Morristown 1779: The Winter That Nearly Ended the Revolution
Release Date: 01/14/2026
Mahan and the Influence of Sea Power
History Shorts
In the late 19th century, one naval officer reshaped how the world understood power itself—not through speeches or battlefield heroics, but through a book. Alfred Thayer Mahan, a U.S. Navy captain and historian, argued that national greatness depended on control of the seas. His landmark work, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, would go on to transform military strategy across continents. SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY:
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History of the Paperbacks
History Shorts
It’s small. Portable. Affordable. Easy to slip into a coat pocket or toss into a suitcase. But the paperback book didn’t just change how we read—it changed who could read. Before the 20th century, books were often expensive, heavy, and inaccessible to the average person. Then came the paperback revolution. Publishers like Penguin Books in Britain and Pocket Books in the United States transformed literature into something democratic—sold at train stations, drugstores, and newsstands for just a few cents. Suddenly, classics, thrillers, romances, and political treatises were within reach...
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Conversations: How a Motley Crew of Characters Stopped the Invasion of America, w/ Sara Vladic
History Shorts
In this gripping Conversation Series episode, historian and investigative author Sara Vladic joins History Shorts to discuss her explosive new book, The Dangerous Shore: How a Motley Crew of Scientists, Mobsters, Double Agents, Retirees, Volunteer Pilots (and a Boy Scout) Stopped the Invasion of America. This is not the World War II story you learned in school. 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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Why American Troops Mutinied After VE Day
History Shorts
The war was over—but for thousands of American soldiers stationed overseas, the fight felt far from finished. In late 1945 and early 1946, frustration boiled over among U.S. troops waiting to be brought home from Europe and the Pacific. Promised rotation systems and swift demobilization seemed painfully slow. Out of that anger emerged what became known as the “Bring Daddy Home” movement—peaceful but highly organized demonstrations by servicemen demanding what they believed they had earned: a ticket home. SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED...
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The Underground Railroad
History Shorts
The Underground Railroad was a vast, secret network of safe houses, guides, abolitionists, and ordinary citizens who risked fines, imprisonment, and even death to help enslaved people escape bondage in the American South. Conductors like Harriet Tubman led daring nighttime journeys through forests and across rivers, while stationmasters opened their homes in quiet defiance of the law. SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY:
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What did the Founders Think About Religion?
History Shorts
Were America’s Founding Fathers devout Christians, skeptical deists, or something more complicated? The answer is far less simple—and far more interesting—than modern debates often suggest. Figures like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison lived in an age shaped by Enlightenment thought as much as traditional faith. Some attended church regularly; others questioned miracles and edited scripture. Yet together they built a nation whose Constitution famously separated church from state—while also invoking “Providence” in moments of crisis. SUPPORT THE...
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The Flying Tigers
History Shorts
Before the United States officially entered World War II, a small band of American volunteer pilots took to the skies over China to fight a war that wasn’t yet theirs. Known as the Flying Tigers, this daring group—formally the American Volunteer Group—became legendary for their shark-faced fighter planes and their fierce defense against Japanese air assaults in 1941 and 1942. SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY:
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The Man Who Jumped from Space
History Shorts
In the thin, freezing edge of Earth’s atmosphere, long before private spaceflight captured headlines, one man stepped out of a balloon gondola and fell toward the planet below. Joseph Kittinger, a U.S. Air Force test pilot, made history in 1960 during Project Excelsior when he performed a daring high-altitude parachute jump from over 100,000 feet—pushing the limits of human endurance and aerospace science. 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 Patty Hearst Kidnapping Ordeal
History Shorts
In 1974, America watched in shock as newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped from her California apartment by a radical group calling itself the Symbionese Liberation Army. What began as a high-profile abduction quickly turned into one of the most bizarre and controversial stories of the decade—when the young heiress suddenly reappeared, not as a victim, but seemingly as a willing participant in the group’s crimes. Was Patty Hearst brainwashed, coerced, or making her own choices? DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE...
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Conversations: Berlin During WWII, w/ Ian Buruma
History Shorts
In this special Conversation Series episode of History Shorts, host Peter Zablocki sits down with acclaimed historian and author Ian Buruma to discuss his powerful new book, Stay Alive: Berlin, 1939-1945. Rather than focusing on generals or grand strategy, Buruma takes listeners inside the daily lives of ordinary Berliners struggling to survive in the heart of the Third Reich — a city shaped by fear, propaganda, quiet resistance, and the slow unraveling of a regime at war with the world. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE...
info_outlineThe winter of 1779–1780 was the coldest the American colonies had seen in generations, and for George Washington and the Continental Army, it was a season of hunger, mutiny, and near collapse. Encamped in Morristown, Washington’s soldiers faced brutal temperatures, empty supply wagons, unpaid wages, and a civilian population stretched to its limits.
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