With economics being all the rage these days and everyone on social media becoming experts in tariff and spending policy, Joe and Jon discuss one of the most serious economic problems a country can face.

Join us every Thursday this summer for new pop quizzes and leave a comment below with a topic you'd like us to cover!

During the summer break, the 15-Minute History podcast team are republishing some of their favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on August 30, 2021.

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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 Europe? 

Join us as we continue asking "What if", discuss what might have happened if the conquistador had left the potato behind in the ruins of his conquest, and how such a decision would have changed the world we know today.    

Recently, Jon mentioned "Sherman's Neckties" in an episode that referenced the American Civil War. Now it's time to talk about these fascinating--and terrifying--examples of psychological warfare!

Join us every Thursday this summer for new pop quizzes, and comment below with any topics you'd like us to cover.

Where does utopianism come from? Can we really create a perfect world, and did the colonists think they could create utopia in the New World? And why did Jon pick this topic?

Join us for answers to these questions and more in our last discussion of the season! We want to thank everyone who joined us each week this past year. We'll have some pop quizzes and other new content coming to you during the summer, and we will see you again with new episodes and discussions this fall!

The 15-Minute History Podcast team brings you a new segment, just for kids, called Sketches in History, where history isn’t just a story—it’s an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life.

In this episode, she goes back to Egypt for yet another ancient discovery. She witnesses French soldiers building a fort, only to discover an amazing find hidden in the rock! Your kids will learn about deciphering ancient texts and will be present to see the first step in decoding an ancient language.

Listen and subscribe to the 15-Minute History podcast to hear Sketches in History every other Thursday. Got a favorite historical moment? Share it with us at [email protected], and it might just make its way into the notebook!

This season has been about good and bad ideas, and we are concluding with Jon's thoughts on a journey he's been on through early American history. In his 1989 book Albion's Seed, Dr. David Hackett Fischer describes how four groups of English settlers brought utopian ideals to the New World and created the foundations of what became the United States. Jon takes us through these English "folkways" and identifies some good and bad ideas that were part of America's cultural identity and how we still see them today.

This week, Joe and I discuss how warfare is evolving on the battlefields of Ukraine, the role drones and other new technologies are changing the battlespace, and whether or not we are headed directly into the world of the Terminator!

Join us for a discussion on the Divine Right of Kings and how it continues to shape modern political systems in our world today!

Leave a comment below with any questions--we love to hear from our audience!

(Also, please forgive us for the rather abrupt end with no closing comments--Jon forgot to include that in the recording!)

The 15-Minute History Podcast team brings you a new segment, just for kids, called Sketches in History, where history isn’t just a story—it’s an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life.

In this episode, she visits a grand symphony hall filled with anticipation, as the audience eagerly awaits the performance of one of the most celebrated pieces of music in history. Your kids will learn about triumph and will be present to hear some of the most beautiful music ever written.

Listen and subscribe to the 15-Minute History podcast to hear Sketches in History every other Thursday. Got a favorite historical moment? Share it with us at [email protected], and it might just make its way into the notebook!

Throughout history, leaders have claimed their positions in a variety of ways: military conquests, electoral mandates, revolutionary uprisings, and more. But probably the most common and certainly the furthest from modern democratic sensibilities is the divine right of kings. While it is present in a variety of religious and social traditions, most audiences today are familiar with the Judeo-Christian concept that originates from both the Old and New Testaments. Using the words of Jesus Himself -- "Render unto Caesar that which is his" -- and those of His apostles Peter and Paul, Christian rulers from Late Antiquity to the Enlightenment proclaimed themselves beyond criticism because their thrones had come from Almighty God.

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Join us as we explore the idea of the divine right of kings and how two nations, England and France, took different paths in their political cultures--to very different ends.