Chuck and Marco take you inside France’s darkest wartime chapter—the Vichy years—and follow the story all the way through liberation and the long, complicated afterlife of memory and justice. Expect sharp analysis, human stories, and our trademark banter—powered by the latest AI architecture for crisp, evergreen history.
In this episode you’ll hear about:
- France’s collapse in 1940 and the birth of Vichy’s “National Revolution.”
- Collaboration in practice: the Statut des Juifs, French police roundups (Vel’ d’Hiv), the Milice under Joseph Darnand, and the Bousquet–Oberg police nexus.
- Resistance as a shadow state: de Gaulle, Jean Moulin, the CNR, maquis networks, SOE/Jedburgh teams, and Plans Vert/Violet/Tortue around D-Day.
- Liberation’s jagged path: Vercors, Oradour-sur-Glane, Operation Dragoon, and Paris 1944.
- Reckoning and rebuilding: épuration (savage and legal), trials of Pétain and Laval, later cases (Barbie, Touvier, Papon), and the CNR-inspired social settlement—women’s suffrage, Sécurité sociale, and key nationalizations—plus the empire’s postwar flashpoints (Sétif, Indochina).
Stay tuned after the episode for our original track: “Shadows in Vichy.”
If you enjoy the show, please rate 5 stars, subscribe, and share—it really helps us grow. Got a topic you want us to cover? Send your suggestions via our socials, and check out our new merch https://linktr.ee/thehistoryaipodcast
Thanks for listening—our episodes are evergreen, so they’re always worth a replay.
Popular Podcasts
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.