Podcast
History Author Show
Hosted by Dean Karayanis · EN
We’ve all been transported into the past by a special book, place or person. On the History Author Show, host Dean Karayanis and a team of correspondents bring you the people who build the time machines.
11episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Irene Levy Baker — Cheers to McGillin’s: Philly’s Oldest Tavern
Mar 1600:44:38Tap to summarize  March 15, 2026 – We welcome a treasure from the City of Brotherly Love, Irene Levy Baker, back into the Wayback Machine. Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, she’s here to discuss “Cheers to McGillin’s: Philly’s Oldest Tavern.” She previously joined us to talk about her book, “100 Things To Do In Philadelphia.” You can find that interview, and my 2016 conversation with the tavernkeeper, Chris Mullins Sr., in our archives, and visit McGillins.com for more. McGillin’s, which opened in 1860 — the year President Lincoln was first elected to replace Pennsylvania’s own James Buchanan — and is the oldest continuously operating tavern in Philadelphia. It survived two global pandemics, two World Wars, the Civil War, economic depressions, a fire, Disco, and 165 years of history. Mentioned in This Episode: Chris Mullins, Sr. — McGillin’s Olde Ale House Irene Levy Baker – 100 Things to Do in Philadelphia Before You Die Rafe Bartholomew – Two and Two: McSorley’s, My Dad, and Me Robert Norden — The Old ’76 House
Transcribe →Jim Logan – Of Saints and Rivers
Feb 1200:41:53Tap to summarize  Feb 13, 2026 – We welcome award-winning author Jim Logan — a fourth-generation Oklahoman — aboard our time machine to discuss his debut novel, “Of Saints and Rivers.” The author, at 81, is as inspiring as his sweeping story that encompasses all the highs and lows of the period from the Gilded Age, Dustbowl, and Great Depression through the World Wars and the 1950s. The novel is the multi-generational saga of the McClellan family told through the eyes of their youngest son, Jordan. It’s a coming-of-age story that begins on the Oklahoma frontier and transports us to places like Mexico and a seminary, exploring themes of faith, family legacy, and the search for meaning. The book is praised as an emotionally rich, award-winning debut novel for fans of authors like Kristin Hannah and William Kent Krueger.
Transcribe →Bill Bleyer — The Roosevelts in New York City
Dec 100:43:16Tap to summarize  The New York Sun Review: ‘The Roosevelts in New York City’ Is an Exhilarating Climb in a Towering Family Tree – Dean Karayanis November 30, 2025 – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and lifelong Long Islander, Bill Bleyer, joins us in the time machine to walk the streets of Gotham past with his book, “The Roosevelts in New York City.” Among his previous books is “Sagamore Hill: Theodore Roosevelt’s Summer White House.” The Roosevelts story in America began with Nicholas Roosevelt, a farmer who arrived four centuries ago and planted the seeds of a distinguished and impactful family ― one with ties to many places in New York City. On East 20th St. stands a recreation of the brownstone where President Theodore Roosevelt was born and developed his love of nature. The twin brownstone next door was where his uncle, Robert Roosevelt, instilled in the future president an interest in conservation, while having multiple affairs and even starting a second secret family with a mistress. The double townhouse on East 65th Street built by Sara Delano Roosevelt still stands, built so that her son, President Franklin Roosevelt, would have a suitable place to raise his family. It also allowed her, as Bill Bleyer says, to keep him tied to her apron strings while she meddled in their lives. Her daughter-in-law — TR’s niece, Eleanor Roosevelt — was driven to tears by having to live in a home that was not her own. Bill Bleyer details the unique places in the city where family members lived and worked and unveils the private interactions behind this famous American family. For more interviews on the Roosevelts: David Pietrusza – 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents” David Pietrusza – Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR’s 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal Michael Patrick Cullinane – Remembering Theodore Roosevelt: Reminiscences of his Contemporaries Michael Patrick Cullinane – Theodore Roosevelt’s Ghost: The History and Memory of an American Icon Winston Groom – The Allies: Roosevelt, Stalin, Churchill and the Unlikely Alliance That Won World War II David Pietrusza – TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy Tim Brady – His Father’s Son: The Life of General Ted Roosevelt, Jr. John J. Miller – The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football Kermit Roosevelt – Allegiance David Pietrusza – 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR
Transcribe →Paul Kahan – Philadelphia: A Narrative History
Jul 400:51:56Tap to summarize  July 4, 2025 – With the 249th birthday of America on July 4, 2025, and the 250th anniversary of Independence Day looming in 2025, the nation’s eyes are cast back to the place where America was born. Paul Kahan returns to tells us how that ground was sown and how the city has grown in “Philadelphia: A Narrative History.” Paul Kahan earned a Ph.D. from Temple University and is a commentator on U.S. political, economic, and the craft of diplomacy. His book has been described as “accessible” by critics, by which they mean it’s written for everyone to enjoy, not for other academics.   Check out our previous conversations with Paul Kahan: “The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant” “Amiable Scoundrel: Simon Cameron, Lincoln’s Scandalous Secretary of War” “The Bank War: Andrew Jackson, Nicholas Biddle, and the Fight for American Finance”
Transcribe →Thomas Hauser — My Mother and Me: A Memoir
May 11, 202400:43:00Tap to summarize  May 11, 2024 – What happens when a celebrated author — Muhammad Ali’s official biographer, no less — turns his talents to putting his mother’s century-long life down on paper? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard Thomas Hauser, author of “My Mother and Me: A Memoir.” Eleanor Nordlinger Hauser, who passed away last year at 96, experienced a life of success and failures, meeting the march of years with resilience and grace until she made her peace with the fact that — as we all do someday— she had run out of tomorrows. Thomas Hauser is the author of fiction and non-fiction books that are best-sellers the world over. They include “Final Warning: The Legacy of Chernobyl” and “Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times.” As you might expect for the official biographer of The Greatest, he has been inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. For more on Ali and boxing, check out these previous interviews: Todd D. Snyder – Bundini: Don’t Believe the Hype Todd D. Snyder – Beatboxing: How Hip-Hop Changed the Fight Game Jerry Izenberg — Baseball, Nazis & Nedick’s Hot Dogs: Growing up Jewish in the 1930s in Newark
Transcribe →Rob Hilliard — In Freedom’s Shadow
Apr 1, 202401:00:00Tap to summarize  April 1, 2024 – Where would an enslaved man who escaped the South find the courage to return to the Confederacy as a Union Spy? In this episode, we meet such a man thanks to Robert Hilliard, author of “In Freedom’s Shadow.” The novel is based on the heroic true story of John Scobell, an enslaved African American who escaped early in the Civil War. Recruited by the Union to return south and gather intelligence, Scobell found new purpose as a spy. These was no ritzy James Bond missions, but daring border crossings, nerve-wracking dead drops, and a man at risk every moment of exposure, which would mean torture and death. Rob has written about sports, history, and the outdoors for over two decades. He last joined us to discuss his book, “A Season on the Allegheny.” You can listen to that interview in our archives wherever you enjoy the show and find Rob on Twitter and Facebook.
Transcribe →Brent Butt – Huge: A Novel
Oct 11, 202300:58:20Tap to summarize  October 11, 2023 – In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard Brent Butt, who those of you in the Great White North know as the creator and star of the sitcom “Corner Gas,” so beloved by Canadians that it has spawned an animated version and a movie. He’s also host of the Butt Pod, which — since you probably have your phone out right now — I suggest you swipe over and subscribe to for some really insightful interviews. Brent Butt puts his talents to work on the thriller genre in “Huge: A Novel.” The story hits the circuit of nameless clubs in Western Canda where two comedians — one, a veteran in the business from America; the other, a lady newcomer from Ireland — meet the aspiring headliner who’ll change their lives, and perhaps end them. You can read more at HugeTheNovel.com and — speaking of our guest always growing, refusing to be pigeonholed by one genre — these days, Brent Butt is transitioning to publishing more content on Substack as he transitions away from @BrentButt on Twitter.    
Transcribe →S.C. Gwynne – His Majesty’s Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World’s Largest Flying Machine
Sep 4, 202301:02:11Tap to summarize  September 4, 2023 – How did airship R101 — embodying the British Empire’s global ambitions — die in fireball of dreams, romance, and hubris and turn to ashes in the pages of history? S.C. Gwynne brings us this story of reaching for the sky in “His Majesty’s Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World’s Largest Flying Machine.” S.C. Gwynne previously joined us to discuss his books, “Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War,” and “The Perfect Pass: American Genius and the Reinvention of Football.” His 2010 book, “Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Visit our guest at SCGwynne.com or @SCGwynne on Twitter and @S.C.Gwynne on Facebook.  
Transcribe →Jenni L. Walsh – The Call of the Wrens
Jul 31, 202300:39:46Tap to summarize  July 30, 2023 – What did service in the World Wars mean to women who found new opportunities to enter the workforce and join the fight as never before? We’ll go on a fictional ride with one of those service members with today’s novelist, Jenni Walsh. Her novel is “The Call of the Wrens,” the third she joined us to discuss after her debut, “Becoming Bonnie,” and its sequel, “Side By Side,” about “the crash of the century,” when Bonnie Parker met Clyde Barrow. You can find those conversations in our archives wherever you enjoy the show or via the links above. In “The Call of the Wrens,” Jenni introduces us to the women of Britain’s Women’s Royal Naval Service who are shaped by service in the Great War and twenty years later in World War Two, when they’re confronted by a life-changing moment that they meet head on at 70 miles an hour. It’s a vivid, emotional saga of love, secrets, resilience—and the knowledge that the future will always belong to the brave souls who fight for it. Visit our guest at JenniLWalsh.com, follow her @JenniLWalsh on Twitter and Instagram, and like her page on Facebook. Special thanks to Shannon Hargreaves of @the_reel_bookery on Instagram for submitting a video question for this interview.    
Transcribe →Jerry Izenberg — Baseball, Nazis & Nedick’s Hot Dogs: Growing up Jewish in the 1930s in Newark
Jun 18, 202301:03:42Tap to summarize  The New York Sun – ‘Baseball, Nazis & Nedick’s Hot Dogs’ Is a Story of Fathers, Sons, and a Lost America – Dean Karayanis June 17, 2023 – Reading about history is one thing, but what happens when a legendary sportswriter looks back nearly a century to recall his upbringing in Newark, New Jersey, during the trying decades of the ‘30s and ‘40s – as a Jewish kid, mind you — while Wall Street crashed and Hitler made war on the world? In this episode, our time machine welcomes aboard a real time-traveler — at least, that’s how I like to think of people who bring us their memories from days few of us lived. His name is Jerry Izenberg, and his memoir — the most personal of his many books — is titled, “Baseball, Nazis & Nedick’s Hot Dogs: Growing up Jewish in the 1930s in Newark.” Jerry Izenberg is one of just two daily newspaper columnists to have covered the first 53 Super Bowls. He’s also been there for 54 consecutive Kentucky Derbies and the last five Triple Crown-winning horses. He earned the Red Smith Award for sports writing, has been named the New Jersey Sportswriter of the Year five times – oh, and is an inductee in in 17 Halls of Fame. In his memoir, Mr. Izenberg – now in his 90s – casts his keen eye back on his first two decades of life, the ones that made him who he is today, as he faced antisemitism, the Great Depression, and World War II to find love, community, and purpose. It’s a life well lived, and it ain’t over yet. Thanks to David Pietrusza, author of the upcoming book, “Gangsterland: A Tour Through the Dark Heart of Jazz-Age New York City,” for submitting a video question for his fellow baseball writer. You can enjoy my previous interviews with David here: Roosevelt Sweeps Nation: FDR’s 1936 Landslide and the Triumph of the Liberal Ideal 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents 1932: The Rise of Hitler and FDR ― Two Tales of Politics, Betrayal, and Unlikely Destiny TR’s Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series Too Long Ago: A Childhood Memory. A Vanished World
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