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 PodcastKey Battles of the Revolutionary War, Part 1: The World of the American Revolution
Grab your musket and your portion of rum, Yankee, because we have a war to fight! James Early returns to the History Unplugged Podcast to kick off a massive…
History Unplugged PodcastAnnouncement: Key Battles of the Revolutionary War Starts Next Week
Grab your tricorne hat and musket because next week we are kicking off a massive series called Key Battles of the Revolutionary War. See…
History Unplugged PodcastOpium: How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World
In 2017, over 47,000 Americans died as the result of opioid overdoses, more than died annually in this country during the peak of the AIDs epidemic, and more…
History Unplugged PodcastEisenhower's Interstates: The Modern-Day Roman Roads
Dwight Eisenhower inaugurated the US. Interstate System, which now boasts more than 50,000 miles of roads. The idea came to a young Eisenhower in 1919 when he…
History Unplugged PodcastAfter Watergate, Richard Nixon Created the Career Path for All Ex-Presidents
On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first and only U.S. president to resign from office—to avoid almost certain impeachment. Utterly disgraced, he was…
History Unplugged PodcastWomen Warriors: How Females Have Fought in Combat Since History's Beginning
From Vikings and African queens to cross-dressing military doctors and WWII Russian fighter pilots, battle was not a metaphor for women across history. But for…
History Unplugged PodcastHollywood Hates History, Part 8: Dracula Untold (2014)
Dracula Untold has absolutely no right being as historically accurate as it is. Made in 2014, this was Universal Studio's first attempt to use the intellectual…
History Unplugged PodcastHollywood Hates History, Part 7: The Alamo (2004)
In the final two episodes of this mini-series, Steve and Scott talk about movies that actually do a good job of conveying history, or at least as much as…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Rendezvous With Death, Part 8
Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! https://patreon.com/unplugged See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
History Unplugged PodcastHollywood Hates History, Part 6: The Scarlet Letter (1995)
Demi Moore did not win any Academy Awards for her portrayal of 17th-century Puritan Hester Prynne. But she did succeed in transforming Nathaniel Hawthorne's…
History Unplugged PodcastHollywood Hates History, Part 5—The Conqueror (1956)
In our second John Wayne film, we watch the Duke put on a fake fu manchu mustache and yellow face makeup to play the role he was born NOT to play: Genghis…
History Unplugged PodcastHollywood Hates History, Part 4—The Green Berets (1968)
John Wayne was 62 years old when he tried to portray a fit Vietnam War Green Beret colonel, but the obvious age gap isn't the only head scratcher in this film…
History Unplugged PodcastHollywood Hates History, Part 3—The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Based on Dan Brown's mega best-selling instructional manual on how to write terrible English, Scott and Steve discuss "The Da Vinci Code," the 2006 Ron Howard…
History Unplugged PodcastHollywood Hates History, Part 2: Agora (2009)
In the second episode of this series, Stephen tells us everything he doesn't like about the 2009 film Agora, which is a lot. The movie stars Rachel Weisz…
History Unplugged PodcastHollywood Hates History, Part 1: Kingdom of Heaven
This episode is the first in a mini-series that Scott is doing with fellow history podcaster Stephen Guerra (History of the Papacy, Beyond the Big Screen)…
History Unplugged PodcastAnnouncement: 'Hollywood Hates History' Starts Next Week
Next week an eight-part mini-series called Hollywood Hates History launches. Scott co-hosts with fellow history podcaster Steve Guerra to look at some of the…
History Unplugged PodcastA Vote of No Confidence: How to Obliterate Your Current Government
Americans and Europeans are confused by much about each other, especially their respective governmental systems. Europeans are baffled by American elections…
History Unplugged PodcastGeorge Washington as Man, General, Leader, and Mule Pioneer
George Washington is nearly as famous for his character as he is a general and statesman. In this episode we look at his famed attributes for leadership and…
History Unplugged PodcastA Shred to End All Shreds: World War I Meets Swedish Metal
This episode of History Unplugged is unlike any we've ever done. Scott interviews Joakim Brodén, lead singer of Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton, whose new…
History Unplugged PodcastHas The Lost Colony of Roanoke Been Found?
In 1587, 115 men, women, and children arrived at Roanoke Island on the coast ofNorth Carolina. Chartered by Queen Elizabeth I, their colony was to establish…
History Unplugged PodcastEinstein's War: How Relativity Triumphed Amid the Vicious Nationalism of World War I
Albert Einstein’s rise to fame was not instantaneous and easy. Rather, Einstein’s celebrity was, in large part, not his own doing. His grand ideas (ideas that…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Forgotten Assassin – Sirhan Sirhan and the Killing of Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1968 seemed like it should have been an open-and-shut case. Many people crowded in the small room at Los Angeles’s famed…
History Unplugged PodcastChief Executives in the Cockpit—When Presidents Take to the Skies
In this episode we look at all U.S. presidents who served as fighter pilots or in any sort of military combat role. We also look at the first president to fly…
History Unplugged PodcastGeorge Mason: The Most Important Founding Father Nobody Remembers
If a list were constructed of the most important Virginians in American history, George Mason would appear near the top. His influence on public policy, the…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Rendezvous With Death, Part 7
Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! https://patreon.com/unplugged See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
History Unplugged PodcastSpies in the Ancient World, Part 2: On His Roman Emperor's Secret Service
In this episode we are looking at ancient Greek cryptography and the Roman frumentarii, a group of wheat sellers who turned into the empire's premier…
History Unplugged PodcastSpies in the Ancient World, Part 1: How a Bronze-Age Tribe Infiltrated Jericho
Spycraft is as old as civilization and just as essential to running a government as taxes, roads, armies, or schools. Sun Tzu devoted an entire chapter to spy…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Rendezvous With Death, Part 6
Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! https://patreon.com/unplugged See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
History Unplugged PodcastThe Real Oregon Trail: Beyond Dysentery and the Apple II Game
If you were a middle schooler in the United States anytime after 1985 and had a study hall with an Apple II, there is a very high chance you played Oregon…
History Unplugged PodcastHow to Get Processed Through Ellis Island In 2 Hours or Less
More than 12 million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island during its years of operation from 1892 to 1954. Those that came typically spoke…
History Unplugged PodcastSpecial Announcement: Check Out My New Show 'Ottoman Lives'
Go to www.ottomanlives.com to check out my new show about the people who made the Ottoman Empire run. The Ottoman Empire lasted for six hundred years and…
History Unplugged PodcastGeorge Armstrong Custer: Cocky Military Officer or America's Version of Leonidas at Thermopylae?
George Armstrong Custer had a storied military career—from cutting his teeth at Bull Run in the Civil War, to his famous and untimely death at Little Bighorn…
History Unplugged PodcastAn Interview with 95-Year-Old Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. Harry Stewart
“Colored people aren’t accepted as airline pilots.” The “negro type has not the proper reflexes to make a first-class fighter pilot.” These were the degrading…
History Unplugged PodcastVlad the Impaler is the (Partial) Inspiration for Count Dracula
Vampire lore goes back to the ancient world (revenant legends abound from Rome to China) but vampire mythology doesn't come into its own until at least the…
History Unplugged Podcast'A Woman of No Importance': The One-Legged WW2 Spy Virginia Hall
In 1942, as World War II was raging, the Gestapo sent out an urgent message: “She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her.”…
History Unplugged PodcastThe 4,000-Year-Old Question: Is Judaism a Religion, Ethnicity, Race, or Culture?
What is Judaism? What does it mean to be Jewish? Is it an ethnicity (being one of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), a religion (following the…
History Unplugged PodcastThe 500-Year Story of a Gutenberg Bible And Everyone Who Owned It
For rare-book collectors, an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible—of which there are fewer than 50 in existence (and which can sell for $100…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Rendezvous With Death, Part 5
Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! https://patreon.com/unplugged See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
History Unplugged PodcastHitler’s “Desert Fox”: The Military Career of Erwin Rommel
Erwin Rommel, a German field marshal in World War Two, was probably more respected and feared than any other figure in the Wehrmacht. He issued early defeats…
History Unplugged PodcastWhen Irish Vets of the American Civil War Invaded Canada in 1866
One year after the Civil War ended, a group of delusional and mostly incompetent commanders sponsored by bitterly competing groups riddled with spies, led tiny…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present
The received idea of Native American history--as promulgated by books like Dee Brown's mega-bestselling 1970 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee--has been that…
History Unplugged PodcastHow Industrialists Plotted to Overthrow FDR Over The New Deal in 1934
FDR launched the New Deal immediately after his 1933 inauguration, but it was not universally popular. Some hated it bitterly. Critics from the right thought…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Rendezvous With Death, Part 4
Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! https://patreon.com/unplugged See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
History Unplugged PodcastMaking Your Death Memorable: The Oldest Tombs We Can Trace To One Person
What are the oldest known tombs that can reliably be traced to a person? These are surprisingly tricky to track down. While archeologists constantly find human…
History Unplugged PodcastThe Kremlin Letters: Stalin's Wartime Correspondence with Churchill and Roosevelt
From 1941 to 1945, Joseph Stalin exchanged more than six hundred messages with Allied leaders Churchill and Roosevelt. The correspondence ranged from intimate…
History Unplugged PodcastThe RAF Won the Battle of Britain With Strategy But Also Plenty of Luck
In the summer of 1940, Germany sent armadas of bombers and fighters over England hoping to lure the RAF into battle and annihilate the defenders. Day after day…
History Unplugged PodcastWhy The Printing Press Appeared in the Middle East 400 Years After Europe
Why were there no printing presses in the Middle East until four centuries after Europe? Did it have to do with Islam prohibiting this technology? Was the…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Rendezvous With Death, Part 3
Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! https://patreon.com/unplugged See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
History Unplugged PodcastLast Night on the Titanic: Conclusion
In the final episode in this series, Veronica and Scott discuss the enduring legacy of the Titanic and why a disaster that happened 107 years ago still…
History Unplugged PodcastLast Night on the Titanic: Doctors and Con Artists
The Titanic was filled with medical professionals either working as ship personnel or traveling in a non-professional capacity. There were also plenty of con…
History Unplugged PodcastLast Night on the Titanic: The Musicians
The musicians of the Titanic famously continued playing as the ship went down, a testimony to practicing one's craft until their dying breath. But did it…
History Unplugged PodcastLast Night on the Titanic: The Trend Setters
Many Titanic passengers were known for setting the styles. In this episode we will profile the two Luciles: famed fashionistas Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon and Lucile…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Rendezvous With Death, Part 2
Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! https://patreon.com/unplugged See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
History Unplugged PodcastLast Night on the Titanic: The Life Savers
Mr. Rogers once said, “When there is a disaster, always look for the helpers; there will always be helpers. Many died on the night of the Titanic's sinking…
History Unplugged PodcastLast Night on the Titanic: The Cooks
The cooks and other support staff of the Titanic “drowned like rats” due to not being assigned a clear place in the pecking order of escapees. One who did…
History Unplugged PodcastSneak Peek of the New Podcast Series "Espionage"
Code Names. Deception. Gadgets. It might seem like something out of the movies, but these are just some of the essential components of being a spy. ESPIONAGE…
History Unplugged PodcastLast Night on the Titanic: The Writers
The sinking of the Titanic is memorable for its countless stories, and the reason that so many of them have found their way down to us today was the many…
History Unplugged PodcastLast Night on the Titanic: The Popcorn Vendor
One legendary fixture on the Titanic was a gregarious popcorn vendor known as Popcorn Dan (Coxon). He was one of America's first food truck operators and a…
History Unplugged PodcastTeaser: Rendezvous With Death
Subscribe today for access to all premium episodes! https://patreon.com/unplugged See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
History Unplugged PodcastLast Night on the Titanic: The Bakers
In this episode we are looking at the life of Charles Joughin, a colorful character who has appeared in both film version of the Titanic. After the sinking…