Latest in History
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The blatant betrayal that erased the Tupperware queen from history
Brownie Wise revolutionized how we store our food. She was one of the first female corporate executives in U.S. history. But she’s not a household name. This week on our series Hidden Histories, the rise and fall of the …
The Avignon Papacy and the Fight for France: Part 1 - The 13th Century and Problems in the Church
The Avignon Papacy (1309-1376) was the period during which seven successive popes resided at Avignon, in modern-day southern France, rather than at Rome. It followed a bitter conflict between the papacy and King Philip I…
The English Civil War: Regicide - Trial and Execution of a King – Part 5
Before the axe fell on the cold January afternoon of 1649, England had already crossed political frontiers that few believed could ever be crossed. For centuries, kings had ruled by inherited right, anointed in sacred ce…
THE BETRAYAL OF SHOHEI OHTANI Episode 6: Footnote
One man begins a prison sentence and the other goes on a World Series run, but putting to rest questions about what really happened between these two men isn’t so simple. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch…
Wolverton: The Rise and Fall of the First Railway Town in Britain
History is not just found in museums or far-off exotic locations — it can be discovered close to home. After more than forty years as a resident of Milton Keynes, England, I decided to go out and explore some of the loca…
A Song of Myself
Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Ra…
William Miller Barbour and US Civil Rights
The Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education on May 17, 1954, is often treated as a clear dividing line in American civil rights history. Yet for many professionals working inside the civil rights infrastr…
From Tulip Mania to Digital Risk Management: The Historic Lessons of Financial Self-Protection
For millennia humans have risked fortunes to make more profit, increase status, and achieve security. Financial markets and tools have changed over time, but the human desire for more still affects money-related decision…
THE BETRAYAL OF SHOHEI OHTANI Episode 5: The Feds
Encrypted text messages, a trunk full of baseball cards, and a private bank account - federal law enforcement takes us inside their investigation of Shohei and Ippei. Next episode coming Tuesday, August 11th. Learn mo…
Lies, theft, and cover-up: the history of Monopoly you've never heard
Monopoly is one of the best-selling board games of all time. It heralds free market economics and celebrates the American dream. That's a far cry from the original intent. This week on our series Hidden Histories, we go …
France's Maginot Line and the Cost of Rigid Thinking
France spent a decade and billions of francs building the Maginot Line along its German frontier, only for the German invasion of 1940 to drive straight past it. This is the story of how the Maginot Line was built, why i…
THE BETRAYAL OF SHOHEI OHTANI Episode 4: The Bookie
Matt Bowyer was running one of the largest illegal sports betting operations in the country when he thought he scored the client of a lifetime. Next episode coming Thursday, August 6th. Learn more about your ad choice…
The song that fueled protests and a legacy of hope
In our final installment of AP250, how We Shall Overcome became the anthem of generations of protestors. Today on the show, we revisit an episode from the NPR archives about the legacy of hope found in the lyrics of this…
Show 74 - Mania for Subjugation IV
The stage is set for an in-person showdown between Alexander and Persia's Great King. The resulting Battle of Issus, although often ignored by Hollywood, is one of the most important battles in all ancient history. It ge…
THE BETRAYAL OF SHOHEI OHTANI Episode 3: Baseball Boy
Shohei’s life has been well-documented since he was a young baseball phenom in Japan, but digging into Ippei’s past reveals a more complicated picture than anyone knew. Next episode coming Tuesday, August 4th. Learn mo…
The lightbulb conspiracy is both real and everywhere
Over the next few episodes, we present Hidden Histories: stories that will make you rethink how the world works. First up, the conspiracy behind the lightbulb—and how it came to shape the entire consumer economy. If you …
THE BETRAYAL OF SHOHEI OHTANI Episode 2: The Interview
A surprising interview takes a strange turn and deepens the mystery around Shohei Ohtani and his long-time interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. Episodes drop every Tuesday and Thursday. Thank you for listening. Learn more a…
THE BETRAYAL OF SHOHEI OHTANI Episode 1: The Letter O
ESPN Investigative Reporter Tisha Thompson receives a tip that, if true, could damage Shohei Ohtani’s picture-perfect reputation. Episodes drop every Tuesday and Thursday. Thank you for listening. Learn more about y…
The license to be funny in America
One of the most fundamental aspects of American democracy has been the public’s ability to critique power, whether that’s through protest, legislation, or a really funny joke. Today, we take a romp into the history of Am…
The architect of modern China
From impoverishment to global superpower, China’s supremacy happened at a breakneck speed thanks to the visionary strategy of the man who took power in 1978. Over the next decade, under leader Deng Xiaoping’s firm leader…
Episode 66: White Heat/White Lights
Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Ra…
Rush, Hall, Bartlett, and Thornton
This is a special episode commissioned by Aspen Ideas: Health and originally performed at the 2026 festival in Aspen, Colorado. Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes …
A White Horse
This episode was originally released in 2016 in the days after the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. It is re-released every year on the anniversary of the incident. Order The Memory Palace book now, dear lis…
Episode 245: The Self-Believer, or Hasting by Musket and Sextant
Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Ra…
Episode 244: Pathways
Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Ra…
Show 73 - Mania for Subjugation III
Attacking the largest empire the world had ever seen is a huge endeavor at any age, but try doing it at 21. Alexander, fusing the qualities of a Napoleon with a gladiator, aims for immortality. The Persians are just in h…
Show 72 - Mania for Subjugation II
Is it safe to hand control of the deadliest army in the world to a 20-year old? If you are Thracian, Triballian, Illyrian or Theban, the answer is definitely no. Alexander becomes king and fights off threats to his rule …
Celebrating the Legacy of the Office of Strategic Services 82 Years On
From the OSS to the CIA, how Wild Bill Donovan shaped the American intelligence community.
Show 71 - Mania for Subjugation
What's the recipe for making a historically world-class apex predator? In the case of Alexander the Great, it might be the three Ns: Nature, Nurture, and Nepotism.
Seminoles Taught American Soldiers a Thing or Two About Guerrilla Warfare
During the 1835–42 Second Seminole War and as Army scouts out West, these warriors from the South proved formidable.
This Patient Rider Spent Months Retracing the Pony Express on Horseback
.image-13796819 { max-height: 100%; --left: 40.91%; --top: 52.46%; } In 2019 Will Grant embarked on a 142-day, 2,000-mile horseback journey from the Pony Express stables in St. Joseph, Mo., to trail’s end in Sacram…
10 Pivotal Events in the Life of Buffalo Bill
.image-13796758 { max-height: 100%; --left: 54.92%; --top: 29.55%; } William Frederick Cody (1846-1917) led a signal life, from his youthful exploits with the Pony Express and in service as a U.S. Army scout to his…
During the War Years, Posters From the American Homefront Told You What to Do — And What Not to Do
.image-13796261 { max-height: 100%; --left: 41.28%; --top: 14.20%; } If you needed some motivation during the war years, there was probably a poster for that.
The One and Only ‘Booger’ Was Among History’s Best Rodeo Performers
.image-13796414 { max-height: 100%; --left: 44.18%; --top: 28.38%; } Texan Sam Privett, the colorfully nicknamed proprietor of Booger Red’s Wild West, backed up his boast he could ride anything on four legs.
Show 70 - Twilight of the Aesir II
Pagan Viking Sea Kings spend the 10th and 11th centuries morphing into Christian monarchs. But with rulers like Harald Bluetooth and Svein Forkbeard it's debatable whether things will be any less horrific for Scandinavia…
Show 69 - Twilight of the Aesir
This show picks up where Dan's Thor's Angels show left off. In the early Middle Ages Pagan Germanic-language speakers like the Vikings are a dying breed. Many of their contemporaries wish they'd die faster.
7: The Many Loves of Howard Hughes, Chapter 1
The first episode of a multi-part series on the Hollywood romances of Howard Hughes traces Hughes’ arranged marriage at age 18 to Southern society belle Ella Rice; his affairs with silent star Billie Dove and Jean Harlow…
6: Isabella Rossellini in the 1990s
Today we celebrate the 62nd birthday of actress/model/filmmaker Isabella Rossellini. She was born into Hollywood scandal: her mother, Ingrid Bergman, was denounced on the floor of Congress for her adulterous relationship…
5: The Lives, Deaths and Afterlives of Judy Garland
Today we’re commemorating the life and career of Judy Garland, who died 45 years ago this month. Signed to a studio contract at the age of 13, encouraged to become a pill addict as a teenage MGM contract player, crowned …
4: (The Printing of) the Legend of Frances Farmer
During the last year of his life, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain was obsessed with Frances Farmer, an actress from his hometown of Seattle who died in 1970. Farmer’s beauty and unique screen presence made her a star, but her no-b…
3: Happy 110th Birthday, Val Lewton
A Very Special Halloween Episode! The writer-producer Val Lewton produced and ghost-wrote 11 films in just three years as head of the horror unit at RKO, many of which — Cat People, I Walked With A Zombie, The Curse of t…
2: Frank Sinatra in Outer Space
Welcome to the second episode of You Must Remember This, the podcast devoted to exploring the secret and or/forgotten histories of Hollywood’s first century. Today, we look back to 1979, when — while the music world was …