How the US government deliberately sent thousands of mentally-disabled men into combat during the Vietnam War. A bonus episode and companion to Episode 12: "The Good Guys".

SOURCES:

Gregory, Hamilton. McNamara's Folly: The Use of Low-IQ Troops in the Vietnam War. 2015. 

Hsiao, Lisa. “Project 100,000: The Great Society’s Answer to Military Manpower Needs in Vietnam”. 1989.

Hastings, Sir Max. Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy (1945-1975). 2018. 

Turse, Nick. Kill Anything That Moves. 2013.

Charles Rivers Editors. The My Lai Massacre. 2015. 

Jones, Howard. My Lai. 2015. 

Fitzgerald, Frances. Fire In The Lake. 1972.

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. 1990.

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The 1968 My Lai Massacre shocked Americans, but the true nature of the Vietnam War went far beyond anything the public could’ve imagined. This is the story of the war within the War, between the soldiers who brutalized Vietnamese civilians, and the unsung men who tried to stop them.

SOURCES:

Jones, Howard. My Lai. 2015. 

Hastings, Sir Max. Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy (1945-1975). 2018. 

Hersh, Seymour M. Cover-Up. 1972.

Charles Rivers Editors. The My Lai Massacre. 2015. 

Fitzgerald, Frances. Fire In The Lake. 1972.

O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. 1990.

Turse, Nick. Kill Anything That Moves. 2013.

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In 1945, the German city of Dresden was consumed in a firestorm engineered by the Allies. Many consider it to be a war crime. Others, a necessary evil.

SOURCES

Taylor, Frederick. Dresden: Tuesday, February 13th, 1945. 2004.

McKay, Sinclair. The Fire and the Darkness: The Bombing of Dresden 1945. 2020.

Charles River Editors. The Firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo. 2017.

Gregg, Victor. Dresden: A Survivor’s Story. 2013.

Harris, Arthurs. Bomber Offensive. 1947.

Klemperer, Victor. I Will Bear Witness: A Diary. 1995.

Harmon, Christopher. "Are We Beasts?: Churchill and the Moral Question of World War 2 Area Bombing". 1991.

Editors, History.com. "Massive fire burns in Wisconsin". Nov 2009

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A bonus episode concerning the Praetorian Guard's musical and murderous relationship with Rome's fabulous fifth Emperor, Nero. An epilogue to E10: "Kingbreakers"

SOURCES:

Strauss, Barry. Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine.2019

De La Bodeyere, Guy. Praetorian: The Rise and Fall of Rome’s Imperial Bodyguard. 2017

Rankov, Boris. The Praetorian Guard. 1994

Bingham, Sandra. The Praetorian Guard. 2012

Suetonius. Lives of the Caesars. AD 121

Dando-Collins, Stephen. Caligula: The Mad Emperor of Rome. 2019.

Tacitus, Cornelius. The Complete Works. 1994.

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The story of Rome through the eyes of the infamous Praetorian Guard, feared bodyguards who wielded the power and leverage to make – or break – the Emperors they swore to protect.

SOURCES:

Strauss, Barry. Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine. 2019

De La Bodeyere, Guy. Praetorian: The Rise and Fall of Rome’s Imperial Bodyguard. 2017

Rankov, Boris. The Praetorian Guard. 1994

Bingham, Sandra. The Praetorian Guard. 2012

Beard, Mary. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome. 2015

Beard, Mary. The Roman Triumph. 2007.

Suetonius. Lives of the Caesars. AD 121

Dando-Collins, Stephen. Caligula: The Mad Emperor of Rome. 2019.

Tacitus, Cornelius. The Complete Works. 1994.

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Genghis Khan and the Mongols killed millions, but were they actually woke AF? Let's tackle the surprisingly progressive (yet blood-drenched) legacy of one of history's most mysterious empires.

SOURCES:

Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. 2004.

Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Quest for God. 2016.

Weatherford, Jack. The Secret History of the Mongol Queens. 2010.

McLynn, Frank. Genghis Khan: His Conquests, His Empire, His Legacy. 2015.

Waterson, James. Defending Heaven: China’s Mongol Wars. 2013. Bergreen, Laurence. Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu. 2007.

Turnbull, Stephen. Genghis Khan & the Mongol Conquests, 1190-1400. 2003.

Turnbull, Stephen. Mongol Warrior, 1200-1350. 2003.

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Car bombs, hitmen, and hunger strikes. How "The Troubles" tore Northern Ireland apart.

SOURCES:

Toolis, Kevin. Rebel Hearts. 1995

McKittrick, David. Making Sense of the Troubles. 2000

Coogan, Tim Pat. The Troubles: Ireland's Ordeal and the Search for Peace. 1995.

Edwards, Aaron. The Northern Ireland Troubles. 2014.

O'Doherty, Malachi. The Trouble With Guns. 1998.

Collins, Eamon. Killing Rage. 1997.

Bingham, John. "Margaret Thatcher: Seconds from death at the hands of IRA bomber." April 2013.

Moriarty, Gerry. "Internment Explained: when it was introduced and why". August 2019. 

Simonson, Robert. "The Irish Car Bomb". March 2018

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Wonder and warmth quickly turn to slaughter and horror as Hernan Cortes meets Emperor Moctezuma in the explosive conclusion of this two-part series.

SOURCES:

Levy, Buddy. Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs.

Sheppard, Si. Tenochtitlan 1519-1521. 2018.

Thomas, Hugh. Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes, and the Fall of Old Mexico. 1993.

Prescott, William H. History of the Conquest of Mexico. 1843

Cortes, Hernan. Five Letters. 1519-1526.

Restall, Matthew. When Montezuma Met Cortez: The True Story of the Meeting That Changed History. 2018.

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How a handful of mercenaries, explorers, and pirates destroyed the Aztec Empire and burnt its capital city to the ground. Two cultures collide in the first of a two-part series on the Conquest of Mexico. 

SOURCES:

Levy, Buddy. Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs.

Sheppard, Si. Tenochtitlan 1519-1521. 2018.

Thomas, Hugh. Conquest: Montezuma, Cortes, and the Fall of Old Mexico. 1993.

Prescott, William H. History of the Conquest of Mexico. 1843

Cortes, Hernan. Five Letters. 1519-1526.

Restall, Matthew. When Montezuma Met Cortez: The True Story of the Meeting That Changed History. 2018.

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The story of China’s infamous One-Child Policy, the most ambitious (and catastrophic) social engineering project the modern world has ever seen.

SOURCES:

Fong, Mei. One Child: The Story of China’s Most Radical Experiment. 2016

Evans, Karin. The Lost Daughters of China. 2008

Johnson, Kay Ann. China’s Hidden Children. 2016

Xinran, Message From an Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Loss and Love. 2012

Greenhalgh, Susan. Just One Child: Science and Policy in Deng’s China. 2008. 

Ren, Yuan. “How China's one-child policy overhauled the status and prospects of girls like me”. The Telegraph. Dec 2013. 

Clarke, Aileen. “See How The One-Child Policy Changed China”. National Geographic. Nov 2015. 

Chen, Shanshan. “Lost lives: the battle of China's invisible children to recover missed years”. Reuters. Dec 2016.

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