First America
First America
Native people have been written out of the American story, but without us you don’t know what happened. This summer the United States will celebrate the 250-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. When you read the Declaration, you realize it is a list of complaints. The last entry, the climax in our founders’ reasons for rebellion against the Crown, is this: “He has ex…Social links:
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The Origin of American Authoritarianism | Episode 6
We’ve all been told our founders created a democracy. Rebecca talks with Maggie Blackhawk (Ojibwe) about why that's only half the story. Because our founders also wanted an empire. And so, they built both: a democracy that gave its citizens a voice and a vote; and an empire that controlled the live…
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Land, Not Liberty | Episode 5
Did you know that foreclosure was invented as a way to take Native land? Free, Indigenous land once built the American dream. But the mechanisms our government used to take it are now robbing everybody. With the help of Nick Estes (Lakota), Michael Blaakman and K-Sue Park, Rebecca tells the story o…
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Military Might | Episode 4
After America won the Revolutionary War, the Continental Army was disbanded. After the abuses of British soldiers, the founding fathers didn’t want a big standing army. That small, disorganized military then went off to fight Indigenous nations and lost. Rebecca talks with George Ironstack (Myaamia…
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It Happened Here | Episode 3
The American Revolution wasn’t just a fight for liberty. It was also a sprawling conflict with Indigenous nations over who would control the continent of North America. And to stake out their claim, the United States was willing to commit genocide. Rebecca talks to Maggie Blackhawk (Ojibwe) about h…
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Playing Indian | Episode 2
Did you know that when colonists threw tea into the Boston Harbor they dressed up like Native Americans? Rebecca goes to Boston with historian Phil Deloria (Dakota descent) to try and understand Americans’ obsession with playing Indian. In the early republic, pretending to be Indian symbolized free…
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Welcome to First America
Welcome to First America: the true story of how the United States came to be, and how our current political moment is 250 years in the making. Dropping June 22nd, with early episode releases for Pushkin+ subscribers.
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Merciless Indian Savages | Episode 1
We’ve all been told the American Revolution was fought over taxation and representation. But that's not what the Declaration of Independence says. According to our founders, in their own words, what they were most upset about was Native Americans. How did we all miss that? Rebecca sits down with hi…
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This Land is Now First America
The This Land team is back with a new show! Stay tuned for First America, the true story of how the United States came to be, and how our current political moment is 250 years in the making. Dropping June 22nd, with early episode releases for Pushkin+ subscribers.
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Introducing Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
The police tell us they are here to protect us. But what if their original purpose was something else altogether? Peabody Award-winning host Chenjerai Kumanyika takes listeners on a journey to uncover the hidden history of the largest police force in the world – from its roots in slavery, to rival …
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Introducing: BY THE FIRE WE CARRY (audiobook)
BY THE FIRE WE CARRY, the new book by Rebecca Nagle, is a powerful work of reportage and American history that braids the story of the forced removal of Native Americans onto treaty lands in the nation’s earliest days, and a small-town murder in the 1990s that led to a Supreme Court ruling reaffirm…
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