America: Study Notes are quickfire explainers for all the things you want to know about the USA, but don't want to ask.

This week, The Rules of American Football - a brief history of the game, and everything you need to know, to understand what the heck is going on!

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Contact us: america@podcastsbyliam.com

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This week, we're talking about the DOJ's release of three million documents relating to Jeffrey Epstein, and Trump's suggestion of nationalising elections.

Plus Sanam Naraghi Anderlini MBE discusses growing tension in the middle east, as the US and Iran inch ever closer to conflict.

All of this and more on another edition of America: A History in the Making.

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Special Guests:

1. Clodagh Harrington from University College Cork. She is also host of the wonderful podcast A Chicken in Every Pot alongside Alex Waddan
2. Sanam Naraghi Anderlini MBE, founder of the International Civil Society Action Network, and host of the excellent podcast If You Were in Charge.

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Mentioned in this Episode:

1. A Chicken in Every Pot: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a-chicken-in-every-pot/id1780348590
2. ICAN: https://icanpeacework.org/
3. If You Were in Charge :https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/if-you-were-in-charge/id1770618616
4. Clintons agree to testify: https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/general/bill-and-hillary-clinton-agree-to-testify-in-house-about-jeffrey-epstein/ar-AA1VwJQU?ocid=BingNewsSerp
5. DOJ releases epstein files: https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/department-justice-publishes-35-million-responsive-pages-compliance-epstein-files
6. Met Police to investigate Peter Mandelson: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/clynp40ekrdt?page=4
7. Josh D’Amaro to Become Disney CEO: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/news/disney-ceo-announcement/
8. Trump wants to nationalise elections: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0mke841zj0o
9. FBI raid Fulton Country election office:

Set in the forests of upstate New York during the French and Indian War, James Fenimore Cooper’s 1826 novel has become one of the most enduring works of early American literature. It helped define the frontier myth, shaped American ideas about Native peoples, and influenced generations of writers, filmmakers, and cultural storytellers.

Today, as we mark its 200th anniversary, we explore its themes, its historical context, and its complicated legacy.

So in this episode, I’m asking… what is The Last of the Mohicans?

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Special guest for this episode:

1. Professor Thomas Ruys Smith, a scholar of American literature and culture at the University of East Anglia. His work spans the 19th century, with particular expertise in the intersections of literature, history, and national identity. He has written extensively on American storytelling traditions, frontier mythology, and the cultural imagination of the early United States.

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Highlights from this episode:

02:09 - Standing the test of time

06:21 - America's newfound sense of self

10:36 - The story of The Last of the Mohicans

15:40 - Romanticising colonisation

21:23 - What the frontier means for America

27:09 - White male heroes

31:29 - Native American representations

35:57 - National identity isn't just black and white

40:32 - A more colourful America

47:05 - I'm freakin' Hawkeye

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Additional Resources:

1. The Last of the Mohicans — Free eBook
2. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/940
3. LitCharts: Themes and Analysis
4. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-last-of-the-mohicans (litcharts.com in Bing)
5. SparkNotes: Summary and Themes
6. https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/mohicans/
7. Novelguide: Theme Analysis
8. https://novelguide.com/the-last-of-the-mohicans/theme-analysis (novelguide.com in Bing)
9. Montclair State University: Theme PDF https://cyber.montclair.edu/Resources/B2F9F/501012/ThemeOfLastOfTheMohicans.pdf (cyber.montclair.edu in Bing)
10. Encyclopedia Britannica: Cooper Biography
11. https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Fenimore-Cooper (britannica.com in Bing)
12. Library of Congress: Cooper Collection
13. https://www.loc.gov/collections/james-fenimore-cooper/about-this-collection/ (loc.gov in Bing)
14. American Literature: Cooper Overview