We Didn't Start the Fire (podcast)

We Didn't Start the Fire is a modern history podcast started in 2021. It is hosted by Katie Puckrik and Tom Fordyce and produced by Crowd Network.[1]

We Didn't Start the Fire
Presentation
Hosted byKatie Puckrik
Tom Fordyce
GenreHistory, pop culture
Publication
Original release2021
Related
Websitecrowdnetwork.co.uk/podcasts/we-didnt-start-the-fire/

Premise

The podcasts takes topics from the pop song "We Didn't Start the Fire", released by Billy Joel in 1989. The song lists, via a series of fast-paced lyrics, brief references to 118 significant political, cultural, scientific, and sporting events between 1949, the year of Joel's birth, and 1989, in a mainly chronological order. The podcast looks at these in turn with expert guests, with topics including the politics of Harry S. Truman, space exploration, rock'n'roll[2] and also including American, Korean and Cuba-Soviet Union relations at the height of The Cold War.[3]

Reception

Miranda Sawyer in The Guardian reviewed a "funny, informative discussion.. genuinely interesting and fun" and described it as her "new favourite show".[4] Sawyer later noted that "Puckrik and Fordyce are funny, but also excellent interviewers and this show, which incorporates war, philosophy, celebrity and political machinations, is far better than you would ever imagine."[5] Sawyer later put the podcast in her top 10 of the year for 2021.[6]

Billy Joel himself heard the show and appears as a special guest on an episode first broadcast on October 25, 2021.[7][8]

Episodes
Episode SubjectGuestNotes
1. Harry Truman Dr Nick Witham
2. Doris Day Tamar Jeffers-McDonald
3. Red China Prof. Yangwen Zheng The Cultural Revolution was a sociopolitical movement in China from 1966 until Mao Zedong's death in 1976.
4. Johnnie Ray Cathi Unsworth
5. South Pacific Dr Cara Rodway A musical composed by Rodgers and Hammerstein
6. Walter Winchell Dr Chris Shoop-Worrall
7. Joe DiMaggio Josh Chetwynd
8. Joe McCarthy Josh Hollands
9. Richard Nixon Dr Rivers Gambrell
10. Studebaker Greg Diffen Automobile manufacturer
11. Television Dick Fiddy
12. North Korea Dr Sojin Lim
13. South Korea Mary Lynn Bracht
14. Marilyn Monroe Shar Daws
15. Rosenbergs Dr Josh Hollands Convicted of being Soviet spies.
16. H-bomb Margaret MacMillan The first full-scale thermonuclear test was carried out by the United States in 1952
17. Sugar Ray Steve Bunce Sugar Ray Robinson was an American professional boxer who competed from 1940 to 1965.
18. Panmunjom Colin Thackery The location where the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement that paused the Korean War was signed.
19. Brando Jonathan Ross Marlon Brando 1924–2004, was an actor.
20. "The King and I" Dr Cara Rodway 1951 the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein, and became a 1956 film
21. "The Catcher in the Rye" Caroline O'Donoghue Novel by J.D. Salinger
22. Eisenhower Dr Rivers Gambrell Dwight D. Eisenhower

34th U.S. President

23. Vaccine Dr Gareth Millward The first effective polio vaccine was developed in 1952 by Jonas Salk and a team at the University of Pittsburgh.
24. England's got a new Queen Margaret MacMillan Elizabeth II was crowned in June 1953
25. Marciano Steve Bunce Rocky Marciano was an American professional boxer who held the World Heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956.
26. Liberace Jo Kendall
27. Santayana, goodbye Dr Matthew Flamm Santayana was a philosopher, poet, essayist and novelist.
28. Joseph Stalin Alex Halberstadt
29. Malenkov Dr Natalya Chernyshova Georgy Malenkov briefly succeeded Joseph Stalin as the leader of the Soviet Union.
30. Nasser Tarek Osman Gamal Abdel Nasser was an Egyptian revolutionary and Egyptian president 1956–70.
31. Prokofiev Alexander Karpeyev Russian composer, pianist and conductor
32. Rockefeller Angie Maxwell
33. Campanella Josh Chetwynd Roy Campanella (1921–1993), a former catcher and a member of the baseball Hall of Fame.
34. Communist bloc Eric Halsey
35. Roy Cohn Matt Tyrnauer
36. Juan Peron Natalia Milanesio
37. Toscanini Harvey Sachs Italian composer Arturo Toscanini (1967–1957)
38. Dacron Dr. Cara Rodway Polyethylene terephthalate, a polyester referred to by the brand names Terylene in the UK, Lavsan in Russia and the former Soviet Union, and Dacron in the US.
39. Dien Bien Phu falls Dan Snow The Battle of Dien Bien Phu was fought between March 13 and May 7, 1954.
40. Billy Joel Billy Joel
41. "Rock Around the Clock" Peter Doggett 1954 hit record for Bill Haley & His Comets on Decca Records
42. Einstein David Bodanis Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879 – April 18, 1955) theoretical physicist
43. James Dean Jake Lambert
44. Brooklyn's got a winning team Josh Chetwynd 1955 Baseball World Series winners the Brooklyn Dodgers
45. Davy Crockett Dr Amy Davis
46. Peter Pan Sarah Wolf
47 + 48. Elvis Presley Sally Hoedel
49. Disneyland Dr Amy Davis
50. Bardot Caroline O'Donaghue Brigitte Bardot, French actress born 1934
51. Budapest Eric Halsey Hungarian Revolution of 1956
52. Alabama Chris Wilson Bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, protesting racial segregation
53. Khrushchev Dr. Natalya Chernyshova. Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1953 to 1964
54. Princess Grace Kate Williams Grace Kelly (1929–1982) American actress.
55. Peyton Place Dr. Cara Rodway Novel and TV series
56. Trouble in the Suez Tarek Osman
57. Little Rock Ryan Davis
58. Pasternak Ani Kokobobo
59. Mickey Mantle Josh Chetwynd
60. Kerouac
61. Sputnik Dan Kendall
62. Zhou Enlai Yangwen Zheng
63. Belgians in the Congo David Van Reybrouck
64. "Bridge on the River Kwai" Helen O'Hara
65. Lebanon Chloé Kattar
66. Charles de Gaulle Dr Arthur Asseraf
67. California baseball Josh Chetwynd
68. Starkweather Homicide David Wilson
69. Children of Thalidomide Mikey Argy & C. Jean Grover
70. Buddy Holly Christopher Smith
71. Ben-Hur Helen O'Hara
72. Space Monkey Dr Stuart Clark
73. Mafia Jeff Nadu
74. Hula Hoops Amy Hill
75. Castro Dr Stephen Wilkinson
76. Edsel is a no-go Kit Chapman

[9][10]

References
  1. "Newsday | Long Island's & NYC's News Source". Newsday. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  2. "A thoughtful look at love and sex – podcasts of the week | Podcasts". The Guardian. February 5, 2021. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  3. "New history podcast will use Billy Joel song to unravel "under-explored" 20th-century subject Prolific North". Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  4. Sawyer, Miranda (February 13, 2021). "The week in audio: Welcome to Your Fantasy; Sideways; The Bias Diagnosis – review | Podcasts". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  5. "Raves, musicals and a time-travelling diner: 20 must-listen indie podcast gems | Podcasts". The Guardian. August 2021. Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  6. "Miranda Sawyer's best audio of 2021". TheGuardian.com. December 26, 2021. Archived from the original on January 4, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  7. "Glass speaks to presenter Katie Puckrik about her new podcast". The Glass Magazine. Archived from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  8. "billy joel podcast we didnt start the fire". Newsday. October 28, 2021. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  9. "We Didn't Start the Fire: The History Podcast on Apple Podcasts". podcasts.apple.com. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
  10. "We Didn't Start the Fire: The History Podcast on acast". aca.st. Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
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