Bill Humphrey
Arsenal for DemocracyEpisodes
Episodes of Arsenal for Democracy
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Oct 15, 2023: After a dozen years, this show is ending. But it’s for some very cool and exciting reasons described herein, and we would love to hear from our loyal listeners as we bid this project farewell and move on to new things.The post Up
Unlocked from our Patreon (paused this summer): Bill and Rachel discuss Louis F. Post, an early Assistant US Labor Secretary with some radical leanings, who ended up blocking thousands of post-WWI deportations. Links and notes for ep. 379 (PDF)
Unlocked from our Patreon (paused this summer): Bill and Rachel discuss the present-day influences of the momentous 1920 US Census, which grappled with trends in urbanization and the recent breakup of several major home countries of immigrants.
Unlocked from our Patreon (on pause this summer): Bill and Rachel take a look at the Alien Registration (Smith) Act of 1940, still on the books today, which prohibits advocating the violent overthrow of the US government. Links and notes for ep
Unlocked from our Patreon (on pause this summer): Bill and Rachel discuss the failed IWW strike at the Port of Los Angeles in 1923, including Upton Sinclair getting arrested and the Klan menacing strikers. Links and notes for ep. 361 (PDF): htt
Unlocked from our Patreon (on pause this summer): Bill and Rachel discuss dropped ceilings and the rise and fall of the mid-century office. It’s an area that could probably use some academic study. Links and notes for ep. 355 (PDF): http://arse
A mini-episode from Bill and Rachel on how a major defense contract led to the iconic KitchenAid stand mixer, followed by some announcements about the podcast for the summer months ahead. Links and notes for ep. 471 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemo
150 years ago, in May 1873, work began on developing the breakthrough design for mass-produced barbed wire, with wide-ranging (pun intended) implications for agriculture, society, and warfare. Links and notes for ep. 470 (PDF): http://arsenalfo
After a quick chat about the ongoing 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, we look back at a few of the noteworthy strikes in Hollywood of years past. (Bill and Rachel) Links and notes for ep. 469 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-conten
This week we are talking about the field of home economics or domestic science. Was it really a science? To what extent was it a marketing exercise? Can it ever really overcome its founding racist and classist overtones? Does home economics eve
The non-profit Council on Books in Wartime (from US publishers) during World War II single-handedly made a bunch of books like The Great Gatsby into major American texts by providing specialized paperback copies free to the troops. (Bill and Ra
From 1934 to 1936, the US Senate’s Nye Committee examined the role of the private defense industry (and capitalism more broadly) in fomenting global conflict and dragging the US into WWI. (Bill and Rachel) Links and notes for ep. 466 (PDF): htt
The recent failure of Silicon Valley Bank and federal intervention to protect its previously uninsured accounts has brought renewed focus to Federal Deposit Insurance. Contrary to popular belief, it was not part of the New Deal and was not cham
The failed anthracite coal mine workers strike of 1887-88 in eastern Pennsylvania illustrates some of the fault lines and contradictions within capitalism and highlight some of the ways our 21st century economy is devolving back toward older pa
Unlocked from our Patreon: Have you ever wondered what the absolute peak example of neoliberal policy is? Bill and Rachel submit to you that it might be the tradable Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) in effect since 1986. Links and notes fo
Unlocked from our Patreon: Bill and Rachel discuss the Red Ark (or Soviet Ark) deportations of Russian-born American anarchists in 1919. (Don’t miss our two part series from 2019 on American anarchist history!) Links and notes for ep. 377 (PDF)
At the start of the 20th century, eccentric inventor and utopian theorist King C. Gillette developed the disposable blade for safety razors, launching one of the most influential, trend-setting American corporations of all time, for good or ill
150 years ago last week, on March 3rd, 1873, the Comstock Laws on obscenity, including birth control and abortion supplies or information, became part of the US Criminal Code. (Bill and Rachel.) Links and notes for ep. 462 (PDF): http://arsenal
In 1972, some employees made a leveraged buyout of the Chicago and North Western Railway and re-branded it as “Employee-Owned.” The reality was much more complicated and reveals a lot about railroading and American capitalism generally in the 1
A quick look at the evolution of car starter and ignition technology, from hand-crank disasters to viral video car theft trends. (Bill and Rachel.) Links and notes for ep. 460 (PDF): http://arsenalfordemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/AFD
186 years ago, with the US economy starting to melt down, New Yorkers rioted against alleged grain and flour hoarding. But discontent was much more widespread, as Locofocos and armed “Patriot” paramilitaries soon made clear. Bill and Rachel. Li
In 1857, Waltham, Massachusetts jumped from the First to the Second Industrial Revolution by becoming the global home of the mass-produced pocketwatch, capitalizing on the railroad industry and then the American Civil War. Links and notes for e
How some of the most powerful, wealthy political players in antebellum Massachusetts went from controlling state politics completely to hopelessly funding the Constitutional Union Party in 1860. [Continued from parts I and II] Theme music by St
As an early group of 19th century Boston investors became even richer with less effort, via textile production, and as society became more alienated, they turned from charity to philanthropy to protect their power (and to have something to do).
In the 1810s, a close-knit group of rich investors based in Boston decided to adopt and adapt emerging industrial capitalism, via the textile industry, in a way that would preserve and grow their existing wealth and power. The Waltham-Lowell Sy
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