The History of the Twentieth Century

A chronicle of the history of the twentieth century, including art, music, popular culture, science, religion, and, of course, politics and war.

417 Over the Rainbow 09/07/2025

417 Over the Rainbow A look at some prominent blues singers, plus Judy Garland and her most famous role, as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/38034835

416 The Iron Gut of Europe 08/31/2025

416 The Iron Gut of Europe The Allies hoped their invasion of the Italian mainland would lead to a rapid occupation of Italy, but the Germans put up a defense that slowed their advance to a crawl. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/38034825

415 Would They Obey You Any More Readily? 08/24/2025

415 Would They Obey You Any More Readily? The German Army continued to retreat westward over the winter of 1943-44, abandoning most of Ukraine. Red Army pressure was relentless, not giving the Germans any opportunity to establish a strong defensive line. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/37935345

414 The Teheran Conference 08/17/2025

414 The Teheran Conference The Big Three--Stalin, Roosevelt, and Churchill--met and conferred together for the first time in November 1943. It was the most important meeting of world leaders since the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/37747980

413 Frankly, My Dear 08/03/2025

413 Frankly, My Dear Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, created in 1924 by the merger of three film production companies, quickly rose to become the most successful studio of the era. The record box office for the 1939 film Gone with the Wind represents the studio at its height. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/37601295

412 Hero to Zero 07/27/2025

412 Hero to Zero The Japanese "Zero" fighter plane played an important role in Japan's amazing victories early in the Pacific war. But by 1943, the Zero (and its pilots) were falling behind their Allied counterparts. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/37537990

411 From the Top 07/20/2025

411 From the Top Continuing from the previous episode, we examine events in multiple theaters in August-September 1943 /episode/index/show/history20th/id/37389570

410 Stranded on Plum Pudding Island 07/13/2025

410 Stranded on Plum Pudding Island An eventful period in July-August 1943, when there were major developments on the Eastern Front, in the Mediterranean, and in the Pacific. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/37389550

409 Famous Players in Famous Plays 06/29/2025

409 Famous Players in Famous Plays The history of Paramount Pictures, one of the oldest and most prominent film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/37103835

408 The Great Retreat 06/22/2025

408 The Great Retreat The end of the Battle of Kursk did not mean the end of the Red Army advance. The Germans withdrew, but the Red Army just kept coming. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/37103800

407 The Siege of Leningrad II 06/15/2025

407 The Siege of Leningrad II Hundreds of thousands died in Leningrad during the winter of 1941-42, but with spring came new hope. Composer Dmitri Shostakovich's latest symphony became a patriotic anthem, and not only in the USSR. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/36906380

406 The Siege of Leningrad I 06/08/2025

406 The Siege of Leningrad I As war raged around the globe, the city of Leningrad suffered under a German siege that lasted 872 days. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/36822925

405 On the Good Ship Lollipop 05/25/2025

405 On the Good Ship Lollipop In this episode, we look at Twentieth Century-Fox, John Ford, Shirley Temple, John Wayne, and Alfred Hitchcock. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/36613500

404 The Other Resistance 05/18/2025

404 The Other Resistance Resistance against the Nazis could take many forms. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/36613460

403 The Resistance II 05/11/2025

403 The Resistance II Some of the biggest successes (and biggest failures) of European resistance movements and their guides in Britain. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/36425320

402 The Resistance I 05/04/2025

402 The Resistance I In the occupied countries of Europe and Asia, resistance movements developed to oppose Axis occupations. In most cases, the resistance movements were divided between Communist and non-Communist. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/36425260

401 No Option But to Fight On 04/20/2025

401 No Option But to Fight On The U-boat war was going quite well for the Germans at the beginning of 1943, but by mid-year, the German Navy was on the verge of abandoning the effort. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/36234565

400 War in the Air II 04/06/2025

400 War in the Air II The Hamburg bombing forced the German government to rethink its defense policies. In Québec, Churchill and Roosevelt cut a deal on atom bomb research. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/36024350

399 War in the Air I 03/30/2025

399 War in the Air I After two years of trying, RAF Bomber Command at last perfected the techniques to inflict mass casualties and devastation on an enemy city. Meanwhile, the US Eighth Air Force struggled to develop their own strategies. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/35923825

398 An Incontrovertible Fact 03/16/2025

398 An Incontrovertible Fact As the war turned against them, the Japanese attempted to create allies among the nations it occupied, declaring the independence of Burma and the Philippines, while the US embraced China as a peer of the main Allied powers, alongside the US, UK, and USSR. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/35712290

397 Pop Goes the Weasel 03/02/2025

397 Pop Goes the Weasel The Japanese come to the reluctant conclusion that they have to abandon Guadalcanal and northeastern New Guinea. US submarine warfare begins to take a toll, and Admiral Yamamoto is killed. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/35300835

396 The Battle of Kursk 02/16/2025

396 The Battle of Kursk The German offenive failed. Then it was the Soviets' turn. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/35300750

395 A Definitive Mistake 02/02/2025

395 A Definitive Mistake Adolf Hitler begins his long-delayed 1943 offensive against the USSR, which fizzles in a matter of days. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/35070270

394 The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of 01/19/2025

394 The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of Warner Brothers was one of the minor studios until they introduced the first talking picture, which made the studio into one of the majors. In the Thirties, Warner Brothers, led by the irascible Jack L. Warner, was known for its glitzy musicals and crime dramas. In the early Forties, the studio released two films that are now regarded as among the best American films ever made: The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/34906035

393 Everything Is Going to Be Fine 01/05/2025

393 Everything Is Going to Be Fine The Japanese claimed to be liberating their fellow Asians from Western oppression, but Japanese rule proved to be brutal and murderous. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/34725890

392 Warsaw and Katyn 12/29/2024

392 Warsaw and Katyn In early 1943, the remaining residents of the Warsaw Ghetto rose up against the SS. Farther east, the German Army uncovers the mass grave where the Soviet NKVD buried thousands of murdered Polish Army officers. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/34602815

391 The Manhattan Project 12/25/2024

391 The Manhattan Project After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the American atom bomb project kicked into high gear. Fearful that the Germans were already working on a bomb and had a head start, the US government built a huge program meant to approach the problem of building an atom bomb from several different angles all at once. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/34602780

390 Benito è finito 12/22/2024

390 Benito è finito The Allies invade Sicily, which leads to the fall of Benito Mussolini. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/34569630

389 On the Defensive 12/15/2024

389 On the Defensive Hitler himself said that he had "never been a man of the defensive," but in the aftermath of Stalingrad, he had no choice. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/34335360

388 Woman of the Year 12/01/2024

388 Woman of the Year RKO Radio Pictures had a reputation for producing second-rate films. Even so, this was the studio that signed Fred Astaire and Katharine Hepburn; it was the studio that released King Kong and Citizen Kane. /episode/index/show/history20th/id/34217120

The History of the Twentieth Century

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