefit from today. We’ll also uncover more about the National Museum of Civil War Medicine and its important mission to preserve and research the legacy of Civil War Medical innovation and humanitarianism.

Our guests this podcast are J.R. Hardman, Kelly Whitfield Bradley, and Stephanie Groce. J.R. Hardman has been a Civil War reenactor since 2012 with the 53rd Georgia - Company K, a Confederate infantry unit, and the 6th New York Independent Battery, which is a federal artillery unit. As a reenactor, she portrays a woman in disguise as a male soldier. Kelly Whitfield Bradley spent the last 9.5 years wearing many hats at the Atlanta History Center--mostly those from the 19th century. As one of the Historic House Directors, her most recent museum role involved researching and creating interactive educational activities for guests of all ages, as well as training interpretive staff. Stephanie Groce has been a Civil War Reenactor in the 53rd Georgia, Company K for past 10 years. As a reenactor, she portrays women's roles in a camp setting at various reenactments Join us as we uncover the Civil War through women’s eyes and discover how female re-enactors keep our history alive and vital to today.

Join us for the second part of our podcast about uncovering the Civil War – literally. Our guests are Michael Jordan, Jim Jobling, Steve James and Dr. Gordon Watts. A 10-person marine archaeology team led by Dr. Watts and Stephen James has collected more than 1500 artifacts from the CSS Georgia, a Confederate ironclad gunship intentionally sunk in the Savannah River in 1864 to avoid capture by Union forces.

Our guests are Senior Chief Chris Timothy, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jason Potts, and Public Affairs Officer Lt. Liza Dougherty of the US Navy. Join us as we uncover the Civil War – literally – as we discuss the U.S. Navy’s involvement in recovering and preserving artifacts from the CSS Georgia, a Civil War-era ironclad that rests at the bottom of the Savannah River.

Our guest this podcast is Dr. Don Doyle. Professor Doyle is currently the McCausland Professor of History at the University of South Carolina. His latest book, The Cause of All Nations: An International History of the American Civil War, explains that the Civil War was viewed abroad as part of a much larger struggle for democracy that spanned the Atlantic Ocean. Join us as we uncover the international implications of the Civil War and discover that “Our War” was actually a global struggle.