Podcasts

I had a great conversation with Martin Di Caro on the History As It Happens podcast. We talked about why Donald Trump hasn't been successful with any of his annexation ideas, the three phases of American annexation, and when the country transitioned from adding states to adding territories. 

Before the Civil War, thousands of Southern men joined a secret society complete with castles, passwords, elaborate oaths, medieval costumes, and dreams of conquest. They called themselves the Knights of the Golden Circle, and beneath all the pageantry was a serious ambition: expand slavery by building a vast new empire across Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Listen to my third episode of Our American Stories. 

In the 1850s, William Walker had an extraordinary idea: Why not conquer a country of his own? The Tennessee-born doctor, lawyer, and journalist gathered a small army of Americans, invaded Mexico, and declared himself ruler of a new republic. When that collapsed, he tried again. This time, he set his sights on Nicaragua. Listen to my second episode of Our American Stories.

When President Donald Trump floated the idea of buying Greenland in 2019, many Americans thought the proposal came out of nowhere. In reality, the United States had been eyeing the Arctic island for more than 150 years. We especially wanted it after Denmark fell into Nazi hands. Listen to my first episode of Our American Stories.

Jen Gerson interviewed me on The Line podcast. We discussed the history of American attempts to annex Canada, as well as some other expansion attempts around the world, including those involving El Salvador, Ecuador, and Japan. 

It was "a fascinating conversation about ambition, empire, national identity, and the often-overlooked constraints on American power."

Scott Rank interviewed me on the History Unplugged podcast. We discussed El Salvador's request to join the Union, a scheme to acquire Kamchatka, Syria’s fate after World War I, what makes for a good future U.S. state, and much more.