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Animated drawings, in the forms of flip books and zoetropes, were already familiar to Westerners in the late 19th century.

The introduction of silent motion pictures made possible silent animated films, but the large number of individual drawings needed to make even a short animated film was daunting. In the early years of the medium, its pioneers focused on methods for streamlining the process and reducing the artistic labor required.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Medley of music by Johann Strauss, Jr.
Public domain.
Performed by The United States Air Force Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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When Adolf Hitler first became chancellor, German foreign policy didn’t change much for the first two years, as Hitler was focused on securing his domestic political position.

This began to change in 1935, when Germany publicly acknowledged that it was rebuilding its army and air forces beyond the levels permitted in the Treaty of Versailles. Germany withdrew from the World Disarmament Conference and the League of Nations, and in spring of 1936, moved German soldiers into the Rhineland.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Fantasie” from Siegfried
Composed in 1871 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Adolf Hitler spent the first year and a half of his chancellorship increasing and consolidating his power.

In the summer of 1934, he unleashed the “Night of the Long Knives” campaign of murders of people he deemed a threat to his rule. Most of them were his own supporters, including conservative allies and the leadership of the SA “brownshirts.”

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Funeral March” from Siegfried
Composed in 1871 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Even before Adolf Hitler became chancellor, it was an open secret that Germany was violating the limits on its military set by the Treaty of Versailles. After Hitler became chancellor, Germany began a massive rearmament campaign.

These developments concerned the French and the British. The French began building the Maginot Line and the British beefed up the RAF, although it was widely believed at the time that it would be virtually impossible to defend against a bomber attack.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Pomp and Circumstance No. 4
Composed in 1907 by Edward Elgar. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Army Band. Public domain recording. Source.

“Le Chant du Départ”
Composed in 1794 by Étienne M. Méhul and Marie-Joseph Chénier. Public domain.
Performed by Wikipedia user AverynNqdieve, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 License. Source.

Closing Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Apart from the New Deal programs meant to put people to work and get the economy moving, the Roosevelt Administration also moved to restore confidence in banking and in the stock market.

And even after the banks reopened, they still weren’t selling gold for dollars. Was the US still on the gold standard? No, as it turns out, and in fact Americans will be barred from owning gold until 1974.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Blues for Mundy“
Composed by Rick Whitehead. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Air Force Band Airmen of Note. Public domain recording. Source.

“A Bird in a Gilded Cage“
Composed by Arthur J. Lamb and Harry Von Tilzer. Public domain.

Closing Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Once Roosevelt was sworn in, he and his Cabinet set to work to end the US banking crisis. A week later, the crisis was over.

Roosevelt took advantage of the swell of public support and goodwill his successful management of the banking crisis had earned him to forge ahead with Federal job and relief programs to alleviate the suffering caused by the Great Depression.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Panama“
Composed in 1912 by William Henry Tyers. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Air Force Heritage of America Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Franklin Roosevelt was elected President on November 8, 1932, but owing to the United States’ unusually long transition period, he would not be sworn into office until March 4, 1933, a transition period of 116 days.

Typically, US Presidential transitions are slow but dignified affairs. But in this case, the US faced a new banking crisis worsening by the day, while lame duck President Hoover did everything in his power to dissuade the President-elect from proceeding with the program he had promised during the campaign.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Smooth as Silk

“Hail to the Chief”
Composed in 1812 by James Sanderson. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Navy Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Almost as soon as he had been elected Governor of New York, Franklin Roosevelt was regarded as the favorite for the 1932 Democratic Presidential nomination.

The US economic situation continued to worsen throughout 1932, even as some of the other major economies were beginning to improve. When the US Army attacked protesting veterans in Washington, a change in administration became all but inevitable.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“The Star-Spangled Banner“
Composed in 1814 by Francis Scott Key, music by John Stafford Smith. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Navy Band. Public domain recording. Source.

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

“Down by the Riverside” 
Traditional. Public domain.

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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In 1921, Franklin Roosevelt had already served as a state senator in New York, as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and been the 1920 Democratic candidate for Vice President, a pretty good résumé for someone who was not yet forty years old.

But that summer, Roosevelt contracted polio and lost the use of his legs. Most people would have said his career was over. But he—and his wife Eleanor—thought otherwise.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Clarinet Marmalade
Composed in 1918 by Larry Shields and Henry Ragas. Public domain.
Performed by the Dixie Players of the United States Air Force Heritage of America Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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The neutron, first hypothesized by Ernest Rutherford in 1921, was proved to exist in 1932. That same year, the positron was proved to exist, and nuclear fission, or “splitting the atom” was accomplished for the first time.

These discoveries gave atomic physicists new tools with which to probe further the structure and properties of the atom, leading refugee physicist Leo Szilard, in London, to have an uncomfortable thought.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Two-Part Invention No. 8 in F major
Composed c.1723 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Public domain.

Closing Theme 

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.