An American Adventurer Steals Nicaragua
In the 1850s, a little-known American adventurer set out to do something almost unimaginable: seize control of a foreign nation and make himself its ruler. His name was William Walker. In this episode...
30 Jun 11min
America's First Serial Killers & the Dark Side of the Revolution, w/ Katherine Grandjean
In 1798, on the lawless roads of Kentucky and Tennessee, two brothers named Wiley and Micajah Harp unleashed a brutal nine-month killing spree that left dozens dead in gruesome scenes across the front...
29 Jun 32min
How the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference Still Runs the World
In the summer of 1944, as World War II still raged across Europe and the Pacific, representatives from forty-four nations gathered at a secluded resort in the mountains of Bretton Woods. Their mission...
28 Jun 13min
Lights, Camera, Propaganda: Hollywood and the Cold War
During the Cold War, the battle between the United States and the Soviet Union wasn't fought only with missiles, spies, and armies. It was also fought on movie screens. In this episode of History Shor...
27 Jun 13min
The Black Death - A Global History of Humanity's Deadliest Pandemic, w/ Thomas Asbridge
In this powerful episode of Conversations, I sit down with leading medieval historian Professor Thomas Asbridge to discuss his groundbreaking new book, *The Black Death: A Global History of Humanity's...
26 Jun 29min
The Extraordinary History of SPAM
Few foods are as recognizable—or as misunderstood—as a can of SPAM. The small pink block of processed meat has been mocked, celebrated, rationed, smuggled, and even elevated to cultural icon status. B...
25 Jun 12min
How the 1964 Tokyo Olympics Rewrote Japan's Story
In October 1964, the eyes of the world turned toward Tokyo. Less than twenty years after the devastation of World War II, Japan hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics—an event that was about far more than sp...
24 Jun 10min
How the Bicycle Launched the Women's Rights Movement
In the late nineteenth century, a simple invention transformed far more than transportation. As bicycles became affordable and widely available, they offered women something many had never possessed b...
23 Jun 13min
