The Great Depression: USA Edition

When you think of the Great Depression, you probably picture frantic guys in three-piece suits yelling on Wall Street as the tickers went wild. But the fuse for the greatest economic crash in history wasn’t lit in New York. It was lit in the wheat fields of the American Midwest during World War I.

This week, we are kicking off a massive two-part series on The Great Depression. We start at home in the good ol U.S.A. before heading Global in next week's episode to explore the worldwide impact.

We'll discuss how American farmers went on a massive land-and-equipment buying spree to feed a war-torn Europe, only to get trapped in a brutal cycle of debt when the fighting stopped. Then we dive into the bizarre, high-stakes financial triangle that tied Uncle Sam’s wallet directly to Germany, France, and Great Britain—a house of cards built on lending and war repayments that absolutely shattered the lives of millions of everyday people who didn't even know what a stock portfolio was.

And the scariest part? The dominoes didn't stop falling at America's borders. We trace the direct, devastating line between the economic chaos triggered right here at home and the financial vacuum in Europe that directly fueled the terrifying rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party.

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