MacArthur Memorial Podcast

By MacArthur Memorial; Amanda WilliamsEducation Arts History

MacArthur Memorial Podcast episodes

July 24 Myth or Fact - Mass Sexual Violence and the Allied Occupation of Japan
On July 23, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial hosted a virtual lecture by Dr. Brian Walsh, author of The "Rape" of Japan: The Myth of Mass Sexual Violence During the Allied Occupation (2024). An audience Q&A followed the presentation.
View the presentation on YouTube
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1 hr 4 min
June 29 MacArthur's Relief at 75 - Perspectives on Civilian Control of the Military
On April 11, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial marked the 75th anniversary of President Truman’s relief of General MacArthur with a half‑day symposium examining the event from both leaders’ perspectives and its broader significance in American history. The program featured scholars from the MacArthur Memorial, the Truman Presidential Library and Museum, and Old Dominion University. This episode features an overview of civilian control of the U.S. military by Dr. Tim Orr, Association Professor of History at Old Dominion University.

To watch the full event, visit the MacArthur Memorial's YouTube Channel.
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48 min
May 20 MacArthur's Perspective: MacArthur's Relief at 75
On April 11, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial marked the 75th anniversary of President Truman’s relief of General MacArthur with a half‑day symposium examining the event from both leaders’ perspectives and its broader significance in American history. The program featured scholars from the MacArthur Memorial, the Truman Presidential Library and Museum, and Old Dominion University. This episode features a presentation on MacArthur's perspective by Jim Zobel, MacArthur Memorial Archivist.
To watch the full event, visit the MacArthur Memorial's YouTube Channel.
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1 hr 6 min
May 05 Finding Peace at Potsdam
Just weeks after World War II ended in Europe, Allied leaders President Harry S. Truman, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Premier Joseph Stalin met in Potsdam, Germany, to negotiate peace and shape the post‑war world. Despite deep political differences, one unexpected force helped bridge the tension: music.
Finding Peace at Potsdam, presented by the Virginia Arts Festival and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, blends the history of the conference with the music the leaders shared. To explore this unique intersection of history and music, the MacArthur Memorial podcast spoke with conductor Eric Jacobsen and playwright Harley Elias, the creative team behind the project.
Learn more about Finding Peace at Potsdam!
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44 min
April 20 Truman's Perspective: MacArthur's Relief at 75
On April 11, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial marked the 75th anniversary of President Truman’s relief of General MacArthur with a half‑day symposium examining the event from both leaders’ perspectives and its broader significance in American history. The program featured scholars from the MacArthur Memorial, the Truman Presidential Library and Museum, and Old Dominion University. This episode features Mark Adams, Director of the Truman Presidential Library and Museum, presenting President Truman’s perspective.
To watch the full event, visit the MacArthur Memorial's YouTube Channel.
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39 min
March 26 Rose Valland and The Art Front
Many listeners are familiar with the Monuments Men and Women - the Allied military personnel who protected cultural treasures during World War II and then aided in post-war restitution. Rose Valland, a French art historian at Paris's Jeu de Paume museum, was not officially a Monuments officer until May 1945. Throughout the war though, she courageously documented Nazi looting, tracked stolen artworks, and provided intelligence that proved crucial to their recovery - helping preserve, as a plaque in her honor at the Jeu de Paume puts it, “some of the beauty of the world.”
In 2024, the Monuments Men and Women Foundation released the first English translation of her 1961 memoir, The Art Front, bringing her remarkable firsthand account to new audiences. To discuss Rose Valland's life and The Art Front, the MacArthur Memorial podcast sat down with Anna Bottinelli, President of the Monuments Men and Women Foundation.
The MacArthur Memorial is pleased to be a member of the Monuments Men and Women Museum Network. Learn more about the Monuments Men and Women Foundation and The Art Front.
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45 min
March 13 The Last Titans: How Churchill and de Gaulle Saved Their Nations and Transformed the World
In the darkest days of World War II, two towering figures stood as the living embodiments of national defiance: Winston Churchill, the aristocratic bulldog of Great Britain, and Charles de Gaulle, the tall, austere French general. Both refused to surrender to Nazi Germany. Thrown together by fate and war, against great odds, they saved their nations, clashed dramatically, and helped reshape the postwar world. To explore their stories, the MacArthur Memorial Podcast hosted Richard Vinen, author of the new dual biography, The Last Titans: How Churchill and de Gaulle Saved Their Nations and Transformed the World.
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35 min
February 24 The Chronicle of the 34th Naval Construction Battalion
On Friday, February 19, 2026, the MacArthur Memorial hosted a virtual event featuring Dr. Frank Blazich Jr., Curator of Military History at the Smithsonian National Museum of American. Dr. Blazich shared the story of the 34th Naval Construction Battalion, the first African American Seabee Battalion in US Navy history. A Q&A followed the presentation.
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1 hr 5 min
January 26MacArthur Q&A: Part IV
In this latest episode, MacArthur Memorial historians Jim Zobel and Amanda Williams answer some of the more popular and/or unique questions about General MacArthur we have received from MacArthur Memorial Podcast listeners and on social media.
This series includes:
MacArthur's WWI injuries
MacArthur's correspondence with his CINCINC/CINCFE successors
MacArthur's favorite NFL/MLB teams/players
MacArthur's relationship with Pershing
Ashland, WI as MacArthur's hometown?
Who would have been MacArthur's VP?
MacArthur's payment of gold
How many decorations and awards did he have?
And more!

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35 min
December 19, 2025 Nagasaki's Urakami Cathedral Bells
On August 9, 1945, a second atomic bomb detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki, roughly 1600 feet away from the original Urakami Cathedral. The blast killed dozens inside the cathedral, and over 70,000 in the city. The cathedral and its smaller bell were destroyed in the blast. The larger bell survived in the rubble. In 1959 the cathedral was rebuilt but one bell tower remained empty. In 2023, Dr. James Nolan, whose grandfather worked on the Manhattan Project, had a conversation with a Nagasaki local who mentioned wishing to hear the twin bells ring again. Dr. Nolan spearheaded a fundraising effort in the United States and raised $125,000 to reproduce the missing bell and have it reinstalled before the 80th anniversary of the bombing. Dr. Nolan joined the MacArthur Memorial Podcast to share more about Nagasaki, the bomb, and the incredible efforts to add this second bell to Urakami Cathedral.
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18 min

About MacArthur Memorial Podcast

From the publisher's feed

The MacArthur Memorial Podcast covers a variety of topics related to the life and times of General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964). From the triumphs and controversies of MacArthur's career to the…