In this episode of Ancient to Recent, we begin one of the most radical and world-changing revolutions in history: the Haitian Revolution.

At the end of the eighteenth century, the French colony of Saint-Domingue was the richest place on earth. Powered by sugar, coffee, and the relentless exploitation of enslaved Africans, it generated staggering wealth for France and sat at the heart of the Atlantic economy. Yet beneath its prosperity lay a society built on terror, racial hierarchy, and systematic violence.

This episode traces the deep roots of Haiti’s revolution, from the destruction of the Taíno people and the rise of plantation slavery, to the creation of one of the most unequal societies ever known. We explore how the Atlantic slave trade, the Code Noir, and the brutal logic of profit shaped everyday life for enslaved people, free people of colour, and white colonists alike.

As Enlightenment ideas spread and the American and French Revolutions challenge old assumptions about power and liberty, Saint-Domingue becomes a pressure cooker. Free people of colour demand rights, plantation owners tighten their grip, and enslaved people endure conditions designed to crush both body and spirit. Maroon communities grow, repression hardens, and fear begins to rule the colony.

Out of this violent and unstable world, the conditions are quietly set for the emergence of Toussaint Louverture, a former slave who will soon rise to challenge empires and redefine the meaning of freedom.

Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent begins a new series on the Haitian Revolution, the only successful slave revolt in history and one of the defining events of the modern world.

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In this episode of Ancient to Recent, we follow Iran through the decisive year of 1979, the moment when a crisis becomes a collapse, and a monarchy that once looked unshakeable disintegrates in a matter of weeks.

As protests intensify and strikes paralyze the economy, the Iranian state begins to lose control of the streets. Police forces buckle, government authority evaporates, and law and order gives way to uncertainty, fear, and momentum. What begins as unrest becomes something far more dangerous: a revolution no longer contained by the institutions meant to stop it.

At the same time, Washington is divided. Inside the Carter administration, officials argue over what the United States should do, whether to push reforms, back the Shah to the end, or prepare for a post-monarchy Iran. Some cling to the belief that the army can restore stability. Others warn that the regime is already beyond saving. As these divisions deepen, American policy becomes reactive, uncertain, and fatally slow.

Meanwhile, the Shah’s last pillar of power, the Iranian military,  begins to fracture. Orders are ignored, morale collapses, and commanders hesitate at the moment of decision. When the army ultimately withdraws from political conflict, the monarchy loses its final instrument of control,  and the revolution surges forward unchecked

Into this vacuum steps Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Returning from exile as the symbol of resistance, he rapidly outmaneuvers rivals, overwhelms moderate voices, and transforms revolutionary energy into political power. In the chaos of state collapse, Khomeini doesn’t just return to Iran, he seizes the future of it.

Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent continues its series on the Iranian Revolution, and traces how 1979 became the year Iran’s old order vanished, and a new one rose from the ruins.

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In this episode of Ancient to Recent, we follow Iran at the height of its apparent power in the mid-1970s, a country awash in oil money, armed to the teeth, and ruled by a monarch who believed history itself was on his side. Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s Iran looked unstoppable: soaring growth rates, grand infrastructure projects, and an alliance with the United States that seemed unshakeable.

But beneath the spectacle of modernity, the foundations were already cracking. Rapid development brought inflation, corruption, housing shortages, and social dislocation. The Shah’s centralized system rewarded loyalty over competence, silenced dissent, and left him increasingly isolated inside a bubble of good news and bad assumptions.

This episode traces how oil wealth overheated the economy, how repression deepened mistrust, and how American policy, shaped by Cold War blind spots and wishful thinking, ailed to grasp the scale of Iran’s internal crisis. We explore the rise of mass protests, the regime’s oscillation between reform and force, and the fatal miscalculations that followed the Cinema Rex fire, Black Friday, and the collapse of state authority.

As strikes spread, the economy grinds to a halt, and the Shah vacillates at the moment of decision, a once-confident regime drifts into paralysis. Meanwhile, from exile, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini emerges as the only figure capable of uniting a fractured opposition, setting Iran on a path from unrest to revolution.

Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent continues its series on the Iranian Revolution, charting how a state that appeared strong, stable, and modern unraveled with astonishing speed.

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In this episode of Ancient to Recent, we step into the glittering world of 1960s and 70s Tehran, where nightclubs, foreign visitors, and booming oil revenues gave the impression of a nation racing confidently into the modern age. At the center stood Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, a monarch determined to reshape his country through rapid modernization and centralized power.

Beneath the neon lights, however, another Iran was emerging. While oil wealth transformed Tehran and empowered a new elite, millions were left behind in the countryside and swelling urban slums. Political repression, corruption, inequality, and cultural upheaval quietly eroded the regime’s foundations.

This episode traces the Shah’s rise after the 1953 coup against Mohammad Mosaddegh, the consolidation of autocratic rule under Savak, and the ambitious reforms of the White Revolution. We explore how policies designed to modernize and stabilize Iran instead deepened social divisions and fueled opposition from both the secular left and the religious right.

As American influence grows, oil revenues surge, and the Shah’s confidence reaches its peak, a powerful voice of resistance emerges in exile: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. What appeared to be a strong and stable state was, in reality, far more fragile than it seemed.

Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent begins a new series on the Iranian Revolution, uncovering how the Shah’s Iran moved from apparent triumph to the brink of collapse.

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In this history podcast episode of Ancient to Recent, we follow Genghis Khan as his newly united Mongol nation collides with the great settled empires to the south, beginning a cycle of conquest that would change world history forever.

Having unified the steppe through blood, loyalty, and merit, Temüjin now faced a new challenge: how to sustain his people without endless civil war. The answer lay beyond the grasslands. When the Jin Dynasty demanded Mongol submission, Genghis Khan chose defiance and war.

This episode explores the Mongols’ first full-scale invasion of northern China, revealing how a nomadic society of barely one million people took on a civilization of fifty million. Through speed, intelligence, psychological warfare, and ruthless pragmatism, the Mongols shattered armies, bypassed fortifications, and turned the enemy’s strength into weakness.

We examine the radical nature of Mongol warfare: total mobility, flexible command, deception, terror as strategy, and the deliberate use of refugees, propaganda, and fear to collapse resistance before battle was even joined. Cities fell, dynasties bent the knee, and unimaginable wealth flowed north to the steppe.

As victory brought luxury, new enemies, and internal tensions, the foundations of a world empire were laid but so too were the seeds of future conflict. This episode marks the moment the Mongols stopped being a steppe power and became a global force.

Join Joseph Parkinson for Episode 32 of Ancient to Recent, as Genghis Khan leads the Mongols out of obscurity and onto the world stage.

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In this history podcast episode of Ancient to Recent, we explore the early life of Genghis Khan, the rise of Temüjin, and the origins of the Mongol Empire on the Eurasian Steppe.

Born into violence, betrayal, and extreme poverty, Temüjin’s childhood was defined by abandonment, hunger, and survival. After his family was cast out by their own clan, he endured slavery, exile, and constant danger in a world where loyalty meant more than blood and strength mattered more than birth.

This episode follows Temüjin’s transformation from an outcast commoner into a rising leader with a radical vision for steppe society. Rejecting aristocratic privilege, he began promoting men by merit rather than lineage, forging loyalty through shared reward and protection. Former enemies were absorbed, old hierarchies dismantled, and the foundations laid for what would become the Mongol Empire.

As rival tribes clashed, alliances shifted, and ancient traditions were overturned, Temüjin’s rise signaled the beginning of one of the most consequential empires in world history. This opening episode sets the stage for the Mongol conquests that would reshape Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.

Join Joseph Parkinson for the first chapter in the story of Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire, a history podcast series exploring how one man rose from nothing to change the course of the medieval world.

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By early 1867, the Second Mexican Empire was fighting for its life. French troops had gone, Republican armies were closing in from every direction, and Maximilian’s authority barely extended beyond a shrinking patchwork of territory. Yet rather than flee, abdicate, or negotiate, the emperor chose to stand and fight, taking everything on honour, loyalty, and a belief that destiny had not yet abandoned him.

This episode follows the empire’s final months, from Maximilian’s fateful decision to take personal command of his army, to the desperate march toward Querétaro and the brutal siege that followed. Outnumbered, undersupplied, and surrounded, imperial forces fought with surprising ferocity as Maximilian, an emperor with no military training, revealed unexpected courage under fire.

As starvation, betrayal, and internal collapse took hold, opportunities for escape slipped away one by one. A last chance at freedom was lost to hesitation, while treachery from within finally opened the gates to Republican victory. Captured, tried by a military tribunal, and abandoned by the international community that had once sustained his throne, Maximilian placed his faith in clemency, and gravely misjudged his fate.

The episode concludes with the trial and execution of Maximilian, alongside his loyal generals Miramón and Mejía, and reflects on the wider consequences of the empire’s fall: the triumph of Juárez, the hard realities facing postwar Mexico, and the enduring human cost of foreign intervention, ideology, and civil war.

Join Joseph Parkinson for the dramatic conclusion to the story of the Second Mexican Empire, where honour collides with reality, illusion gives way to defeat, and history delivers its final, unforgiving verdict.

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By late 1865, the Second Mexican Empire was beginning to unravel. French support, once the foundation of Maximilian’s throne, was wavering, Republican resistance was intensifying, and pressure from a resurgent United States threatened to turn Mexico into a flashpoint for international conflict. Yet at the very moment the empire required decisive leadership, Maximilian seemed increasingly detached from reality.

This episode traces the slow collapse of imperial support abroad and unity at home. As Napoleon III liberalised his regime in France, Republican voices turned against the Mexican adventure, exposing the human and financial cost of the war. With the American Civil War over and the Monroe Doctrine reasserted, Washington made clear it would tolerate no European monarchy in the Americas, forcing France toward withdrawal and leaving Maximilian dangerously exposed.

At the heart of the episode is Maximilian’s fatal indecision. While French troops prepared to leave, finances disintegrated, and Republican forces gained momentum, Maximilian vacillated between abdication and defiance. His wife, Empress Carlota, launched a desperate mission to Europe to save the throne, only to descend into paranoia and mental collapse as every door closed before her.

As conservative forces manipulated imperial loyalty, foreign diplomats meddled recklessly, and Maximilian convinced himself that destiny demanded he stay, the final chance to escape disaster slipped away. What remained was an empire sustained by illusion, honour, and pride, facing enemies on all sides and standing on the edge of catastrophe.

Join Joseph Parkinson as the Second Mexican Empire enters its terminal phase, where abandonment, self-deception, and international realpolitik combine to seal Maximilian’s fate, and prepare the ground for a final, bloody reckoning.

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At the height of his power, Emperor Maximilian believed he could reconcile monarchy with liberal reform and heal a nation torn apart by decades of war. By the end of 1864, the Second Mexican Empire stretched to the U.S. border, Republican forces were on the run, and French troops appeared to have secured the throne. Yet the empire’s greatest victories concealed its deepest weaknesses.

This episode explores Maximilian’s fatal balancing act. Determined to rule as an enlightened monarch, he alienated Mexican conservatives who demanded a return to privilege, confronted a Catholic Church unwilling to compromise, and frustrated French officials desperate for financial reform. Progressive laws were proclaimed with fanfare, but the machinery of government ground to a halt, leaving reform trapped on paper while the war grew ever more brutal.

As guerrilla violence escalated and unity within the imperial camp collapsed, events beyond Mexico’s borders began to dictate the empire’s fate. The American Civil War was nearing its end, the Monroe Doctrine was reasserted, and the United States emerged stronger than ever, ready to challenge any European monarchy in the Americas.

Join Joseph Parkinson as the Second Mexican Empire reaches its high-water mark, tracing the moment when Maximilian seemed closest to victory and when the forces that would destroy his throne were already closing in.

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In 1864, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria crossed the Atlantic to claim a crown forged in diplomacy, ambition, and illusion. What awaited him in Mexico was not the enlightened monarchy he imagined but a nation exhausted by war, divided by ideology, and pushed to the breaking point by foreign intervention.

This episode follows Maximilian and Carlota as they enter Mexico City in triumph, unaware that beneath the flags and cheering crowds lay political traps, conservative factions demanding vengeance, and relentless Republican resistance. Guided by French bayonets and pressured by Napoleon III, Maximilian attempted to rule as a liberal monarch. Instead, he found himself squeezed between a reactionary clergy, a skeptical people, and a war that refused to end.

From the fragile plebiscite engineered to legitimize his rule, to the bitter disputes between French generals and Mexican monarchists, the Second Mexican Empire rose quickly but its foundations were already crumbling. Meanwhile, far to the north, the outcome of the American Civil War would determine the fate of the entire enterprise.

Join Joseph Parkinson as he continues the gripping saga of the Habsburg experiment in the Americas, exploring the peak of Maximilian’s empire, its grandeur, its contradictions, and the storm gathering just beyond the horizon.

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