When All in the Family premiered in January 1971, CBS was nervous enough about the content that they added an advisory message at the beginning. Despite their fears, the show was a success, quickly garnering both awards and top Nielsen ratings. All in the Family not only changed television in the United States but also the practice of politics. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Oscar Winberg, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Turku Institute for Advanced Studies and the John Morton Center for North American Studies at the University of Turku, and author of Archie Bunker for President: How One Television Show Remade American Politics.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is “I Don’t Like Your Family,” composed by Joseph E. Howard, with lyrics by Will M. Hough and Frank R. Adams; this recording, from October 4, 1906, is in the public domain and is available via the Library of Congress National Jukebox. The episode image is a photo of the Cast of the television program All in the Family from a press release dated March 12, 1976; the photo is in the public domain and is available via Wikimedia Commons.

All in the Family streaming:

• Meet the Bunkers (Season 1, Episode 1) on YouTube
• Seasons 2 and 3 on Pluto TV
• Seasons 7 and 8 on Tubi

Additional Sources:

• “Till Death Us Do Part, 6 June 1966,” History of the BBC.
• “Norman Lear, Whose Comedies Changed the Face of TV, Is Dead at 101,” by By Richard Severo and Peter Keepnews, The New York Times, December 6, 2023.
• “For Good or Bad, Norman Lear Helped Erase Rural America from TV,” by Jeffrey H. Bloodworth, The Daily Yonder, February 22, 2024.
• “How Archie Bunker Forever Changed in the American Sitcom,” by Sascha Cohen, Smithsonian Magazine, March 21, 2018.
• “Looking Back on the Legacy of ‘All in the Family’ 50 Years Later,” by Tim Gray, Variety, January 12, 2021.
• “Looking Back on “All in the Family,” the Sitcom That Reshaped America,” by Tim Brinkhof, The Progressive Magazine, May 30, 2024.
• “Rob Reiner was more than a Hollywood liberal. He was a sophisticated political operator,” by Melanie Mason, Politico, December 15, 2025.

When It’s a Wonderful Life was first released, it wasn’t a box office hit, but it did draw the attention of the FBI and its investigation into the Communist Infiltration of the Motion Picture Industry (COMPIC). The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) didn’t end up doing anything with the FBI’s allegations of subversion in the film, but the pressure of investigations like this led to a shift in Christmas films over the next 15 years away from stories of social problems to more lighthearted romances and musicals. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Vaughn Joy, author of Selling Out Santa: Hollywood Christmas Films in the Age of McCarthy. Dr. Joy’s public scholarship website with her husband, Dr. Ben Railton, is Black and White and Read All Over.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is "Carol of the Bells," composed by Mykola Leontovych and performed by the Concert Band of the United States Air Force Band of the Rockies; the performance is in the public domain and available via Wikimedia Commons. The episode image is a still from It’s a Wonderful Life, which is in the public domain.

Films Discussed:

• It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
• Susan Slept Here (1954)
• Babes in Toyland (1961)

Additional Sources:

• “Breaking Hollywood's 'Pattern of Sameness'; That is the task the independent producers have set themselves, says Frank Capra, who is one of them.” by Frank Capra, The New York Times, May 5, 1946.
• “The Truman Doctrine, 1947,” U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian.
• “House Un-American Activities Committee,” Harry S. Truman Library & Museum.
• “Screen Guide for Americans,” by Ayn Rand, the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, 1947.
• “FBI File on Communist Infiltration- Motion Picture Industry (COMPIC),” via archive.org.
• “When 'It's a Wonderful Life' Came Under FBI Scrutiny,” by Christopher Klein, History.com, December 11, 2025.
• “How ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Went From Box Office Dud to Accidental Christmas Tradition,” by Jay Serafino, Mental Floss, December 6, 2024.

Americans love their coffee; according to the Fall 2025 National Coffee Data Trends Report, 66% of adult Americans drink coffee every day, averaging three cups per day. This devotion to the caffeinated beverage is nothing new. Even before Bostonians dumped over 90,000 pounds of tea in the harbor, Americans were sipping cups of joe. George and Martha Washington served tea at the President’s House in New York, and after he stepped down as president, George Washington even tried growing coffee trees at Mount Vernon. Joining me in this episode is Dr. Michelle Craig McDonald, Director of the Library & Museum at the American Philosophical Society, and author of Coffee Nation: How One Commodity Transformed the Early United States.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. The mid-episode music is “Coffee in the Morning and Kisses in the Night,” by Gus Arnheim, 1934, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The episode image is of a coffee pot, made by Robert and William Peaston and accompanying sugar bowl, creampot, and tongs, made by Myer Myers; the items were owned by Dorothy Remsen, who married Abraham Brinckerhoff of New York in 1772. The coffee set is on view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 704; and the image is available as part of the Met's Open Access policy.

Additional Sources:

• “Coffee’s Creation Myth: How Coffee Conquered the World,” by Blake Stilwell, Coffee or Die Magazine, April 16, 2022.
• “The Boston Tea Party at 250: History steeped in myth,” by Gabrielle Emanuel, WBUR, December 14, 2024.
• “Coffee and the White House,” by Tianna Mobley, The White House Historical Association, May 2, 2022.
• “Coffee,” George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
• “Coffee: World Markets and Trade,” by United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, December 2024.
• “Poll reveals America’s coffee consumption habits,” by Georgia Smith, Global Coffee Report, September 11, 2025.