Episodes
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Welcome to the end, my friends! I am powering down History in Five Minutes because I have launched a new and better show called History Unplugged. You can subscribe to the show on iTunes or Android
Here's an overview of History Unplugged: Every Tuesday through Friday I release a short episode of 5-10 minutes in length. It's basically the same thing you've come to know and love (0r hate) from History in Five Minutes.
Every Monday I release a longform interview with a book author, history podcaster, or historical consultant from a TV show.
There are two sorts of episodes that we feature on the History Unplugged podcast: the call-in show and author interviews.
The Call-In Show
The first sort of episode is the weekday where a listener like you can ask me anything. What did the Vikings eat? What was it like to be a Turkish sultan with 4 wives and multiple concubines? If you were sent back in time with your current knowledge, how would you conquer the Roman Empire?
If you would like to send me a question to answer on the show, you can do so one of two ways. The first is to email us at info [@] historyonthenet.com. The second is to leave a voice mail.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE PAGE WHERE YOU CAN LEAVE A VOICE MAIL
Please keep it to about a minute long, be polite, and an all-around cool laddie or lass. Here are the full submission guidelines.
Interviews
The second sort of episode on our podcast is the long form interview (40 minutes – 1 hour) with top history book authors. These authors have written about everything—and I mean everything—including gruff World War II generals who flew with airmen on bombing raids, a war horse who gained the rank of sergeant, and presidents who gave their best speeches while drunk.
I sit down with them and go in-depth on their topics. So far I’ve been blown away by the stories I’ve heard.
Here are some of our guests that have been or will be featured on the show.
Robin Hutton, author of Sgt. Reckless, America’s War Horse
Mark Will-Weber, author of Mint Juleps with Teddy Roosevelt: The Complete History of Presidential Drinking
Prof. Richard Weikart, author of Hitler’s Relgion: The Twisted Beliefs that Drove the Third Reich
Tevi Troy, author of What Jefferson Read, Ike Watched, and Obama Tweeted
Brion McClanahan, author of Nine Presidents Who Screwed Up America, and Four Who Tried to Save Her
Prof. Michael Foley: author of Drinking With the Saints: The Sinner’s Guide to a Holy Happy Hour -
The sinking of the Titantic was one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century. Over 1,000 passengers lost their lives on the supposedly unsinkable ship.
But the chief baker didn't. He managed to survive in the frigid waters for four hours while most died of hypothermia after 15 minutes. How? By downing two bottles of whisky and getting completely drunk.
This episode is brought to you by a new show Presidents Are People Too – an original audio series available on Channels in the Audible app.
The series explores some of the lighter, real and at times, less-than-prez-worthy moments in the lives and careers of our former commanders in chief. It's hosted by former Daily Show head writer, Elliott Kalan and American historian Alexis Coe
Discover fascinating lesser-known facts, foibles and personal faux pas about our past presidents. You’ll hear illuminating stories that show them to be more like you and me than the towering figures we so often hear about. Most importantly, you’ll hear tid bits to defuse dinner chat that could ruin delicious comfort food and catching up with family
Presidents Are People Too – a fun alternative to conversation about current events around the holiday table.
Learn more at www.audible.com/presidents
This episode is based on a selection from an incredible new book by Giles.
Get a copy of Giles's new book When Churchill Slaughtered Sheep and Stalin Robbed a Bank: History's Unknown Chapters. You can get it by clicking here. -
Missing episodes?
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Our guest today is Giles Milton, the host of the Unknown History Podcast.
Winston Churchill was not afraid to get his hands dirty. He was perfectly happy to consider chemical warfare against the Axis powers. One plan involved turning an entire island into vegetarians. What did this plot mean, and how would he enact it?
Giles explains many things in this episode, such as:
What exactly was "Operation Vegetarian"?
What was the result of this experiment?
How did the development of the Atomic bomb change Churchill's strategy?
What ever came of Gruinard Island?
This episode is based on a selection from an incredible new book by Giles.
Get a copy of Giles's new book When Churchill Slaughtered Sheep and Stalin Robbed a Bank: History's Unknown Chapters. You can get it by clicking here. -
Our guest today is Giles Milton, the host of the Unknown History Podcast.
We all have an embarrassing relative. Maybe that embarrassing relative is us.
But Winston Churchill's cousin took it to a new level. She had love affairs, one of which threatened to create an international incident.
Giles gets into all sorts of interesting stories in this episode. Here are some of the things he touches on:
Who was Clare Sheridan and why did she gain attention in 1920?
What about the rumors regarding Clare and Trotsky's relationship?
Did Churchill ever forgive his cousin Clare?
This episode is based on a selection from an incredible new book by Giles.
Get a copy of Giles's new book When Churchill Slaughtered Sheep and Stalin Robbed a Bank: History's Unknown Chapters. You can get it by clicking here. -
Our guest today is Giles Milton, the host of the Unknown History Podcast.
Giles is going to talk all about Churchill's affinity for chemical weapons, something I didn't even know was a thing.
He answers all sorts of questions in this interview. Questions like:
Did Churchill ever actually go forward with the use of chemical weapons?
What happened to the victims of the attack in Russia?
How did the weather dampen the effect of the poisonous gas?
What did Churchill do with the remaining devices?
Download the episode by right-click here and select "Save As."
This episode is based on a selection from an incredible new book by Giles.
Get a copy of Giles's new book When Churchill Slaughtered Sheep and Stalin Robbed a Bank: History's Unknown Chapters. You can get it by clicking here. -
You've seen the look in historical dramas. You laughed at the foppish dandies that appear on Masterpiece Theater. In grade school you sneered at pictures of King George with his powdered wig, adjusting it ever so slightly while drinking a cup of tea with his pinky finger extended, wondering how he further extort colonists with new taxes.
You didn't know that we call important people "bigwig" due to the aristocracy tradition of fancy wigs.
But where does the powdered wig come from? Why was such a peculiar look the sign of nobility in England during the 1500s-1700s?
It all has to do with syphilis, head lice, the shame of male-pattern baldness, and the fashion tastes of Louis XIV.
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
Did you know that over 400,000 German POWs were settled in the United States during World War II? Did you know that they may have built some of the stone buildings that make up your town square? Or that they were responsible for bringing in America's harvest in the fall of 1945 when most men were still off to war?
Learn about this fascinating but understudied part of America's history.
Check out this episode of Radiolab to learn more about "Nazi Summer Camp."
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
Teddy Roosevelt was not afraid to tempt death. He hiked the Matterhorn during his honeymoon. He arrested outlaws on the Dakota Frontier. He hunted rhinos in Africa.
But his most dangerous journey came after his failure in 1912 to retake the presidency as a third-party candidate on the Bull Moose ticket. He choose to shake off the blues in an extremely dangerous journey to South America. Roosevelt did not merely want a repeat of his African safari: a well-provisioned hunt to a foreign land that was little more than an exotic form of sight seeing. Roosevelt wanted to join the ranks of explorers who were pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge: the arctic explorers discovering the Northwest passage or the African trekkers locating the source of the Nile River. His guide, the Brazilian explorer Col. Candido Rondon, suggested they survey the River of Doubt, an uncharted capillary of the Amazon that ran through treacherous terrain of the rainforest.
Many told him the journey would end in his death. Ignoring the warnings of field naturalists with experience in the Amazon, Roosevelt said, “If it is necessary for me to leave my bones in South America, I am quite ready to do so.”
Learn in this episode how he almost did.
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
Theodore Roosevelt was hell bent on becoming president in 1912. He ran as a third-party candidate for the Progressive Party, a splinter group of Republicans dissatisfied with William Howard Taft.
He was so committed to winning that he gave a 90-minute speech...immediately after being shot in the chest by a would-be assassin. How did he do it without passing out? What did his audience think as he bled out before their eyes?
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
Perhaps no president has as many unbelievable stories about his life than Teddy Roosevelt. He was an amateur boxer. He was the first American politician to learn judo. He summited the Matterhorn during his honeymoon. He joined an expedition to log data about an unchartered river in the Amazon.
But perhaps no story matches his pursuit of three boat thieves in the Dakotas in the 1880s. Learn how Roosevelt travelled 300 miles in the bitter cold to arrest three thieves... all to prove to other ranches that he wasn't a week Easterner who came out to to the frontier to play cowboy.
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
Gather around the campfire, children, and learn about the most ghoulish story from America's pioneer days. What really happened to the party led by George Donner and his brother Jacob when they set out for California in 1846? When the party was trapped in feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, how long did they hold out before devouring the dead? Was anyone killed for their flesh?
Listen to this episode and learn why you should never travel on an untested mountain pass late in the travel season.
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
References to acts of cannibalism are sprinkled throughout many religious and historical documents, such as the reports that cooked human flesh was being sold in 11th-century English markets. But the world’s first cannibal incident reported by multiple, independent, first-hand accounts took place during the Crusades by European soldiers. These first-hand stories agree that in 1098, after a successful siege and capture of the Syrian city Ma’arra.
Some accounts say that soldiers ate the flesh of dead Muslims at the point of complete starvation, and even then they sliced off tiny parts of flesh. Other accounts claim to boil adults alive in cooking pots.
Which account is correct and why such a wide discrepancy. Furthermore, how do we understand this story in the context of the Crusades, which the chroniclers normally cover with heavy layers of chivalry and bravery. Lastly, what do Muslims themselves think of this particularly gruesome story?
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
It is the most gruesome activity that a human can do. It is the most ancient of taboos. Stories of the Donner Party, Jamestown, and the Franklin Expedition make for ghost stories today.
But the real question is not why cannibalism occurs in humans. It is why it doesn't occur.
Eating dead humans has clear benefits. Like cows, chickens, turkeys, and other animals that we love to feast on, humans are made of meat. Shoving all that tasty meat in a hole in the ground during a funeral ceremony is a terrible waste of resources. For the majority of humans' time on Earth those resources could have made the difference between life and death.
Learn more about why cannibalism doesn't happen in this episode and the few surprising ways that it does.
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
If you've seen the 1960 Spencer Tracy movie Inherit the Wind, you know about the Scopes Monkey Trial. In this real-life 1925 case, John Scopes was accused of violating Tennessee's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in any state-funded school.
The case became an enormous media sensation. It was reported on like a boxing match, science vs. fundamentalism. But oddly enough, Scopes was not originally brought to trial by any fundamentalists. The trial was deliberately staged to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held.
Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he purposely incriminated himself so that the case could have a defendant.
Learn how the Scopes Monkey Trial was at its core a small town's attempt at a publicity stunt that took on a life of its own.
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
According to legends of the Middle Ages, knights used the chastity belt on their wives as an anti-temptation device before embarking on the Crusades. When the knight left for the Holy Lands on the Crusades, his Lady would wear a chastity belt to preserve her faithfulness to him.
However, there is no reliable evidence that chastity belts existed before the 15th century. Any reference to them is likely symbolic or a satirical drawing. Were they ever in use at all? If not, how did the legend appear?
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
"George Washington was the First President of the United States." This is the most basic fact that an American school child can learn. But he wasn't the first. Nor the second. He was actually the ninth president of the United States.
How can that be? It all has to do with the ad hoc, make-it-up-as-you-go nature of the United States government between the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the signing of the Constitution in 1789.
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
Depending on which account you hear, Columbus was either the bravest explorer of the early Renaissance or a mass murdered who subjected the indigenous population of the new world to death or slavery.
Learn in this episode how Columbus was both and neither of these descriptions.
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
Rome didn't fall in 476 when Romulus, the last of the Roman emperors in the west, was overthrown by the Germanic leader Odoacer, who became the first Barbarian to rule in Rome.
Nor did it fall in 1453 when the Ottoman Empire conquered Constantinople.
Depending on how you define 'Rome,' it didn't fall until the Napoleonic Wars. Or the end of hostilities following World War I. If you visit Turkey, you might meet somebody who still calls himself a Roman.
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
Few episodes in history are so misunderstood as the condemnation of Galileo. His trial has become a stock argument to show the fundamental clash between science and dogmatism.
Turns out the whole affair was actually a giant clash of egos, with churchmen and scientists on both sides of the argument.
WANT FREE ACCESS TO AN ONLINE COURSE ABOUT WINSTON CHURCHILL? READ BELOW
This episode is brought to you by Hillsdale College. They would like to invite you to learn more about the incredible life of this fascinating man -- one of the greatest leaders and statesmen of our time: Winston Churchill.
You can get exclusive access to this new free online course studying the life of Churchill by going to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and signing up today.
Almost a million people have taken Hillsdale’s renowned courses like Constitution 101, American Heritage. As a history fan, you won’t want to miss this one.
Get exclusive access to Hillsdale College’s new course on Winston Churchill right now. Go to Hillsdale.edu/h5m and sign up today. -
Why do Americans celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks? Are we trying to take the National Anthem as literally as possible, creating "Bombs Bursting in Air"? Or is there another reason?
Much of the trappings of the Fourth of July date back to Renaissance Italy, and even further back to Imperial China. But the actual form of the holiday came into existence even before America itself. Listen to learn more.
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