History As It Happens

Martin Di Caro
  • 4.3 (63)
  • 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 and access to the entire podcast catalog: https://historyasithappens.supercast.com/

  1. 2D AGO

    Did You Say Monroe Doctrine? Oh, Donroe!

    Subscribe now to skip ads, get bonus content, and enjoy 24/7 access to the entire catalog of 500+ episodes. President Donald Trump is hailing a new era of U.S. dominance and coercion over the Western Hemisphere, starting with his illegal invasion and oil grab in Venezuela. In his remarks following the abduction of Nicolàs Maduro, Trump mentioned the importance of the Monroe Doctrine before offering his own twist on it: the 'Donroe' Doctrine. Most Americans learn about President Monroe's 1823 policy in school and then rarely think about it again. Time for a refresher, with University of Missouri historian Jay Sexton, who specializes in the political and economic history of the nineteenth century. Further reading: Excerpts of the Monroe Doctrine (Gilder Lehrman Institute)

    45 min

  2. 5D AGO

    Hollowing Out Holocaust Memory

    Subscribe now to skip ads, get bonus content, and enjoy 24/7 access to the entire catalog of 500+ episodes. Is Holocaust memory over? Genocide scholars Dirk Moses and Omar McDoom discuss whether elite political and media classes are cheapening the lessons of history by invoking the Holocaust to justify Israel's destruction of Gaza. The emotional issue has led to strife on college campuses, media shouting matches, and craven political cowardice as Palestinian society was pummelled. Dirk Moses teaches history at City College of New York. Omar McDoom is a political scientist at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Recommended reading: Is Holocaust Memory Over? by Dirk Moses (The Diasporist) It's Hamas' Fault, You're an Antisemite, and We Had No Choice: Techniques of Genocide Denial in Gaza by Omar McDoom (Journal of Genocide Research) The Growing Rift Among Holocaust Scholars Over Israel/Palestine by Shira Klein (Journal of Genocide Research) Introduction: Gaza and the Problems of Genocide Studies by Dirk Moses (Journal of Genocide Research)

    49 min

  3. JAN 3

    Special Ep: Trump, Kidnapping Maduro, and Venezuela's Oil

    Subscribe now to skip ads, get bonus content, and enjoy 24/7 access to the entire catalog of 500+ episodes. Breaking news: The Trump administration ordered U.S. forces to invade Venezuela and kidnap its president, Nicolàs Maduro, who was indicted on narcotics-related charges in the United States. The operation violated international law, and the White House did not bother to consult Congress, either. It was the culmination of a months-long pressure campaign designed to oust Venezuela's autocratic leader with the aim of exploiting the country's vast oil and gas reserves, despite all the phony allegations regarding drug trafficking. In this episode, historian Alex Aviña says the attack and abduction are unprecedented, even when taking into consideration the long pattern of U.S. interventionism in Latin America.

    23 min

  4. JAN 1

    Best of HAIH: Due Process? Executive Order 9066

    This episode was first published in May 2025. New episodes will resume on January 6, 2026.  Keep the narrative flow going in the new year! Subscribe now to skip ads, get bonus content, and enjoy 24/7 access to the entire catalog of 500+ episodes. Original show notes: President Donald Trump's invocation of the Alien Enemies Act during peacetime is unprecedented, a part of his larger effort to portray undocumented immigrants as wicked and threatening as he seeks to deport them en masse. What is not unprecedented is the federal government weaponizing the law to shred constitutional protections and civil liberties. During the Second World War, the administration of Franklin Roosevelt arrested and incarcerated Italians, Germans, and Japanese aliens under the 1798 statute, but also interned roughly 100,000 U.S. citizens of Japanese ancestry — one of the most egregious violations of civil rights in U.S. history. In this episode, the eminent historian David M. Kennedy takes us back to those perilous years and their important parallels to the current crisis. Recommended reading: Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 by David M. Kennedy

    42 min

  5. 12/31/2025

    Best of HAIH: Enemies Lists

    This episode was first published in March 2025. New episodes will resume in early January 2026. Subscribe now to skip ads, get bonus content, and enjoy 24/7 access to the entire catalog of 500+ episodes. Original show notes: In late June 1973, former White House counsel John Dean delivered startling testimony before the congressional committee investigating Watergate: Richard Nixon had an enemies list. The point, as Dean had written in a 1971 memo, was to "use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies." The exposure of Nixon's dirty tricks led to his downfall. In 2024, Donald Trump openly campaigned to exact revenge on his enemies. Rather than alienating Republican voters, Trump's call for retribution rallied them. In this episode, historian Ken Hughes compares and contrasts the differences between then and now. Recommended reading: Nixon's official acts against his enemies list led to a bipartisan impeachment effort by Ken Hughes for The Conversation Chasing Shadows: The Nixon Tapes, the Chennault Affair, and the Origins of Watergate by Ken Hughes (book)

    45 min

  6. 12/26/2025

    2025 Year in Review

    Subscribe now to skip ads, get bonus content, and enjoy 24/7 access to the entire catalog of 500+ episodes. This is the final new episode of 2025. New episodes will resume on Tuesday, January 6. Historians Jeremi Suri and Jeffrey Engel look back on a remarkable, distressing year in the U.S. and across the globe, from the Trump administration's lawless conduct to the wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Jeremi Suri teaches history at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He co-hosts 'This is Democracy' podcast and co-writes 'Democracy of Hope' newsletter. Jeffrey Engel is the founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University.

    52 min

  7. 12/23/2025

    Wolverines! The Paranoid Politics of 'Red Dawn'

    Subscribe now to skip ads, get bonus content, and enjoy 24/7 access to the entire catalog of 500 episodes. 'Red Dawn' was in many ways the perfect movie for its time. Released in 1984, it was an action flick with an exciting young cast that entertained moviegoers during a very cold period in the Cold War. The film was patriotic propaganda, depicting innocent American teenagers as fearless freedom fighters resisting the foreign occupation of their hometown. 'Red Dawn' was also a form of "imperial projection," mirroring the anti-Communist anxieties shaping the Reagan administration's rollback policy. In this episode, historian Alex Aviña, an expert on Latin America, reveals the crazy politics of a classic '80s action movie. Wolverines! 'Red Dawn' soundtrack was composed by Basil Poledouris.

    51 min

  8. 12/22/2025 · BONUS

    Bonus Ep! What is Neoliberalism?

    Subscribe now to listen to the entire episode.   It's a common argument in the Age of Trump: Neoliberal economic policies that hollowed out the middle class while enriching the Wall Street class caused the populist backlash. Low taxes, deregulation, austerity budgets, free trade, the unfettered flow of capital into and out of emerging markets, and the privatization of public assets – all fall under the rubric of neoliberal globalization. But is the term too loaded to help us understand what's going on? In this episode, historians Phil Magness and Daniel Bessner attempt to define neoliberalism over time and place.   Daniel Bessner is an associate Professor in American Foreign Policy at the University of Washington. He is the co-host of American Prestige podcast.   Historian Phil Magness is a Senior Fellow at the Independent Institute and the David J. Theroux Chair in Political Economy.

    25 min
See All (40)

4.3
out of 5
63 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 and access to the entire podcast catalog: https://historyasithappens.supercast.com/

Information

You Might Also Like