x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

For history lovers who listen to podcasts, History Unplugged is the most comprehensive show of its kind. It"s the only show that dedicates episodes to both interviewing experts and answering questions from its audience. First, it features a call-in show where you can ask our resident historian (Scott Rank, PhD) absolutely anything (What was it like to be a Turkish sultan with four wives and twelve concubines? If you were sent back in time, how would you kill Hitler?). Second, it features long-form

history

All Episodes

41:19

Inside the Deadly German U-Boats That Brought Britain...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2026/01/08

Over the course of World War II, Germany’s submariners sank over three thousand Allied ships, nearly three-quarters of Allied shipping losses in all theaters of the war. Winston Churchill famously declared the only thing that truly frightened him during World War II was the U-boat threat. But the treat was more imagined than real. The actual capability of the German Navy was somewhat limited. Some historians think that the Germans would have been better off in WWII if they had built no navy at

en-US

49:05

Manifest Destiny, Powered by Coal: How “Black Gold”...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2026/01/06

America’s growth from a rugged frontier nation to the globe’s industrial superpower in the space of 100 years can be explained by one word: coal. Before coal dominance, American buildings were defined by height limits imposed by stonework. The tallest building in the 1830s was Baltimore’s 235-foot tall Phoenix Shot Tower. Transportation also worked poorly without coal. The early wood-fired 4-4-0 locomotives struggled with top freight speeds around 15 mph and pulling trains of

en-US

51:51

Ancient Athens Picked Its Leaders by Lottery for Over...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2026/01/01

For almost two centuries, Ancient Athens—the most successful democracy in history—selected citizens by lottery to fill government positions. Athens adopted sortition—a random lottery system—to select most public officials and the members of the Council of 500, a reform pioneered in 508 BC to break aristocratic control and distribute power equally among ordinary citizens. Some say it worked much better than the Assembly of Athens. In 406 BC, the Assembly rashly voted to

en-US

28:39

How Would Nixon Have Handled the Cuban Missile Crisis?

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/12/30

The "Madman Theory" was Richard Nixon's foreign policy strategy during the Vietnam War era, where he deliberately cultivated an image of being unpredictable and irrational—hinting he might escalate to nuclear extremes—to intimidate adversaries like North Vietnam and the Soviet Union into concessions. Nixon instructed aides like Henry Kissinger to spread rumors that he was volatile enough to "go crazy" and use drastic measures, hoping fear of his supposed madness would deter aggression

en-US

49:18

Diogenes, the Father of Ancient Greek Stoicism,...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/12/25

The famous street artist Banksy shocked the art world in 2018 when his painting, Girl with Balloon, partially shredded itself moments after selling it for over a million dollars. at a Sotheby's auction in London. Banksy had secretly built a mechanical shredder into the painting's ornate frame, turning the destruction into a piece of performance art which was later authenticated and renamed Love Is in the Bin. He did this to make a statement about the art market's hyper-commercialization. One of the

en-US

46:23

Blown Off Course: How History’s Windy Turning Points...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/12/23

The greatest energy source for civilization before the steam engine was wind. It powered the global economy in the Age of Sail. Wind-powered sail ships made global shipping fast and cheap by harnessing free, reliable ocean winds to propel large cargo loads over vast distances without needing fuel or frequent stops. It also powered windmills, the factories of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Windmills allowed for abundant bread by milling flour by turning heavy grindstones with wind-driven sails

en-US

45:39

Maps Have Bigger Problems Than the Mercator...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/12/18

Maps have always had problems. Five hundred years ago, maps were wildly inaccurate simply because cartographers were drawing the edge of the known world, limited by slow ships and nonexistent satellite data, resulting in continents that were too large, too small, or entirely misplaced. All of those problems have been solved thanks to new technology, but now there are new ones. Even though we know the exact dimensions of Earth, our maps are still "wrong" because we force a three-dimensional globe

en-US

45:38

The Great Mathematicians of the Early 1900s Ran into...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/12/16

In the 1800s, it seemed like mathematics was a solved problem. The paradoxes in the field were resolved, and even areas like advanced calculus could be taught consistently and reliably at any school. It was clearly understandable in a way that abstract fields like philosophy weren’t, and it was on its way to solving humanity’s problems. Mathematical work on electromagnetism made modern electrical engineering and power systems possible. New research in algebra created the logical basis

en-US

56:43

The American Revolution was a World War in All but Name

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/12/11

The Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775, known as the "shot heard round the world," marked the first military engagements of the American Revolution. Ralph Waldo Emerson named it that because it launched revolutionary movements in Europe and beyond, marking it as a key moment in the fight for liberty and self-governance. But this moment was global in more ways than inspiring other nations. The quest for independence by the 13 North American colonies against British rule rapidly escalated

en-US

45:23

How Napoleon and Churchill Used Neuroscience to Make...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/12/09

The brain acts in strange ways during wartime. Even in active combat situations, when soldiers are one mistake away from death, many can’t fire on their enemies because their brain is triggering compassion centers against other soldiers. Studies of World War II show that while soldiers were willing to risk death, only 15% to 20% fired their weapons in intense combat, indicating a reluctance to kill. That’s why successful military leaders were able to motivate their soldiers with ideas of

en-US

39:43

William F. Buckley JR.'s Guide to Friendship in a...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/12/04

William F. Buckley Jr., the charismatic intellectual who defined modern American conservatism, was famously skilled at forging friendships across the ideological divide, a talent that helped him both shape the political landscape and navigate public opinion. His capacity for personal charm allowed him to be a public extremist and a private moderate, keeping him in the good graces of the liberal elite, including figures like Senator George McGovern and activist Allard Lowenstein, even as he worked to

en-US

55:37

What it Was Like Living Through the USSR’s Collapse

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/12/02

The Collapse of the Soviet Union was twice as devastating as the Great Depression for those who lived there. It immediately led to widespread economic chaos and a breakdown of public services, plunging millions into a difficult period where mere survival was the priority. As one Russian described, after hyperinflation wiped out their family's savings, "my parents still had the same 50,000 rubles... But by then, all they could afford to buy with it was a pair of winter boots for my mother." There was

en-US

53:15

The Battle of Agincourt, 1415: Longbowmen, Bands of...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/11/27

From Shakespeare's 'band of brothers' speech to its appearances in numerous films, Agincourt rightfully has a place among a handful of conflicts whose names are immediately recognized around the world. The Battle of Agincourt, fought in 1415, is famous for the decisive role of the English and Welsh longbowmen, who—despite being significantly outnumbered and exhausted—decimated the heavily armored French nobility with volleys of arrows. This unlikely victory was profoundly important

en-US

45:11

Clarence Dillon: The Roaring 20s Wall Street Baron...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/11/25

J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Charles E. Mitchell are names that come to mind when thinking of the most prominent icons of wealth and influence during the Roaring Twenties. Yet the one figure who has escaped notice is an enigmatic banker by the name of Clarence Dillon. In the 1920s, as he rose in wealth and influence, Dillon became one of the original behind-the-scenes players in Hollywood, and his contact list included everyone from Thomas Edison to Charlie Chaplin and Joseph P. Kennedy to

en-US

60:05

A Utah Indian Chief Controlled the 1800s Mountain...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/11/20

The American Indian leader Wakara was among the most influential and feared men in the nineteenth-century American West. He and his pan-tribal cavalry of horse thieves and slave traders dominated the Old Spanish Trail, the region’s most important overland route. They widened the trail and expanded its watering holes, reshaping the environmental and geographical boundaries of the region. They also exacted tribute from travelers passing along the trail and assisted the trail’s explorers

en-US

53:46

Why Did Rome Fall? Wrong Question. How Did it Last...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/11/18

Rome began as a pagan, Latin-speaking city state in central Italy during the early Iron Age and ended as a Christian, Greek-speaking empire as the age of gunpowder dawned. Everything about it changed, except itsRomanidentity. This was due to a unique willingness amongRomansto include new people as citizens, an openness to new ideas, and an unparalleled adaptability that enabledRomansto remake every aspect of their society in ways that made it stronger and more resilient.Romans, who believed that

en-US

37:30

The Real Deadwood: A Gold Rush Town Built in a War...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/11/13

Gunslinging, gold-panning, stagecoach robbing, whiskey guzzling – the myth and infamy of the American West is synonymous with its most famous town: Deadwood, South Dakota. The storied mining town sprang up in early 1876 and came raining down in ashes only three years later, destined to become food for the imagination and a nostalgic landmark that now brings in more than two and a half million visitors each year. Once described as “the most diabolical town on earth,” Deadwood was

en-US

55:59

America's Pacific Dawn: The Spanish-American War...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/11/11

Clara Barton, the founder of the Red Cross, was in Havana in 1898, investigating the terrible conditions endured by Cubans whom the Spanish government had forced into concentration camps, where an estimated 425,000 people died of disease and starvation. While she was there, the American warship USS Maine exploded in Havana's harbor, which served as the pretext for an American invasion, leading to the Spanish-American War. The United States swiftly invaded and won the Spanish-American War in Cuba in

en-US

50:10

The Unhealed Wounds of WW2 POWs and Combat Veterans

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/11/06

Nearly 16.4 million Americans served in the U.S. Armed Forces in World War II, and for millions of survivors, the fighting left many of them physically and mentally broken for life. There was a 25% death rate in Japanese POW camps like Bataan, where starvation and torture were rampant, and fierce battles against suicidal Imperial Japanese forces, like at Iwo Jima, where 6,800 Americans died. Additionally, the psychological toll of witnessing Holocaust atrocities and enduring up to three years away

en-US

60:21

Robert McNamara Thought Enough Data Could Win Any...

History Unplugged Podcast ·

2025/11/04

Robert S. McNamara, who was Secretary of Defense during JFK and LBJ’s administrations, and one of the chief architects of the Vietnam war, made a shocking confession in his 1995 memoir. He said “We were wrong, terribly wrong.” McNamara believed this as early as 1965, that the Vietnam War was unwinnable. Yet, instead of urging U.S. forces to exit, he continued to preside over the war as President Lyndon B. Johnson’s principal wartime advisor. It would be eight more years until

en-US

1,050 results

Similar Podcasts

The Old Front Line

Paul Reed

Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Retrospectors

جنود خلدهم التاريخ

ALSUMOOD PODCAST

Film History - Daily

Inception Point Ai

Madonna - Audio Biography

Inception Point Ai