America First Episodes

Marshall, Blake, and Mike wrap up the America First series by dissecting the America First principles of non-involvement in World War II, then discussing the effect on America of the shockingly rapid 1940 fall of France, American support to Britain through Lend-Lease, Charles Lindbergh’s ascent to …

Marshall leads our discussion of the disorganized and dispersed nature of mid-1930s America First opposition to FDR, the 1936 presidential election, Republican opposition to New Deal reforms and help to Americans during the Great Depression, Nazi Germany's penetration of German-American cultural gr…

Marshall, Blake, and Mike discuss the America First movement in the 1930s, including its relation to racial policies and lynchings. Marshall describes how World War I cast its long shadow over 1930s America and how new America First leaders and organizations arose to lead their followers in opposit…

After a failed attempt at a Swedish accent, Marshall leads our discussion of the America First movement as it related to the 1928 election, the onset of the Great Depression, the Smoot-Hawley tariffs, the Dust Bowl, FDR and the New Deal, the end of Prohibition, and the 1930's decline of the Ku Klux…

Marshall, Blake, and Mike discuss how "America First" supporters influenced – and were influenced by – the Russian Revolution, the 1920 Wall Street bombing, anarchists and the Palmer Raids, the aftermath of World War I, The Great Gatsby, the elections of 1920 and 1924, Prohibition, the growth of ci…

Episode 101: In our premiere episode, Marshall, Blake, and Mike begin a series on the America First movement. Marshall takes us through the movement’s development from the earliest use of the term “America First” in the 1880s, when it advocated the protection of economic and business interests, to …