Explaining History
How do we make sense of the modern world? We find the answers in the history of the 20th Century. For over a decade, The Explaining History Podcast has been the guide for curious minds. Host Nick Shepley and expert guests break down the world wars, the Cold War, and the rise and fall of ideologies into concise, 25-minute episodes. This isn't a dry lecture. It's a critical, narrative-driven conversation that connects the past to your present. Perfect for students, history buffs, and anyone who wants to understand how we got here. Hit subscribe and start exploring. Join us at Explaining History for daily modern history articles and news. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Episode Summary:
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick takes a deep dive into the grim reality of the Soviet camp system. Drawing on Anne Applebaum’s Gulag: A History, we explore how the camps evolved from disorganized prisons into a vast industrial complex of slave labour.
We examine the "Great Terror" of 1937-38 not just as a political purge, but as a bureaucratic process driven by quotas and paranoia. Why did S...
Episode Summary:
In the first episode of 2026, Nick embarks on a year-long exploration of Eric Hobsbawm's monumental work, The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914–1991.
We begin by examining Hobsbawm’s premise: that the 20th century was defined by a binary struggle between ideologies that mutually excluded one another—capitalism vs. communism, democracy vs. fascism. But as Nick argues, this Western-centric view of...
Episode Summary:
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick explores the neglected connection between economic austerity and political repression in the early years of Fascist Italy.
Drawing on the groundbreaking work of economist Clara Mattei, we delve into how Mussolini's regime used budget cuts, regressive taxation, and mass layoffs not just to balance the books, but to crush the Italian working class. We examine the "Two Re...
Episode Summary:
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick continues his exploration of 1960s radicalism, focusing on the disconnect between the student-led "New Left" and the American working class.
While the counterculture is often remembered through images of campus protests and the SDS, the reality was far more complex. Drawing on Kim McQuaid’s The Anxious Years and Mike Davis’s Set the Night on Fire, we exa...
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick explores how nostalgia has become a toxic force in British politics. Drawing on Liam Stanley’s Britain Alone, we examine how the "Blitz Spirit" and memories of WWII rationing have been cynically weaponized to justify modern austerity.
Why do politicians suggest that food insecure families should "learn lessons from the wartime generation"? We unpack the myth that poverty is a mor...
Ten years after the death of David Bowie, Nick is joined by author Alexander Larman to discuss his new biography, Lazarus: David Bowie from the Tin Machine to Blackstar.
While the 1970s "Ziggy Stardust" era has been endlessly dissected, Larman shines a light on the often-overlooked second half of Bowie's career. From the artistic wilderness of the late 80s and the critical mauling of Tin Machine to his renaissance...
Episode Summary:
In the third part of our 2025 Year in Review, Nick shifts the focus to Asia, exploring the dramatic realignment of US-India relations under Donald Trump’s second term.
For decades, Washington viewed India as a "natural strategic partner"—a democratic counterweight to China, showered with military aid and technology transfers. But in 2025, that special relationship has collapsed. Drawing on a fascinating analysis ...
Episode Summary:
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick explores the rise of the "Consumer’s Republic" in post-war America. We examine how the dream of the suburban idyll—white picket fences, gleaming appliances, and mass car ownership—became a central pillar of US identity and stability.
Drawing on Lizabeth Cohen's A Consumer's Republic, we delve into how corporate and political elites consciously steered American cit...
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick explores how different nations remember the Second World War, focusing on the stark contrast between American triumphalism and European melancholy.
Drawing on Keith Lowe's brilliant book Prisoners of History, we delve into the cultural psychology behind monuments like the Iwo Jima Memorial. Why does America view its soldiers as "freedom warriors" and saints, while Europe often bu...
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick explores the emergence of the "New Left" in 1960s America—a movement born from the failure of Cold War liberalism to deliver on its promises.
Drawing on Kim McQuaid’s The Anxious Years, we delve into the deep disillusionment that fuelled student radicalism. Why did young activists view "vital centre" liberals like JFK and LBJ not as allies, but as "closet right-wingers" trapp...
Is 2025 the year the European project finally hit the wall? In this episode, we argue that 2025 serves as a massive historical inflection point—comparable to 1933, 1968, or 1989—marking the definitive end of the post-Cold War era.
We explore the "perfect storm" battering the continent: the return of Donald Trump and the removal of the American security umbrella, the accelerating de-industrialization of Germany, and the demog...
Episode Summary:
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick continues his exploration of post-war American affluence. We often think of the 1950s as a golden age of middle-class expansion, where the old divisions of wealth and status melted away under a wave of chrome-plated cars and suburban lawns. But was this "classless society" a reality or a comforting myth?
Drawing again from James Patterson’s Grand Expectations, we ...
As we approach the end of another year, Nick takes a moment to step back from the history books and reflect on the Explaining History podcast itself. What started 13 years ago as a "flipped classroom" experiment by a history teacher in Wales has grown into a global community.
In this candid episode, Nick discusses his philosophy of history—why he rejects the "history as entertainment" model and the simplistic "Great Man" theorie...
In 1908, the Ottoman Empire was on the brink of collapse. The despotism of Sultan Abdul Hamid II had stifled political life for decades, but a military uprising in Macedonia would soon change everything.
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick explores one of the great forgotten revolutions of the 20th century: the Young Turk Revolution. Drawing on Eugene Rogan's masterful book The Fall of the Ottomans, we delve into h...
Episode Summary:
As 2025 draws to a close, Nick reflects on a pivotal year in global history. From the economic shockwaves of the Trump tariffs to the accelerating shift of power back to Asia, this episode argues that we are witnessing the terminal decline of the Anglo-American world order.
We explore the existential threat of "de-dollarization"—a process accelerated not just by Trump, but by the weaponization of the financial system...
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick explores the unprecedented explosion of wealth and consumption in post-war America. We often focus on the economic decline of the middle class in recent decades, but today we look back at the era of mass abundance that preceded it.
Drawing on James Patterson’s Grand Expectations, we delve into the cultural and economic forces that transformed a nation scarred by the Depression in...
Episode Summary:
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick explores the murky relationship between British intelligence, the Labour government, and the "gentleman capitalists" of the post-war era.
Why was Harold Wilson, the most electorally successful British Prime Minister of the 20th century, targeted by paranoid elements within MI5 as a potential Soviet spy? We delve into Wilson's time at the Board of Trade in the late ...
As we close out 2025, Nick takes stock of the first year of Donald Trump's second term. While some liberal commentators hold out hope that the upcoming 2026 midterms will curb his power, Nick argues that the real conflict isn't between Left and Right, but between two factions of capital: the liberal-democratic establishment and the nativist, protectionist forces embodied by Trump.
We explore the failure of the Democratic Party to of...
Episode Summary:
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick delves into the critical years of 1928-1929, exploring the mindset of the Soviet leadership on the eve of the Great Famine. Drawing from Robert Conquest’s seminal work The Harvest of Sorrow, we examine how Stalin’s paranoia and Marxist-Leninist ideology filtered his understanding of the peasantry.
Why did the Bolsheviks view grain reserves as evidence...
Episode Summary:
In this episode of Explaining History, Nick moves beyond the familiar trenches of the Western Front to explore the terrifying reality of the Eastern Front in 1914. Drawing from Alexander Watson’s masterful book Ring of Steel, we examine how the German and Austro-Hungarian empires experienced the outbreak of World War I not just as a military conflict, but as a fight for survival against a "despotic" Russia...
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