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 PodcastWW1 At Sea: The Battle of Jutland (1916)
Although overlooked today, the war at sea was a crucial part of World War I overall. The German use of the Unrestricted Submarine Warfare (in which…
History Unplugged PodcastVerdun - The 299-Day Battle That Killed 300K Soldiers And Still Scars The Earth With Unexploded Shells
The Battle of Verdun--fought from February 21-December 18 1916 in the Western Front of France--was horrifying and hellish even by the standards of World War…
History Unplugged Podcast1915: World War One's Year of Poison Gas, Genocide, and Millions of Refugees
In 1915, the Central Powers and Allies dug in their heels and tried desperately to break the stalemate of the war, still hoping for a short conflict on the…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Battle of Gallipoli (1915) How Ataturk and the Ottomans Hurled the Allies (Including Winston Churchill) Into the Sea
The Allies desperately wanted to take control of the Dardanelles (the straights connecting Constantinople with the Mediterranean). They were crucial to Russia…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Forging a President, Part 4, Man vs. Beast
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 PodcastWorld War 1 Trenches Were A Labyrinth of Rats, Disease, Decaying Flesh, and the Omnipresent Threat of Death
“Rats came up from the canal, fed on the plentiful corpses, and multiplied exceedingly. A new officer joined the company and...when he turned in that night he…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Average WW1 Soldier Was a 110-Pound Villager Who Suffered Disease, Hunger, and PTSD
This episode is an overview of the profile of an average soldier in World War One. We will look at the backgrounds, training, and provisions allotted to troops…
History Unplugged PodcastGermany's Plans For Total French Defeat in 1914 Failed at the Battle of the Marne
The beginning of World War One was marked the breakdown of the western powers’ war plans. Leaders on both sides experienced surprises, shocks, and the failure…
History Unplugged PodcastGermany So Completely Annihilated Russia At the WW1 Battle of Tannenberg That A Russian General Committed Suicide
The Battle of Tannenberg was the first major battle of World War One, fought between Germany and Russia, who surprised everyone with its fast mobilization…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Forging a President, Part 3, Teddy Roosevelt's First Buffalo Hunt
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 PodcastEurope's Pre-WW1 Alliances Were a Doomsday Machine That Pulled the Entire Continent Into War
An impossibly complex web of alliances that maintained a fragile peace in Europe (and surprisingly held it together since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in…
History Unplugged PodcastIntroducing "Key Battles of World War One": Why Europe in 1914 Had Absolutely No Idea It Was About To Enter The Most Hellish War Ever
World War One is the watershed moment in modern history. The Western World before it was one of aristocrats, empires, colonies, and optimism for a future of…
History Unplugged Podcast2 Announcements: Key Battles of WW1 Begins Soon; History Unplugged Launches Youtube Channel
Next week James Early and Scott Rank will kick off their massive series called Key Battles of World War One. By the end, you'll know every aspect of the Great…
History Unplugged PodcastDreams of India's Vast Wealth Made Everyone From Ancient Greeks to Renaissance Portuguese Risk Death To Reach It
Claims of India's fantastic wealth lead Europeans through the centuries to seek to trade with this fabled land, which existed on the far eastern reaches of…
History Unplugged PodcastWhy 1776 -- Not 1619 -- Matters More Than Ever in 2020
The American Revolution has received a burst of attention in the last two decades, with Pulitzer Prize-winning monographs from David McCullough and Ron Chernow…
History Unplugged PodcastA Jewish Family Couldn’t Flee Nazi Germany. So They Wrote Letters to Strangers in America Asking For Help
In 1939, as the Nazis closed in, Alfred Berger mailed a desperate letter to an American stranger who happened to share his last name. He and his wife, Viennese…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Forging a President, Part 2
This is a preview of a members-only series on Teddy Roosevelt's years in the Dakota Badlands called Forging a President. Subscribe today for access to all…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Fall of Constantinople in 1453 Ended the European Middle Ages and Sealed the Rise of the Ottomans
1453 was the most shocking year in Europe since the starting of the Bubonic Plague (1347), the beginning of the First Crusade (1095), or the crowning of…
History Unplugged PodcastGeorge Washington's Dream of Eternal Harmony Between White Settlers and Indians, and Why It Failed
For George Washington, the “foreign” nation that posed the biggest threat to the survival of the infant United States wasn’t Britain, France, or Spain; it was…
History Unplugged PodcastAdolf Hitler Didn’t Survive WW2 or Secretly Flee to Argentina. Here’s Why So Many Think He Did
Did Hitler die in his bunker…or not? I’m talking with Robert J. Hutchinson today to explore what really happened to Hitler. He’s the author of the book What…
History Unplugged PodcastGod's Shadow: Why A 16th-Century Ottoman Sultan Created the Modern World
Long neglected in world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of intellectual fervor and geopolitical power. At the height of their authority in the sixteenth…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Forging a President, Part 1
This is a preview of a members-only series on Teddy Roosevelt's years in the Dakota Badlands called Forging a President. Subscribe today for access to all…
History Unplugged PodcastMaking a Book in the Middle Ages Took Years and Was Literally Physical Torture
Making a book in the Middle Ages was extremely hard work. It took the skin of several calves to make the vellum (a writing material), an army of monks in a…
History Unplugged PodcastMartha Dodd: The American Soviet Spy and Hitler’s Would-Be Lover Who Dreamed of a Communist World
In 1933, Martha Dodd, a 24-year-old aspiring writer who had already had several affairs and a failed marriage embarked with her family to Berlin, where her…
History Unplugged PodcastAmerica’s First Black Fighter Pilot Was Also a Boxer, Night Club Owner, and WW2 Spy in France
One of the greatest unsung heroes of the twentieth century is Gene "Jacques" Bullard, a World War One fighter pilot, boxer, spy, and overall adventurer. He was…
History Unplugged PodcastSam Colt's Six-Shooter Launched The American Industrial Revolution and Sped Western Settlement
In August of 1831, a 16-year-old from Connecticut named Sam Colt boarded a ship of missionaries bound for a round-trip voyage to Calcutta. Restless and…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Nazi Spy Ring in America: The Third Reich's Agents, the FBI, and the Case That Stirred the Nation
In the mid-1930s, just as the United States was embarking on a policy of neutrality, Nazi Germany embarked on a program of espionage against the unwary nation…
History Unplugged PodcastIn 1200 AD, This Indian City on the Mississippi Was Larger Than London And On the Verge Of Starting an Advanced Civilization
Many great Mesoamerican civilizations existed before and long after the arrival of Christopher Columbus: The Incans, Mayas, and Aztecs. But there was one…
History Unplugged PodcastAmerica's Hub of Global Trade and Culture Was and Is....the Midwest?
When Kristin L. Hoganson arrived in Champaign, Illinois, after teaching at Harvard, studying at Yale, and living in the D.C. metro area with various stints…
History Unplugged PodcastHow Hollywood First Depicted the Atomic Bomb and the Manhattan Project
Soon after atomic bombs exploded over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, MGM set out to make a movie studio chief Louis B. Mayer called “the most important story”…
History Unplugged PodcastA Time of Perfect American National Unity is a Myth, But Some US Origin Stories Are Better Than Others
The cherished idea of United States as a unified country has been long believed. But today’s guest Colin Woodard argues that this is an invented tradition. He…
History Unplugged Podcast40 Thieves on Saipan: The Elite Marine Scout-Snipers in One of WWII’s Bloodiest Battles
Before there were Navy SEALs, before there were Green Berets, there were the 40 Thieves: the elite Scout Sniper Platoon of the Sixth Marine Regiment during…
History Unplugged PodcastGeorge Washington’s Team of Rivals: How His Cabinet Forefathered One of America’s Most Powerful Institutions
The U.S. Constitution never established a presidential cabinet—the delegates to the Constitutional Convention explicitly rejected the idea. So how did George…
History Unplugged PodcastLessons From James Monroe, Who Defeated a Pandemic and Overcame Partisanship
James Monroe, America’s fifth president and the last chief executive of the Founding Father generation, lived a life defined by revolutions. From the…
History Unplugged PodcastEmpires of the Sky: Zeppelins, Airplanes, and Two Men’s Epic Duel to Rule the World
At the dawn of the twentieth century, when human flight was still considered an impossibility, Germany's Count von Zeppelin vied with the Wright Brothers to…
History Unplugged PodcastNazis Nearly Assassinated Stalin, Churchill, and FDR in 1943. What If They Had Succeeded?
In the middle of World War II, Nazi military intelligence discovered a seemingly easy way to win the war for Adolf Hitler. The three heads of the Allied…
History Unplugged PodcastIn the 1850s, A Mormon Renegade Started a Massive Pirate Colony in Michigan
In the summer of 1843, James Strang, a charismatic young lawyer and avowed atheist, vanished from a rural town in New York. Months later he reappeared on the…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Good Assassin: A Mossad Agent's Hunt For WW2’s “Butcher of Latvia”
Before World War II, Herbert Cukurs was a famous figure in his small Latvian city, the “Charles Lindbergh of his country.” But by 1945, he was the Butcher of…
History Unplugged PodcastDeath From Above - How Paratroopers Evolved From a WW1 Pipe Dream To A Key Part of Combined-Arms Assault
“Paratroopers are about the most peculiar breed of human beings I have ever witnessed. They treat their service as if it were some kind of cult, plastering…
History Unplugged PodcastWant to Star Your Own Nation? That's What a Family Did in 1967 When it Created "Sealand"
In 1967, a retired army major and self-made millionaire named Paddy Roy Bates cemented his family's place in history when he inaugurated himself ruler of the…
History Unplugged PodcastWhy the Galileo Affair is One of History's Most Misunderstood Events
One of the most misconstrued events in history is the Galileo affair. It is commonly understood as a black-and-white morality play of science vs. religion…
History Unplugged PodcastHenry Knox's Noble Train: How a Boston Bookseller’s Expedition Saved the American Revolution
During the brutal winter of 1775-1776, an untested Boston bookseller named Henry Knox commandeered an oxen train hauling sixty tons of cannons and other…
History Unplugged PodcastDewey Defeats Truman: The 1948 Election and the Battle for America's Soul
On the eve of the 1948 election, America was a fractured country. Racism was rampant, foreign relations were fraught, and political parties were more divided…
History Unplugged PodcastHistory’s First Global Manhunt: The Search for 18th Century Pirate Henry Every
Most confrontations, viewed from the wide angle of history, are minor disputes, sparks that quickly die out. But every now and then, someone strikes a match…
History Unplugged PodcastHistory's Most Insane Rulers, Part 5: Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II of Bavaria was a dreamer, above all. The king famously built fairy-tale style castles that adorned the Alps but were completely useless for defensive…
History Unplugged PodcastHistory's Most Insane Rulers, Part 4: George III
Americans might have been tempted to schadenfreude after learning the fate of British King George III. The villain of the American Revolution spent the final…
History Unplugged PodcastHistory's Most Insane Rulers, Part 3: Ibrahim I -- The Sultan Who Loved Fur and Drowned His Harem
Ottoman Sultan Ibrahim (1616-1648) believed he was the sort of ruler that came out of legend, so he ordered a massive tax to fund the decoration of his palace…
History Unplugged PodcastHistory's Most Insane Rulers, Part 2: Charles VI -- The King Who Thought He Was Made of Glass
King Charles VI of France (1368-1422) suffered from a particular disorder called "The Glass Delusion." He believed himself to be made of glass and could…
History Unplugged PodcastHistory's Most Insane Rulers, Part 1: Emperor Caligula--Bankrupting Rome By Appointing Your Horse Senator
When Salvador Dali set out to paint a depiction of the infamous Roman Emperor Caligula in 1971, he chose to depict the thing nearest and dearest to the…
History Unplugged PodcastThese Are History's Nine Most Insane Rulers
Few mixtures are as toxic as absolute power and insanity. When nothing stands between a leader's delusional whims and seeing them carried out, all sorts of…
History Unplugged PodcastD-Day Girls: The Female Spies Who Armed the French Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Made the Normandy Invasion Possible
In 1942, the Allies were losing, Germany seemed unstoppable, and every able man in England was on the front lines. To “set Europe ablaze,” in the words of…
History Unplugged PodcastHow Economies Bounce Back From Total Collapse: The German Economic Miracle (1948-1957)
After World War II the German economy was a smoldering ruin. Scorched-earth policies destroyed 20-70% of all houses. Factories, hospitals, and schools were…
History Unplugged PodcastDiscovering Your Grandfather Was Joseph Stalin's Bodyguard
Delving into your family history can reveal many surprises, but for Russian-American author Alex Halberstadt, it meant learning about his grandfather's…
History Unplugged PodcastA Confederate Civil War Submarine Was Lost 150 Years Ago. Its Reappearance Was An Unsolved Mystery...Until Now
One of the most mysterious submarine disasters in history was the sinking of the HL Hunley, a Confederate Civil War submarine. This 40-foot-long tin can was…
History Unplugged PodcastReconstruction: America’s Terrible National Hangover After the Civil War
After the massive devastation and scorched earth wartime methods of the Civil War, America tried to rebuild itself. This era was known as Reconstruction and…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Lincoln Assassination: Did John Wilkes Booth Act Alone Or Was it a Confederacy-Ordered Hit?
Everyone thinks they know what happened at the Lincoln assassination… but do they? After 150 years, a multitude of unsolved mysteries and urban legends still…
History Unplugged PodcastJapan Developed an Atomic Bomb in WW2. It Laid the Groundwork for North Korea's Nuclear Program
Japan’s WWII development of a nuclear program is not universally known. But after decades of research into national intelligence archives both in the US and…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Celebrity Power Couple Who Mapped the West and Helped Cause the Civil War
John and Jessie Frémont, the husband and wife team who in the 1800s were instrumental in the westward expansion of the United States, became America’s first…
History Unplugged PodcastNazi Super Science: The Third Reich's Plans for Transatlantic Bombers, Atomic Weapons, and Orbital Death Rays
Fiction abounds with stories of Nazi Superscience: From Captain America's nemesis Red Skull to the B-movie treasure Iron Sky (which suggests the Third Reich…
History Unplugged PodcastWhy Dan Carlin Believes That The End is Always Near
With the endless talk of COVID-19, many think we are facing an unprecedented threat of the collapse of our civilization. But Dan Carlin, host of Hardcore…