A First-Hand Account of the Battle of Ramadi, Iraq – Maj. Scott Huesing
From the winter of 2006 through the spring of 2007, two-hundred-fifty Marines from Echo Company, Second Battalion, Fourth Marine Regiment fought daily in the dangerous, dense city streets of Ramadi, I...
27 Feb 201852min
Mesopotamian Civilization (2): Everyday Life of Merchants, Temple Priests, and Prostitutes
Welcome to part two in our series on Mesopotamia. The last installment covered the lives of the elites; now let's go several steps down the social ladder. We are going to be covering everyday life in ...
22 Feb 201842min
One Nation Under (the Influence of) Alcohol: Drinking During the Civil War—Mark Will-Weber
Bloody battles, lionhearted leaders, valiant victories, and lamentable losses—the history of the Civil War has been told time and again. Yet, one monumental component of the Civil War has gone untold…...
20 Feb 201840min
Mesopotamian Civilization: Gilgamesh, Sargon, and Why 1 GB of Information on Cuneiform Tablets Weights as Much as a 747
Welcome to the first episode in a two-part series on Mesopotamian civilization. In this episode we are going to be covering four topics: 1) The origins of Mesopotamian civilization with Sumeria, its e...
15 Feb 201841min
Race to the Top of the World: Richard Byrd and the First Flight to the North Pole—Sheldon Bart
In the age of adventure, when dirigibles coasted through the air and vast swaths of the Earth remained untouched and unseen by man, one pack of relentless explorers competed in the race of a lifetime:...
13 Feb 20181h 43min
Positive Legacies of the Mongolian Empire: International Trade, Religious Tolerance, Career Opportunities, and Horse Milk
The Mongolian Empire has a well-deserved reputation for its brutality (it did, after all, kill 40 million in the 12th century, enough people to alter planetary climate conditions). But it's positive l...
8 Feb 201845min
America's Utopian Communities: From Plymouth Colony's Failed Experiments in Collective Farming to 60s Hippie Communes—Timothy Miller
One of the oldest traditions in America is trying (and failing) to set up a utopian community. French Enlightenment thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed if man could return to a state of na...
6 Feb 201842min
The Reasons the Mongolian Army Was Unstoppable
Mongols were fierce on horseback, but so were the many other steppe nomads who tried and failed to conquer the walled cities of China, Persia, and Rome. Yet the Mongols succeeded where their predecess...
2 Feb 201810min
