The Real Midnight Ride

The Real Midnight Ride

He never finished the ride. And it didn't matter. Everyone knows the poem — the lone rider, the lantern, the gallop through the night. The truth is messier, braver, and a lot more moving. On our Road to 250, we go back to April 18th, 1775, and walk through what actually happened: the muffled oars crossing enemy water, the riders who finished what Paul Revere couldn't, and the names history almost let us forget. Based on Kostya Kennedy's The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America. Part two of our series leading up to July 4th, 2026. Next time: the men who built a government out of an argument. Keep hitting history.

Bloody Footprints: How Valley Forge Saved a Revolution

The Declaration was signed in July. This is what almost killed it in December. As we count down to America's 250th anniversary, we open the road to independence not with fireworks, but with frostbite. In the winter of 1777–78, George Washington's Continental Army stumbled into a Pennsylvania valley starving, freezing, and barely an army at all. Six months later, they marched out transformed. This episode digs into Bob Drury and Tom Clavin's Valley Forge to ask what it really took to keep the Revolution alive when quitting would have been so much easier than staying. Part one of our weekly series leading up to July 4th, 2026. Next week: Paul Revere's ride. Keep hitting history.

The President Will See You Now: A Story of Loyalty, Love, and Letting Go

What happens to a president after the power is gone? For Ronald Reagan, the answer is one of the most poignant stories in American history. In this episode of Bahr's History Hits, we explore The President Will See You Now by Peggy Grande — the intimate account of a young staffer who worked alongside Reagan through his post-presidential years and witnessed firsthand his long battle with Alzheimer's disease. This one isn't about politics. It's about loyalty, dignity, and what it means to stay by someone's side when the world has moved on. Reagan letter https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/reagans/ronald-reagan/reagans-letter-announcing-his-alzheimers-diagnosis

The General's Dog: A Special Episode

Special episode alert! My 8-year-old son Steven is taking over Bahr's History Hits — and he's brought his favorite book with him. George Washington and the General's Dog tells the remarkable true story of a small act of kindness in the middle of a very big war. Steven gives us his expert review, rates the book, and drops some genuine wisdom. Fair warning: he might be a better co-host than me.

Beyond the Oval Office: The Secret World of Former Presidents

Only a handful of people have ever held the most powerful job in the world—and that shared experience bonds them in ways nothing else can. Today we're pulling back the curtain on the Presidents Club: the relationships, rivalries, and behind-the-scenes partnerships that former presidents have formed across party lines and across history. From Nixon's rehabilitation to the Bush-Clinton bromance, this is the side of the presidency the history books rarely tell. Based on The Presidents Club by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy.