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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

31:33

Trump, India, and the Geopolitical Reset of 2025

Explaining History ·

2025/12/28

Episode Summary:In the third part of our 2025 Year in Review, Nick shifts the focus to Asia, exploring the dramatic realignment of US-India relations under Donald Trump’s second term.For decades, Washington viewed India as a "natural strategic partner"—a democratic counterweight to China, showered with military aid and technology transfers. But in 2025, that special relationship has collapsed. Drawing on a fascinating analysis by Chinese foreign policy expert Mao Keji, we delve into why Trump has

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26:01

American Suburbia and the birth of the Consumer’s...

Explaining History ·

2025/12/27

Episode Summary:In this episode ofExplaining History, Nick explores the rise of the "Consumer’s Republic" in post-war America. We examine how the dream of the suburban idyll—white picket fences, gleaming appliances, and mass car ownership—became a central pillar of US identity and stability.Drawing on Lizabeth Cohen'sA Consumer's Republic, we delve into how corporate and political elites consciously steered American citizens away from collectivist politics and towards a highly individualized

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33:09

Iwo Jima, historical memory and the myth of the...

Explaining History ·

2025/12/27

In this episode ofExplaining History, Nick explores how different nations remember the Second World War, focusing on the stark contrast between American triumphalism and European melancholy.Drawing on Keith Lowe's brilliant bookPrisoners of History, we delve into the cultural psychology behind monuments like the Iwo Jima Memorial. Why does America view its soldiers as "freedom warriors" and saints, while Europe often builds monuments to victims? We unpack the concept of "The Greatest Generation" and

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31:55

The American New Left, Cold War Liberals and the...

Explaining History ·

2025/12/23

In this episode ofExplaining History, Nick explores the emergence of the "New Left" in 1960s America—a movement born from the failure of Cold War liberalism to deliver on its promises.Drawing on Kim McQuaid’sThe Anxious Years, we delve into the deep disillusionment that fuelled student radicalism. Why did young activists view "vital centre" liberals like JFK and LBJ not as allies, but as "closet right-wingers" trapped in an imperialist mindset? We examine the "bipartisan banality" of the era, where

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31:57

2025 Year in Review Part 2: The End of Europe’s...

Explaining History ·

2025/12/22

Is 2025 the year the European project finally hit the wall? In this episode, we argue that 2025 serves as a massive historical inflection point—comparable to 1933, 1968, or 1989—marking the definitive end of the post-Cold War era.We explore the "perfect storm" battering the continent: the return of Donald Trump and the removal of the American security umbrella, the accelerating de-industrialization of Germany, and the demographic cliff-edge that makes mass migration an economic necessity despite the

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27:22

The Mirage of Classlessness: Affluence and Labour in...

Explaining History ·

2025/12/20

Episode Summary:In this episode ofExplaining History, Nick continues his exploration of post-war American affluence. We often think of the 1950s as a golden age of middle-class expansion, where the old divisions of wealth and status melted away under a wave of chrome-plated cars and suburban lawns. But was this "classless society" a reality or a comforting myth?Drawing again from James Patterson’sGrand Expectations, we delve into the changing nature of work and the rise of the white-collar economy

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30:29

The Accidental Podcast: Reflections on History,...

Explaining History ·

2025/12/20

As we approach the end of another year, Nick takes a moment to step back from the history books and reflect on the Explaining History podcast itself. What started 13 years ago as a "flipped classroom" experiment by a history teacher in Wales has grown into a global community.In this candid episode, Nick discusses his philosophy of history—why he rejects the "history as entertainment" model and the simplistic "Great Man" theories often peddled by TV documentaries. Instead, he argues for a structural

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25:58

The Forgotten Revolution: The Young Turks and the...

Explaining History ·

2025/12/19

In 1908, the Ottoman Empire was on the brink of collapse. The despotism of Sultan Abdul Hamid II had stifled political life for decades, but a military uprising in Macedonia would soon change everything.In this episode ofExplaining History, Nick explores one of the great forgotten revolutions of the 20th century: the Young Turk Revolution. Drawing on Eugene Rogan's masterful bookThe Fall of the Ottomans, we delve into how the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) forced the Sultan to restore the

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28:14

2025 Year in Review Part 1: De-Dollarization,...

Explaining History ·

2025/12/18

Episode Summary:As 2025 draws to a close, Nick reflects on a pivotal year in global history. From the economic shockwaves of the Trump tariffs to the accelerating shift of power back to Asia, this episode argues that we are witnessing the terminal decline of the Anglo-American world order.We explore the existential threat of "de-dollarization"—a process accelerated not just by Trump, but by the weaponization of the financial system under Biden. Nick also examines the hollowing out of the British

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26:50

Germany's Fears of Russian Invasion in 1914

Explaining History ·

2025/12/13

Episode Summary:In this episode ofExplaining History, Nick moves beyond the familiar trenches of the Western Front to explore the terrifying reality of the Eastern Front in 1914. Drawing from Alexander Watson’s masterful bookRing of Steel, we examine how the German and Austro-Hungarian empires experienced the outbreak of World War I not just as a military conflict, but as a fight for survival against a "despotic" Russian invader.We delve into the panic that gripped the border city of Allenstein (now

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31:28

The Wannsee Conference and the Nazi Camps

Explaining History ·

2025/12/12

In this episode ofExplaining History, Nick revisits Nikolaus Wachsmann's monumental study,KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps.We explore a critical and often misunderstood aspect of the Holocaust: the relationship between the Concentration Camps (KL) and the extermination camps of the East. Why were Jews initially marginalized within the KL system? How did the failure of the war against the Soviet Union in 1941 shift Nazi policy from the exploitation of Soviet POWs to the mass enslavement

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26:10

Child Labour in the Industrial Revolution

Explaining History ·

2025/12/11

Episode Summary:In this episode ofExplaining History, Nick delves into the harrowing yet complex world of child labour during the British Industrial Revolution. Moving beyond the Dickensian caricatures of helpless victims, we explore Emma Griffin's groundbreaking book,Liberty’s Dawn: A People's History of the Industrial Revolution.Through the voices of those who lived it—captured in hundreds of working-class autobiographies—we uncover the brutal reality of 13-hour shifts in cotton mills and lonely

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27:41

Your Party and the fragmented British Left in 2025

Explaining History ·

2025/12/01

In this episode ofExplaining History, Nick takes a hard look at the state of the British Left in late 2025. With the Starmer government firmly entrenched in "continuity Thatcherism," the opposition has splintered. We analyze the chaotic founding conference of the new left-wing coalition, "Your Party," led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.From walkouts and factional disputes to the return of the "spectre of entryism" by the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), we explore why the Left seems addicted to

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31:26

Code Breaking: From Bletchley Park to the Cold War

Explaining History ·

2025/11/30

In this episode ofExplaining History, we sit down with author Maggie Ritchie to discuss her latest novel,White Raven. We explore the remarkable true story of Moira Beattie, a Glasgow art student recruited into the heart of Bletchley Park at just 18 years old. Maggie reveals how a chance encounter with the elderly artist unveiled a secret life of wartime codebreaking and a romance with a Russian intelligence officer.We also move beyond 1945 to shine a light on a forgotten chapter of British

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33:52

Churchill's Spaniards: how veterans of the Spanish...

Explaining History ·

2025/11/07

Churchill’s Spaniards: The Spanish Republicans Who Fought for Britain in WWII — with Sean F. Scullion In this episode, I speak with historian Sean F. Scullion, author of Churchill’s Spaniards, about a remarkable and little-known story: the Spanish Republicans who escaped the fall of the Second Republic, endured internment under Vichy France, and later volunteered to fight in the British Army against fascism from 1940 to 1945. Drawing on multi-lingual archival work and over 110 family interviews,

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33:13

Poverty, power and punishment in Georgian Britain

Explaining History ·

2025/11/05

What was lifereallylike for the poor and powerless in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars? In this episode of the Explaining History podcast, we're joined by Katharine Quarmby, author of the powerful new historical novel,The Low Road.Set in 1813,The Low Roadis a story of hardship, struggle, and love found in the most brutal corners of English life. Based on a true story unearthed from her hometown in Norfolk, Catherine's novel follows an orphaned girl, Hannah, as she navigates the cruel institutions of

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42:15

Family, memory and the burden of Germany's past

Explaining History ·

2025/10/29

In this episode of Explaining History, Nick is joined by acclaimed author Anne Weber to discuss her new book Sanderling (Indigo Press, 2025) — a deeply personal and philosophical exploration of family, identity, and the shadow of Germany’s past.Through the story of her great-grandfather Florens Christian Rang — a theologian, lawyer, and close friend of figures such as Walter Benjamin and Martin Buber — Weber examines four generations of her family to ask profound questions:What does it mean to be

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26:51

The politics of rearmament in Britain - 1936

Explaining History ·

2025/09/30

In the mid-1930s, with the shadow of one great war still looming and the threat of another growing darker, Britain faced a vexing national crisis: should it rearm? This episode delves into the complex political, economic, and social debates that defined this critical period.We explore the profound public anxiety shaped by the memory of World War I and the terrifying new prospect of aerial warfare, as seen in newsreels from Guernica and Nanjing. Drawing on Daniel Todman'sBritain's War, we unpack the

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26:12

The Ottoman Empire and Germany - 1914

Explaining History ·

2025/09/29

In this episode of Explaining History, we delve into the intricate web of diplomacy, ambition, and betrayal that led the Ottoman Empire into the Great War. Drawing from Eugene Rogan's "The Fall of the Ottomans," we explore the Empire's precarious position in the years before 1914, caught between the competing interests of Europe's great powers.Discover Germany's strategic "Weltpolitik," which saw the Ottomans as a key partner to challenge British and Russian dominance, leading to ambitious projects

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22:08

Italian dockworkers and Gaza

Explaining History ·

2025/09/29

As an international aid flotilla approaches the shores of Gaza, sailing directly towards an Israeli naval blockade, strikers in Italy have forced the government there to send warships to escort them (much against the official policy of the far right Meloni government). This shows us the power of solidarity and strike action. Go Deeper:Visit our website atwww.explaininghistory.orgfor articles and detailed explorations of the topics discussed.▸ Join the Conversation:Our community of history

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