Explaining History

By Nick Shepley

The Explaining History Podcast, created and hosted by Nick Shepley, offers a comprehensive exploration of 20th-century history through weekly episodes. For over a decade, this podcast has been prov

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FAQs about Explaining History:

How many episodes does Explaining History have?

The podcast currently has 790 episodes available.

Explaining History episodes:

March 28, 2022 British national identity in the age of Brexit: Explaining History in conversation with Dominic Selwood
In this special extended feature episode of the Explaining History podcast, I had the great pleasure to chat with Dominic Selwood, author of Anatomy of a Nation: A history of Britain in 50 documents. In this episode we discuss British national identity throughout the post war era and the crisis of identity that marks the Brexit era. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

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45min
March 25, 2022 SS mentalities and crimes
SS killers approached the violence and brutality of their murderous work in the camps during the war as part of the wider racial struggle that the Nazi regime had tasked them with. The camp SS viewed the camps as a battlefield and the murder of prisoners as another arena of warfare, so much so that SS murderers were given medals by Heinrich Himmler. However, not all camp SS could cope with the brutality of what they were tasked with and some tried to avoid becoming complicit with the regime's crimes. Many of those who sought to avoid becoming killers were forced through peer pressure into killing, and resorted to murder in order to retain their social standing amongst their peers.
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28min
March 21, 2022 Ukraine Report March 2022 (episode Three)
This is the third Ukraine update and in this episode, we look at the wider strategic and diplomatic realignments that are rapidly occurring, including China's current strategic ambiguity and Britain's growing diplomatic irrelevance under Johnson's Brexit government.
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28min
March 10, 2022 Malta, Rommel and North Africa 1940-43
The failure of Nazi Germany to seize the small British mediterranean colony of Malta was a significant strategic error. In 1941, Hitler decided not to invade the island and instead decided to put his energies into the seizure of Crete, which he believed would pose a threat to Romania's oil fields if it remained in British hands. General Erwin Rommel (later promoted to field marshal), had a year of almost unstoppable victories against the British during the 1942, but as he raced across the desert, his supply lines grew and became ever more vulnerable. The inability to fully control the Mediterranean by the Axis powers was fatal for Rommel's resupply needs, just as allied forces in Egypt were being resupplied with thousands of tanks and othe vehicles by the USA.
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28min
March 10, 2022 Ukraine Report March 2022 (episode two)
In this week's Ukraine update, I focus on the bigger strategic and geopolitical problems that face a kleptocratic state in Russia and the shortcomings of a Sino-Russian alliance.
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28min
March 04, 2022 Ukraine Report March 2022
This is the first of a series of special episodes dedicated to exploring the Ukraine crisis. I will post these weekly, alongside regular history podcasts in order to help navigate the rapidly changing situation.
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28min
February 18, 2022 Eisenhower, atomic testing and the early cold war
After the detection of the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb test in 1949, the race to create bigger and more destructive weapons led to testing in the wide expanses of Utah and at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. The horrific costs of on civilians of these tests was mirrored by the USSR, which air-detonated bombs in the Urals to see if soldiers on the ground could continue fighting. The effect on the American defence industry of atomic testing was entirely positive however, with a massive arms boom in the 1950s providing huge opportunities.
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28min
February 08, 2022 China, the Second World War and historical memory (Part Two)
China, in the British or American historical memory of the Second World War is rarely seen as an equal allied power, despite the huge sacrifices endured by the Chinese people during the conflict. This is the second part of a series of podcasts based on the work of Dr Rana Mitter, which re-examines China's wartime role and origins and causes of Japan's brutal invasion in 1937.
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28min
January 30, 2022 August 4th 1914 - the Reichstag votes for war
In August 1914, German leaders of the SPD, including the anti war Hugo Hasse accepted the inevitability of conflict and voted against their principals of internationalism and solidarity. The fear of the Rusian army invading Germany, or of state repression against political parties viewed as treacherous or disloyal created the illusion of unity. Elsewhere, the Kaiser appeaeld to all parties as 'Germans' to come together in a spirit of national unity and many Germans adopted a seige mentality, believing the Reich to be surrounded by enemies. The notion of the burgfried, or 'peace within the fortress' was widespread, as Germans set aside class conflicts temporarily as a wave of patriotic sentiment swept aside all other considerations. This harmony would not last, however, and by 1916 the temporary social truce had broken down.
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28min
January 18, 2022 Eisenhower and the legacy of the New Deal
Eisenhower's domestic policy is often obscured to students of history by the struggles of the era (the Red Scare and McCarthyism and the civil rights struggle), making the president's own policy agenda and his political inclinations less easy to explore. This podcast looks at the conservative tendencies of Eisenhower, his opposition to the growing role of the state in the lives of Americans was born of his belief in the spirit of 'rugged individualism' and the idea that state intervention was a threat to liberty itself. Eisenhower knew politically, however, that dismantling the social safety nets created by Roosevelt was political suicide and it would be later Republican presidents, Nixon and Reagan that would eviscerate what remained of Roosevelt's signature policy.
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29min

FAQs about Explaining History:

How many episodes does Explaining History have?

The podcast currently has 790 episodes available.

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