What If? | The 1619 Project
15-Minute History
In August 2019, The New York Times commemorated the four hundred-year anniversary of the first black Africans arriving in the New World by launching a long-form journalism project called the 1619 Project. Developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones, the project was designed to shift the focus of American history away from the American Revolution and hone in on the experiences of black Americans both before and after the Civil War. The 1619 Project immediately attracted both praise and criticism from historians and pundits alike and became another partisan football in the ongoing culture war...
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What If? | A Discussion on The 1619 Project
15-Minute History
Join us as we discuss the final episode in our "What if?" series, "The 1619 Project".
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What if? | Pizzaro & the Potato
15-Minute History
From 1531-1532, Pizzaro and his group conquered and destroyed the Inca Civilization. Climbing the Andes Mountains, they probably never questioned the ability of the Inca Empire to feed itself in the absence of cattle and wheat. That was, by most estimations, the farthest thing from the mind of the conqueror. Amongst the riches they stole and the mining they conducted, a resource emerged that McNeill believes would have altered history had it not been discovered and transplanted throughout the world. That discovery was the potato. What if Pizzaro hadn't brought the potato to...
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What if? | A Discussion on Pizzaro & the Potato
15-Minute History
Join us as we discuss, "What if" | Pizzaro and the Potato.
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What If? | The Immolation of Hernán Cortés
15-Minute History
"Cortés and his men leapt across the breach in the causeway to pursue the fleeing Aztecs, only to see them turn and attack. Drawn into the trap, Cortés and sixty-eight other Spaniards were captured and dragged off, leaving scores of others dead on the road. Ten captives were killed immediately, and…the remaining fifty-eight were taken to the towering Great Temple, which could plainly be seen from the Spaniards' camp, made to dance before the statue of the Aztec god of war, Huitzilopochtli, and then, on by one, they were sacrificed…Cortés escaped this fate only through the intervention...
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What If? | A Discussion on The Immolation of Hernán Cortés
15-Minute History
Join us as we discuss What If? | The Immolation of Hernán Cortés.
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What If? | Victory at Harbin
15-Minute History
General Marshall had arrived early in 1946 with orders from Harry Truman to build a coalition government that included both Communists and Nationalists in China. Mao Tse Tung eagerly accepted Marshall’s intervention, continuing his public relations campaign to depict the Chinese Communist Party as kinder and gentler than its Stalinist counterpart in Moscow. But Chiang, who had chafed at having to accept help from the Americans during the war with Japan, rejected Marshall’s interference and refused to compromise with Mao. Frustrated by the Nationalists’ intransigence, General...
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What If? | A Discussion on the Victory at Harbin
15-Minute History
Join us as we discuss What If? | Victory at Harbin.
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What If? | A Lasting Peace at Tilsit
15-Minute History
The raft floated in the midst of the River Niemen. On it were two beautiful pavilions, one for the Emperor of the French and the other for the Czar and Autocrat of All the Russias. In the French tent, Napoleon Bonaparte argued with his foreign minister, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, over how harsh the peace terms with the defeated Russians should be. Talleyrand, a servant of every revolutionary government since 1789, was a snake in silk stockings, but he knew foreign policy better than anyone else in the emperor’s entourage. He begged the emperor to treat Russia gently and put an end to...
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What If? | A Discussion on a Lasting Peace at Tilsit
15-Minute History
Join us as we discuss, What if? | The Lasting Peace at Tilst.
info_outline"Cortés and his men leapt across the breach in the causeway to pursue the fleeing Aztecs, only to see them turn and attack. Drawn into the trap, Cortés and sixty-eight other Spaniards were captured and dragged off, leaving scores of others dead on the road. Ten captives were killed immediately, and…the remaining fifty-eight were taken to the towering Great Temple, which could plainly be seen from the Spaniards' camp, made to dance before the statue of the Aztec god of war, Huitzilopochtli, and then, on by one, they were sacrificed…Cortés escaped this fate only through the intervention of Cristóbal de Olea, who sprang to his defense, killed the four Aztecs who were dragging him off, and freed his leader at the cost of his own life. The very conquest of Mexico hung on this single act." — Ross Hassig, "The Immolation of Hernán Cortés
What if Cortés had died on the causeway or at any other point in his dangerous career?
Join us as we continue asking "What if", speak to what might have happened if the conquistador had met his end at the hands of those he sought to conquer, and how our world might be different today.