Clarissa Explains

In April 1775, Royal Governor Lord Dunmore secretly removed gunpowder from Williamsburg’s magazine in the dead of night. The backlash was immediate: armed militias mobilized, angry crowds gathered at the Governor’s Palace, and Dunmore threatened to free enslaved Virginians and burn Williamsburg to the ground.
This episode of Clarissa Explains explores the Gunpowder Incident, the collapse of British authority in Virginia, and the complicated realities of slavery, revolution, and power at the start of the American Revolution.

This episode of Clarissa Explains explores how a tavern became a cradle of revolution in colonial Virginia. Focusing on the Raleigh Tavern, host Clarissa Sanders examines how taverns functioned as vital community hubs where news, ideas, and political resistance spread. The episode traces the tavern’s evolution from a modest 18th-century structure to a central meeting place for influential figures like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, while also acknowledging the enslaved laborers who sustained its operations.
The Raleigh Tavern emerged as a pivotal site in the growing push for independence. The episode highlights how informal spaces and collective action helped shape revolutionary thought, and serves as a reminder that civic engagement has always been essential to democracy.

Season 2 is here, and we are exploring historic sites in Virginia and their ties to the American Revolution.

In this episode of Clarissa Explains, host Clarissa Sanders examines the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina, 20 years after the storm ravaged the Gulf Coast. With an estimated 1,800 lives lost and entire communities uprooted, the hurricane remains one of the deadliest and costliest disasters in U.S. history. But beyond the headlines, Katrina exposed deep systemic failures, particularly for people with disabilities.
Clarissa explores how people with disabilities were systematically excluded from emergency planning and emergency responses before, during, and after the storm. Through personal stories, like that Benilda "Benny" Caixeta, this episode sheds light on the heartbreaking realities many faced: inaccessibility, abandonment, and preventable deaths.
The episode also looks at the changes prompted by the disaster, from federal reforms to local initiatives.
TW: Death and drowning, Abandonment and neglect of vulnerable individuals, Medical euthanasia, Systemic ableism and discrimination, Elder neglect, and Graphic descriptions of disaster aftermath and suffering.
The music from this episode is "Felicity" by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

On April 27, 1979, a 9-year-old girl named Suzanne should have been blowing out birthday candles. Instead, she was holding a protest sign at the Niagara Falls Convention Center, standing up against a silent poison leaking into her home and community: the Love Canal. In this episode of Clarissa Explains, host Clarissa Sanders dives into the haunting legacy of the Love Canal disaster—America’s first federally declared man-made environmental emergency. Through gripping history and personal storytelling, she explores the buried chemical waste, the grassroots activism that sparked national change, and the human cost of environmental negligence. Joined by her mother Suzanne, a former Love Canal resident, Clarissa weaves together memory and history to uncover the disaster’s lasting impact on families, communities, and U.S. environmental law.
The music from this episode is "Felicity" by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

In this episode of Clarissa Explains, host Clarissa Sanders dives into two deadly steamboat disasters in American history: the wreck of the Home in 1837 and the explosion of the Pulaski in 1838. These maritime tragedies shocked the nation, claimed over 200 lives, and exposed the dangers of unregulated steam travel.
Through survivor accounts, newspaper reactions, and historical analysis, Clarissa uncovers how public outrage and mounting loss of life pressured Congress to act, ultimately leading to the 1838 Steamboat Act, the first federal law to regulate private industry for public safety.
From tales of heroism and negligence to the political tension between free enterprise and government oversight, this episode tells the story of how two steamboats changed the course of American consumer protection laws.
The music from this episode is "Felicity" by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

Welcome to Clarissa Explains, a history podcast that explores historical events and why they matter. Join host Clarissa Sanders this season as we take a deep dive into the history of disasters in the United States and how they have left an impact on communities, places, and laws.
This is history with context. This is history with meaning. This is: explaining history, one story at a time.
”Felicity” by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au