History Shorts
Cannibalism sits at the outer edge of human history, invoked as taboo, weaponized as propaganda, and whispered about in moments of extreme survival. Yet it appears again and again across cultures, centuries, and continents, not as myth alone, but as documented reality. In this episode, we trace the long and complex history of cannibalism, separating fact from fear and ritual from rumor DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY:
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“Listen, my children, and you shall hear…” With those famous words, an event that unfolded in darkness and confusion became one of the most enduring legends in American history. But Paul Revere’s midnight ride was not born a myth. It was shaped into one. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY:
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In this interview episode, I’m joined by author Mark Braude to dive into his latest book, The Typewriter and the Guillotine: An American Journalist, a German Serial Killer, and Paris on the Eve of WWII—a gripping blend of biography and true-crime set in the City of Light just before it went dark. Braude takes us into interwar Paris, where an American journalist builds a life and a voice amid glamour, ambition, and mounting political dread—while the shadow of a German serial killer and a sensational case helps reveal what a society is willing to ignore until it can’t anymore. ...
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Hidden behind iron gates along the Mississippi River stood a place most Americans never wanted to acknowledge, and many pretended didn’t exist. For nearly a century, men, women, and even children diagnosed with Hansen’s disease were sent to Carville National Leprosarium, a secluded institution that became both a prison and a refuge. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY:
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The Bible is often read as a book of law, prophecy, and moral teaching, but woven through its pages are creatures that feel more at home in myth and nightmare than Sunday school. From fire-breathing sea serpents to land beasts of impossible strength, the ancient world imagined monsters not as fantasy, but as living symbols of chaos, fear, and divine power. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY:
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In the depths of the Great Depression, Cleveland became the hunting ground for a killer the newspapers struggled to name, and the police couldn’t catch. Beginning in 1935, dismembered, often decapitated bodies started appearing near the industrial flats and shantytowns along Kingsbury Run, a bleak corridor of rail lines, smoke, and makeshift shelters. The victims were largely the unseen and undocumented: transient workers, the desperately poor, people whose disappearances didn’t always make headlines until their remains surfaced in pieces. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE...
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In the spring of 1865, just days after the Civil War ended and President Lincoln was laid to rest, one final tragedy struck a nation desperate to move on. On the night of April 27, the overcrowded Union steamboat Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River, killing an estimated 1,800 people, mostly recently freed Union prisoners of war returning home. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY:
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For more than two thousand years, one medical treatment dominated Western medicine: bloodletting. From ancient Greece to the 19th century, physicians believed that draining a patient’s blood could cure illness, restore balance, and save lives. Instead, it often hastened death. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY:
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During World War II, the U.S. military fought enemies on beaches, in jungles, and in the skies, but it also faced a quieter, deeply embarrassing crisis within its own ranks. Venereal disease sidelined hundreds of thousands of American servicemen, threatening combat readiness, morale, and the outcome of the war itself. In this episode, we explore how sexually transmitted infections became one of the most serious medical challenges facing the U.S. armed forces during World War II, and how the military responded with an unprecedented campaign of education, discipline, treatment, and propaganda....
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In this interview episode, I’m joined by Dorie McCullough Lawson and Michael Hill, the editors behind History Matters, a powerful collection drawn from the words and work of David McCullough. Together, they open a window into how one of America’s most beloved historians understood the purpose of history, not as trivia or nostalgia, but as a civic responsibility. We talk about how the book was shaped, what guided their editorial choices, and how McCullough’s speeches, essays, and reflections speak directly to the present moment. From democracy and citizenship to curiosity, humility, and...
info_outlineTODAY IN CONTEXT: In a world where a comedian's punchline can get him pulled off the air, how secure is your right to speak freely? This episode unravels the explosive history of U.S. free speech, from the Founding Fathers' bold rebellion against censorship to the FCC's iron grip on broadcasts, and spotlights the 2025 Jimmy Kimmel suspension that has everyone questioning: When does satire cross the line, and who gets to draw it?
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