John Matteson, Distinguished Professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, joins the show to discuss how the Civil War—and in particular the fall of 1862—left its mark on the nation's culture and on some of its most famous citizens.

Times

• 01:25 - Introduction
• 03:28 - Fall of 1862
• 09:19 - Matteson's selection of Americans included in A Worse Place Than Hell
• 12:17 - Oliver Wendell Holmes and the 20th Massachusetts
• 16:13 - John Pelham
• 18:23 - Holmes, Pelham, and the battle of Antietam
• 23:56 - Holmes, Pelham, and the battle of Fredericksburg
• 27:23 - Valor and luck in battle
• 30:22 - The 20th Massachusetts in the battle of Fredericksburg
• 36:38 - Walt Whitman
• 40:17 - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Recorded December 7, 2021