Shows / History Unplugged Podcast
History Unplugged Podcast
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…
Episodes
History Unplugged PodcastLady Bird Johnson: The Most Underestimated – and Most Powerful? – First Lady of the 20th Century
In the spring of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson had a decision to make. Just months after moving into the White House under the worst of…
History Unplugged PodcastAmerican Espionage Was Born in the Dark Taverns of Philadelphia
Philadelphia is often referred to as the birthplace of a nation, but it would also be fair to say that it was the birthplace of American espionage. Today’s…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Jazz Age Tale of America’s First Gangster Couple, Margaret and Richard Whittemore
Before Bonnie and Clyde, there was another criminal couple capturing America’s attention. Baltimore sweethearts, Margaret and Richard Whittemore, made tabloids…
History Unplugged PodcastAnnouncement: Next Week James Early and I Launch "Key Battles of the Pacific Theatre (WW2)"
Good news! Next week James Early and I launch a 35-part series called Key Battles of the Pacific Theater (WW2). You won't hear it on this podcast but on…
History Unplugged PodcastFor Centuries, America’s Best Friend in the Middle East Was…Iran?
As far back as America’s colonial period, educated residents were fascinated with Iran (or Persia, as it was known). The Persian Empire was subject of great…
History Unplugged PodcastGeorge Washington Became Great Because He Spent Years in the Political Wilderness as a Washed-Up Has-Been
By age twenty-two, George Washington was acclaimed as a hero. As a commander of the Virginia Regiment, he gave orders to men decades older than himself. He was…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Nazi’s Granddaughter -- Discovering War Crimes in Your Family's Past
This episode looks at a deathbed promise from a daughter to a mother, which leads the daughter on a journey to write about her grandfather who was a famous war…
History Unplugged PodcastThe 15-Hour Work Week Was Standard For Nearly All of History. What Happened?
There’s nothing in human DNA that makes the 40-hour workweek a biological necessity. In fact, for much of human history, 15 hours of work a week was the…
History Unplugged PodcastLow Troop Morale Can Literally Destroy a Nation. That’s Why the USO Was Formed in 1941.
A standing army is the most powerful force in a nation, but it can also threaten its very survival. That’s because you're taking a group of young men – those…
History Unplugged PodcastDefining Treason – Why Are Founding Fathers Heroes But Confederate Leaders Not?
There is perhaps no other accusation as damning as ‘traitor.’ The only crime specifically defined in the Constitution, the term conjures notions of Benedict…
History Unplugged Podcast“Fire Eaters” of the Confederacy: The Foot Soldiers of the South Who Made Secession Possible
The story of the American Civil War is typically told with particular interest in the national players behind the war: Davis, Lincoln, Lee, Grant, and their…
History Unplugged PodcastWitnessing The Final Destruction of Hitler’s War Machine
By mid-February 1945, the Wehrmacht had finally reached strategic bankruptcy. In January and February alone, it had lost 660,000 men. The Home Army lacked the…
History Unplugged PodcastThe USS Plunkett: The Unsinkable Navy Destroyer That Fought at Manzio, D-Day, and Southern France
The USS Plunkett was a US Navy destroyer that sustained the most harrowing attack on any Navy ship by the Germans during World War II, that gave as good as it…
History Unplugged PodcastHow Ex-Slaves Built New Lives for Themselves – and America – After the Civil War
After the massive devastation of the Civil War, America tried to rebuild itself, leading to the era of Reconstruction. Many hoped the South would peaceably…
History Unplugged PodcastGeorge Washington’s Final (And Most Important?) Battle Was Uniting America By Building a New Capital
George Washington is remembered for leading the Continental Army to victory, presiding over the Constitution, and forging a new nation, but few know the story…
History Unplugged PodcastLessons Companies Should Learn From Mobsters' Business Practices
Every day, iconic brands like J.C. Penny, Sears, Kodak, and Blockbuster vanish. As entire lawful industries are disrupted out of existence, how have some…
History Unplugged PodcastAll of Human History, Civilization, and Culture Converge in One Place: Turkish Food
Napoleon once commented that if the Earth were a single state, Istanbul (nee Constantinople) would be its capital. The general clearly knew his geography…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Forgotten Fourteenth Colony of British North America
British West Florida—which once stretched from the mighty Mississippi to the shallow bends of the Apalachicola and portions of what are now the states of…
History Unplugged PodcastHow to Recover Family Treasure The Nazis Plundered in the 1940s
Today's guest recently went on a quest to reclaim his family’s property in Poland and found himself entangled with Nazi treasure hunters. He is Menachem…
History Unplugged PodcastHow 9 Former Slaves Started a Proto University in Alabama in 1867
Alabama State University is well known as a historically black university and for the involvement of its faculty and students in the civil rights movement…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Pen or the Sword? How Lincoln and John Brown Disagreed on Achieving Emancipation
John Brown was a charismatic and deeply religious man who heard the God of the Old Testament speaking to him, telling him to destroy slavery by any means. When…
History Unplugged PodcastHow States Got Their Shapes
Why do Midwestern and Rocky Mountain states share a boxy, sharp-edged shape while East Coast state borders look like the fever dream of an impressionist…
History Unplugged PodcastGreat News! Frequent Guest James Early Has Launched His Own Podcast - Key Battles of American History.
Frequent History Unplugged guest James Early (co-host of Key Battles of the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WW1, and Presidential Fight Club) now has his own…
History Unplugged PodcastWhen to Let the Past Die: The Case of Obersalzberg and Denazification
In this episode, we’ll look at Obersalzberg--a region that became a secret headquarters for the Nazi Party in WW2 that was later completely destroyed by the…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Mountain Man Was Once Considered To Be The Purest Distillation of the American Spirit
For a 100-year period, from the 1880s to 1980s, if you asked an American which profession was the purest expression of the nation's spirit, they wouldn't…
History Unplugged PodcastSally Rand Was America's Sex Symbol, From the Roaring 20s to the Apollo Era
She would be arrested six times in one day for indecency. She would be immortalized in the final scene of The Right Stuff, cartoons, popular culture, and live…
History Unplugged PodcastIf the 1700s American Fur Trade Had Turned Out Differently, Californians Would Be Speaking Russian Today
Today's guest is David Bainbridge, author of "Fur War 1765-1840," which focuses on the catastrophic - and previously overlooked - elements of the Western fur…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Most Giant Leap in the Evolution of Modern Warfare was...the Jeep?
The 1940-41 era was a bleak time in American history. The country was still in the midst of a recession within the Great Depression. Resources were limited…
History Unplugged PodcastAbraham Lincoln Survived and Thrived in the Anarchy of Antebellum America
“Some 16,000 books have been written about Abraham Lincoln,” Gordon Wood writes in The Wall Street Journal, “more than any other historical figure except…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Cuban Missile Crisis Was Horrifyling Close to Becoming a Nuclear Holocaust
The Cuban Missile Crisis of the early 1960s nearly led to a full-scale nuclear war between America and the Soviet Union. It thankfully didn't happen, but we…
History Unplugged PodcastAtomic Bombs, Ancient Women Warriors, and Alien Conspiracy Theories of WW2
This episode is a 3-in-1, in which Scott answers a trio of questions from listeners. First question: Did ancient female warriors exist, and if so, how common…
History Unplugged PodcastHow Ancient Egypt Lives On
A nasty historical myth that won’t die is that aliens created the ancient pyramids. If you watch the show ancient aliens on the history channel you’ll see…
History Unplugged PodcastIn 1813, a Shawnee "Prophet" Launched a War to Conquer the Great Lakes Region
Until the Americans killed Tecumseh in 1813, he and his brother Tenskwatawa were the co-architects of the broadest pan-Indian confederation in United States…
History Unplugged PodcastMillions Were Left Homeless After WW2. What Happened To Those Who Were Permanently Exiled?
In May 1945, German forces surrendered to the Allied powers, putting an end to World War II in Europe. But the aftershocks of global military conflict did not…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Mafia Was the Glue That Held Entire American Cities Together in the 20th Century
The Mafia and many political machines ran entire American cities in the 19th and 20 centuries. But some mobsters claim that it went much further than that…
History Unplugged PodcastIron Empires: Robber Barons, Railroads, and the Making of Modern America
Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Tim Cook are just a few of today’s business pioneers who have succeeded in disrupting older existing business models, and…
History Unplugged PodcastAn Army Without a Country: Prussia’s Cult of the Military and the Road to World War One
Almost no society worshipped its military as much as the German state of Prussia in the 1700s-1800s (outside of ancient Sparta). Prussia was famously described…
History Unplugged PodcastWilliam Miller Predicted Christ’s Return in 1844. Here's What Happened After His Prophecy Failed
In October 1844, tens of thousands of people in New England believed the world would soon end. They followed William Miller, a man who claimed that through his…
History Unplugged PodcastThis Civil War-Era Luke Skywalker Destroyed an Ironclad Death Star
One of America’s greatest but little-remembered Civil War heroes was Commander William Barker Cushing, who sank the Confederate ironclad Albemarle in a…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Greek Triple Agent: Alcibiades, The Strategist Who Fought On 3 Sides of the Peloponnesian War
Imagine if Benedict Arnold defected from America, went to England, then conspired against England with France during the Napoleonic Wars. During the War of…
History Unplugged PodcastAmerica’s Worst President Can Teach Us Much About Writing Raunchy Poetry and Dying Suspiciously
The common view of Warren G. Harding is this: a likable affable fool from Ohio who was chose as Republican presidential candidate at a deadlocked national…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Eternal Legacy of the First World War
World War One was the most consequential social event in centuries. 10 million soldiers died, creating 3 million widows and 10 million orphans. Many Europeans…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Sad Afterlives of WW1's Leaders: The Humbling (and Exiling) of Generals, Emperors, and Sultans
From 1914-1918, the leaders of World War One were generals who commanded millions of men, emperors who inherited dynasties with centuries of accumulated…
History Unplugged PodcastThe 1919 Paris Peace Conference Laid The First Bricks of the Road to World War Two
The Paris Peace Conference opened on January 18, 1919. Its task was the writing of five separate peace treaties with the defeated separate powers: Germany…
History Unplugged PodcastWW1 Ends with Armistice: The Moment of Silence That Sounded Like the Voice of God
After Germany's' failed spring offensive, realized the only way to win was to push into France before the United States fully deployed its resources. The…
History Unplugged PodcastThe 1918 Battle of Meggido Shattered the Ottoman Empire and Created the Modern Middle East
The Battle of Megiddo was the climactic battle of the Sinai and Palestine campaign of the First World War, with Germans and Ottomans on one side, and British…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Pilgrims and Native Americans Were Both On the Verge of Death Upon Meeting. Here's How They Saved Each Others' Lives.
For thousands of years, two distinct cultures evolved unaware of one another’s existence. Separated by what one culture called The Great Sea and known to the…
History Unplugged PodcastThanksgiving Owes Its Existence To The 19th Century's Biggest Social Media Influencer
Thanksgiving today is now a commercially driven holiday with Black Friday following closely at its heels, celebrated with a department store parade, football…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Empire Strikes Back: Germany's Final Push to Win WW1 in Spring 1918
Many thought that Germany was capable of winning World War One until the very end. Unlike World War 2, in which the Allies believed that victory was inevitable…
History Unplugged PodcastTank Warfare--How Military Tech Took a Quantum Leap at the Battle of Cambrai (1917)
The British developed the tank in response to the trench warfare of World War I. In 1914, a British army colonel named Ernest Swinton and William Hankey…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Yanks Are Coming -- America Enters World War One
Most Americans are indifferent about the nation's involvement in World War One (under half say the U.S. had a responsibility to fight in the war; one-in-five…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Slog of War -- the Passchendaele Campaign of 1917
The best way to describe the Third Ypres (Passchendaele) Campaign of 1917. It’s ‘slog.’ When you think about a drudging act that seems to accomplish nothing…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Forging a President, Part 6: The Newly-Minted Cowboy
This is a preview of an episode in a members-only series on Teddy Roosevelt's years in the Dakota Badlands called Forging a President. Subscribe today for…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Russian Revolutions of 1917-1923--A Bigger Threat Than the Kaiser?
We’ve looked at many battles in this series, but we’ve only tangentially touched on how this war fundamentally altered European society. The Great War is the…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Election of 1800 Was Worse Than 2020 in Every Way Imaginable
The election was perhaps the nastiest election the country has seen. It had horrible partisan rancor, personal insults, and a politicized media. But we aren't…
History Unplugged PodcastWhy WW1 Was the Graveyard of Empires (Russian, Ottoman, Austro-Hungarian)
World War One shattered the empires of Russia, the Ottomans, and the Austro-Hungarians, which had all existed in one form or another for centuries. That's…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Battle of the Somme Caused 1 Million Casualties But Was a Turning Point for WW1
The 1916 Battle of the Somme caused a total of 1 million casualties on all sides. the total is over a million casualties. The Allies had gained very little…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Flying Aces of World War One
Since the first successful flight of an airplane, people had imagined and dreamed of airplanes being used for combat. H. G. Wells's 1908 book (The War in the…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Brusilov Offensive: Russia's Mortal Blow to Austria-Hungary
Russia had lost a great deal of territory to Germany and Austria in 1915, and they wanted to gain it back. Russian General Alexei Brusilov put together a plan…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Forging a President, Part 5: Four-Eyes
This is a preview of an episode in a members-only series on Teddy Roosevelt's years in the Dakota Badlands called Forging a President. Subscribe today for…