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First America
by Pushkin Industries
Today: #91 in History on our combined chart.
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| Date | Apple Podcasts |
|---|---|
| Oct 1 | #80 |
About the show
Native people have been written out of the American story, but without us you don’t know what happened. This summer the United States will celebrate the 250-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. When you read the Declaration, you realize it is a list of complaints. The last entry, the climax in our founders’ reasons for rebellion against the Crown, is this: “He has excited… the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.”
We have been told the Revolution was fought over taxation and representation. But what the founders were most angry about in our country’s most famous document was Indian affairs. How did generations of Americans miss this?
The first armed rebellion against the Crown was an attack on British forts that traded with tribes. When colonists threw tea into the Boston harbor, they dressed up like members of the Mohawk tribe—not for disguise, but because pretending to be Indian symbolized freedom and rebellion. The founding fathers’ first government failed because Indigenous nations were too powerful; war and diplomacy with Native people is why we have a central federal government.
Hosted and reported by Rebecca Nagle and featuring leading Native historians, First America unveils how the founders’ treatment of Indigenous nations—and their resistance—shaped US democracy. The show does not simply add another blemish to the image of the founding fathers, it reveals the real story of why the colonists rebelled, what kind of government they created, and, crucially, how our current political moment was 250 years in the making.
Latest episodes
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From HISTORY This Week: How the Whitman Murders Redefined the American West
September 21, 2026 · 31 minWe're sharing an episode from History This Week. May 30, 1855. Five thousand Native Americans come to Walla Walla to negotiate a treaty. However, it’s not exactly a fair negotiation—the territorial governor basically tells these tribes…
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The Origin of American Authoritarianism | Episode 6
July 27, 2026 · 47 minWe’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…
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Land, Not Liberty | Episode 5
July 20, 2026 · 34 minDid 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…
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Military Might | Episode 4
July 13, 2026 · 46 minAfter 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…
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It Happened Here | Episode 3
July 6, 2026 · 41 minThe 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…
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Playing Indian | Episode 2
June 29, 2026 · 44 minDid 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…
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Welcome to First America
June 5, 2026 · 4 minWelcome 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…
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Merciless Indian Savages | Episode 1
June 4, 2026 · 36 minWe’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…