Breaking History

We revisit the scandal-soaked 1990s—Packwood, Thomas, Clinton—and explore how failing to enforce norms around abuse of power helped create the world in which the Epstein scandal could flourish. This episode traces the unraveling of political accountability from the Clinton impeachment to the Trump Access Hollywood moment, and finally the global Epstein reckoning. We show how feminists in the ’90s and evangelicals in the 2010s made parallel bargains—each excusing their champion’s abuses for political gain. The result is a culture that normalized impunity for the powerful, and primed America for a populist revolt against a ruling class that protects its own.

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CREDITS

Executive Producer: Poppy Damon

Associate Producer: Adam Feldman

Sound Designer and Composer: Tony Peer

Original theme songs by Eli Lake

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We are coming up on the 50th anniversary of punk, the genre that smashed the old rock gods and stripped down the music to its essence.  In this episode of Breaking History, we examine the examined life of the original punk: the loudmouth philosopher who defied the authorities, refused to conform, and paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth. Yes—it can only be Socrates. Grab your leather jacket and your hemlock, we’re going hardcore philosophical.

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CREDITS

Executive Producer: Poppy Damon

Associate Producer: Adam Feldman

Sound Designer and Composer: Tony Peer

Original theme songs by Eli Lake

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For 124 years, the American socialist movement has been defined by defeat. From Eugene Debs’ doomed presidential runs to Michael Harrington’s quiet organizing, it’s been a story of almosts: almost mainstream, almost powerful, almost relevant. Until now. In this episode, we look at how Zohran Mamdani’s likely mayoral victory marks the first real crack in America’s century-long resistance to socialism—and why its impact will reach far beyond New York City.

CREDITS

Executive Producer: Poppy Damon

Associate Producer: Adam Feldman

Sound Designer and Composer: Tony Peer

Original theme songs by Eli Lake

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On October 21, 2023, beloved Detroit community leader Samantha Woll was found brutally stabbed to death outside her home—two weeks to the day after the October 7 attacks on Israel. It looks like an open-and-shut case—a hate crime. But swiftly the police rule that out. Instead they eventually find themselves with two unrelated suspects. When they charge one with murder, the case takes a turn that raises questions about antisemitism, race, and justice in America.

Hosted by The Free Press’s Frannie Block, this podcast features exclusive interviews and explores the remarkable, too-short life of Samantha, and the impact she had. And Spiral tells the bizarre twists and turns of one of Detroit’s most haunting recent crimes.

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Once, Britain was the cradle of free speech- the land of Milton, Orwell, and John Stuart Mill. But in 2025, police are arresting citizens for tweets, comedians are detained for jokes, and ordinary people are jailed for words deemed “hateful.” In this episode, we trace how the birthplace of liberty became a censor’s paradise - and what it reveals about a Western world that’s forgotten Mill’s warning: that without dissent, truth itself cannot survive.

CREDITS

Executive Producer: Poppy Damon

Associate Producer: Adam Feldman

Sound Designer and Composer: Tony Peer

Original theme songs by Eli Lake

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James Comey isn’t a hero. But prosecuting him like this? It’s not justice—it’s political theater. In this episode, we tell the origin story of Comey, the now indicted former FBI chief, and unpack the tangled web of FBI overreach, President Donald Trump’s vendetta, and a system that no longer knows where accountability ends and revenge begins. This is more than a case: It’s a mirror held up to a nation on the brink.

A special thanks to our sponsors:

New episodes of The Isabel Brown Show can be viewed on DailyWire+ here: ⁠⁠www.dailywire.com/show/the-isabel-brown-show⁠⁠Follow Isabel on X: ⁠⁠www.x.com/theisabelb⁠⁠Follow Isabel on Instagram: ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/theisabelbrown⁠

CREDITS

Executive Producer: Poppy Damon

Associate Producer: Adam Feldman

Sound Designer: Tony Peer

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In a week when political violence has returned to the national stage, we revisit a moment from the 1970s when Shirley Chisholm, the first black congresswoman, visited segregationist Alabama governor George Wallace after he was nearly assassinated. Her act of grace lit a spark that changed him. What can we learn from that moment today, after the murder of Charlie Kirk silenced a voice in mid-debate? This is a story about bullets, ballots, and the courage to choose humanity when others advocate violence.

A special thanks to our sponsors:

New episodes of The Isabel Brown Show can be viewed on DailyWire+ here: ⁠www.dailywire.com/show/the-isabel-brown-show⁠Follow Isabel on X: ⁠www.x.com/theisabelb⁠Follow Isabel on Instagram: ⁠www.instagram.com/theisabelbrown

CREDITS

Executive Producer: Poppy Damon

Associate Producer: Adam Feldman

Sound Designer: Volkan Kiziltug

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This week Breaking History dives into a century-old mind game: Russia’s information war against America. More specifically, how it keeps driving us crazy. From Soviet spycraft to this summer’s Russiagate revelations, the story is often familiar: a kernel of truth is then buried in lies. 

We look back at the haunted mind of James Jesus Angleton, the CIA’s original paranoia prophet. He spent his life chasing Russian ghosts, and what he saw and what he feared still echo through Washington today.

CREDITS

Executive Producer: Poppy Damon

Associate Producer: Adam Feldman

Sound Designer: Volkan Kiziltug

A special thanks to our sponsors:

Listen to Boundless Insights wherever you get your podcasts for smart, honest conversations about the biggest stories shaping Jewish life, Israeli politics, and their global impact.

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How did air conditioning go from a niche invention for factories to a force that reshaped cities, industries, and even human behavior?

In this episode of Breaking History, we dive deep into the surprising, often overlooked story of AC with author Salvatore Basile—author of Cool: How Air Conditioning Changed Everything.

Hear how Willis Carrier’s revolutionary breakthrough changed the world.

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Producers: Poppy Damon & Adam Feldman

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In our last episode, we traced the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty and the forces building toward Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

This week, we turn to the man who brought that monarchy to an end: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

From exile in a quiet French chateau, Khomeini launched a revolution that shattered 2,500 years of Persian monarchy. But he didn’t do it alone.

Liberals and leftists, both inside Iran and across the West, played a crucial role in legitimizing his cause, a dynamic that feels familiar today.

This is the story of the first Red-Green Alliance, a tactical partnership between Islamists and the progressive left, and the cost of that alliance once power changed hands.

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Producers

Poppy Damon & Adam Feldman.

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