---

The Allies collectively owed $12 billion to the United States. The UK was the biggest debtor, owing $5 billion. The US was adamant that these debts be paid in full, earning the US the title “Uncle Shylock” in Europe.

In Westminster, the accumulation of multiple domestic and foreign policy crises led to the fall of David Lloyd George’s government and a general election. The new Tory government, led by PM Andrew Bonar Law was faced with the task of attempting to renegotiate the UK’s debts to the US.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Music for the Royal Fireworks
Composed in 1749 by Georg Friederich Händel. Public domain.
Performed by the Leeds Chamber Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

When Prohibition finally arrived, it was a shock to many Americans.

The law was widely flouted. People held cocktail parties in their homes or went out to speakeasies, which ranged from drab basements to upscale nightclubs. For the first time, as many women as men were drinking at bars.

Prohibition was lucrative for the criminal element, most notably Chicago ganster Al Capone, who perpetrated the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre on February 14, 1929.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes”
Composed ca. 1790 by John Wall Callcott. Public domain.

Closing Theme 

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

Human beings have been drinking fermented alcoholic beverages since prehistoric times.

By the 18^th century, potent distilled liquor was cheap and readily available, and white, male North American colonists were among the heaviest drinkers the world had ever seen.

After US independence, religious and civic groups began to campaign for temperance, meaning more moderate use of alcohol. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the push was on for full Prohibition.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor?”
Traditional. Public domain.

Closing Theme 

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

---

Less than four years had passed from the moment that Governor Calvin Coolidge of Massachusetts first won national attention with this tart telegram to AFL chief Samuel Gompers and his taking the oath of office as the 30^th President of the United States.

“Silent Cal,” as he was known, did not have the style of a conventional politician, yet he led a reasonably popular and accomplished administration.

You can listen to “Charisma” from How to Steal an Election on Spotify here.

• Listen now:

• Download.

• Transcript.

---

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“At the Jazz Band Ball”
Composed in 1917 by Nick LaRocca and Larry Shields. Public domain.
Performed by the US Coast Guard Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

---

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.