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PODCAST

Explaining History

How do we make sense of the modern world? We find the answers in the history of the 20th Century.For over a decade, The Explaining History Podcast has been the guide for curious minds. Host Nick Shepley and expert guests break down the world wars, the Cold War, and the rise and fall of ideologies into concise, 25-minute episodes.This isn"t a dry lecture. It"s a critical, narrative-driven conversation that connects the past to your present.Perfect for students, history buffs, and anyone who wants to

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All Episodes

30:18

The planned break up of Iran

Explaining History ·

2025/06/23

Here’s a polished episode description based on Michael Hudson's blog post:🎙️ Episode Description: In this compelling episode, we dive into Michael Hudson’s incisive analysis of the escalating U.S.–Iran confrontation. Drawing from Hudson’s recent essay on Naked Capitalism, we uncover how America's strategic confrontation with Iran is deeply tied to control over oil-rich regions and global financial dynamics (nakedcapitalism.com).In this episode, we explore:📈 The Resource-Imperial Link: Hudson

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27:42

Trump and the lesson of 2008

Explaining History ·

2025/06/21

*****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author and if that's your thing you can get a copy of my debut novel The Blood of Tharta, right here:What did the 2008 world financial crisis teach America's elite classes about the future of American capitalism? The collapse of American financial institutions under the weight of accounting fraud, unserviceable private debts combined with a deindustrialised America and an

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26:53

Himmler and Auschwitz

Explaining History ·

2025/06/20

The economic realities of a failing war in the east accelerated the timetable for genocide at the highest levels of the Third Reich, but in July 1942 Heinrich Himmler also intended Auschwitz Birkenau to be a site for extracting slave labour from prisoners. He intended this because of the impeding economic and production crises that would engulf the Third Reich as it faced an alliance of America, the USSR and the British Empire. This podcast episode explores the intentions of the SS leader and of

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25:37

The Arab Regimes and Israel

Explaining History ·

2025/06/17

Arab regimes across the Middle East have had a long history of comparative disinterest towards the Palestinian cause and apathy towards their emancipation. Israel has found willing collaborators in Egypt, Syria and the Gulf states, all of whom are happy to collaborate in the unfolding war with Iran.*****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author and if that's your thing you can get a copy of my debut novel The

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30:09

Iran and the Neocons 1979-2025

Explaining History ·

2025/06/16

The neoconservatives were at the apex of their power and influence two decades ago but the project they longed for the most, war against Iran is now underway. This time, despite the changing rhetoric from Washington, the USA has so far committed no visible combat forces to the fight. Here we explore a developing situation and the role of neoconservative ideas, the influence of US presidents and the media in these events. *****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also

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28:38

Israel's attack on Iran - a historical context

Explaining History ·

2025/06/13

In this urgent episode, we break down last night’s dramatic Israeli raid on Iran—Operation Rising Lion—which targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities and killed top Iranian military leaders in the largest attack since the Iran–Iraq War.We unpack what happened on the ground, the immediate fallout—including Iran’s launch of over 100 drones in retaliation—and the atmosphere of panic and unity now gripping Israel as the region braces for further escalation.But this isn’t just about one night. We dig deep into

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25:23

Thoughts on Civil War

Explaining History ·

2025/06/12

What leads a nation into a civil war? In this podcast we examine the crises of power and contestation of authority that create wars within, not between nations.*****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author and if that's your thing you can get a copy of my debut novel The Blood of Tharta, right here:Help the podcast to continue bringing you history each weekIf you enjoy the Explaining History podcast and its many

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25:05

The fall of communism: An oral history

Explaining History ·

2025/06/11

Oral histories can be very revealing in understanding the beliefs and feelings that people had in particular historical moments. In Svetlana Alexeivich's amazing book Second Hand Time, hundreds of former Soviet citizens reflect on their hopes, fears and their anger at the fall of the nation and the society that they knew. This episode is particularly helpful in exploring the resentments that many Russians now feel towards their political and oligarchic class and to the west.*****STOP PRESS*****I

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29:51

Trump, Musk and the end of American Empire

Explaining History ·

2025/06/06

All American presidents since 1945 have been managers of the USA's global economic empire, Trump notionally fulfils the same role but has little or no understanding of the complexities, challenges and limitations that his predecessors have had to navigate. As with all narcissists, he sees America's crises through the prism of his own personal experience. The last 24 hours of White House reality TV shows us once again that the economic and ideological factors that have propelled Trump to the Oval

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25:24

The Black American Experience in World War Two

Explaining History ·

2025/06/05

During the Second World War the immense needs for labour and military manpower transformed American society and gave Black Americans an historic opportunity to advance themselves. This podcast explores the barriers they faced and the racial discrimination of segregated armies and workplaces, and the ironies of a military power based on racial discrimination conducting a moral crusade against Nazism. *****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes,

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33:33

From F. Scott Fitzgerald to pulp detective novels -...

Explaining History ·

2025/05/28

A century ago, America was the literary and intellectual powerhouse of the world. Black writers defined the black experience in the Harlem Renaissance, F. Scott Fitzgerald captured the glamour and hypocrisy of the jazz age in The Great Gatsby and thousands of detective, western and sci fi pulp novels were published, creating the foundations of modern genre fiction. Today we hear from Tom Lutz, founding editor of the LA Review of Books and author of 1925: A Literary Encyclopaedia and explore this

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25:52

Britain, France and the creation of Iraq 1919-21

Explaining History ·

2025/05/27

When the mandate system was created at the Paris Peace Conference, it became a powerful tool for the British and French to carve up the Middle East and Africa following the defeat and collapse of the German and Ottoman Empires. France took control of Syria and created the state of Lebanon and the British gained Palestine, Transjordan and Iraq. This podcast explores the sour relations between the British and French, Britain's desperate need to self governance to emerge in Iraq to limit the costs of

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33:01

The plot against Harold Wilson - 1967

Explaining History ·

2025/05/26

In the late 1960s the British secret state, bankers, right wing newspaper and TV proprietors and other elite figures sought to remove Prime Minister Harold Wilson from power. They were indifferent to the fact that he had won two general elections in a row and thought that a government that included unelected business figures would save the nation from the economic crisis they predicted. *****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of

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29:12

Gaza Update

Explaining History ·

2025/05/20

Britain, France, Canada and other western governments have today issued a statement decrying the blockade of Gaza after nearly two years of offering unconditional support to Israel.This follows weeks of increasingly critical headlines in newspapers and magazines that are traditionally staunch supporters of the Zionist state. What does this suggest? Some major transition in support for Israel and its crimes is clearly happening and here we explore why this might be.*****STOP PRESS*****I only ever

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25:07

China after Deng (Part One)

Explaining History ·

2025/05/19

Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao are often overlooked but pivotal figures in recent Chinese history whose role in steering China through its extraordinary economic transformation in the 1990s and 2000s is overshadowed by Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. This is the first in a series of podcasts about these two figures and how they created the China now ruled by Xi Jinping.*****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also have another life, yes, that of aspirant fantasy author and

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30:41

Melting Point: Russian Jews and the journey to Texas

Explaining History ·

2025/05/15

In the decade before the First World War over ten thousand Russian Jews travelled across the Atlantic but instead of alighting in New York, where a large Jewish diaspora community was established, they came to Galveston, Texas. Galveston was not the final destination for most of the new arrivals, many travelled across the USA and settled in its rural and urban centres. In this episode of the Explaining History podcast we speak with author Rachel Cockerell, who traces the story of the Galveston Jews

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25:10

The Contradictions of Thatcherism

Explaining History ·

2025/05/13

Margaret Thatcher sought to revive Britain's fortunes during the 1980s, she was a social conservative and a free market fundamentalist; a contradictory set of ideological positions. The liberation of market forces devastated the social structures that Thatcher claimed to uphold, principally the family, which underwent dramatic transformations throughout the decade as individualism, urbanisation, mobility, rising expectations and declining ideas of deference transformed it. *****STOP PRESS*****I only

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26:35

Trump's tariff capitulation

Explaining History ·

2025/05/12

In a hundred years time will China offshore its manufacturing to poorer countries? Not if it has any sense. Today Trump's great retreat from the tariff war began in earnest as some cold economic realities have begun to bite, but what is the historical long view here? This episode explores how offshoring and America's weakening dollar supremacy, combined with the ownership of nearly $2 trillion of debt by China and Japan place America in an economic position it has never experienced in its nearly 250

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26:41

Social change in American post war suburbia

Explaining History ·

2025/05/06

What did the good life look like in 1945? Or more to the point, what did the good life look like to white working and middle class inner city families? The answer for many was suburbia, new out-of-town developments accessed by America's millions of new car owners who longed for space and who could be assured that people of their social, racial and often religious backgrounds would be their neighbours. Suburbia was initially intended by New Dealers to be a post war egalitarian dream for all, but

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25:06

The German invasion of Belgium: 1914

Explaining History ·

2025/05/05

In the first weeks of the outbreak of the First World War, the outdated Schlieffen Plan required the German Army to rapidly cross Belgium to attack northern France. Instead of the anticipated 6-8,000 troops, the Belgians fielded 32,000 men and defended the fortress town of Liege vigorously. German atrocities in Liege afterwards were the product of an imagined belief in guerrilla fighters amongst the civilian population.*****STOP PRESS*****I only ever talk about history on this podcast but I also

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