by Edmund Richardson Alexander the Great was a wide-eyed boy from the hills of Macedon who ruled most of the known world by his mid-twenties. For centuries, historians, refugees, poets, and explorers have told his story, and yet Alexander himself has remained a mystery. However, thanks to a series of recent, remarkable discoveries, author Edmund…
When Samia realizes living in Ethiopia won’t get her to the Olympics, she begins a dangerous journey north toward Libya and then to Europe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is having a big moment. Its candidates and its membership are both surging. Before Zohran Mamdani and AOC, there was its founder, Michael Harrington, a.k.a ‘the man who discovered poverty.’ In this episode, we dig into Harrington’s evolution from devout Catholic to revolutionary socialist to Democratic party loyalist, and…
Today Noor Inayat Khan is commemorated in films, books and memorials. And even though there is more recognition of her role as a Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent during World War Two, she still struggles to be included in popular histories of the war. Who was Noor Inayat Khan, and why did the life of…
In Little Phil: A reassessment of the Civil War Leadership of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, historian Eric J. Wittenberg critically examines the military performances of the famous Union commander. Jeb Smith considers this. General Philip H. Sheridan. Source: Public domain. unknown, available here. Wittenberg argues that the military record, and our memory of “Lil Phil,”…
After Beijing, Samia returns to Somalia where athletes are hunted, sports are banned, and her Olympic dream increasingly puts her life in danger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A teenage runner from the East African country of Somalia arrives at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with borrowed gear, little formal training, and a dream far bigger than the race in front of her. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The apparent triumph of Magna Carta in June 1215 proved extraordinarily short-lived. The charter had been intended to impose limits upon King John’s authority and restore a measure of political stability, but neither side regarded the settlement as a durable peace. John had accepted the document under intense military and political pressure, rather than from…
Interest in media history and the origins of widely repeated cultural narratives has remained strong among readers of popular history, particularly cases where modern historical research has substantially revised a long-accepted story. The 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast and the panic narrative attached to it represent one of the most thoroughly reassessed cases in…
If you were visiting Philadelphia in the mid-18th century — you may have lodged in, taken a meal in, or imbibed at the City Tavern. In fact — you may have done all three. Five years before the Coronavirus brought the worst US Pandemic in nearly one hundred years to the East Coast of America— I had the opportunity to experience a modern…