Since the World's been Turning NZpodz

In this episode, we return to the Middle East and explore the country known as the Graveyard of Empires: Afghanistan. 
More than 30 years before America’s War on Terror began, Russian troops invaded the mountainous region and plunged the country into conflict.
 Joining us to talk about the Russian presence in Afghanistan is special guest, British military historian and author of over 60 books Anthony Tucker-Jones. He takes us through the background to, and the main events of the war – and how the conflict helped both to end the Cold War and led to the growth of militant Islam in the Middle East. 

 In this episode we’re back in the Middle East and one of the world’s most hotly-discussed countries – the Islamic Republic of Iran. 
Today, it’s often depicted in Western media as a closed and repressive society. But prior to the Revolution of 1979, Iran looked very different.
  We’re joined by a very special guest, Ervand Abrahamian, to discuss the downfall of the Shah, Iran’s last monarch, and the rise of the Islamic leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Ervand Abrahamian is widely regarded as a leading historian of modern Iran, and he’s lectured at the City University of New York for 40 years. 

In this episode, we’re returning to a time before restrictive airline security, where - if you had a ticket - you could stroll onto a plane carrying anything you wanted. The 1960s - 70s are known now as the golden age of airline hijacking. It was a time of political crime, of massive, subversive, system challenging actions. It was also a time of personal crime, borderline petty grievances elevated to extreme lengths.  Perhaps the most surprising thing about this era is just how seemingly insignificant the causes of some of these hijackings actually were. 
 We’ll receive some help telling this story from our guest, author and journalist Brendan I. Koerner, author of The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking.

In this episode  we’re returning to the Middle East and taking on a contentious and sad topic: the history of Palestine. 
We’re joined by a very special guest, the Israeli-born historian Ilan Pappe [Eelahn Pah-pay] who is a Professor of History and the director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. Prof Pappe shares his time between the UK and Israel. 
He’s also the author of a number of books including The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories and The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, which challenge some conventional Israeli narratives about Israel and Palestine. 

This episode we’re tossing on our cowboy hats and riding horseback all the way from Sunset Boulevard to the White House. The first celebrity U S president, Ronald Wilson Reagan, marked a turning point in world history.  From the aggressive deregulation of Reaganomics, to the massive consequences of his aggressive foreign policy, Reagan’s influence on the world is undeniable.  Working as a  Military Filmmaker, Movie Star, Labour Organiser, Governor, and the President of the United States, Reagan’s career is an erratic one, full of all sorts of strange pivots and turns - including a walk across the aisle. A man of contradictions and controversy, revered and hated in equal measure - this is the story of Ronald Reagan.

Were joined by special guest Dr Ross Baker, distinguished professor of  Political Science at Rutgers University New Jersey

 In this episode, we’re traveling back to the Middle East, and the birth of modern Israel. Key to the founding of the state of Israel in the 1940s was Menachem Begin – a soldier, a right-wing zealot and a Zionist.
Joining us to discuss the controversial figure who was Menachem Begin is special guest Avi Shilon. Avi is a historian who specializes in Israel studies. His published works include Menachem Begin: A Life, published by Yale University Press, and a biography of Begin’s fellow Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.