Andrew Jackson: He came, he saw, he evicted everyone. This week, we’re roasting Old Hickory for his actual legacy—evicting Native Americans at bayonet point, ghosting the Supreme Court, and calling it “benevolence” like he’s history’s worst PR intern.
We’re spilling the messy receipts: the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, “treaties” signed by randos with zero authority, Florida invasions that Spain did not RSVP to, and the years-long Trail of Tears—because why ruin one year when you can ruin eight?
Need a palate cleanser after this political crime spree? Watch Eric’s TED Talk on the Aunt Sally effect—aka, why knowing actual humans might keep you from being a historical villain: Eric Mason – The Aunt Sally Effect (TEDx)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmOCPPPNUVg&t=263s
Today’s drama? Andrew Jackson—yes, him again—decides to leave office by nuking the economy on his way out like it’s a frat house party and the cops just pulled up.
He kills the national bank, bans paper money for land (because chaos is his love language), and tosses federal funds to shady “pet banks.” Then he hands the smoking wreckage to Martin Van Buren—who stares at it like a golden retriever left alone with a dishwasher manual.
Result? Bank runs, cotton crashes, and a depression so deep it makes 2008 look like a minor inconvenience. Oh, and 40% of the banks? Gone. Just… poof.
In this episode, we ask the important questions:
Was this financial collapse a policy decision or just Jackson being Jackson?
Why did Van Buren show up to a five-alarm fire with a damp napkin?
And did anyone actually learn anything from this? (Spoiler: eventually… maybe.)
Also, shout out to the Bank of England for panic-raising rates and absolutely wrecking our vibes.
Democracy Not Found, Please reinstall Constitution
Get ready to scream into a $20 bill, because this episode is a full-on historical meltdown starring Andrew Jackson—populist hero, professional grudge-holder, and economic arsonist.
Kyle and Eric are back with The Buck Starts Here, the show that digs deep into the wildest moments of presidential history with no chill, no reverence, and no mercy. And hoo boy, Old Hickory gives us a lot to work with.
This episode serves up:
A White House party so rowdy they may have bribed people to leave with booze
The Spoils System: hiring your drinking buddies and calling it reform
Jackson’s ultimate petty flex—the Maysville Road veto (Clay, meet salt)
The Indian Removal Act and the brutal forced migrations that followed
How he wrecked the economy and proudly called it a “gift to future generations”
And the kicker: how his policies laid the foundation for the Civil War
Plus, yes, that time he beat an armed assassin with a cane at age 67. Iconic? Deranged? Both.
This isn’t just presidential history—it’s a political reality show set in 1830s D.C., starring a man who saw checks and balances and said, “Nah, I’ve got this.” And somehow? He still got re-elected. Make it make sense.
He called himself the "people’s president," but let’s be honest—Andrew Jackson was more like that one friend who flips the Monopoly board, drinks all your whiskey, and still insists he’s “just keeping it real.”
Kyle and Eric are back with the second part of this wild ride through Jackson’s presidency—aka the origin story of American chaos, executive ego, and bare-knuckle politics.
Party in the White House? Hell yeah. Constitutional guardrails? Eh, optional. Checks and balances? Cute idea.
What’s inside this hot mess of history:
Populism with a vengeance—Jackson didn’t speak for the people, he roared for them
How the “outsider” candidate rode rage and rural vibes all the way to the White House
When "will of the people" turns into "my way or GTFO"
And the birth of political branding—Jackson edition: strong opinions, weaker morals
This wasn’t leading the people—it was fueling them, lighting a populist fire that still burns today.
We thought we were here to cancel Andrew Jackson. Instead… we kinda wanted to buy him a drink and ask how the hell he survived.
Before he was wrecking political norms and starting wars on a Tuesday, Jackson was just a dirt-poor, slash-faced, vengeance-fueled teenager out in the Carolina backwoods with nothing but bad vibes and Revolutionary trauma. Orphaned by 14, dueling by 20, and casually writing state constitutions by 29—this guy didn’t pull himself up by his bootstraps, he drop-kicked his way to the top.
Kyle and Eric unpack how a kid with zero privilege and 100% spite became a war hero, courtroom thug, emotional landmine, and the human embodiment of “try me.”
Is he a walking red flag? Absolutely.
Are we kinda impressed anyway? ...Also yes.
The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls
Advertising has had a major effect on how we view our bodies and on our individual self-image. The history of how this advertising has come to affect American girls as they pass through menarche and adolescence is presented in a book called “The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls.” This book describes the historical roots of acute societal and psychological pressures that girls feel today. It shows how the female adolescent experience has changed since 1895. The author, Joan Jacobs Brumberg, is a Professor of History and Women’s Studies at Cornell University in New York. In this two-part program, I spoke Professor Brumberg in October of 1997 and asked her what drew her to write “The Body Project.”
Joan Jacobs Brumberg recommends “Learning to Bow,” by Bruce Feiler & “The Grass Link,” by May Vinchi.
Originally Broadcast: October 21, 1997
A weekly 30 minute review of international news and opinion, recorded from a shortwave radio and the internet. With times, frequencies, and websites for listening at home. 3 files- Highest quality broadcast, regular broadcast, and slow-modem streaming. Germany, France 24, Cuba, and Japan.
Fall back no more! Celt In A Twist celebrates permanent Daylight Saving with an hour of Celtivity you can enjoy anytime, or 9pm Tuesdays on CHKG FM 96.1 in Vancouver. More fresh tracks from The Ollam, a transatlantic supergroup featuring John McSherry, Joe Dart and other monster musicians (April 26th at The Pearl on Granville). You got yer Celt In A Twist with Patricia Fraser!
It's the world in harmony. Take an hour and soak in the sounds of solidarity from across the planet: more from the acclaimed Altin Gun, Canada's own Afrotronix and Joao Leao's Celestial, crazed cumbia from MIS + Meridian Brothers and a poignant SOS from Galicia. Keeping time with the beat of the world, it's World Beat Canada!
This week’s Lost in the Static opens with a new take on a cornerstone
of UK punk, as The Dandy Warhols preview their upcoming covers
collection Pin Ups with their version of The Damned’s “Love Song"
The first hour moves between Madrid’s Automatic Lovers, Amsterdam
label Wap Shoo Wap Records and its roster, New York newcomers Bonny,
and Australia’s Public Figures, alongside staples and deep cuts from
Otoboke Beaver, The Breeders, Clutch, Fu Manchu, Ultrabomb, Royal
Coda, and The Muffs.
Hour two centers on a one-year remembrance of David Johansen with New
York Dolls and solo material, then shifts into a mix of current bands
and canon touchstones including Taste Testors, The Stitches, Richard
Hell and the Voidoids, The Clash, Nomeansno, Black Lips, Social
Distortion, Bad Religion, and more.
We look at a dated yet fun children's album from the 50s by an artist known today for being the aunt of a well known actor. The honky tonks remind us of happy singalongs of yesteryear...and the celebrity slip up has a man that had a catchy catch phrase in the 80s. I pity the fool who doesn't figure that one out.
We'll hear a funky take on Beethoven by Joe Thomas, dig into some Clabber Biscuits with George Benson, and we'll hear both a Curtis Mayfield cover by The Dynamics and a Curtis original.
We'll hear a funky take on Beethoven by Joe Thomas, dig into some Clabber Biscuits with George Benson, and we'll hear both a Curtis Mayfield cover by The Dynamics and a Curtis original.
In This Episode
First Half:
In the first half of the episode, we discuss the purported justification for sweeping changes to U.S. elections using data from right-wing think-tanks. We also discuss a viral video of a Black woman being profiled by police as a crack dealer when she was handing a cup of coffee to her child.
Second Half:
In the second half of the show we discuss how religion has begun to infiltrate the command structure of our military and the implications thereof. Finally, we discuss how the NFL is a socialist enterprise.
CORRECTION: Looming Threat of Nuclear Weapons, AI and Climate Crisis Move Doomsday Clock Closer to Midnight; Trump-Aligned Oligarchs Media Mergers Transforming Outlets into MAGA Propaganda Platforms; Yale Architecture Students Design and Build New Rent-Free Homes for Early Childhood Educators
Goffman has produced one of the most remarkable books on what's happening to Black people in the US, On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City. She spent 6 years living in an African American neighborhood in Philadelphia, with people trapped in a web of high-tech surveillance, police violence, and mass incarceration. Bob Avakian on the conditions facing Black People today, how they developed, what's behind them and what's the solution.
