History Unplugged Podcast

Parthenon
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For history lovers who listen to podcasts, History Unplugged is the most comprehensive show of its kind. It's the only show that dedicates episodes to both interviewing experts and answering questions from its audience. First, it features a call-in show where you can ask our resident historian (Scott Rank, PhD) absolutely anything (What was it like to be a Turkish sultan with four wives and twelve concubines? If you were sent back in time, how would you kill Hitler?). Second, it features long-form interviews with best-selling authors who have written about everything. Topics include gruff World War II generals who flew with airmen on bombing raids, a war horse who gained the rank of sergeant, and presidents who gave their best speeches while drunk.

  1. The Horse That Ate the Legion: Rome’s Cavalry's Triumph Over the Infantry

    قبل يوم واحد

    The Horse That Ate the Legion: Rome’s Cavalry's Triumph Over the Infantry

    The cavalry 'wings' that probed ahead of the Roman Army played a key role in its campaigns of conquest, masking its marching flanks and seeking to encircle enemies in battle. However, at the very beginning of Rome’s history, it didn’t even have a cavalry, and relied on Greek-style phalanx formations instead. It began as a small cavalry arm provided by the citizen nobility, but this had proved inadequate before the end of the Republic, and Julius Caesar's cavalry was largely made up of hired allies. During the Early Principate, the armies under Augustus continued in this vein, incorporating large numbers of non-citizen auxiliary cavalry units. The provinces came under increasing attack throughout and following the chaotic mid-3rd century, and Rome took lessons from its 'barbarian' enemies in how to improve its military mobility, adopting both new, heavily armored shock cavalry and horse-archers, and vitally shaping the tactics employed during the Dominate. Today’s guest is Mike Bishop, author of “Roman Cavalry Tactics.” We discuss how the cavalry grew to become the dominant force in Roman field armies by the twilight of the Western Empire. Eight newly commissioned artwork plates and a rich selection of artefact photographs and archaeological sources provide vivid detail and insight, helping to bring to the life the evolving tactics, clothing and weaponry of Rome's cavalry from the 2nd century BC through to the 5th century AD. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    ٤١ من الدقائق
  2. Beyond Joan of Arc and Agincourt: How the 100 Years War Crushed Medieval Europe and Launched its Global Order

    قبل ٦ أيام

    Beyond Joan of Arc and Agincourt: How the 100 Years War Crushed Medieval Europe and Launched its Global Order

    Modern France and Britain were forged in the fires of the Hundred Years War, a century-long conflict that produced deadly English longbowmen, Joan of Arc’s heavenly visions, and a massive death toll from Scotland to the Low Countries. The traditional beginning and end of the Hundred Years' War are conventionally marked by the start of open conflict in 1337, when Edward III of England laid claim to the French throne – and France invalidated English claims to continental lands -- and its conclusion with the French victory at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, the fall of the last English holdings on the continent. But Michael Livingston, today’s guest and author of “Blood Crowns: A New History of the Hundred Years War” argues redefines the scope and length of the Hundred Years War, arguing it really lasted from 1292–1492. And it didn’t just engulf England and France, but into regions like the Low Countries, Italy, and the Holy Roman Empire. It spread to the whole European continent and, eventually, the globe as the war's end spurred European powers to pursue their imperial ambitions abroad. The Hundred Years' War was also a period of significant military innovation, particularly with the English longbow and the introduction of gunpowder Livingston revises our understanding of the Two Hundred Years War as one that set the stage for a new global imperial order with ripple effects across the centuries. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    ٥٩ من الدقائق
  3. Reverse Ellis Island: American Migrants Who Fought for Mussolini and Built Stalin’s USSR

    ٧ أكتوبر

    Reverse Ellis Island: American Migrants Who Fought for Mussolini and Built Stalin’s USSR

    America saw a significant reverse-migration in the 1800s and 1900s, with 20–50% of Italian immigrants returning to Italy as ritornati and tens of thousands of Americans, including ideologues and workers, moving to Germany, Italy, and the USSR in the 1930s seeking political or economic opportunities. Some of these American expatriates were drawn to revolutionary movements in Europe and Asia, blending idealism with political activism Today’s guest is David Mayers, author of Seekers and Partisans: Americans Abroad in the Crisis Years, 1935–1941. We discuss alienated Americans who went abroad during the interwar years in search of a new home and/or to further deeply personal causes. They include John Robinson, a black aviator who in 1935 led the Ethiopian air force against the Italian invasion; Agnes Smedley, who joined the Chinese communists during the Sino-Japanese war; Helen Keller, an advocate of the seeing- and hearing-impaired; Ezra Pound, a lauded poet who championed Mussolini; and Anna Louise Strong, drawn to Stalin's USSR. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    ٣٩ من الدقائق
  4. Don’t Use Rome as a Model of Why Societies Collapse; Use Crime Syndicates and Somalia Instead

    ٢ أكتوبر

    Don’t Use Rome as a Model of Why Societies Collapse; Use Crime Syndicates and Somalia Instead

    12,000 years ago, human history changed forever when the egalitarian groups of hunter-gathering humans began to settle down and organize themselves into hierarchies. The few dominated the many, seizing control through violence. What emerged were “Goliaths”: large societies built on a collection of hierarchies that are also terrifyingly fragile, collapsing time after time across the world. Today, we live in a single, global Goliath—one that is precariously interdependent—under threat from nuclear war, climate change, and the existential risks of AI. The next collapse may be our last. Today’s guest is Luke Kemp, author of Goliath’s Curse. He conducts a historical autopsy on our species, from the earliest cities to the collapse of modern states like Somalia. Drawing on historical databases and the latest discoveries in archaeology and anthropology, he uncovers groundbreaking revelations:  More democratic societies tend to be more resilient. A modern collapse is likely to be global, long-lasting, and more dire than ever before  Collapse may be invisible until after it has occurred. It’s possible we’re living through one now. Collapse has often had a more positive outcome for the general population than for the 1%. All Goliaths contain the seeds of their own demise.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    ٥٠ من الدقائق
  5. A Union General Found a Loophole in the Fugitive Slave Act, Causing 1 Million Slaves to Flee North

    ٣٠ سبتمبر

    A Union General Found a Loophole in the Fugitive Slave Act, Causing 1 Million Slaves to Flee North

    After the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, enslaved people feared running away to the North, as their return was mandated, and they faced brutal punishment or even death upon return to deter others from escaping. But that changed during the Civil War. Black slaves in Confederate Virginia began hearing rumors that they could receive their freedom if they reached the Union’s Fort Monroe. Union General Benjamin Butler found a loophole in the Fugitive Slave Act that allowed slaves who fled to Northern lines to be treated as "contraband of war"—seized enemy property—under the Confiscation Act of 1861. This meant they would be set free instead of being returned to slaveholders. Butler did this to deplete the Confederacy's labor force and bolster Union morale by offering refuge to escaping enslaved people. Word spread across the state.  In a short time, nearly a thousand former slaves formed a camp outside the fort. Many worked to sustain the camps, growing crops like corn or cotton on nearby abandoned lands to feed themselves and generate resources. Men, women, and even children contributed to the war effort through various tasks, such as building fortifications, digging trenches, or serving as cooks, nurses, or laborers for Union troops. Freedpeople established schools, often with the help of Northern missionaries or organizations like the American Missionary Association, teaching literacy to adults and children. Other contraband camps sprang up, and by the end of the war, 800,000 former slaves had established over 200 of them. Today’s guest is Tom Zoellner, author of “The Road Was Full of Thorns: Running Toward Freedom in the American Civil War.” We discuss how these camps fostered interracial interactions that shifted public opinion toward abolition, highlighting the agency of enslaved people in their own liberation. The Emancipation Proclamation was a delayed response to these grassroots movements, not a singular heroic act. The camps’ role in challenging slavery’s legal and social foundations helped reshape the trajectory of the Civil War. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    ٤٥ من الدقائق
  6. The Civil War’s Brutal Finale: A War of Attrition as Terrible as WW2-Pacific and the Napoleonic Wars

    ٢٥ سبتمبر

    The Civil War’s Brutal Finale: A War of Attrition as Terrible as WW2-Pacific and the Napoleonic Wars

    In 1864, the American Civil War reached a critical juncture with Ulysses S. Grant’s Overland Campaign, including the brutal battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania, which claimed over 60,000 casualties, surpassing Gettysburg as the Americas’ deadliest clash. Abraham Lincoln faced a contentious re-election against George B. McClellan, while Confederate General Jubal Early’s troops came within five miles of the White House. Abolitionists pushed for emancipation, and desperate Confederate plots, like the attempt to burn New York City’s hotels, marked the war’s final months, culminating in Lincoln’s assassination by John Wilkes Booth in April 1865. Today’s guest is Scott Ellsworth, author of “Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the Rebirth of America.” We explore how the staggering losses of 1864 shaped Lincoln’s strategy of attrition amid political uncertainty. These include lesser-known moments, like the Washington Arsenal explosion that killed 21 workers and Early’s near-invasion of Washington, D.C., which could have altered the war’s course. We also examines the November 1864 Confederate plot to destabilize New York and the conspiracy behind Lincoln’s assassination, including the unresolved question of Confederate government involvement. Reflecting on the war’s toll—over 620,000 dead and four million African-Americans freed but facing new struggles—Ellsworth illuminates how these events reshaped America’s identity. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    ٤٨ من الدقائق
  7. Camp David Looks Like a 1970s Lakeside Retreat. Why is it the Site of the World’s Biggest Political Summits?

    ٢٣ سبتمبر

    Camp David Looks Like a 1970s Lakeside Retreat. Why is it the Site of the World’s Biggest Political Summits?

    Camp David, nestled in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains, spans about 125 acres, making it significantly smaller than other presidential getaways like Lyndon B. Johnson’s sprawling 2,700-acre Texas ranch or the vast 1,000-acre Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. Compared to grand diplomatic venues like the White House or international summit locations such as Versailles, its compact, rustic layout with a single main lodge and a handful of cabins offers a more intimate, secluded setting for negotiations. This modest size fosters privacy and informality, as seen during the 1978 Camp David Accords, but lacks the expansive facilities of larger estates or formal state venues. If that’s the case, why has it played host to the most important diplomatic summits of the 20th century? Because the hidden retreat is the one place the President, First Family, and invited guests can gather in absolute secrecy for relaxation, rejuvenation, and world-changing decisions. Today’s guest is Charles Ferguson, author of “Presidential Seclusion: The Power of Camp David.” We look at the importance of Camp David on diplomacy and world history. Written by the former Camp David Historian, this personalized tour of the exclusive retreat makes tree-shrouded trails, majestic vistas, and rooms where history happened over the last 80 years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    ٤٢ من الدقائق
  8. How British Scientists' Self-Experiments on Underwater Rebreathing Created D-Day Submarine Tech (And Nearly Killed Them in the Process)

    ١٨ سبتمبر

    How British Scientists' Self-Experiments on Underwater Rebreathing Created D-Day Submarine Tech (And Nearly Killed Them in the Process)

    In August 1942, over 7,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, in a largely forgotten landing, with only a small fraction surviving unscathed. The raid failed due to poor planning and lack of underwater reconnaissance, which left the Allies unaware of strong German coastal defenses and underwater obstacles. Inadequate submersible technology prevented effective pre-landing surveys, leading to heavy casualties and the inability to secure a foothold. Scientists had a rudimentary grasp of mixing air for prolonged underwater survival, with limited rebreather technology, poor understanding of oxygen toxicity, and inadequate gas supply systems. Two summers before D-Day, the Allies realized they desperately needed underwater intelligence to succeed in another beach invasion and win the war. Led by controversial biologists J.B.S. Haldane and Dr. Helen Spurway, an ingenious team of ragtag scientists worked in makeshift labs throughout the London Blitz. Amid a rain of bombs, they pioneered groundbreaking advances in underwater reconnaissance through painful and potentially fatal self-experiments. Their discoveries enabled the safe use of miniature submarines and breathing apparatuses, ultimately allowing the Allies to take the beaches of Normandy. Blast-injury specialist Dr. Rachel Lance, author of Chamber Divers: The Untold Story of the D-Day Scientists Who Changed Special Operations Forever, joined us a few years ago to discuss the CSS Hunley, a Confederate submersible used during the American Civil War, the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat. We explore these experiments while bringing to life the men and women whose brilliance and self-sacrifice shaped the war’s outcome, including the danger they faced in their quest to enable Allied troops to breathe underwater. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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For history lovers who listen to podcasts, History Unplugged is the most comprehensive show of its kind. It's the only show that dedicates episodes to both interviewing experts and answering questions from its audience. First, it features a call-in show where you can ask our resident historian (Scott Rank, PhD) absolutely anything (What was it like to be a Turkish sultan with four wives and twelve concubines? If you were sent back in time, how would you kill Hitler?). Second, it features long-form interviews with best-selling authors who have written about everything. Topics include gruff World War II generals who flew with airmen on bombing raids, a war horse who gained the rank of sergeant, and presidents who gave their best speeches while drunk.

المعلومات

  • قناة
    Parthenon
  • صناع العمل
    History Unplugged
  • سنوات النشاط
    ٢٠١٧ - ٢٠٢٥
  • الحلقات
    ١ ألف
  • التقييم
    ملائم
  • موقع البرنامج على الويب
    History Unplugged Podcast

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