Empire: World History

With the death of JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson took over the Presidency and immediately had to wrestle with America’s relationship with Vietnam after the killing of Diem. Right from the start he prophesised that it would be his downfall and so it was. He consistently resented it and the distraction it was from his domestic agenda, the Great Society. Over his five years in charge, LBJ Americanised the war, committing more and more troops to Vietnam, and initiating massive bombing campaigns known as Operation Rolling Thunder, putting America into a quagmire. But was this inevitable? Would JFK have done things differently? Listen as William and Anita are once again joined by Fredrik Logevall to find out.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

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Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Alice Horrell

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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Vietnam, or Indochina as it was known, had been under French colonial rule since the nineteenth century. This was until the Vietnamese nationalist group, the Viet Minh, took on the French in 1946. Ho Chi Minh, son of a Confucian scholar, former chef in Boston, and lover of French literature, was at their head. The fighting came to an end in 1954 with the Geneva conference splitting the country in two. The northern side was to be ruled by the Viet Minh, with close links to the Chinese Communist party and the Soviet Union whilst the South, then known as the Republic of Vietnam, was to remain loyal to America. However, by summer 1963, America is taking an increasingly active role, tensions are rising and a second war is on the horizon. Listen as William and Anita are joined by Fredrik Logevall to discuss the lead up to the Vietnam War.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

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Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Alice Horrell

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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Following the fall of Batista, the Cuban revolution took a more radical turn. Castro was not a communist to begin with, but as those around him became increasingly Marxist, the CIA’s desire to regain control of the island grew. With the failure of JFK’s Bay of Pigs invasion, events escalated into the Cuban Missile Crisis as the USSR brought nuclear weapons to America’s doorstep. Listen as Anita and William are once again joined by Alex von Tunzelmann to talk about how the Caribbean almost became the centre of a nuclear armageddon.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

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Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Aaliyah Akude 

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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It’s 1959 and the swaggering Cuban revolutionary, Fidel Castro, has just overthrown the unpopular American backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista. Che Guevara, the Marxist physician whose face would become an internationally recognised symbol of resistance, is at his side. But how did the small Caribbean nation go from a profitable outpost of the Spanish empire to a heady American party island, rife with gangsters and gambling, to a hub of revolution? Listen as Anita and William are joined by Alex Von Tunzelmann to discuss the events that led up to the Cuban Revolution.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

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Assistant Producers: Anouska Lewis and Alice Horrell

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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The Korean War was a brutal affair. It is estimated that 3,000,000 people were killed in the conflict that absolutely devastated the Korean Peninsula. And the legacy of it is still with us today; it was over the course of this war that the division between North and South solidified into two separate nations. It was also at this time that Kim Il Sung rose to prominence, establishing North Korea's ruling dynasty that exists to this day. Listen as William and Anita are once again joined by Paul Thomas Chamberlin to discuss the events of the war and its monumental legacy.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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Whilst we know the Korean Peninsula is split into two quite separate countries, North Korea and South Korea, that has not always been been the case. Korea was an independent, singular nation until the Japanese colonised it at the start of the 20th century. This collapsed after the Second World War, at which time the USA and Russia swept in to create their own spheres of influence, separated by the 38th parallel. Communist Russia in the north, capitalist USA in the south. Listen as William and Anita are joined by Paul Thomas Chamberlin to discuss the origins of North and South Korea.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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By 1943, the price of rice was beyond unaffordable for most in Bengal, and people were dying in the streets. Despite government censorship of letters, news spread about the famine and the tide turned with the introduction of a new Viceroy. Yet when aid eventually did arrive from other regions of India, it was so chaotically handled that some food shipments were halted at the station. Listen as Anita and William are joined again by Kavita Puri to explore the legacy of what is sometimes dubbed “Churchill’s Famine”.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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In 1942, in the midst of the Second World War, the British administration feared that Japanese forces would take India as part of their campaign. To prevent access to resources in the event of a potential invasion, colonial forces enacted a “denial policy”, confiscating rice and destroying boats. This, along with a cyclone and political unrest, led to starvation in the countryside of Bengal, forcing people to flee to cities in a desperate search for food. Listen as Anita and William take a break from the American series to revisit an important and tragic event in 20th century Indian history, with guest Kavita Puri…

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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By the end of the Spanish-US war, the Philippines was on the menu. Two battles played out simultaneously on the archipelago: and old and a new empire fought for power over a colony, whilst Filipinos fought for independence. The Philippines honoured the US in their new constitution and flag. But they were betrayed, and a young revolutionary, Emilio Aguinaldo, led the Filipino people in the brutal war against American imperialism. Listen as Anita and William are joined once again by Daniel Immerwahr to explore the colonisation of the Philippines. 

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

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Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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In 1898, whilst his boss was on a break at the osteopath, Teddy Roosevelt basically started a war. A master of the press, he managed to whip up war fever amongst jingoists in Congress, leading the United States to declare war on imperial Spain. Building on an established independence movement in Cuba, the US was ambiguous about its intentions. Was it liberation or colonisation that it wanted for this Caribbean island? Listen as Anita and William are joined again by Daniel Immerwahr to discuss the Spanish-US war.

Twitter: @Empirepoduk

Email: [email protected]

Goalhangerpodcasts.com

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Producer: Callum Hill

Exec Producer: Neil Fearn

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