History Shorts

Join Peter as he speaks with the Pulitzer Prize Finalist, renowned historian, and bestselling author of Empire of the Summer Moon, Mr. S.C. Gwynne.

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The so-called "Tecumseh's Curse" is a piece of American folklore suggesting that U.S. presidents elected in years divisible by 20 (every 20 years, starting in 1840) would die in office. This pattern is tied to a supposed curse placed by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh after the Shawnee suffered significant losses to U.S. forces led by William Henry Harrison in the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811.

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The tale of Herschel "Harry" Haft, who was forced to box fellow inmates to survive in Auschwitz, is a harrowing testament to the human spirit's capacity to endure and overcome, and one that should be more known than it is.

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The 1588 failed Spanish invasion of Britain was a major turning point in European Maritime power dynamics.

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The morality of this story is very complicated, as there is nobody here to root for. Still, in 1924, Benito Mussolini, the Italian Fascist prime minister and a personal hero of another to-be dictator, Adolf Hitler, launched a campaign to destroy the Sicilian Mafia.

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"We've kicked the Vietnam syndrome," pronounced the then-president, George Bush. Yet, within a few years, the Persian Gulf War would give its name to a whole other syndrome - one which, to this day, is not entirely explained: the Gulf War Syndrome.

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LIMITED SERIES 7 - Famous Americans You Never Knew Existed: The story of Cassie Chadwick, "The Cleveland Headache," is one you might not believe happened unless you knew it to be true.

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TODAY IN CONTEXT:

For decades, Fort Bragg in North Carolina bore the name of Confederate General Braxton Bragg, a controversial figure in American history. In 2025, as part of a broader movement to honor more deserving individuals, the base was renamed in honor of Roland Leon Bragg - a man many have never heard of. Let's change that!

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Peter speaks with author Cody Cassidy about his latest book, How to Survive History, a sort of guide to surviving history's most challenging threats, from outrunning dinosaurs to making it off the Titanic alive.

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The Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in 1540. Renowned for their discipline, intellectual rigor, and missionary zeal, the Jesuits have significantly shaped the modern world's religious, educational, and political landscapes. In fact, they have done a good enough job to earn the moniker of the "Pope's Soldiers."

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