Popular Reviews of American History Hit

In the American History Hit podcast episode “The King & FDR: The Birth of a Special Relationship,” host Don Wildman and special guest author Sally Bedell Smith discuss the growth of a personal relationship between the leaders of US and UK and its effect on WWII. For me, the most interesting part of the podcast was learning about the King and Queen’s trip to the US which was the first visit of a reigning monarch in American history. Unlike most history textbooks and videos that only focus foreign policy, this podcast humanizes the people behind the policy. Not only that, but the relationship between the US and UK during World War II are usually framed by the relationship between FDR and Churchill which made it interesting to learn more about FDR and King George VI. The majority of the podcast is in interview format although the host gives a brief background information at the very beginning. Overall, I don’t think the podcast did a good job keeping me interested. The beginning immediately pulls you in with a narration of a scene with sound effets and all. However, as the episode goes on, it begins to feel repetitive and you feel like you already learned everything you need to know. This might be because the topic is too narrow as you can only say so much about one diplomatic trip. Not onlyt that, but the special guest also went on for too long making me believe the content of the podcast could have been said in 15-20 minutes instead of 40. Although I wasn’t engaged and didn’t particularly enjoy this episode, the host Don Wildman spoke clearly and I believe this podcast has potential and would be willing to check out another episode with a broader topic.

Love the format and the exploration of so many aspects of American history. Very well done!

Prior to listening to the podcast I had known that the Manhattan Project was incredibly secret, that even the vice president of the USA had not known about it. "The Atomic Bomb & The Secret City" helped me gain a deeper understanding of just how secretive the Manhattan Project was. What came as new knowledge was that people who were part of the Manhattan Project hadn’t known they were working on building an atomic bomb. It was interesting how General Groves, who was overseeing the Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the time, had everyone on a need-to-know basis. He made sure it was nearly impossible for individuals to access information about what they were contributing to. It was heartbreaking to know that people who wanted to help end the war and prevent death had inadvertently caused more deaths. While listening to the podcast I noticed how it presented itself educationally, both historically and scientifically. This was new to me because I had thought I would only be learning about the history and process of the government during the Manhattan Project. I also gained knowledge of the scientific bomb-building process and government procedures. I was engaged throughout most of the podcast, because of how organized it had been. Don Wildman had subtly summarized the general ideas discussed with Ray Smith to ensure the listeners had a key point of what had been said. Overall I give the listen a ⅘ stars because I had learned so much more than I had known before and was able to understand the scientific aspects, and the before and after effects of the bomb, I enjoyed how I was able to maintain focus and understand what was being said, and learned about forgotten bits of the history behind the atomic bombs that were dropped in Japan.