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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.

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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 

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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.

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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.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes”
Composed ca. 1790 by John Wall Callcott. 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 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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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.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor?”
Traditional. 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 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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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.

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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 

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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.

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Following the Veterans’ Bureau scandals, the Senate investigation into the Teapot Dome drilling leases reveals blatant corruption in the Interior Department.

The Black Sox baseball scandal broke at about the same time. This series of revelations made a generation of young Americans cynical and skeptical of their elders.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“I’m Just Wild About Harry”
Composed in 1921 by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle. 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 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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The Harding Administration got off to a good start, but by early 1923 signs of corruption became hard to ignore.

The President never publicly acknowledged the problem, but he fretted in private. His anxieties may have contributed to his death in August, probably the result of a heart attack.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

Symphony No. 3 in E♭ Major
Composed in 1804 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by The Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Public domain recording. Source.

“Yes! We Have No Bananas”
Composed in 1923 by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn. 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 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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In 1917, the first jazz record, recorded by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, an all-white musical group from New Orleans, played a major role in introducing jazz to white America. It became the first million-selling record in history.

African-American musicians didn’t get record deals back then, but African-American military bands took the sound of jazz to Europe during the war. After the Armistice, jazz swept the world, bringing a number of African-American musicians and singers to prominence, most notably Louis Armstrong.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“Livery Stable Blues”
Composed in 1917 by Ray Lopez and Alcide Nunez. Public domain.
Performed by The Original Dixieland Jass Band. Public domain recording. Thank you, Adam Cuerden. Source.

Rhapsody in Blue
Composed in 1924 by George Gershwin. 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 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Jazz music was born in New Orleans out of a combination of marching band music, spirituals, blues, and ragtime.

Jazz is by its nature improvisational, more a style of performance than of composition. You can’t learn it from sheet music. It might have remained an obscure regional music if not for the invention of the phonograph.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening Theme

“There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”
Composed in 1896 by Theodore August Metz and Joe Hayden. Public domain.

“The Washington Post”
Composed in 1889 by John Philip Sousa. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

“The Stars and Stripes Forever”
Composed in 1896 by John Philip Sousa. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

“The Liberty Bell”
Composed in 1893 by John Philip Sousa. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

“Maple Leaf Rag”
Composed in 1899 by Scott Joplin. Public domain.
Performed by William J. Leslie and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-2.5 license. Source.

“Magnetic Rag”
Composed in 1899 by Scott Joplin. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

“The Entertainer”
Composed in 1902 by Scott Joplin. Public domain.

“Alexander’s Ragtime Band”
Composed in 1910 by Irving Berlin. Public domain.

“Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”
Traditional. Public domain.

“The Memphis Blues”
Composed in 1912 by W.C. Handy. Public domain.
Performed by the Victor Military Band in 1914. Public domain recording. Source.

“The St. Louis Blues”
Composed in 1914 by W.C. Handy. Public domain.

“When the Saints Go Marching In”
Traditional. Public domain.

“The Memphis Blues”
Composed in 1912 by W.C. Handy. 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 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.