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First America
30 episodes
The Origin of American Authoritarianism | Episode 6
Ep 6 · Jul 27, 2026 · 47 min
We’ve all been told our founders created a democracy. Rebecca talks with Maggie Blackhawk (Ojibwe) about why that's only half the story. Because our founders also wanted an empire. And so, they built both: a democracy that gave its citizens a voice and a vote; and an empire that controlled the lives and lands of people who had no say. That playbook never went away. Today, when our government wants to annex Greenland, deny citizenship to people born here, or put migrants in detention camps,…
Land, Not Liberty | Episode 5
Ep 5 · Jul 20, 2026 · 34 min
Did you know that foreclosure was invented as a way to take Native land? Free, Indigenous land once built the American dream. But the mechanisms our government used to take it are now robbing everybody. With the help of Nick Estes (Lakota), Michael Blaakman and K-Sue Park, Rebecca tells the story of how our founding fathers used Indigenous land to bail out the early republic. And how their decisions planted the seeds for our current housing crisis. Resources: - Speculation Nation by Michael Blaa…
Military Might | Episode 4
Ep 4 · Jul 13, 2026 · 46 min
After America won the Revolutionary War, the Continental Army was disbanded. After the abuses of British soldiers, the founding fathers didn’t want a big standing army. That small, disorganized military then went off to fight Indigenous nations and lost. Rebecca talks with George Ironstack (Myaamia) about how a 15-year war with the Myaamia Nation forever changed both countries. In the United States, it is why we have a standing army, why it is so big, why the president can fight undeclared…
It Happened Here | Episode 3
Ep 3 · Jul 6, 2026 · 41 min
The American Revolution wasn’t just a fight for liberty. It was also a sprawling conflict with Indigenous nations over who would control the continent of North America. And to stake out their claim, the United States was willing to commit genocide. Rebecca talks to Maggie Blackhawk (Ojibwe) about how our country’s early treatment of Native Americans is the root of authoritarianism in the United States. Resources: - Jeffrey Ostler, "“To Extirpate the Indians”: An Indigenou…
Playing Indian | Episode 2
Ep 2 · Jun 29, 2026 · 44 min
Did you know that when colonists threw tea into the Boston Harbor they dressed up like Native Americans? Rebecca goes to Boston with historian Phil Deloria (Dakota descent) to try and understand Americans’ obsession with playing Indian. In the early republic, pretending to be Indian symbolized freedom and helped the colonists form a new, national identity. From boyscouts, to new agers, to sports fans, the American tradition of white people dressing up like Natives never went away. Resource…
Welcome to First America
Jun 5, 2026 · 4 min
Welcome to First America: the true story of how the United States came to be, and how our current political moment is 250 years in the making. Dropping June 22nd, with early episode releases for Pushkin+ subscribers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Merciless Indian Savages | Episode 1
Ep 1 · Jun 4, 2026 · 36 min
We’ve all been told the American Revolution was fought over taxation and representation. But that's not what the Declaration of Independence says. According to our founders, in their own words, what they were most upset about was Native Americans. How did we all miss that? Rebecca sits down with historian Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone) to talk about how hunger for Indigenous land drove the Revolution. Welcome to First America, the true story of how the United States came to be, and how o…
This Land is Now First America
Jun 3, 2026 · 1 min
The This Land team is back with a new show! Stay tuned for First America, the true story of how the United States came to be, and how our current political moment is 250 years in the making. Dropping June 22nd, with early episode releases for Pushkin+ subscribers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Introducing Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD
Sep 9, 2024 · 45 min
The police tell us they are here to protect us. But what if their original purpose was something else altogether? Peabody Award-winning host Chenjerai Kumanyika takes listeners on a journey to uncover the hidden history of the largest police force in the world – from its roots in slavery, to rival police gangs battling across the city, to everyday people who resisted every step of the way. As our society debates where policing is going, Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD explores w…
Introducing: BY THE FIRE WE CARRY (audiobook)
Sep 3, 2024 · 46 min
BY THE FIRE WE CARRY, the new book by Rebecca Nagle, is a powerful work of reportage and American history that braids the story of the forced removal of Native Americans onto treaty lands in the nation’s earliest days, and a small-town murder in the 1990s that led to a Supreme Court ruling reaffirming Native rights to that land more than a century later Before 2020, American Indian reservations made up roughly 55 million acres of land in the United States. Nearly 200 million acres are reserved f…
Introducing “Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s”
Jun 30, 2023 · 35 min
Episode 1: The Police Officer and the Priest: One night back in the late 1970s, an officer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police pulled over a suspected drunk driver. When he walked up to the vehicle, he came face-to-face with a ghost from his past: a residential school priest. That officer was journalist Connie Walker’s late father. What happened that night on the side of the road compelled her to return home to Saskatchewan nearly 40 years later to try to investigate a secret in her own family.…
9. Update: Supreme Court Decision
Ep 9 · Jun 23, 2023 · 42 min
Last week the Supreme Court made an historic ruling upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act. Rebecca Nagle takes us inside the courtroom to break down the decision, how we got here, and what it all means. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8. The Heart Of It
Ep 8 · Oct 4, 2021 · 29 min
While we wait to see whether the Supreme Court takes the case, we attend a ceremony run by a program that helps Native adoptees reconnect with their tribes. Show Notes This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journalists-investigators/ Have a tip? Share it with our reporting team via SecureDrop https://criticalfrequency.org/…
7. Before The Court
Ep 7 · Sep 27, 2021 · 32 min
As the case heads to the Fifth Circuit - the last stop before the Supreme Court - we go inside the courtroom to hear the arguments and the decision. Show Notes This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journalists-investigators/ Have a tip? Share it with our reporting team via SecureDrop https://criticalfrequency.org/securedrop/ Je…
6. Trojan Horse
Ep 6 · Sep 20, 2021 · 31 min
We know which law firms and think tanks are bringing these lawsuits, but no one has been able to figure out who’s funding them—or why—until now. Show Notes This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journalists-investigators/ Have a tip? Share it with our reporting team via SecureDrop https://criticalfrequenc…
5. Pro Bono
Ep 5 · Sep 13, 2021 · 27 min
The fight against the Indian Child Welfare Act is much bigger than a few custody cases, or even the entire adoption industry. We follow the money, and our investigation leads us to a powerful group of corporate lawyers and one of the biggest law firms in the country. Show Notes This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journa…
4. Supply And Demand
Ep 4 · Sep 6, 2021 · 32 min
The private adoption industry has been fighting against the Indian Child Welfare Act the longest. We learn why by following one couple’s journey to adopt and their mixed feelings about the process. Show Notes This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journalists-investigators/ Have a tip? Share it with our reporting team via…
3. Grandma Versus The Foster Parents
Ep 3 · Aug 30, 2021 · 35 min
The Brackeens aren’t the only ones suing to strike down the Indian Child Welfare Act. So are Danielle and Jason Clifford, a foster couple from Minnesota. Show Notes This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journalists-investigators/ Have a tip? Share it with our reporting team via SecureDrop https://criticalfrequency.org/sec…
2. Behind The Curtain
Ep 2 · Aug 23, 2021 · 41 min
The Brackeens' case would have been a normal adoption dispute, but then one of the most powerful corporate law firms in the United States took it on and helped the couple launch a federal lawsuit. Show Notes This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journalists-investigators/ Have a tip? Share it with our reporting team via SecureD…
1. Solomon’s Sword
Ep 1 · Aug 23, 2021 · 42 min
ALM – as referred to in court documents – is a Navajo and Cherokee toddler. When he was a baby, a white couple from the suburbs of Dallas wanted to adopt him, but a federal law said they couldn’t. So they sued. Show Notes: This Land website https://crooked.com/podcast-series/this-land/ Resources For Survivors https://crooked.com/resources-for-survivors/ Resources For Journalists & Investigators https://crooked.com/resources-for-journalists-investigators/ Have a tip? Share it wi…
This Land, season 2 (coming August 23rd)
Aug 16, 2021 · 3 min
ALM – as referred to in court documents – is a Navajo and Cherokee toddler. When he was a baby, a white couple from the suburbs of Dallas wanted to adopt him, but a federal law said they couldn’t. So they sued. Today, the lawsuit doesn’t just impact the future of one child, or even the future of one law. It threatens the entire legal structure defending Native American rights. In season 2 of This Land, host Rebecca Nagle investigates how the far right is using Native children to quietly dismantl…
10. The Ruling
Ep 10 · Jul 16, 2020 · 35 min
The Supreme Court has ruled, delivering a historic decision on the reservation status of Eastern Oklahoma. Rebecca Nagle talks to the lawyer who argued the case at the High Court, Native law professors, scholars, and journalists to break down the significance of this decision and share what it means to the future of Muscogee (Creek) Nation and all Five Tribes. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
9. Supreme Court Update
Ep 9 · Jul 9, 2020 · 2 min
Today, the Supreme Court made a historic ruling on the reservation status of Eastern Oklahoma. Rebecca Nagle is here to break down the decision, talk through the implications, and hey, celebrate a little. Because this win -- it’s huge. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8. The Next Battleground
Ep 8 · Jul 22, 2019 · 35 min
A murder case sparked an investigation into the treaty rights of five tribes. But another case -- a simple case about an adoption -- could actually dismantle America's tribes as we know them. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7. Still Bleeding
Ep 7 · Jul 15, 2019 · 31 min
Tribes are asking that the Supreme Court keep the promises that it made to them, because what's lost when those promises are broken is much more than just land. For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
6. The Postponement
Ep 6 · Jul 8, 2019 · 25 min
The Supreme Court punted a decision on Carpenter v. Murphy to the next term. What does this mean for the tribes? For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/thisland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5. The Land Grab
Ep 5 · Jul 1, 2019 · 31 min
The geography of this country was reshaped in the late 1800s and depending on who tells it, it's either a story of good intentions...or one of outright theft. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Update: Surprise announcement from SCOTUS
Jun 28, 2019 · 2 min
In a surprise twist, the Supreme Court announced that Carpenter v. Murphy will not be decided this term. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4. The Treaty
Ep 4 · Jun 24, 2019 · 33 min
A Cherokee leader is murdered in 1839 for signing a treaty with the United States, but the promise he died for was broken. Learn more: thislandpodcast.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
3. The Opposition
Ep 3 · Jun 17, 2019 · 26 min
There are some very powerful groups set against Muscogee (Creek) Nation. Who are they? What's their motivation? And what arguments are they using to win their case in Court? Learn more: thislandpodcast.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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