History Shorts

Peter is joined by Philip Taubman and William Taubman, two esteemed brothers whose combined expertise in journalism, history, and biography has produced some of the most insightful works on Cold War-era figures and events. Philip is a longtime New York Times national security correspondent, ...

YOU DECIDE SERIES: The Crusades, nearly two centuries of intermittent military campaigns, are among the most famous and contested events of medieval history. However, they raise a fundamental question that still divides historians today: Were the Crusades a noble struggle for the defense of Christendom and the Holy Land, or were they a form of colonial aggression masquerading as a religious duty?

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Galen of Pergamon, a Roman physician born in 129 CE, revolutionized medicine by combining rigorous empirical observation with classical Greek medical theory, particularly the humoral system. He gained practical experience treating gladiators in Pergamon and later served as a personal physician to Emperor Marcus Aurelius, producing a vast body of writings on anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and medical ethics. His wor...

Peter is joined by New York Times Bestselling author, William Dalrymple to discuss his latest book, The Golden Road. We discuss India's often forgotten position as the heart of ancient Eurasia.

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MORE ABOUT WILLIAM: https://williamdalrymple.com/ 

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Abraham Lincoln’s “Lost Speech,” delivered at the Illinois Republican Convention in Bloomington on May 29, 1856, was a fiery and passionate address against the expansion of slavery and in support of the newly forming Republican Party. So electrifying was Lincoln’s rhetoric that reporters covering the event became so absorbed they forgot to take notes, leaving no verbatim record of the speech. Despite its disappearance,...

The Assyrian Empire, emerging in the early 25th century BCE in Mesopotamia, became one of the ancient world’s most powerful and militaristic civilizations, known for its advanced bureaucracy, iron weaponry, and disciplined army. At its height between the 9th and 7th centuries BCE, the empire controlled vast territories spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Egypt, employing brutal military campaigns, siege warfare, and effici...

Levi’s jeans were created in 1873 by German immigrant Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis, who patented the first pair of riveted denim pants designed for durable workwear for miners during the California Gold Rush. Originally intended as sturdy labor pants, Levi’s quickly became a symbol of rugged American style and practicality, spreading beyond workwear to mainstream fashion in the 20th century. Over time, Levi’s ev...

Peter speaks with internationally bestselling author, Roger Moorhouse about his latest book, Wolfpack: Inside Hitler's U-Boat War. We look at the Battle of the Atlantic from the point of view of the German submariners.

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YOU DECIDE SERIES: Was the Civil War caused by the abstract principle of states’ rights, the idea that each state should govern itself without federal interference? Or was it caused by the institution of slavery, the morally fraught and economically central system of forced labor in the South? Secession declarations from Southern states and President Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural addresses provide starkly contrasting per...

Beneath the serene landscapes of America’s national parks lies a hidden history of law enforcement and intelligence. The National Park Service’s Intelligence and Special Branch (ISB) operated covertly from the 1930s through the Cold War, tracking poachers, intercepting criminal networks, and safeguarding strategic resources from domestic and foreign threats. This episode explores the clandestine missions, daring operat...

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CHECK OUT RICK'S WORK: https://www.youtube.com/ricksteves 

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In the decades before World War I, Imperial Germany conducted daring, but largely forgotten, studies imagining an invasion of the United States. These contingency plans, targeting key American ports and cities, reveal both Berlin’s global ambitions and the practical limitations of projecting power across the Atlantic. This episode explores the audacity, logistical challenges, and strategic foresight behind Germany’s hy...

In the early Roman Republic, the temporary dictatorship was a bold solution to extraordinary crises, granting one man near-absolute authority, but only for a limited time and under strict legal oversight. Figures like Cincinnatus embodied the ideal of power exercised responsibly, acting decisively in war or civic emergencies before relinquishing control. This episode explores how Rome balanced urgency, legality, and vi...

In the spring of 1861, as the United States plunged toward civil war, New York City flirted with the unthinkable: municipal secession. Mayor Fernando Wood, a flamboyant and ambitious politician, proposed that the city break away from the Union to protect its commerce and citizens, sparking nationwide alarm and local debate. This episode explores the tension between local ambition, economic self-interest, and national l...

The Office of Strategic Services (OSS), led by William J. Donovan, conducted daring intelligence operations across Europe and the Pacific, coordinating with resistance networks, sabotaging enemy infrastructure, and innovating espionage techniques that would shape modern intelligence. This episode delves into the audacious missions, ingenuity, and courage of the OSS agents whose work proved that information and covert a...

Long before Christianity, Islam, or even Buddhism had taken firm root, an ancient faith blazed across the Iranian plateau, a faith centered not on capricious gods or bloody sacrifice, but on moral choice, cosmic order, and the triumph of good over evil. Zoroastrianism, founded by the prophet Zarathustra (or Zoroaster) in the second millennium BCE, is among the world’s oldest continuously practiced religions.

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