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Podcast: The Strange History Podcast
Episode: When Tennessee Banned Evolution: The Law That Sparked the Scopes “Monkey” Trial
Description: On March 13, 1925, Tennessee passed the Butler Act, a law banning the teaching of human evolution in public schools. What followed was one of the most famous courtroom battles in American history — the Scopes “Monkey” Trial — where science, religion, and modern identity collided under national scrutiny.In this episode of The Strange History Podcast, we explore the rise of fundamentalism in the 1920s, the cultural tension between urban modernism and rural traditionalism, and the dramatic legal showdown between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan. We examine how John T. Scopes became the center of a nationally broadcast trial, how the verdict...