Battlecast

Battlecast

Battlecast is the world’s foremost podcast about war and it’s sociopolitical impact. Each month Dr. Luke Wolf works to bring you an unfiltered understanding of the most important battles and wars of mankind’s history. The official motto of the show: “not left, not right: above,” provides a fresh look at the conventional understandings found in history books. So pull up a chair, grab a beer, and join the conversation.

Episodes

A History of Torture: Interpersonal Torture /// 102

June 20, 2025
In this concluding episode of the definitive podcast history of torture, the focus is on interpersonal torture by non-state actors. This episode provides an overview of psychopathic torture, torture in the drug trade, torture for information, sexual torture, torture between ethnic groups and torture for entertainment. It should be pointed out, as Peter Edwards (1996)… Continue reading A Histor...
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An American Torture Story /// 101

May 18, 2025
American torture. For years, philosophers, jurists, and legal theorists struggled with American use of torture in the war on terror. Just a few days after the events of the September 11th attacks, President George Bush was authorizing the use of torture on suspected members of international terrorist organizations. After a few months, American leaders were… Continue reading An American Torture...
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A History of Torture in America /// 100

April 20, 2025
This is a history of torture on the North American continent, including Native American, Canadian and United States torture practices. It’s all here and it’s all free on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and its sociopolitical impact. This is part six of an ongoing series on torture. You can find part five… Continue reading A History of Torture in America /// 100
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A History of the Cambodian Genocide /// 99

March 19, 2025 • 62 mins
The Cambodian Genocide was a second holocaust. Approximately 1.6 million human beings were killed in the terrible bloodletting. But the genocide was unique – it’s one of the only cases in human history where people from the same ethnic group murdered whole segments of its own population – guilty of being born in the wrong… Continue reading A History of the Cambodian Genocide ...
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Gulag: A History of Soviet Torture /// 98

February 18, 2025
The Soviet punitive system was the heir of literally hundreds of years of secret police interrogation. For centuries, the Czar’s secret police had tortured, refined, and perfected the art of interrogation – all of it based on practice – not theory. That is why American researchers were so amazed at the Soviet interrogation success rate.… Continue reading Gulag: A History of S...
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The Inquisition: A History /// 97

January 18, 2025
The Inquisition: it’s a byword for tyranny in much of the Western world – especially among the English-speaking peoples of the world. In today’s episode the surprising origins, history, and impact of the Inquisition are detailed. In addition, this episode features a concise history of torture in India. It’s all here and it’s all free… Continue reading The Inquisit...
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A History of Torture: Roman, Christian and South American /// 96

December 19, 2024
This is part two of an ongoing series providing an exhaustive history of torture. All forms of torture, including forms never detailed in any other history of torture, will be covered in this series. Come and hear the way men share their love for one another. It’s all here and it’s all free on Battlecast… Continue reading A History of Torture: Roman, Christian and South American //...
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An Universal Institution: The Definitive History of Torture /// 95

November 18, 2024
“Torture was legal, morally accepted, and commonplace in most ancient, medieval, and early modern societies.” This was the way historian Christopher Einolf succinctly described the history of torture: ubiquitous, common; in short: everywhere. Torture is a sort “reverse” gospel – as it is written in Il Libro Dell’avversario, chapter 6: And when the wealthy governors… Continue reading
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The Battle of Takur Ghar /// 94

October 18, 2024 • 100 mins
The Battle of Takur Ghar, also known as the Battle of Robert’s Ridge, was one of the bloodiest engagements in the history of the United States’ war in Afghanistan. Dozens of men died in the hills and mountains of the Shahi-Kot Valley. Scores more were wounded. The battle also featured one of the first documented… Continue reading The Battle of Takur Ghar /// 94
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Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Military History /// 93

September 20, 2024
Thousands of drone strikes have killed tens of thousands of targets since the introduction of unmanned aerial vehicle warfare in the early 2000s. This is the story of that warfare. It’s all free and it’s all here on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and its sociopolitical impact.  Download episode 93 here: download… Continue reading Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Military History /...
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Drones: A Military History /// 92

August 21, 2024
A man is sitting on his porch before he suddenly geysers upward, somersaulting through the air like a discarded plaything. A work truck is cruising across the Gaza Strip at fifty-miles-an-hour and then is suddenly crushed like a coke can and engulfed in flames. Scores of mass-produced Turkish drones flood the Armenian sky, raining death… Continue reading Drones: A Military History /// 92<...
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The Battle of Hamburger Hill part 3 /// 91

July 21, 2024
The Battle of Hamburger Hill was one of the most famous battles of the Vietnam War. Almost immediately after the conclusion of the battle, dumbfounded American journalists described the horrific assault of Hill 937 – and the inexplicable American withdrawal from the hill just a few days later. To journalists, and their well-fed, luxuriating readers… Continue reading The Battle of Hamburg...
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The Battle of Hamburger Hill part 2 /// 90

June 20, 2024
Hamburger Hill is one of the most famous battles from the Vietnam War. This is the complete story of that bloody conflict. It’s all here and it’s all free on Battlecast, the world’s foremost podcast on war and its sociopolitical impact. This is part two of an ongoing series. You can find part one here.… Continue reading The Battle of Hamburger Hill part 2 /// 90
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The Battle of Hamburger Hill: an Audio History /// 89

May 19, 2024
Hamburger Hill. It’s a battle made famous by the 1987 film with the same name. But the real battle of Hamburger Hill, also known as the Battle for Hill 937, took place almost two decades before the film was released – comprising more than a week of fierce, modern combat in horrendous mountainous terrain which… Continue reading The Battle of Hamburger Hill: an Audio History /// ...
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An Audio Guide to Mass Suicide: Masada, Cowra, Jonestown /// 88

April 20, 2024
Mass suicide. It’s a rare event, something unique, like an uncommonly beautiful woman – it commands our attention. Using the methods developed by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, this podcast is an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of mass suicide through he lens of three case studies – one ancient, and two modern. The Siege of Masada 73… Continue reading An Audio Guide to Mass Suici...
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A Military History of The Liberian Civil War /// 87

March 19, 2024
Anarchy. Cannibalism. Disorder. These are adjectives, empty words, that we use to try, however futilely, to describe the total pain, the uprooted lives, the destroyed families, the ethnic cleansing that have taken place throughout human history. In this episode of Battlecast, we will tear our thesaurus in half looking up synonyms for torture and bloodshed,… Continue reading A Military History ...
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A Military History of Liberia /// 86

February 20, 2024
This podcast is a complete history of violence in the small African nation of Liberia. This is part two of an ongoing series. You can find part one here: A Military History of Liberia part one. Download episode 86 here: download link Maps and Images: Extensive maps and images are posted to the historical atlas… Continue reading A Military History of Liberia /// 86
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Black Apartheid: A Military History of Liberia /// 85

January 21, 2024
In the 1820s, a small number of freed Black Americans settled in West Africa. They called their country Liberia, land of freedom. From the beginning, conflict with the more than 15 indigenous ethnic groups ensued, and the American-Liberians formed themselves into a new ruling class, dominating natives in the country for more than 150 years,… Continue reading Black Apartheid: A Military Histor...
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Field of Lost Shoes: The Battle of New Market /// 84

December 23, 2023
The Battle of New Market took place on May 15, 1864 and has been made famous in numerous films and literary works. Hundreds of cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, many of them children, fought toe-to-toe with Union veterans, their small frames the only thing holding back the Federal blue tide. For years, the boys… Continue reading Field of Lost Shoes: The Battle of New Market /// ...
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To the Last Man: The Second Battle of Fort Fisher /// 83

November 21, 2023
The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was one of the most important battles of the American Civil War. Fort Fisher was the last shield of Wilmington, North Carolina – the final port open to the Confederacy in 1864. Outnumbered and outgunned, facing one of the largest armadas ever assembled in human history, the Confederates fought… Continue reading To the Last Man: The Second Battle of Fort F...
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