Did “image” play a role in the famous presidential debates of 1960? Did Richard Nixon appear sick and frail, compared to a hale and healthy John Kennedy? The standard story is that he did; and that it affected the way people perceived him, and how they voted. But how much of this is true, and how much in urban legend? We examine the whole thing, wi…

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! This is a Podcast Takeover about the real threat that is Project 2025. We decided to take a break from our usual ancient history episodes to tell you about the Christo-fascist playbook that’s closer to being enacted into law than you might think. Project 2025 is a 900-page document that, i…

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Today, we’re going to talk about a wonder that was built for a man who was once extremely powerful. But today, he’s known primarily for the grandness of his tomb—a tomb commissioned not by him, but by his wife (and sister)—a tomb so great that much like the Pharos’ name has been used in so…

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! It's easy to get the impression that no women were allowed in the war games of the ancient world, but nothing could be further from the truth. Female generals and warrior queens were everywhere—leading armies into battle by land and sea. In this episode, we cover five female military comma…

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! This is a Podcast Takeover about the real threat that is Project 2025. Joining us is Dr. Brad Onishi, co-host of the podcast Straight White American Jesus, a podcast that explores the culture and politics of Christian Nationalism from the perspective of two ex-evangelical ministers turned …

Slave trading continued in the south during the Civil War. Between Fort Sumter to Appomattox, Confederates bought and sold thousands of African-American men, women, and children. These transactions in humanity made the internal slave trade a cornerstone of Confederate society, a bulwark of the Rebel economy, and a central part of the experience of …

Professor Nash tells us about wives and lovers of leading Nazis, women who participated in Nazi crimes, and women who worked against the Nazi regime. We look at everyone from Eva Braun, Hitler’s partner, to Sophie Scholl, one of the leaders of the White Rose resistance to the Nazi state. This episode shows that German women as a whole were a repres…

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! This is a Podcast Takeover about the real threat that is Project 2025. If enacted, Project 2025 would touch on all aspects of American life—and we couldn’t get into all of it in one episode. This week, we invited Dr. Emily Rath onto the show to give us a first-hand perspective on what life…

The treatment and status of women under Hitler and the Nazis is fascinating, in all the wrong ways. If the Nazi reputation wasn’t bad enough, the detail presented in this episode shows that there’s no bottom to their depravity. Professor Philip Nash explains all in the first part of a major two-part series. These are among our best shows ever! Epis…

The real Pat Nixon bore little resemblance to the woman so often described as elusive, mysterious and “plastic” in the press. Heath Hardage Lee takes us through Pat Nixon’s life and career. And myths are busted left and right! Learn how Pat Nixon, the supposed quiet housewife, was actually a career woman, and an important reason that Richard Nixon …

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Angela J. Ford is the author of over 30 books, mostly steamy fantasy romance and romantic thrillers. Like Jenny, she fell in love with the Phantom of the Opera at an early age. And she wrote a romance novel inspired by that story--with the mysterious Phantom as the hero. Join us as we disc…

July 30th is the 79th anniversary of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis during World War II in 1945, and the famous shark attack on its helpless crew floating in the Pacific Ocean. Captain Quint’s story about the USS Indianapolis in the movie “Jaws” is only the beginning of a gut-wrenching piece of history. There’s a lot more to the Indianapolis s…

American Presidential primaries and conventions seem excessively complicated, and maybe even outdated. Could they all just be an email, as office workers say nowadays? Fortunately, Professor Philip Nash explains all! We can't promise that we make primaries and conventions seem logical and sensible. But we do our best! Episode 558.…

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! With the 2024 Olympics beginning any day now, you’re probably (if you’re a nerd like us) asking yourself one question: what would it have been like to attend a day at the world’s first Olympic Games? The Games in ancient times were not like they are today. The punishment for cheating was b…

Professor James Hill Welborn joins us to discuss the question – how did white Southerners in the nineteenth century reconcile a Christian faith that instructed them to turn the other cheek with a pervasive code of honor that instructed them to do just the opposite—to demand satisfaction for perceived insults? He analyzes the birth of this peculiar …

The summer of 2024 has been, um, very interesting. An assassination attempt on Donald Trump, frightening Supreme Court rulings, but also hopeful election results in the UK. We are indeed living in interesting times. But is “may you live in interesting times” actually an ancient Chinese curse, or is the history of the saying more complicated? We tak…

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Sav R. Miller is a USA-Today bestselling author of steamy dark romances often inspired by Greek mythology, including the Monsters and Muses series and the upcoming Monsters Within. Her romances are often contemporary, and frequently delve into the dark and steamy side of the underworld, th…

The 2025 Project and the rise of extreme right-wing politics in America means that it's a good time to listen to our show about one of the 20th century's most extreme right-wing groups, The John Birch Society. It has strongly influenced libertarian and Republican politics since its founding in 1958. Dr. Matthew Dallek tells us the story of the Soci…

After his many felony convictions, Donald Trump’s supporters have likened him to America’s Founding Fathers. They were also felons, so the MAGA crowd says. But how true is that? We explain all in this episode, and also bust the many myths found in “The Price They Paid” email and Facebook post that’s being quoted endlessly these days. Episode 556.…

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Hera is one of the most unsympathetic goddesses in Greek mythology. Trapped in a toxic marriage with the King of the Gods, her vast power relegated only to wives and marriage, she often takes her fury at Zeus’s infidelities out on his victims and their children. But is there more to Hera’s…

Americans put up Liberty Poles to express political beliefs in the period of the Early Republic. These poles were massive, highly decorated, and highly contested. Both Federalists and Anti-Federalists used them to promote their ideas of what the new Republic should reflect in terms of “liberty.” Join us to discuss how different early American polit…

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Introducing History Daily, a podcast that tells the fascinating stories of what happened “on this day” in history, with host Lindsay Graham. The episode we chose to release tells the fascinating story of China’s Terracotta Army—an entire army of 8,000 terracotta soldiers, each one unique a…

Professor Rachel Mesch guides us through three compelling lives and careers in 19th-century France. The lives of French writers, Jane Dieulafoy (1850–1916), Rachilde (1860–1953), and Marc de Montifaud (1845–1912), did not conform to nineteenth-century notions of femininity. In their work, they contested conventional gender norms, and refused to be …

Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! In our last episode, we discussed the Lighthouse of Alexandria during its early years--the Ptolemaic and Roman eras. In this episode, we'll take a look at its later history--during the Islamic era, which is where many of our most detailed descriptions--and fantastical legends about the lig…