It Could Happen Here Weekly 246
Summary
Host Kim Kelly and guest James explore the history of American overseas expansion, focusing on the U.S.'s hidden empire of inhabited and uninhabited territories. They discuss the legal status of colonies like Puerto Rico and Guam, tracing imperial origins to the 1856 Guano Islands Act and resource extraction. The episode highlights how these possessions shaped U.S. state capacity, military strategy, and domestic politics while remaining largely invisible to the American public.
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