Tracing the history and patterns across the deadliest famines of the 20th Century - from the 1958 China Famine to the 1995 Famine in North Korea. A deeper look at the patterns reveals a connection with Totalitarian governments.

The 1905 Revolution in Russia leads to the Monarchy easing up on the controls. Russia experiences a period of prosperity during this time. But then, it decides to enter WWI, which proves disastrous with respect to casualties and economic impact. In February 1917, the populace revolts, leading to Tsar Nicholas II abdicating and a provisional government taking over. But democracy is short lived as the Bolsheviks led by Lenin and Trotsky stage a coup to topple the government in October 1917.

A history of modern Olympics from the first Olympics in 1896 to the 2016 Rio Olympics. Episode looks at the prevailing political conditions that ended up influencing participation and hosting of the Olympics as well as the stories of courage that continue to inspire even today.

After fighting two Anglo-Afghan wars, the Afghans are able to gain foreign policy independence from the British post the 3rd Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. Post that, Afghanistan mostly stays on path to modernization, though the transfer of power across governments is marked by violence - assassinations and coups. The Soviets invade in 1979 and when they leave about a decade later, the Mujahideen fight amongst themselves and the Taliban is able to defeat them to form the government.

From Hitler's rise to power in Germany in 1933 to Stalin's brutal policies in the Soviet Union, this episode looks closely at execution pattern and thought process of some of the most brutal dictators of the 20th century.

As the last Emperor of China abdicates, the democrat Sun Yat-Sen has an opportunity to build democratic institutions in the nation. However, it's the military General Chiang Kai-Shek who leads China through WWII. He ultimately loses to the Red Army of Mao Tse-Tung and China's very brief tryst with democracy is over.

As Japan and Germany face defeat in WWII, their survival hinges on oil. Woefully short on oil, Japan resorts to kamikaze and Germany uses Concentration Camps for labor to produce Synthetic Oil. The US meanwhile, lays out the Big Inch to transport oil from Texas to the East Coast.

After a massive discovery of oil in East Texas in 1930, while the US is looking to expand in the Middle East, Oil ends up being recognized as a National Resource. Japan and Germany start aggressively pursuing self-sufficiency in Oil. Japan eyes the East Indies and Germany eyes the oil fields of Russia to gain access to the strategic economic asset.

After Drake's Oil Well strike in 1859, Petroleum became a commercial raw material for Kerosene to be used in Oil Lamps. However, with the advent of the Internal Combustion Engine, Petroleum became a prized economic and strategic asset of the 20th century, even influencing the outcome of World War I.

Tracing some of the deadliest pandemics in history including the Spanish Flu of 1918 and evaluating what we learnt or did not learn from the Spanish Flu.