History Shorts

Michelangelo's David stands as one of the most iconic sculptures in the history of art, a towering figure of strength, defiance, and human perfection. Over 17 feet tall and sculpted from a single bloc...

3 Jul 202511min

The Vietnam War didn't begin with a declaration; it began with a decision. Then another. And another. In this overview, we trace the arc of America's tragic entanglement in Vietnam, from cautious post...

2 Jul 202512min

They were made of wood, powered by gasoline, and crewed by men barely out of high school, yet they terrified Japanese convoys and launched the naval legend of a future U.S. President. In this episode,...

1 Jul 202512min

Two giants of American history, one a combative Yankee lawyer, the other a philosophical Virginia planter, helped birth a nation, then nearly destroyed their friendship in the process. In this episode...

30 Jun 202511min

In the summer of 1876, as America celebrated its centennial, a stunning defeat unfolded on the plains of Montana. Lt. Colonel George Custer and over 200 soldiers of the 7th Cavalry were wiped out by a...

29 Jun 20259min

In the wake of Jerusalem's fall to Saladin in 1187, three of Europe's mightiest monarchs, Richard the Lionheart of England, Philip Augustus of France, and Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire...

28 Jun 202511min

Peter speaks with Matt Gatton about his newest book, The Shadows of Socrates, which reframes Socrates not merely as a martyr for free speech but as a philosophical heretic, whose intellectual rebellio...

27 Jun 202530min

Few medical breakthroughs have changed the world as profoundly as the birth control pill, and few people were as instrumental in that transformation as Margaret Sanger. In this episode, we trace the f...

26 Jun 202510min