The Great Depression Fire Part 4. - Episode 68

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The time has come! We thought we'd never get there, but Kara's PhD scholarly review of the Great Depression comes to its climactic end in this episode. This is quite possibly Kara's most ambitious episode yet and this doesn't even include all the extra stuff you can find on at thedaysdumpsterfire.com!

In Part 1. Kara dove into the causes of the Great Depression and dispelled some myths such as the "Crash of 29" was solely responsible for the entire economic collapse of the country.

In Part 2. Kara looked into what Herbert Hoover tried to do to correct things in American and how it ultimately was too little, too late. This led to Franklin Delano Roosevelt winning the 1932 election by a landslide.

In Part 3. Kara discusses Roosevelt's strategy in which the federal government would invest hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy to get people working again and banks up and running. In this episode, you'll be introduced to the "alphabet soup" in which a multitude of three-lettered government agencies sprung up across the country intending to right the ship and get America back on track economically. While the government funneling money into the economy may have been met with a sigh of relief to some. Many other workers were growing frustrated by low wages, long hours, and dangerous work, fueled by corporate greed and apathy. As a result, strikes formed coast to coast, and even though unemployment was rampant, so were the number of angry workers who were fed up being taken advantage of.

Lastly, in Part 4. Kara analyzes Roosevelt's second New Deal program that focused heavily on recovering the arts such as movie making and writing. This new New Deal brought in a number of lawsuits from dissenters (such as Roosevelt's own Vice President!!!) and eventually the supreme court had to get involved. Roosevelt didn't just stop there, he used the unemployed to build hospitals, schools, bridges, dams, hundreds of miles of roads, and airfields. However, this came at a cost as the fledgling "communist scare" tried its best to undermine Roosevelt's plan of recovery. Lastly, Kara sheds light on how the Great Depressions wasn't just an America only ordeal. The rest of the world was struggling in various degrees and this laid the canvas for which World War II would be painted on.

Some other episodes mentioned that you will find interesting:

Episode 13. Hindenburg

Episodes 59-62. Prohibition

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