History

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Most people who boarded the luxury ocean liner didn’t survive the trip. For some, the only thing separating survival and drowning was a split-second decision.

Now, 100 years after the tragedy, a Seattle woman wonders what she would do if she had been in her relative's shoes on the night of the sinking.

You think you know him: red suit, white beard, jolly old elf, etc. But do you why St. Nicholas became the Patron Saint Of Prisoners? David Hyde talks with Adam English, author of "The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus: The True Life And Trials Of Nicholas Of Myra."

Clay Jenkinson assumes both sides in a debate between two of the country's greatest presidents: Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt. Jenkinson is a historian who commonly lectures as different historical figures. He spoke at Seattle's Town Hall on December 1, 2012.

Jon Meacham's new biography of Thomas Jefferson paints the founding father as the most successful political leader of early America, and possibly all of US history. "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power" discusses Jefferson's passion for his nation in the country's fledgling years and reviews the man's genius and his faults.

Meacham spoke at Seattle's Town Hall on November 28, 2012.

In 1917, the glittering elite of Tzarist Russia were crushed, practically overnight, by the Communist revolution. What happened to the nearly two million people who lived at the top of Russian society? Douglas Smith, awarding-winning historian and author, joins us to talk about "Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy."

John Lennon was murdered 30 years ago. We'll look back at how Seattleites mourned the death of the former Beatle in a time before the Internet, social media and cell phones.

What does Baseball history tell us about America? That we’re a nation of scandals and corrupt leadership, of racial prejudice and cold economic calculus. But we’re also a nation of humility and redemption. William Woodward teaches American history at SPU and preaches the gospel of baseball all over Washington state. The narrative he sees  in baseball gives him hope – not just for America, but for the human condition. Professor Woodward gives Ross Reynolds his pitch.

The US military and its allies are drawing up plans to leave Afghanistan by 2014, but it will be some time before the nation is truly independent. Peace in Afghanistan has been interspersed with foreign invasion for centuries, from the Mongol Empire to today’s war. We talk with writer Tamim Ansary about his new book, “Game Without Rules: The Often Interrupted History of Afghanistan,” and what Afghan independence might look like in the future.

The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge that connected Seattle to Mercer Island sank to the bottom of Lake Washington 22 years ago this weekend.

Here in the Evergreen State, there’s something peculiar about bridges and windstorms.  Take the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge back in November 1940. Bad design doomed that span from the start and earned the bridge an appropriate nickname.  “Galloping Gertie” was blown down in a gale just four months after it opened.