Episodes
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Let's dive into the wild and bruising life of Germany’s best-known pugilist, Max Schmeling—the man who went from Weimar wonder to darling of Nazi propaganda, and somehow managed to emerge in post-WWII West Germany with an intact reputation.
Schmeling’s life reads like a script from the golden age of cinema—coming of age in the chaos of Weimar Germany, he punched his way to the top, becoming a national hero with a controversial world title and a shocking victory over Joe Louis. But it wasn’t all champagne and glory. A short turn in the movies, reinventing himself as a Coca-Cola mogul and beloved television star, Schmeling’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and how a nation deals with its past - this man was a star in the Weimar, Third Reich, *and* West German eras!
Tune in to hear how this legendary boxer left his mark on the ring and on history itself.
Recorded at the Comedy Cafe in Berlin.Want to come to the next History Flakes LIVE recording? Keep up to date with Jonny's Instagram, Threads, and Twitter for more info on upcoming shows!
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You can get in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
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Sources
Max Schmeling and the Making of a National Hero in Twentieth-Century Germany (Palgrave Studies in Sport and Politics), Jon Hughes
Stalingrad und der Nationalsozialismus Podcast mit Christoph Fromm, Folge 162: Max Schmeling und Johann Trollmann - von Helden und Außenseitern
The Lost Cities of Berlin by Historia Mag -
Anita Berber, pioneering dance performer extraordinaire, or violent thieving drug-addled lunatic? Why not both!?
Join us during our first live recording as we talk about the life and times of Anita Berber, the ultimate performance wunderkind of Weimar Berlin. There’s quite a bit bubbling up under the surface, and the inter-war peace feels pretty tenuous. Much like the era itself, her nihilist self-destruction and sexual decadence flickers brightly and briefly, leaving a vacuum for the horrors to come that we know all too well.
Recorded at the Comedy Cafe Berlin
Part 2 coming soon!
You can get in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
Voluptuous Panic, by Mel Gordon.
The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber: Weimar Berlin’s Priestess of Depravity, by Mel Gordon. -
Missing episodes?
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Finally, the most important part of any super spy’s career… Le Sex. Markus Wolf continues to prove himself second to none in spy mastery. We hear about his highs and lows…but mostly highs because he wrote the book on himself which we’re using and he’s both humble but amazing actually (and epic in bed).
Join us as we try to remain un-seduced by Markus Wolf’s account of his own life. Infiltrating the highest office of West Germany, building his roster of Romeo spies, to his final act, publishing a book in a very unexpected genre.
+++ COME SEE US LIVE ON FRI, AUG 16 AT HOUSE OF COLOR +++
Drinks, banter, and history - Pip & Jonny tackle escapes through the Iron Curtain and over the Berlin Wall
🎟️ **Tap here for tickets** 🎟️
You can get in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
Man Without A Face: The Autobiography Of Communism's Greatest Spymaster, Markus Wolf & Anne McElvoy, 1999
Markus Wolf - Der DDR-James Bond, Die Geschichtsmacher Podcast, 24 Jan 2022
Geheimnisse der russischen Küche (The Secrets of Russian Cooking), Markus Wolf, 1995 -
Who’s the greatest spy that ever spied and love machine spreading Communism throughout the world? WOLF!
Markus Wolf that is. Join us as we discuss the early days of the elusive and seductive spy master of East Germany. Born in Germany, raised partially in the Soviet Union during WWII to committed communist parents, Wolf is perfectly placed to establish one of the most nebulous and far reaching intelligence networks of the cold war.
And because this guy is so fascinating we’ve split this into a two parter!
++++COME SEE US LIVE ON THE 25TH JULY AT THE COMEDY CAFE!!!++++
https://www.comedycafeberlin.com/event/history-flakes-live/
You can get in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
Man Without A Face: The Autobiography Of Communism's Greatest Spymaster, Markus Wolf & Anne McElvoy, 1999
Markus Wolf - Der DDR-James Bond, Die Geschichtsmacher Podcast, 24 Jan 2022
Geheimnisse der russischen Küche (The Secrets of Russian Cooking), Markus Wolf, 1995 -
Where can you find a former air field, military parading ground, amusement park, Turkish cemetery, concentration camp and kite surfer’s paradise?! Not all at the same time, it’s Tempelhofer Feld of course!!!
We’re going through the history of this one incredible site which dates back over 800 years, starting on the fringes of what will become the metropolis of Berlin. Those lads coming back from the crusades need keeping somewhere out of trouble, and it all kicks off from there.
It would be especially fun to grab something nice to drink at the Späti and go for a wander whilst listening to this one but, we’d never tell you what to do!
⚠️ A small note for your ears: Jonny cacked up this recording so we had to use the backup. The second half of this episode might sound weird. You’ll manage.
You can get in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
Slow Travel Berlin:
http://www.slowtravelberlin.com/a-brief-history-of-tempelhofer-feld/
THF website:
https://www.thf-berlin.de/standort/tempelhofer-feld
THF development plans:
https://www.the-berliner.com/politics/100-tempelhofer-feld-berlin-senate-development-plan-open-space/
Radio Spätkauf on THF:
vhttps://www.radiospaetkauf.com/2024/02/berlin-heat-gas-grass-or-pansys/ -
Are you enjoying the Football? Or do you feel like it’s very much happening at you?! Either way, enjoy the latest episode of History Flakes! How else would you know that there was an English Football league in Berlin during WWI? Crazy!
Find about Derby Legend Steve Bloomer and what the hell Bumberino is, I think you’re gonna like it!
You can get in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
The Ruhleben Football Association by Paul Brown
John Cecil Masterman Collection: https://images.hollis.harvard.edu/primo-explore/viewallcomponentmetadata/L/HVD_VIAolvgroup12240?vid=HVD_IMAGES&tab=default_tab&search_scope=default_scope&adaptor=undefined
Paul Brown on the Outside Write Podcast by Chris Lee: https://outsidewrite.co.uk/podcast-what-was-the-ruhleben-football-association/ -
This episode is a 3 in 1! We talk about 3 distinct characters broadcasting to enemy soldiers during WW2. William Joyce, aka Lord Haw Haw, a seemingly confused Irishman with a pretty serious alcohol problem. Mildred Gillers, aka Axis Sally, a failing, racist actress, who would be labelled as particularly stupid by the FBI, and Iva Toguri D'Aquino aka Tokyo Rose, someone who found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to survive in Wartime Tokyo.
All of them are utilised by the Nazi regime and Imperial Japan during the conflict to varying degrees of success.
You can get in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
Jill Lepore, The Last Archive, season 2, episode 3, The Inner Front
Stuff You Missed in History Class: Tokyo Rose.
RTE Radio 1: Lord Haw Haw. -
Ok, let’s see how this guy ends. In part 2 of our episode on Law and Justice in Nazi Germany we talk about some of the big legal events which make life increasingly difficult for those categorised 'undesirable' by the Nazi regime and sees Roland progress in his attempt to gain full control of the Nazi legal system, right the way up to this sudden and the visually appealing way he (probably) died.
You can get in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
Die NS-Justiz: Recht des Unrechts | Doku HD | ARTE
Hitler's Executioner: Roland Freisler, President of the Nazi People's Court, Helmut Ortner -
Strap in nerds. In the first episode of our first two-parter, we use the career of Roland Freisler to track some of the huge legal changes that would secure the dictatorship of the Third Reich. We get up to 1934 here, where the Nazis are on the cusp of becoming the one and only political force in the country, having outlawed all other parties.
Watch out for the next episode to hear about how Freisler himself would weaponise the law for the Nazi’s murderous means and his ultimate and quite satisfying death.
You can get in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
Die NS-Justiz: Recht des Unrechts | Doku HD | ARTE
Hitler's Executioner: Roland Freisler, President of the Nazi People's Court, Helmut Ortner -
This episode we'll be talking about Jazz's reception in Berlin and Germany more broadly, from its early arrival in the 20s to the Third Reich's attempts to stamp it out. Minister for Propaganada and Enlightenment Joseph Goebbels has a plan to make really cool and great white supremacist music actually… but the results are as one might expect. We also take a look at the rebellious teens of Nazi Germany; the Swing-Jugend, a youth subculture already inclined to scoff at the Nazis will find their anthem in the music of Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
You can get in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
Different Drummers: Jazz in the Culture of Nazi Germany
Book by Michael H. Kater
Jazz Mini Series by Ken Burns -
Just weeks before the beginning of the Second World War, a dark spectre begins to stalk a particular section of the S-Bahn train line in Berlin. The press under Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels is loathe to publish news of anything but glorious German victory and the crimes of their supposed enemies within and without. As more and more women are violently attacked and eventually murdered, a decision is made to let the public in on what is happening, and inadvertently, the murderer. Against the backdrop of an extraordinarily violent regime, we take a look at an historically mundane violent occurence, as it unfolded in the city.
You can get in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
'A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin: The Chilling True Story of the S-Bahn Murderer'
Book by Scott Andrew Selby -
You know how it is, you want Greta Garbo in your next Hollywood Talkie, but she's awkward and weird and won't get on the phone, you need Salka Viertel.
Weimar Theatre Actress, Consummate Hostess, tireless anti-fascist, Garbo whisperer.
You might not have heard of Salka Viertel but some of the greatest connections and collaborations made in the early years of Hollywood happened in Salka Viertel’s Santa Monica living room. A life touched over and over by tragedy but always focussed on love and togetherness, Salka’s life has become somewhat forgotten, showing our habit of overlooking the often invisible work of hosting, caring and bringing people together.
You can can in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
'The Sun and Her Stars: Salka Viertel and Hitler's Exiles in the Golden Age of Hollywood' by Donna Rifkind -
It’s November in Germany, so you know that there's History afoot. Join Jonny Whitlam and Pip Roper as we discuss some of the context leading up to the November Revolution, (29th October-9th November) and try to detangle the confusion of those in the thick of it. Kaiser Wilhelm II doesn’t know when to leave the party, Rosa Luxemburg’s fresh out of prison and she told you this war was a bad idea all along, and there’s a town full of sailor’s who aren’t that keen on pointlessly dying actually. Join us as we, and they, try to navigate a forced abdication, end of an Empire and beginning of a whole new and turbulent world.
You can can in touch and book Jonny or Pip for a tour of Berlin via www.whitlams-berlin-tours.com. Don't forget to subscribe for more Berlin history every two weeks!
Mixed and Produced by Alex Griffiths
https://www.instagram.com/alexgriffiths_music/
https://alexgriffiths.bandcamp.com/
Sources:
'The Weimar Years' by Frank McDonough
'The Downfall of Money' by Frederick Taylor
