Explaining History

Explaining History

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Explaining History episodes

  • John Lennon in America: 1970-73
    In the early 1970s John Lennon embarked on a brief and rather inglorious career as a political activist while based in America. His activism was an indication of the wider radicalisation of the decade and can help us to examine the prevalence of the counter culture in 1970s America.

    Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

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    Website: explaininghistory.org


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    25 min
  • The Origins of Mao's Cultural Revolution
    In 1966 after four years of existing at the margins of the Chinese Communist Party following the disasters of the Great Leap Forward, Mao Zedong returned. He claimed that revisionist and right deviationist elements within the party were derailing the revolution and only the millions of Red Guards and the Chinese workers and peasants could put China back on track to socialism. The result was the catastrophic cultural revolution.

    Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

    ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

    Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

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    Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

    Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

    ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

    Website: explaininghistory.org


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    24 min
  • Erich Fromm
    Erich Fromm, one of the most overlooked intellectual figures of the 20th Century wrote insightful critiques of consumerist capitalism and explanations of the appeal of Nazism. His work also explored the dilemmas of being human in an increasingly alienating world.

    Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

    ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

    Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

    ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

    Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

    Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

    ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

    Website: explaininghistory.org


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    21 min
  • East Germany and the Sino Soviet Split
    By the early 1960s the once cordial relations between the USSR and The People's Republic of China had been replaced by suspicion and animosity. Two rival interpretations of communism vied for supremacy across the communist world and East Germany came to back the Soviet Union against the Chinese.https://explaininghistory.selz.com/item/55ad4404b7987212602077ee?mode=edit

    Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

    ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

    Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

    ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

    Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

    Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

    ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

    Website: explaininghistory.org


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    23 min
  • The Creation of the Red Army
    by early 1918 the Bolshevik's revolution was in serious danger of being overthrown. Instead of elite troops the new government possessed poorly disciplined Red Guards. By 1921, the army was over three million strong and had defeated its enemies, but at immense political cost to its creator, Leon Trotsky.

    Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

    ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

    Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

    ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

    Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

    Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

    ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

    Website: explaininghistory.org


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    24 min
  • Churchill and Greece
    When the Nazis' occupation of Greece ended and a gradual withdrawal turned into a desperate retreat from the Red Army, a civil war in Greece began. The British occupied Athens in a bid to restore King George II and prevent a communist takeover, but it proved to be one of Churchill's most controversial initiatives of the war and the beginning of a conflict that would last until 1949.

    Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

    ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

    Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

    ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

    Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

    Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

    ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

    Website: explaininghistory.org


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    27 min
  • Menachim Begin and Irgun
    Towards the end of the Second World War, zionist terrorist Menachem Begin and the paramilitary organisation Irgun instigated their own war against the British authorities in Palestine. They sought to establish a Jewish state there and saw the British as an obstacle to this ambition

    Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

    ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

    Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

    ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

    Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

    Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

    ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

    Website: explaininghistory.org


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    21 min
  • Evacuation
    Throughout the 1920s and 1930s the British became increasingly aware that they were vulnerable to air attack, especially after the rise of Nazism in 1933. The policy of evacuating children from the inner cities to counter this threat began in 1939, but at considerable physical and emotional cost to the children involved.

    Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

    ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

    Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

    ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

    Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

    Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

    ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

    Website: explaininghistory.org


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    22 min
  • Hunger, housing and the First Five Year Plan
    During Stalin's First Five Year Plan (1928-1932), the Russian population experienced greater material hardship and shortages than at any time since the Russian Civil War. Mass industrialisation led to food and housing shortages, resulting in misery and protest among the urban population.

    Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

    ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

    Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

    ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

    Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

    Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

    ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

    Website: explaininghistory.org


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    24 min
  • Lyndon Johnson 1963-64
    Lyndon Johnson had an antagonistic relationship with the Kennedy brothers but was indispensable to John F Kennedy as a political fixer. Following Kennedy's death he became President of the USA and won a landslide victory a year later. This podcast explores the career, ambitions, struggles and crises of Lyndon Johnson.

    Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

    ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content

    Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory

    ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation

    Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast

    Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com

    ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper

    Website: explaininghistory.org


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    26 min

About Explaining History

From the publisher's feed

How do we make sense of the modern world? We find the answers in the history of the 20th Century.


For over a decade, The Explaining History Podcast has been the guide for…

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