History Shorts

What really happened at the Battle of Midway? Why does bestselling historian Martin Dugard say it could have spelled the end for the United States in the Pacific? And how do you write history that's been told a thousand times—and still make it feel new?

In this week's episode, I sit down with the author of the Taking series—Taking Paris, Taking Berlin, Taking London—to talk about his latest release: Taking Midway. We cover everything from forgotten presidents who drank and gambled in the White House, to why writing about living people is a different beast than writing about the dead. Dugard also shares how standing where Japanese planes once flew over Pearl Harbor changed the way he wrote about war—and why Admiral Nimitz may be his next big subject.

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BUY Taking Midway: https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Midway-Warfare-Secret-Battle/dp/0593473248

In the heart of Manhattan's bustling Greenwich Village, framed by brownstones, NYU buildings, and the elegant sweep of Fifth Avenue, lies Washington Square Park—a lively place of music, chess matches, and skateboarders. Yet, under the benches and lawns, beneath the roots of elms and concrete walkways, lies a darker, layered history.

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Learn more about our daily shorts and our weekly Conversations with notable historians and authors at www.historyshortspodcast.com

Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast

Let us go back to the rolling hills of central Texas, where dry winds stirred the dust of cattle drives and steam locomotives echoed through the plains. The year was 1885, and Waco—then a thriving hub of trade and culture—was on the cusp of adding a curious new note to its legacy: the creation of one of America's most enduring soft drinks, Dr. Pepper.

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Learn more about our daily shorts and our weekly Conversations with notable historians and authors at www.historyshortspodcast.com

Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast

In the shadow of a brother's meteoric rise and even more spectacular fall, Joseph Bonaparte—once King of Naples, then King of Spain—found himself not on a gilded throne but wandering the shores of New Jersey, wrapped in a cloak of European exile and American anonymity.

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Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/c/HistoryShortsPodcast

He was named for both the beginning and the end. Romulus Augustus—called by many "Augustulus," or "Little Augustus"—was a boy emperor with a name that evoked the founding myth of Rome and the towering legacy of its first princess. Yet, his short and fragile reign marked the final act in a drama centuries in the making—the fall of Rome.

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The dramatic life of Mary, Queen of Scots, has long been shrouded in scandal and intrigue, with the most infamous question surrounding her: Did she murder her husband, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley? The suspicious circumstances of his death, coupled with Mary's subsequent actions, cast a shadow over her reign and ultimately led to her downfall.

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TODAY IN CONTEXT: Today, we will discuss the Menendez brothers, Erik and Lyle, who are back in the spotlight. On June 13, 2025, they're set for a parole hearing after being resentenced to 50 years to life for the 1989 murder of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez. But this isn't the first time a high-profile murder trial has gripped the nation, pitting privilege against punishment. To understand what the Menendez hearing tells us about how we judge our most infamous crimes, let's rewind to 1924, to a chilling case in Chicago: the Leopold and Loeb trial. It's a story of wealth, murder, and a courtroom drama that still echoes today.

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Beginning in 1922, the cast of the immensely popular Our Gang comedies, more commonly known as The Little Rascals, filmed an astonishing total of 221 episodes over several decades. Yet, after the series ended, many of the cast members met strange and untimely deaths.

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Peter speaks with the nation's foremost authority on Colonial and Revolutionary American women's history about how New Jersey became the first state in the new United States in 1776 to grant its women the right to vote, only to then take it away and withhold it until 1920 and the passage of the 19th Amendment.

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The Boer War (1899–1902) was more than just a colonial conflict; it was a defining moment in the history of the British Empire and South Africa. This brutal war between the British and the Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State was a fight over land, gold, and political control, but it also served as a precursor to the total war tactics of the 20th century.

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