7278: Louis XVI — The Shy King Whose Hesitation Ruined France | pplpod
Louis XVI was a locksmith by hobby and a king by accident of birth. He was shy, indecisive, and more comfortable taking apart mechanical devices than governing the most powerful kingdom in Europe. Whe...
17 Jun 22min
7277: John Adams — The Science Nerd America Called a Tyrant | pplpod
John Adams was the most intellectually gifted of the founding fathers and possibly the least suited to politics. He was vain, honest to the point of self-destruction, and so obsessed with constitution...
17 Jun 21min
7276: Isabella of Castile — The Ruthless Rise of Spain's Most Powerful Queen | pplpod
Isabella of Castile seized her brother's throne, married Ferdinand of Aragon against his wishes, completed the Reconquista, expelled the Jews, and financed Columbus. She was devout, brilliant, and abs...
17 Jun 21min
7275: Mary I — The Real Woman Behind the Bloody Mary Legend | pplpod
Mary I of England burned nearly three hundred Protestants at the stake and earned the name Bloody Mary. But the woman behind the legend was a devout Catholic princess who watched her mother humiliated...
17 Jun 19min
7274: Henry V — The Real King Behind the Battle Scars and Shakespeare's Legend | pplpod
Henry V took an arrow through the face at sixteen and spent weeks having it surgically extracted. The scar he carried for life marked a king far more complex and ruthless than Shakespeare's heroic war...
17 Jun 25min
7273: Philip II of Spain — The Messianic Micromanager Who Ruled Half the World | pplpod
Philip II of Spain ruled the largest empire the world had ever seen and tried to manage every detail of it personally. He spent his days alone in the Escorial, reading reports and writing margin notes...
17 Jun 20min
7272: Roger Bannister — The Medical Student Who Broke the Four-Minute Mile | pplpod
Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile while training as a full-time medical student, squeezing in workouts during his lunch break. The four-minute barrier had been called physically impos...
17 Jun 21min
7271: Henry VII — The King Who Backdated His Reign to Punish His Enemies | pplpod
Henry VII won the Battle of Bosworth and then backdated his reign to the day before the battle, making every man who had fought for Richard III technically guilty of treason against the crown. It was ...
17 Jun 23min
