The Rest Is History

To Messers Holland and Sandbrook: From a very early age I couldn’t understand how anyone could find history boring, because to me history is, first and foremost . . . a story. I can’t tell you how glad I am to listen to two writers and historians who feel exactly the same way! Listening to your podcast has been a delight, for both myself and my mom. In a world desperate for original and compelling tales, either in the movies or on the printed page, you have so much material to offer that I can’t believe how many of these accounts haven’t been adapted. I mean to start a podcast of my own on that very subject one day! Quick suggestion: maybe do a future series focused on either the Russian or Chinese Civil Wars, or perhaps the Algerian war of independence? So many fascinating characters and so many bizarre turns of fortune to excite listeners’ interest!👌

I can ignore the smug English exceptionalism, they do call out England’s problems but you can always tell they think England is the greatest country ever and they don’t really feel bad about all the horrible things their country has done but are happy to constantly throw out random insults about Americans.

Loved the podcast, was going to become a member before they started airing ads supporting Jon Husted. As an Ohioan living with that nightmare senator in real time, this is super poor form and I expected better than for them to support a fascist conman

I didn’t think I’d ever find a history podcast as good as Hardcore History but this show is at that level and may be approaching the level of Radiolab at its peak, which I consider the best radio show of all time. Extremely well researched and insightful while also entertaining and funny in a non-annoying way. Other history podcasts try to mix in humor to lighten it and it just feels like a distraction from the story but these guys never force that part of it and the humor is always worth the digression and often insightful in itself, very intellectual and literary humor. Also, thank you for not always being PC and worrying about offending people by expressing a real opinion that may not be disagreeable for certain people. As an American, I laugh hardest at all the jokes at our expense and also appreciate that you don’t tiptoe around tough domestic topics like The Troubles. One last thing, you have a great balance of depth and pace that makes the show really unique. For someone who loves a deep dive like you get with Carlin and who can’t stand all the lightweight “history shows” that are just some person reciting a Wikipedia post and making pop culture references, I love the approach of the Rest is history. There is priority placed on storytelling and pace that allows you to feel suspense and excitement without feeling like it’s the cliffsnotes version or a surface level interpretation of events.