History Does You

ISIS shocked many when it rose to prominence in 2014 announcing a caliphate in Syria and Iraq. It took years to defeat them but understanding the rise of the organization goes many years back. To help us understand the origins of ISIS, we interview Joby Warrick who is a National security reporter for the Washington Post covering terrorism, rogue states, weapons proliferation. He is the author of two books, including 2015’s “Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS,” which was awarded a 2016 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. His first book, “The Triple Agent,” recounts the 2009 suicide attack by an al-Qaeda informant on a CIA base at Khost, Afghanistan, that killed seven U.S. intelligence operatives. Before joining The Post, he covered the fall of communism in Eastern Europe as a UPI correspondent and worked as a reporter at the Delaware County (Pa.) Daily Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C. We examine the organizations origin, its leaders, and how it rose to prominence and shocked many across the world. 

On June 6, 1944, thousands of Allied soldiers waded ashore on the beaches of Normandy to begin the liberation of Western Europe. On Omaha Beach, the 29th Infantry division and 1st Infantry division came ashore and encountered some of the fiercest resistance of the war. We interviewed Dr. John C. McManus is Curators’ Distinguished Professor of U.S. military history at the Missouri University of Science and Technology. In addition to dozens of local and national radio programs, he has appeared on CNN, Fox News, C-Span, the Military Channel, the Discovery Channel, the National Geographic Channel, Netflix, the Smithsonian Network, the History Channel and PBS, among others. He also served as a historical advisor for the bestselling book and documentary Salinger, the latter of which appeared nationwide in theaters and on PBS's American Masters Series. Some of his work includes Grunts: The American Infantry Combat Experience, World War through Iraq, U.S. Military History for Dummies, and The Dead and Those About to Die, D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach. We explore the battle, the challenges, and experiences of the young men who came ashore as well as its impact on the wider conflict

In the aftermath of World War II, Europe had been wrecked by six years of war as plans over the fate of Europe became conflicted between the two world superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States undertook a bold economic aid program to help Western European countries get back on their feet economically and secure the security of these nations from the Soviet Union. However, this started the Cold War as the two superpowers could not agree on the plan or the division of Germany which began almost 40 years of hostilities. We interviewed Dr. Benn Steil who is a senior fellow and director of international economics, as well as the official historian in residence, at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He is also the founding editor of International Finance, a scholarly economics journal, lead writer of the Council’s Geo-Graphics economics blog. His work includes, “The Battle of Bretton Woods” and the “Marshall Plan” which was the winner of the American Academy of Diplomacy Douglas Dillon award.

In the Season 2 premiere, we explore the geopolitics of the Arctic. As climate change continues to open up maritime routes across the Arctic, it will be critical for countries to work together to avoid conflict especially as China becomes more involved in the region. The United States faces unique challenges in the region and will need to collaborate with other Arctic nations to ensure peace and mitigate the effects of climate change especially as the region becomes more militarized. We interviewed Michael Young  who retired as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State in 2019.  His most recent tour was as the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander of Special Operations Command North in Colorado Springs, with a focus on Arctic security.  He earlier served as the Arctic Affairs Officer in the Office of Oceans and Polar Affairs, where he worked for the U.S. Senior Arctic Official. In this role he also served as the U.S. Head of Delegation for the Sustainable Development Working Group on the Arctic Council.  He was one of the key architects of the Arctic Council program during the U.S. Chairmanship from 2015-17.  Other assignments as a Foreign Service Officer included tours in Kabul, Mexico City, and Toronto. Before joining the Foreign Service, Mike was an officer in the U.S. Navy for 15 years, where he Shipboard tours USS TRUXTUN (CGN-35) and USS CHANDLER (DDG-996). A native of Golden, Colorado, Michael graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a BSc in Engineering Physics and an MBA from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

We are just recording this episode to let you know what is going on for Season 2. We are focusing on improving audio quality, production, and marketing to give you a better listenership . Look out on social media for polls to give us direct feedback about what can be done better. Lots of great things happening with History Does You! Season 2 should start around June 14 or June 21.

On today's episode, we cover the timeline of the decision making process that went into the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Understanding the decision making process is super important for anyone that want to get into the field of foreign policy or government because Iraq is a case study of what not to do. But the timeline starts long before in the 1980's when we decided to support Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War. This spurred decades of policy that culminated in the invasion of Iraq and one of the most tragic foreign policy disasters in American History. We interview Michael J. Mazarr who is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. Previously he worked at the U.S. National War College, where he was professor and associate dean of academics; senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; senior defense aide on Capitol Hill; and as a special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His work includes, “Leap of Faith, Hubris, Negligence, and Americas Greatest Foreign Policy Tragedy.”, “Rethinking Risk in National Security” and “North Korea and the Bomb”. 

September 11, 2001 was the defining event for a generation of Americans. The attacks on New York and Washington DC changed the trajectory of U.S. foreign policy at the start of the 21st century. But the attacks go beyond the single day as the story started long before the hijackers ever boarded the planes.  But there was intelligent failures across the globe as the sign were missed by many. We had an the opportunity to interview Robbyn Swan who is a award winning journalist and author of two bestselling books: Sinatra: The Life (2005) and The Arrogance of Power: The Secret World of Richard Nixon (2000). She also wrote with her husband, A Matter of Honor: Pearl Harbor: Betrayal, Blame, and a Family's Quest for Justice and The Eleventh Day which was a Pulitzer prize finalist in history in 2012.