History Fix

In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day this Monday, January 19th, I'm delving into the story behind this remarkable man. How does a Black man born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929, a man whose grandparents were sharecroppers in a post slavery American South, a man subjected to Jim Crow laws that intentionally sought to hold him down, rise to such great heights as to become the only single American with his own dedicated national holiday? Let's fix that. 
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Sources: 
NPR "I Have a Dream Speech"
History.com "Martin Luther King Jr. "
NAACP "Martin Luther King Jr."
History.com "Jim Crow Laws"
The King Center "About Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."
Forbes "How Martin Luther King Jr. Improvised 'I Have a Dream'"
Wikipedia "Martin Luther King Jr."
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In this episode I finally explore a topic I've wondered about for a long time: circumcision. How did an ancient punishment for prisoners turned religious ritual become a medical procedure carried out by over 80% of Americans? What triggered doctors to start recommending circumcision for all newborn boys starting in the late 1800s and why doesn't the rest of the world do it too? What about the ethical implications of performing a body altering procedure on someone without their consent? Is there really a good reason to do it? Or does a 5.4 billion dollar a year industry come into play? Let's fix that. 
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Sources:
UNAIDS "Male Circumcision: context, criteria, and culture"
Journal of Pediatric Surgery "The evolutionary saga of circumcision from a religious perspective"
Advanced Urological Care "Circumcision Revisited: An Historical Perspective"
National Library of Medicine "Male genital representation in paleolithic art: erection and circumcision before history"
Research Gate "High Cost of Circumcision"
Wikipedia "Circumcision"
Wikipedia "Prevalence of Circumcision"
Johns Hopkins Medicine "Johns Hopkins Study: Newborn Male Circumcision Rates In US Dropped Between 2012 and 2022"
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Consider this the third and final installment of my war with Japan triptych. In this episode, we'll discuss the top secret "Manhattan Project" led by physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer that led to the development of the first atomic bomb. We'll uncover the motives behind creating such a dangerous weapon and for using it on two cities in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading to civilian casualties of up to 300,000 people. We'll also consider the question, what now? What does this mean for us today and for future generations going forward? 
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Sources: 
“Duck and Cover” video
National WWII Museum “‘Destroyer of Worlds:’ The Making of an Atomic Bomb”
National Archives “The Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki”
History.com “Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki”
History Extra “Before the atomic bombs…”
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Join me January 28th at 6 pm at College of the Albemarle in Manteo, North Carolina for the first ever History Fix live show! 
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I had planned to take this week and next off but I can't leave y'all hanging without your fix on Christmas! This week I'm bringing you a special mini fix episode about the Christmas Truce of 1914. This remarkable ceasefire that happened spontaneously all along the Western Front during the first winter of World War I has shocked and inspired the masses ever since. But despite tons of eyewitness accounts and tangible evidence like letters, autographs, and photos, there are many who refuse to believe that the Christmas Truce ever happened. So, what do you think? Is this actual history or merely a myth? 
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Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)
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Venmo @Shea-LaFountaine
Sources: 
Imperial War Museums video "How Did the Christmas Truce Happen?"
Imperial War Museums "The Real Story of the Christmas Truce" 
History.com "The Christmas Truce"
Institute for Economics and Peace "The Christmas Truce"
"Western Front Companion" by Mark Adkin
Forces War Records by Ancestry "The True Story of the 'Christmas Truce'"
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Join me January 28th at 6 pm at College of the Albemarle in Manteo, North Carolina for the first ever History Fix live show! 
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