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.

Penny Auctions: Defiance in the Great Depression 02/18/2026

Penny Auctions: Defiance in the Great Depression During the darkest years of the Great Depression, Americans didn’t just lose jobs, homes, and savings—they lost faith in the systems meant to protect them. Out of that desperation emerged a strange and deeply revealing phenomenon: penny auctions. On courthouse steps and dusty town squares, neighbors gathered as foreclosed farms, homes, and equipment were auctioned off—often for just a few cents. But these weren’t ordinary sales. Communities quietly conspired to sabotage the auctions themselves, intimidating outside bidders and ensuring property could be returned to its original owners for pennies on the dollar. 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/40037190

Charlemagne: The Man Who Rebuilt Europe 02/17/2026

Charlemagne: The Man Who Rebuilt Europe In the chaos left behind by the fall of Rome, Europe fractured into violence, petty kingdoms, and fading memory. Then one man began stitching it back together by force, faith, and fire. Known to history as Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, he forged an empire stretching from the Pyrenees to the Danube, reshaping Europe more profoundly than any ruler since antiquity. Crowned Emperor by the Pope on Christmas Day in the year 800, Charlemagne fused Roman authority, Germanic warfare, and Christian legitimacy into a new political order—one whose echoes still shape Europe today. 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/40037160

The Sesame Street Story 02/16/2026

The Sesame Street Story In 1969, amid urban inequality, educational gaps, and a rapidly changing America, a revolutionary idea took shape: what if television could teach—and teach every child, regardless of background? The result was Sesame Street—a bold experiment that blended entertainment with rigorous educational research, puppets with purpose, and joy with social responsibility. From Big Bird and Cookie Monster to lessons on letters, numbers, empathy, and loss, the show didn’t just entertain generations of children—it reshaped childhood itself. 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/40037140

Harvard Professor Finds 'Perfect Woman' 02/15/2026

Harvard Professor Finds 'Perfect Woman' In 1908, Dudley Allen Sargent, a professor at Harvard University, shocked the nation by announcing he had scientifically identified the “perfect woman.” Her name was Annette Kellerman — a fearless swimmer, vaudeville star, early film actress, and social rebel who once caused scandal simply by wearing a one-piece swimsuit. This episode explores the bizarre collision of early science, beauty standards, and celebrity culture — and how a woman who broke every rule became the symbol of physical perfection. 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/39970285

The Story of the Smithsonian Institution 02/14/2026

The Story of the Smithsonian Institution n this episode of History Shorts, we explore how an unlikely bequest sparked the creation of America’s great national museums, the struggles to bring them to life, and how the Smithsonian grew into a global center for science, culture, and preservation. From dinosaur bones to space capsules, presidential relics to priceless art, the Smithsonian became the keeper of the nation’s memory — and a window into humanity’s past. 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/39970255

Conversations: Lessons from Alternative History, w/ Harry Turtledove 02/13/2026

Conversations: Lessons from Alternative History, w/ Harry Turtledove In this Conversation Series episode of History Shorts, Peter sits down with the undisputed master of alternative history, Harry Turtledove, to explore how a single changed moment in the past can reshape the entire course of human history. From Civil War battlefields altered by future technology to alien invasions colliding with World War II in his sweeping Worldwar, Turtledove has spent decades asking one powerful question: what if? In this wide-ranging conversation, he reveals how real historical research underpins even his wildest scenarios, why turning points matter more than famous figures, and how alternate history helps us better understand the world we actually live in. 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/40011890

Mutiny on the Bounty 02/12/2026

Mutiny on the Bounty In 1789, one of the most famous rebellions in maritime history exploded aboard the British ship HMS Bounty. After months at sea under the harsh command of Captain William Bligh, a group of sailors led by Fletcher Christian seized control of the ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Bligh and his loyal men were cast adrift in a small open boat — a death sentence that somehow turned into one of the greatest survival voyages in history. 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/39970235

The Somme, 1916 02/11/2026

The Somme, 1916 In the summer of 1916, along a quiet stretch of countryside in northern France, one of the deadliest battles in human history erupted — and forever changed the nature of warfare. In this episode of History Shorts, we dive into the Battle of the Somme, a brutal World War I offensive meant to break the stalemate of trench warfare. 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/39956445

Amazons: Warrior Women of Myth and Legend 02/10/2026

Amazons: Warrior Women of Myth and Legend In the ancient Greek imagination, there existed a society unlike any other — a nation of fierce, independent women who lived by the sword, rode into battle on horseback, and struck fear into the hearts of even the greatest heroes of myth. In this episode of History Shorts, we explore the legend of the Amazons — warrior women said to live beyond the edges of the known world. From their epic clashes with Hercules and Theseus to their role in the Trojan War, the Amazons stood as both rivals and reflections of Greek society’s deepest fears and fascinations. 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/39956435

22nd Amendment: Putting a Clock on the Presidency 02/09/2026

22nd Amendment: Putting a Clock on the Presidency For nearly 150 years, the presidency followed an unwritten rule set by George Washington: two terms, then step aside. But in the chaos of the Great Depression and World War II, that tradition was shattered by one man — Franklin D. Roosevelt — who was elected an unprecedented four times. In this episode of History Shorts, we explore how Roosevelt’s extraordinary presidency led directly to the creation of the 22nd Amendment, permanently limiting future presidents to two terms in office. 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/39956405

The Monroe Doctrine 02/08/2026

The Monroe Doctrine In 1823, the United States was still a young, fragile nation — yet President James Monroe issued a bold warning to the great empires of Europe that would permanently change the balance of power in the Western Hemisphere. The Monroe Doctrine declared that the Americas were no longer open to European colonization, and that any attempt to interfere in the New World would be seen as a threat to U.S. security. At the time, America lacked the military strength to enforce such a claim — but the message was clear: a new power was rising. 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/39888685

Hussars: History's Most Terrrifying Cavalry 02/07/2026

Hussars: History's Most Terrrifying Cavalry Thunder rolled across Europe’s battlefields — not from the sky, but from hooves. For over two centuries, the Winged Hussars of Poland-Lithuania were the most feared cavalry force in the world. Clad in armor, armed with massive lances, and riding at full gallop with towering feathered wings strapped to their backs, they shattered armies that outnumbered them many times over. 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/39888645

Conversations: Our Man in Tokyo Before Pearl Harbor, w/ Steve Kemper 02/06/2026

Conversations: Our Man in Tokyo Before Pearl Harbor, w/ Steve Kemper During World War II, while most Americans were fleeing Axis territory, one man stayed behind in the heart of Imperial Japan. In this special conversation episode of History Shorts, host Peter Zablocki sits down with bestselling author and historian Steve Kemper to discuss his gripping book Our Man in Tokyo — the true story of Otto Tolischus, the American journalist who reported from inside Japan’s wartime capital as it allied with Nazi Germany. 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/39888615

Vatican City: The Smallest Nation 02/05/2026

Vatican City: The Smallest Nation Tucked within the heart of Rome lies the smallest country on Earth — yet for nearly two thousand years, Vatican City has stood at the center of global power, faith, politics, and conflict. 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/39888575

The Cats of History 02/04/2026

The Cats of History From ancient temples to royal courts, battlefields to libraries, cats have quietly — and sometimes dramatically — shaped human history. In ancient Egypt, they were worshipped as divine protectors. In medieval Europe, they were feared as omens of witchcraft. On ships, they guarded precious food supplies and boosted sailor morale. And in the halls of power, famous figures from Abraham Lincoln to Winston Churchill relied on feline companions for comfort and companionship. But some cats went far beyond companionship — saving cities from plagues, becoming symbols of empires, surviving wars, and even entering political lore. 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/39888550

The Age of Metternich: Europe After Napoleon 02/03/2026

The Age of Metternich: Europe After Napoleon After Napoleon’s defeat, Europe stood on the edge of chaos. Empires had collapsed, borders were in ruins, and revolutionary ideas were spreading like wildfire. Into this fragile moment stepped one man who would dominate European politics for nearly forty years — Prince Klemens von Metternich of Austria. From the grand halls of the Congress of Vienna to a vast network of spies and censors, Metternich worked tirelessly to restore monarchies, suppress revolution, and preserve the old order at almost any cost. He helped redraw the map of Europe, propped up fragile empires, and turned diplomacy into a weapon as powerful as any army. 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/39888510

Killing Peter and Paul 02/02/2026

Killing Peter and Paul In the summer of 64 AD, Rome burned, and Emperor Nero needed someone to blame. As flames consumed the Eternal City, rumors swirled that the emperor himself had ordered the fire. To deflect outrage, Nero turned on a small, misunderstood religious group: Christians. What followed was one of the first state-sponsored persecutions in Western history — brutal executions meant to terrify and entertain the Roman public alike. At the center of this terror stood two of Christianity’s most influential figures: Peter, the fisherman-turned-apostle, and Paul, the former persecutor who became the faith’s greatest missionary. Both would meet their deaths under Nero’s reign — one crucified upside down, the other beheaded outside Rome’s walls. 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/39888490

Ho Chi Minh Trail: Vietnam’s Invisible Weapon 02/01/2026

Ho Chi Minh Trail: Vietnam’s Invisible Weapon In this episode of History Shorts, we unravel the story of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the vast, secretive logistics network that became the lifeline of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Snaking through jungles, mountains, and neighboring countries like Laos and Cambodia, the trail defied geography, technology, and one of the most intensive bombing campaigns in history. 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/39789425

The Fall of the Ottoman Empire 01/31/2026

The Fall of the Ottoman Empire For more than six centuries, the Ottoman Empire stood at the crossroads of continents, ruling over vast territories, commanding powerful armies, and shaping the political, religious, and cultural life of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Its fall was not sudden. It was slow, complex, and world-altering. 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/39789385

Conversations: Preserving History at the National Museum of the U.S.A.F. w/ Meghan Anderson 01/30/2026

Conversations: Preserving History at the National Museum of the U.S.A.F. w/ Meghan Anderson In this episode, we’re joined by Meghan Anderson, Manuscript Curator in the Research Division at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, where history is preserved not just in aircraft but in the words, records, and personal papers of those who lived it. Meghan takes us behind the scenes of one of the world’s most important military history collections, exploring how letters, diaries, mission reports, and firsthand accounts help historians reconstruct the human experience of air power, from World War II bomber crews and Cold War strategists to modern aviators operating in an age of drones and digital warfare. SUPPORT THE SHOW: ADVERTISE: LEARN MORE: EPISODE SPONSORED BY THE COLLECTOR: /episode/index/show/2c68e044-1b71-48bf-a5c5-2792f5a14f4c/id/39747705

Brutus: The Man Who Killed Caesar 01/29/2026

Brutus: The Man Who Killed Caesar History remembers him as a traitor, but Brutus believed he was saving the Republic. In this episode of History Shorts, we trace the dramatic rise and catastrophic fall of Marcus Junius Brutus, the Roman nobleman whose name became synonymous with betrayal after the assassination of Julius Caesar. Raised on the ideals of republican virtue, liberty, and resistance to tyranny, Brutus was torn between personal loyalty and political conviction as Caesar accumulated unprecedented 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/39789360

Ullamaliztli: The Deadly Sport of Mesoamerica 01/28/2026

Ullamaliztli: The Deadly Sport of Mesoamerica Long before stadiums, scoreboards, or professional leagues, Mesoamerican civilizations played a game where sport, ritual, and the cosmos collided. In this episode of History Shorts, we explore Ullamaliztli, the ancient Mesoamerican ball game played for more than 3,000 years by the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec worlds. Using a solid rubber ball, sometimes weighing as much as a bowling ball, players struck it with hips, thighs, and forearms, battling gravity, physics, and pain itself to keep the ball in motion. 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/39789310

The Castrated Angel Singers of Rome 01/27/2026

The Castrated Angel Singers of Rome For centuries, their voices were said to sound unearthly, pure, soaring, and unlike anything heard before or since. In this episode of History Shorts, we explore the haunting and controversial history of the Angel Singers of Rome: the castrati whose voices filled Europe’s greatest churches and concert halls. Created through a brutal practice carried out on young boys, castrati became musical superstars in early modern Europe, prized especially by the Catholic Church, which barred women from singing in sacred spaces. 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/39789270

Pulaski: The Father of American Cavalry 01/26/2026

Pulaski: The Father of American Cavalry In this episode of History Shorts, we tell the dramatic, transatlantic story of the Polish nobleman who helped shape the American Revolution from the saddle. Branded a traitor in his homeland after fighting Russian domination, Pulaski carried his hard-earned battlefield experience across the Atlantic and offered it to a desperate Continental Army. What followed was nothing short of transformative. 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/39789245

The Great Awakenings: When America Found Religion 01/25/2026

The Great Awakenings: When America Found Religion At two pivotal moments in American history, waves of religious revival swept across the colonies and the young United States, reshaping faith, politics, reform movements, and the very idea of what it meant to be American. Known as the First and Second Great Awakenings, these movements transformed religion from an elite, church-centered experience into a mass, emotional, and deeply personal force. 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/39700750

Did President Van Buren Invent How We Do Politics Today? 01/24/2026

Did President Van Buren Invent How We Do Politics Today? 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

History Shorts

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