History Shorts

Dive into the past with award-winning historian Peter Zablocki in this captivating daily podcast! Uncover hidden stories you never knew existed. And don't miss Friday Conversations where Peter teams up with top experts for riveting, in-depth discussions that bring history to life.

Van Buren & the Establishment of the Modern Political system 01/24/2026

Van Buren & the Establishment of the Modern Political system Nicknamed “The Little Magician,” Martin Van Buren was one of the most skilled political operators in American history, and one of its most misunderstood presidents. He didn’t win power through battlefield glory or soaring rhetoric, but through organization, loyalty, and an almost modern understanding of party politics. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39700725

Conversations: Spies in My Blood, w/ Alex Storozynski 01/23/2026

Conversations: Spies in My Blood, w/ Alex Storozynski In this powerful interview, History Shorts welcomes Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, historian, and author Alex Storozynski to discuss his gripping book Spies in My Blood, a deeply personal exploration of espionage, resistance, and family legacy in 20th-century Europe. Drawing on newly uncovered intelligence files, wartime records, and family history long shrouded in silence, Storozynski reveals how members of his own Polish family waged a hidden war against both Nazi and Communist regimes. The conversation moves between the intimate and the geopolitical: how secrets are passed down through generations, how totalitarian systems rely on fear and betrayal, and how ordinary people are forced into extraordinary moral choices. BUY ALEX'S BOOK: SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: EPISODE SPONSORED BY THE COLLECTOR: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39658600

The Dred Scott Decision that shook America 01/22/2026

The Dred Scott Decision that shook America In 1857, the United States Supreme Court issued one of the most devastating rulings in its history: Dred Scott v. Sandford. At its center was Dred Scott, an enslaved man who sued for his freedom after living in free territory, only to be told by the nation’s highest court that he had no rights the court was bound to respect. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39700680

Ike’s Heart Attack That made America Health-Conscious 01/21/2026

Ike’s Heart Attack That made America Health-Conscious In September 1955, the most powerful man in the world, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, suffered a heart attack while in office. The news stunned the nation. At a time when heart disease was poorly understood, rarely discussed, and often treated as a private weakness, Eisenhower’s illness became a public reckoning with mortality, leadership, and modern health. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39698205

Killing Margaret Thatcher 01/20/2026

Killing Margaret Thatcher In the early hours of October 12, 1984, a bomb detonated inside the Grand Hotel in Brighton, ripping through the building just feet from where British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was sleeping. The attack, carried out by the Irish Republican Army, was not random terror. It was a meticulously planned assassination attempt aimed at decapitating Britain’s political leadership in a single blow. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39698190

America’s Century of Foreign Regime Change 01/19/2026

America’s Century of Foreign Regime Change For more than a century, the United States has played a decisive—often secretive—role in the rise and fall of governments around the world. From Cold War coups and covert CIA operations to regime change justified in the name of stability, democracy, or anti-communism, America’s global footprint has frequently extended far beyond diplomacy. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39698170

The Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire 01/18/2026

The Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire In the early 13th century, a nomadic warrior from the windswept steppes of Central Asia forged the largest contiguous land empire the world has ever known. Under Genghis Khan and his successors, the Mongol Empire exploded outward, conquering cities, shattering armies, and redrawing the map of Eurasia in a single lifetime. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39634995

Kosciuszko's Last Will and Jefferson's Broken Promise 01/17/2026

Kosciuszko's Last Will and Jefferson's Broken Promise When Tadeusz Kościuszko, the Polish patriot and Revolutionary War hero, wrote his final will, he entrusted it to one man he believed shared his ideals of liberty: Thomas Jefferson. The will was explicit and radical. Kościuszko directed that his American assets be used to purchase enslaved people, including Jefferson’s own slaves, and free them, educate them, and set them up as independent citizens. Jefferson accepted the role of executor. And then… he did nothing. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39634975

Conversations: Unmasking Thomas Jefferson? w/ Andrew Burstein 01/16/2026

Conversations: Unmasking Thomas Jefferson? w/ Andrew Burstein In this episode of History Shorts, we sit down with acclaimed historian Andrew Burstein to discuss his newest book, Being Thomas Jefferson, a deeply human portrait of one of America’s most complex founders. Moving beyond marble statues and textbook myths, Burstein invites us inside Jefferson’s inner world: his ambitions and anxieties, his brilliance and blind spots, his ideals and contradictions. Together, we explore how Jefferson understood himself, how he navigated power, friendship, politics, and aging, and how a man who wrote so eloquently about liberty could remain entangled in slavery and silence. BUY ANDREW'S BOOK: SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: EPISODE SPONSORED BY THE COLLECTOR: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39658295

History’s Most “Unkillable” Soldier: Adrian Carton de Wiart 01/15/2026

History’s Most “Unkillable” Soldier: Adrian Carton de Wiart Shot through the face. Blinded in one eye. His hand shattered so badly he tore off his own fingers. Survived plane crashes. Escaped a prisoner-of-war camp. Fought in three major wars across four continents. And somehow, Adrian Carton de Wiart kept going. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39732040

Morristown 1779: The Winter That Nearly Ended the Revolution 01/14/2026

Morristown 1779: The Winter That Nearly Ended the Revolution The 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. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39634900

Voltaire and Frederick's Messy Friendship 01/13/2026

Voltaire and Frederick's Messy Friendship In the 18th century, two of Europe’s most formidable intellects believed they had found a kindred spirit in each other. One was a king who dreamed of ruling through reason. The other was the era’s sharpest critic of power, superstition, and hypocrisy. Together, Frederick the Great and Voltaire forged one of history’s most fascinating and combustible friendships. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39634845

Copernicus Moves the Earth 01/12/2026

Copernicus Moves the Earth In the 16th century, one quiet canon and mathematician made a claim so radical it shattered humanity’s place in the universe. Nicolaus Copernicus didn’t just challenge astronomers; he challenged kings, churches, and centuries of inherited truth. This episode tells the story of how Copernicus overturned the ancient belief that Earth stood motionless at the center of creation and replaced it with a sun-centered cosmos. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39634805

Brief History of Cemeteries 01/11/2026

Brief History of Cemeteries Cemeteries are more than resting places for the dead; they are mirrors of the societies that built them. From ancient burial mounds and medieval churchyards to sprawling Victorian “cities of the dead” and today’s memorial parks, cemeteries reveal how humans have understood death, memory, religion, class, and public health. In this episode of History Shorts, we trace how burial practices evolved across centuries, and why cemeteries moved from the heart of towns to the edges of cities. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39570400

The Mann Act: America’s Morality Law 01/10/2026

The Mann Act: America’s Morality Law Passed in 1910, the Mann Act was meant to protect women from exploitation. Instead, it became one of the most powerful and abused moral weapons in American law. In this episode of History Shorts, we unpack the story of the Mann Act, a federal law that criminalized transporting women across state lines for “immoral purposes.” Vaguely worded and aggressively enforced, the law quickly expanded far beyond its original intent, allowing prosecutors to target consensual relationships, interracial couples, political enemies, and cultural figures who challenged social norms. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39570375

Conversations: How Our History Shows What We Can Overcome, w/ Greg Jackson 01/09/2026

Conversations: How Our History Shows What We Can Overcome, w/ Greg Jackson In this special interview episode, Prof. Greg Jackson, the creator and voice behind the wildly popular History That Doesn’t Suck, joins History Shorts for a wide-ranging conversation about how history can be rigorous, entertaining, and deeply relevant all at once. PRE-ORDER GREG'S BOOK: SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: EPISODE SPONSORED BY THE COLLECTOR: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39607360

Killing Philip II of Macedon 01/08/2026

Killing Philip II of Macedon In 336 BCE, at the height of his power, King Philip II of Macedon entered a grand theater to celebrate a royal wedding. He never left alive. In this episode of History Shorts, we revisit one of antiquity’s most shocking political murders—the assassination of Philip II, the man who transformed Macedonia from a backwater kingdom into the dominant military power of Greece and laid the foundations for an empire his son would soon inherit. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39570345

History’s Worst Nun? Juana Inés de la Cruz 01/07/2026

History’s Worst Nun? Juana Inés de la Cruz She was called disobedient. Arrogant. Dangerous. She is now remembered as one of the greatest minds of the Spanish-speaking world. In this episode of History Shorts, we revisit the life of Juana Inés de la Cruz—a 17th-century nun whose brilliance and independence made her a problem for Church authorities. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39570320

Judicial Life Appointments Gone Wrong 01/06/2026

Judicial Life Appointments Gone Wrong The U.S. Constitution grants Supreme Court justices life tenure to protect judicial independence. But what happens when that protection becomes a liability? DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39570270

Laika: First Casualty of the Space Race 01/05/2026

Laika: First Casualty of the Space Race In November 1957, at the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2 into orbit. On board was not a pilot or a scientist—but a small stray dog named Laika. Her mission was never meant to return. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39570240

A Brief History of Cannibalism 01/04/2026

A Brief History of Cannibalism 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: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39523695

Mythbusting Paul Revere's Ride 01/03/2026

Mythbusting Paul Revere's Ride “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: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39521380

An American Journalist, a German Serial Killer, & Paris on the Eve of WWII, w/ Mark Braude 01/02/2026

An American Journalist, a German Serial Killer, & Paris on the Eve of WWII, w/ Mark Braude 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. CHECK OUT MARK'S BOOKS: SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: EPISODE SPONSORED BY THE COLLECTOR: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39446570

Carville: U.S.' Forgotten Leper City 01/01/2026

Carville: U.S.' Forgotten Leper City 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: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39521090

Biblical Monsters 12/31/2025

Biblical Monsters 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: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39516345

The Great Depression Serial Killer of Cleveland 12/30/2025

The Great Depression Serial Killer of Cleveland 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 A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39512340

Sultana: Civil War's Last Forgotten Disaster 12/29/2025

Sultana: Civil War's Last Forgotten Disaster 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: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39512315

When Bloodletting was the Cure 12/28/2025

When Bloodletting was the Cure 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: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39425420

WWII's Battle Against Venereal Disease 12/27/2025

WWII's Battle Against Venereal Disease 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. DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE AND LEAVE A RATING OR A REVIEW! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: SPONSORED BY: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39419290

Why History Matters, with David McCullough 12/26/2025

Why History Matters, with David McCullough 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 the moral weight of storytelling, Lawson and Hill reflect on what it meant to preserve McCullough’s voice in his own words, and why those words still matter. BUY THE BOOK: SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: EPISODE SPONSORED BY THE COLLECTOR: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39446485

History Shorts

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