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At the turn of the 20th century, a booming cotton trade had made the Gulf Coast city of Galveston, Texas an economic powerhouse. Located just a few feet above sea level on a narrow barrier island, it was prone to flooding. But in a time before sophisticated weather forecasting, residents failed to grasp the danger lurking in their midst. In early September 1900, as a tropical storm gathered strength in the Caribbean Sea, Cuban forecasters warned that a powerful hurricane was charging toward Texas. But in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War, U.S. Weather Bureau officials had banned all weather-related telegrams from Cuba. Soon, the deadliest natural disaster in American history would strike Galveston without warning. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a catastrophic hurricane approached Galveston, Texas on the morning of September 8, 1900, residents continued to go about their daily lives, with little warning of what was to come. Children played in the surf at the beach, and workers clocked in for their shifts downtown. But when the full strength of the storm hit, water from the Gulf of Mexico flooded the streets of the island city, and 100 mile-per-hour winds sent bricks, tree branches, and slate roof tiles flying through the air. Between 6 and 8 o’clock that night, a monster storm surge washed over the island, forcing thousands of men, women, and children into a battle for their lives. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On September 9, 1900, the residents of Galveston, Texas woke up to find their island in ruins. Entire neighborhoods had vanished overnight. Telegraph, telephone, and electrical lines were destroyed, as were the four bridges connecting Galveston to the mainland. Bloodied men, women, and children stumbled through the streets. And thousands of corpses were strewn amongst the wreckage, victims of what remains America’s deadliest natural disaster. As the survivors reckoned with the challenge of rebuilding their lives, Clara Barton, the 78-year-old founder and president of the American Red Cross, rushed to Galveston to aid with relief. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The devastation of the 1900 Galveston hurricane left thousands dead and a city in ruins — but it also set in motion a remarkable story of recovery and reinvention. As survivors buried their dead and relief poured in, city leaders adopted an entirely new form of government to steer the rebuilding effort. In this episode, Lindsay is joined by historian Dr. Patricia Bixel, who shares how Galveston rose from the wreckage — constructing a massive seawall and raising the city's own grade to face whatever the Gulf might bring next. Bixel is the co-author, with Elizabeth Hayes Turner, of Galveston and the 1900 Storm: Catastrophe and Catalyst.

In February 1826, 17-year-old Edgar Allan Poe was a promising student at the University of Virginia. But within a few months, gambling debts forced him to abandon his studies. It was just one of many setbacks Poe endured in a life marked by financial struggle, alcoholism, and personal tragedy. But Poe launched a remarkable career in writing, helping to establish American literature with a bold, new voice. From short stories including “The Fall of the House of Usher,” to the poem that made him famous, “The Raven,” he transformed the horror genre by delving into the dark recesses of the human subconscious and pushing the boundaries of fiction and verse. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1840, eight-year-old Louisa May Alcott moved to the small town of Concord, Massachusetts with her family. There, she spent her days wandering through the woods, putting on plays with her sisters, and learning from famed writers and philosophers such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. For years, Alcott struggled to achieve success as a writer. Then in 1868, she drew inspiration from her youth to write her beloved coming-of-age novel Little Women. ​​By exploring the aspirations and challenges faced by young women, she defied 19th century norms that sought to confine women in both life and literature. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the late 1850s, a young man named Samuel Clemens started out piloting steamboats on the Mississippi River. Within a few years, he embarked on a writing career, adopting the pen name that became famous: Mark Twain. Armed with a wry sense of humor and a natural flair for storytelling, Twain gained wide acclaim for his short stories, travel sketches, and novels. In 1885, he published The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a story of two runaways on a quest for freedom. It would become one of the most celebrated, and controversial, books in American literature. But at the height of his popularity, his risky business ventures and his critiques of American policy abroad threatened to ruin his legacy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Growing up in the Salinas Valley of Northern California, John Steinbeck dreamed of becoming a professional writer. In his youth he took on odd jobs and worked amongst ranch hands and migrant workers, who would inspire some of his greatest work, including The Grapes of Wrath. Published in 1939, the book captured the struggles of everyday Americans during the Great Depression, and Steinbeck became famous for his empathetic portrayal of the working class. Steinbeck would go on to become one of the most decorated authors of the 20th Century, winning the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature, but he was plagued by marital struggles and chronic illness that threatened to cut short his writing career. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Born into poverty in Harlem in 1924, James Baldwin rose to become a celebrated novelist, essayist, playwright, and poet, and a leading voice in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. In his debut novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and in his essay collections, Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time, Baldwin wrote eloquently and provocatively about race, religion, sexuality, politics and class.  To distance himself from the racial hatred and discrimination at home, Baldwin spent much of his adult life in France, helping to create a vibrant community for other Black artists, such as Nina Simone, Miles Davis and Josephine Baker. But he returned to America often to provide a fearless and incisive testimony to the events that defined his tumultuous era. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1949, aspiring writer Nelle Harper Lee moved from her home in small-town Alabama to New York City. She was following in the footsteps of her childhood friend, author Truman Capote. Within a few years she had penned a novel of her own, and called it To Kill a Mockingbird. To Kill a Mockingbird catapulted Harper Lee to the heights of literary fame. But just as she found success, she withdrew, overwhelmed by being in the public eye, and the pressure to produce another book as good as her first. Decades would pass before anyone mentioned the possibility of her publishing again - and this time, people wondered how much of a voice she really had in the publication of her second book. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1920, a young Al Capone arrived in Chicago looking for a fresh start, and his timing couldn’t have been better. That same year, Prohibition outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcohol, turning America’s thirst into a criminal gold rush. Chicago quickly became the epicenter of bootlegging, and Capone was determined to seize the moment and make himself rich beyond imagination. But the city was already crowded with ambitious gangsters chasing the same prize. As rival bootleggers carved up territory, Chicago descended into a violent turf war that would reshape the criminal underworld. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On Valentine’s Day 1929, seven men were gunned down in a Chicago garage in an attack that stunned the nation. Photographs of the bloody scene appeared on front pages across the country, and the public reacted with horror. Even in Chicago—a city hardened by daily gang violence—the message was clear: this was different. City officials were under intense pressure to respond, and suspicion quickly fell on the city’s most powerful gang leader, Al Capone. But proving who ordered the hit would be far more difficult than expected. And as investigators struggled to build their case, the fallout from the massacre would change Chicago—and Capone’s fate—forever. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the aftermath of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, authorities faced mounting pressure to clean up Chicago and take down the violent mobsters who overran the city – most notoriously, Al Capone. The federal government took on the challenge, pursuing Capone relentlessly. In the end, Capone did go down – not for murder, but for tax evasion. And since Capone’s conviction in the 1930s, this unorthodox charge has been used repeatedly to bring down otherwise “ungettable” criminals.  To discuss how the feds finally closed in on Capone, Lindsay speaks with Jonathan Eig, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America’s Most Wanted Gangster. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the summer of 1921, 39-year-old Franklin Delano Roosevelt was on vacation with his family when he developed a fever, muscle aches, and chills. Pain spread to his legs, and soon, he was paralyzed from the waist down. Doctors diagnosed him with polio, which was fast becoming America’s most dreaded infectious disease. Every summer, polio struck without warning, causing swimming pools and movie theaters to close and panicked parents to keep their children indoors. Polio killed thousands of Americans each year and paralyzed many more. But scientists had no idea how to stop it. Roosevelt and his friend and colleague Basil O’Connor resolved to change that, launching the March of Dimes, a revolutionary fundraising campaign that galvanized millions of Americans to donate their time and money to the fight against polio. Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewslette Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

By the late 1940s, the National Institute of Infantile Paralysis had raised millions of dollars to pay for patient care and laboratory research. But polio cases were reaching record levels, and scientists were no closer to a cure. Frustrated by the slow progress, Basil O’Connor resolved to recruit fresh talent to the cause. He soon found what he was looking for in a young and energetic researcher named Jonas Salk. In 1951, Salk began testing a killed virus polio vaccine on monkeys in his Pittsburgh lab. His research soon put him at odds with the leading polio scientist Albert Sabin, who wanted his own live virus vaccine formula to prevail. As their rivalry escalated, Salk prepared to take the risky step of testing his vaccine on human subjects. Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletter Listen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.