History As It Happens

Martin Di Caro
  • 4.3 (64)
  • History
  • Updated Semiweekly

Discover how the past shapes the present with the best historians in the world. Everything happening today comes from something, somewhere. History As It Happens features interviews with today's top scholars and thinkers, interwoven with audio from history's archive. Subscribe for ad-free episodes, early access, and bonus content. https://historyasithappens.supercast.com/

  1. 16h ago

    What a Time To Be an American: The Bicentennial

    Subscribe now for ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content. The national mood was dour. Political scandals and a lost war cast long shadows. The economy was mired in stagflation. Americans were losing confidence in the future. It was the summer of '76 — 1976! Yet despite the tough times, millions celebrated the nation's bicentennial, which was both patriotic and a bit schlocky. Historians Jeremi Suri and Jeffrey Engel reflect on that strange summer as many Americans today shrug their shoulders at the coming semiquincentennial. Jeremi Suri teaches history at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He writes the Democracy of Hope newsletter. Jeffrey Engel is the founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University. Further reading: On the Country's 250th Anniversary, the American People Are in a Sour Mood by Pew Research

    42 min
  2. You Might Also Like: MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

    16h ago ·  Bonus

    You Might Also Like: MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories

    Introducing Defies Explanation Vol. II from MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories. Follow the show: MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark & Mysterious Stories Today’s podcast will feature 2 stories about unexplainable phenomena. The audio from both of these stories has been pulled from our main YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast. Story names, previews & links to original YouTube videos: #2 -- "Two Faced" -- A man is filled with a deep sense of foreboding after a ghastly sight in his mirror (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6m1ImVG1MQ) #1 -- "Make It Rain" -- An inmate has an incredibly weird ability (Original YouTube link -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXd2m_4oBuY)   You can WATCH all new & exclusive MrBallen podcast episodes on my YouTube channel, just called "MrBallen" - https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBallen If you want to reach out to me, contact me on Instagram, Twitter or any other major social media platform, my username on all of them is @mrballen Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising. DISCLAIMER: Please note, this is an independent podcast episode not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in conjunction with the host podcast feed or any of its media entities. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are solely those of the creators and guests. For any concerns, please reach out to team@podroll.fm.

  3. 2d ago

    Gordon Wood's Remarkable Legacy (Bonus)

    Enjoy this entire 49-minute bonus episode! To listen to future bonus content and get early access to ad-free episodes, become a subscriber today. History As It Happens Premium costs $5 per month. **** On June 7, 2026, the historian Gordon Wood died at 92. He was one of the greatest scholars of the American Revolution and early Republic, who did "as much as anyone to deepen understanding and change perceptions of the forces and events that led to the birth of the United States," according to The New York Times. In this episode, three historians talk about why Gordon Wood's scholarship was so influential, and why his vision of the American founding remains valuable as the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence approaches. Daniel Gullotta teaches American religious history, with a focus on Christianity in Early America, at Ohio State University. Michael Hattem is a historian of the American Revolution specializing in historical memory, political culture, and intellectual history at Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. Craig Bruce Smith is a professor of history at National Defense University in Norfolk, Va. (The views he expresses here are his and his alone.)

    50 min

  4. 3d ago

    Journalism in the Age of Trump

    Subscribe now for ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content. Chuck Todd is our special guest in this episode. He explains how changes in mass media and the journalism business led to the Trump presidency, and how Trump himself exploited the new media landscape to achieve power. Chuck Todd hosts The Chuck ToddCast on YouTube. He is the former NBC News political director and moderator of "Meet the Press." Further reading: The 24/7 Presidency (The Miller Center at the University of Virginia)

    52 min

  5. Jun 12

    The Meteorologist Who Saved D-Day

    Never listen to ads again! Subscribe now for ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content. Our memories of D-Day usually center on the courage and grit of the infantrymen who stormed the Normandy beaches under German fire. We don't talk much about the weatherman. But without Group Captain James Stagg's forecast, there would have been few heroes to remember from June 6, 1944. In this episode, historian William Hitchcock discusses the riveting new film "Pressure," about the excruciating hours before General Eisenhower greenlit Operation Overlord. Audio excerpts of "Pressure" are from Focus Features. Recommended reading: The Bitter Road to Freedom: A New History of the Liberation of Europe by William Hitchcock

    49 min

  6. Jun 9

    Everyday Watergate

    Subscribe now for ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content! President Donald Trump's corruption and abuse of power are staggering. In his second term, he has prioritized enriching himself and his family in broad daylight, while weaponizing the Department of Justice to go after his enemies. In this episode, historian Ken Hughes, an expert on Nixon's secret White House tapes and Watergate, compares and contrasts how America's constitutional system responded to each president's rogue behavior. Recommended reading: By Ken Hughes Chasing Shadows: The Nixon Tapes, the Chennault Affair, and the Origins of Watergate Fatal Politics: The Nixon Tapes, the Vietnam War and the Casualties of Reelection

    58 min

  7. Jun 5

    Cold War Liberalism Redux

    Subscribe now for ad-free listening, early access, and bonus content! What was Cold War liberalism? What is its lasting significance? Does it live on as a zombie ideology? In this episode, historians Daniel Bessner and Michael Brenes trace the origins of this powerful ideology to the 1930s and 40s. It soon reached the apogee of its influence, only to decline after the tragedy of Vietnam. As Americans today grapple with the disastrous consequences of decades of military adventurism, they might find some answers in Cold War liberalism, which shaped U.S. foreign policy as the country emerged from the Second World War a superpower. Daniel Bessner teaches history at the University of Washington and cohosts American Prestige podcast. Michael Brenes is Co-Director of the Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy and Lecturer in History at Yale University. Recommended reading: Cold War Liberalism: Power in a Time of Emergency edited by Daniel Bessner and Michael Brenes

    46 min

  8. Jun 3

    Dealing with Iran, Obama to Trump (Bonus)

    Enjoy this entire 30-minute bonus episode! To listen to future bonus content and get early access to ad-free episodes, become a subscriber today. History As It Happens Premium costs $5 per month. Why do some opponents of the abandoned JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal of 2015, continue to lie about it? Many of these critics are now the most vocal backers of President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fiasco of a war against the Islamic Republic, which has failed in all its main objectives while leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. What was actually in the JCPOA? What did it really accomplish? And why is President Trump reluctant to agree to something similar, or possibly a little better, than what President Obama came up with a decade ago? A negotiated settlement is the only way out of this war. Nuclear arms expert Joe Cirincione is our guest. Further reading: Dollars For Dust by Joe Cirincione (Strategy & History newsletter)

    31 min
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4.3
out of 5
64 Ratings

About

Discover how the past shapes the present with the best historians in the world. Everything happening today comes from something, somewhere. History As It Happens features interviews with today's top scholars and thinkers, interwoven with audio from history's archive. Subscribe for ad-free episodes, early access, and bonus content. https://historyasithappens.supercast.com/

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