History As It Happens

This is a special episode of History As It Happens.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham is dead. His office says Graham died from "a brief and sudden illness" on Saturday night in Washington. He was 71.
Graham was first elected to the U.S. House in 1994 and the Senate in 2002. He was seeking a fifth term in the midterm elections this November. After first condemning Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, the conservative Republican turned into one of Trump's most shamelessly fawning supporters.
In this episode, University of Texas at Austin historian Jeremi Suri examines Graham's extensive legislative and political legacy. Jeremi Suri writes the Democracy of Hope newsletter on Substack. 
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The discourse is drowning in -isms. President Trump is railing against an imaginary resurgence of communism. Many of its critics say the Trump administration is putting the country on the road to fascism. Others are trying to define something called Trumpism.
In this episode, historian Roger Griffin, one of the world's foremost experts on fascism and ideological movements, explains how these ideas developed over time through the prism of his own career.
Recommended reading:
The Nature of Fascism by Roger Griffin
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When the Trump administration attacked Iran in late February, some war backers dreamt that the Iranian people would rise en masse and take control of their country. It proved to be a dangerous fantasy. But then the history of U.S.-Iran relations is full of cruel ironies. More than 70 years ago, a democrat and nationalist named Mohammad Mossadegh galvanized the Iranian people and tried to liberate his country from foreign domination, only to be betrayed by the United States. Historian Roham Alvandi is our guest.
Further listening:
Operation Ajax (podcast w/ Gregory Brew)
Recommended reading:
Patriot of Persia by Christopher de Bellaigue
America and Iran by John Ghazvinian

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This is the eighth episode in a series marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, America's semiquincentennial.
By the time the delegates at the Continental Congress formally declared independence in July 1776, the armed rebellion had been underway for more than a year. General George Washington had been in the field since the summer of '75. The men of the Continental Army saw little glory throughout a bloody, prolonged conflict during which they were often half-naked and hungry. More men died from disease than from enemy bullets. In this episode, historian Alan Taylor tells us what it was like to be a soldier fighting the British and fellow Americans who stayed loyal to the crown.
Recommended reading:
American Revolutions, A Continental History, 1750-1804 by Alan Taylor
Further listening (America250 series):
Episode 1 w/ Lindsay Chervinsky
Episode 2 w/ Kate Carté
Episode 3 w/ Alan Taylor
Episode 4 w/ Lindsay Chervinsky
Episode 5 w/ Jim Oakes
Episode 6 w/ Sean Wilentz
Episode 7 w/ H.W. Brands

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Enjoy this special episode of History As It Happens! On June 26, podcast host Martin Di Caro attended a screening of "Young Washington" at Mount Vernon in Virginia. The new film tells the story of George Washington's formative years as an officer in the Virginia militia at the outbreak of the French & Indian War (1754-1763).
"Young Washington" was directed by Jon Erwin and is a collaboration between Wonder Project and Angel, the film's distributor. In this episode, Martin interviews William Franklyn-Miller, the actor who plays Washington; Doug Bradburn, the president and CEO of Mount Vernon; and others involved with the film's production and educational campaign.