20 Minute History

The year was 1959. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was rounding out the second year of an already eventful second term, when suddenly he received a bit of shocking news. Fidel Castro, the man that had been waging a guerrilla war in Cuba for the past several years, had stormed into Havana on New Year's Day, forcing their America-friendly president to flee and turning the island nation into a socialist republic. Leading up to this seismic shift, the U.S.A. had broadly adhered to a policy of "containment," meaning that they would allow communism to persist wherever it already existed, but that they would not allow it to spread to new countries. Since it was hardly possible to predict in advance which nations would catch the Marxist bug, the containment blueprint was more reactive than it was proactive. And you'd better believe that when Cuba turned from an ally into a socialist enemy overnight, the American government was swift to react.

It wasn't long before the Eisenhower administration had set into motion a variety of actions designed to turn the tide in Cuba. Some of them were arguably illegal, others were completely bizarre, and most of them were utter failures that never even got off the ground floor. And yet it is worth studying them because they are all, in one way or another, expressions of a unique Cold War ideology. By diving deeper into the plots to dethrone Castro, one stumbles upon a lot of questions regarding America's approach to interventionism. What types of rationale were invoked to justify these drastic measures? Which, if any, were most likely to work? And why did U.S. officials push forward with their plots when they inevitably encountered major setbacks? Tune in to have these questions (and more) answered.

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The prevailing historical narrative has it that the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, bombings which killed more than 100,000 innocent civilians in a matter of minutes, were not only responsible for bringing about the end of the Second World War, but also morally justifiable due to the disproportionately costly nature of the alternative. However, in recent years some historians have challenged these conventional wisdoms and offered an alternative perspective: that these attacks were neither necessary nor consequential to the end of WWII. And since you won't find these views presented in most American classrooms, today's episode is dedicated to a fair and considerate discussion of the available arguments.

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The long-awaited second season of 20 Minute History is finally here. Episode 1 drops Monday, November 8th, with new episodes thereafter releasing on the second Monday of each month.

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Hello world. We're back.

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20 Minute History is extremely excited to welcome historian William Deverell to the show! Professor Deverell is a member of the history faculty at the University of Southern California, as well as the director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West. Among other things, he is an expert on the tragic events surrounding Kathy Fiscus, the very same events that we covered in our eighth episode of Season 1. His work was absolutely instrumental to the writing of that episode, and his new book Kathy Fiscus: A Tragedy That Transfixed the Nation is the culmination of that work, as vivid as it is thought-provoking. So today, David sits down with Professor Deverell to discuss the experience of writing the book, break down his own personal connection to Kathy, and dive deep into an analysis of the tragedy and its aftermath.

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For the first time in the history of 20 Minute History, we are hosting a very special guest for an interview. Please join us in welcoming Benjamin Bernier to the show! Benjamin writes and hosts the fantastic Thugs and Miracles podcast which is dedicated to recounting more than a millennium of French history, paying special attention to each of its monarchs. Each and every episode is packed with entertaining wit, captivating stories, and brilliant insights. In today's conversation, we talk about the making of Thugs and Miracles, as well as the underlying themes and motifs connecting each story, before diving just a little bit deeper into a few of Benjamin's most notable subjects. After listening to this episode, be sure to check out his catalog, including the other half of this guest exchange in which I sat down with Benjamin to talk a little more about this show's themes and its more interesting characters.

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We're back with a few brief housekeeping matters, an update, and...a special Valentine's Day surprise for all my loyal listeners!

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Crafting the best possible debut season for 20 Minute History meant not all of the fantastic historical figures that were considered could be in the final ten. So in this Season 1 bonus episode, we take a look at three additional characters who very nearly received their own full length episode, but just didn't quite make the cut.

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The United Kingdom has a long history of oppressing people of LGBT+ identities. In particular, gay men were historically subject to laws that called for their imprisonment or even their death if they ever engaged in homosexual activities. But then in 1967, MP Leo Abse passed a bill that broadly decriminalized taking part in those acts, so long as it was done in private. Safe to say, the new law was not ideal, and Abse himself was far from the perfect advocate for gay Britons. But through an intense examination of the brutal battle for queer acceptance in the UK, our season finale episode argues that Abse should nonetheless be regarded as a key advocate for the cause of LGBT rights.

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When Lech Wałęsa was elected the president of Poland in 1990, he instantly became one of the most crucial players in bringing about the end of the Cold War. He was endlessly lauded as a hero of workers' rights, as a fearless anti-communist warrior, and as a champion of Polish democracy. But that was thirty years ago, and Walesa (now aged 77) has since lost all semblance of relevancy he once had. How could one man fall from the heights of political popularity to the depths of national embarrassment in so short a time frame? In today's episode, we aim to find out.

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