Best Regias Podcast Podcasts (2024)

1
Episode 196 - How to Build an Army in Six Years, Part I 32:20

1d ago32:20

32:20

I've been slacking a lot on the release schedule, so enjoy a second episode for this week. Today I'm still talking about rearmament, but this time it's just the planning on the military side. Turns out expanding your army to support thirty times more troops, all the while building a world-class air force from scratch, and half-heartedly constructin…

1
Episode 195 - War Machines on a Budget 27:10

1d ago27:10

27:10

The reality of Nazi Germany's bid to conquer Europe and dominate the world was that it simply lacked the economic capacity to actually do those things. That didn't stop Hitler from trying though, and he pushed the economy to the breaking point getting as many weapons and the biggest army he could. Bibliography for this episode: Tooze, Adam Wages of…

1
Episode 194 - Merchants of Death 26:02

17d ago26:02

26:02

A sudden transformation of the economy needed collaborators to be carried out in such a short time frame as the Nazis were demanding. And it also demanded a closer relationship between the state and capital, leading to an unholy alliance that brought out the worst in both the German business class and the upper echelons of the Nazi government. Bibl…

1
Episode 193 - Nazi Money 29:58

26d ago29:58

29:58

One of the most striking accomplishments of the Nazi state during the 1930s was the speed with which it built an army capable of conquering Europe. It wasn't a perfect army mind you, but it was capable all the same. And given that it was built up from the weak interwar army in just six years, well something unusual was afoot in Germany. And that so…

1
Episode 192 - Nova Roma 38:16

1M ago38:16

38:16

I bring my coverage of the Italo-Ethiopian war to a close today with a two-topic episode. First I cover events and changes in Italy brought on by the war, and then I give a general overview of the brutal regime and resulting insurgency in Ethiopia. Bibliography for this episode: Mockler, Anthony Haile Selassie's War Oliver Branch Press 2003 Pearce,…

1
Episode 191 - A View From the Sidelines 29:39

1M ago29:39

29:39

One immediate effect of the Italians invading Ethiopia was that it kicked the international crisis that had formed beforehand into overdrive. Most governments might have preferred to keep to a light touch response, but public outcry was such that governments had to either respond or face actual consequences. But despite public pressure and the down…

1
Episode 190 - The Italo-Ethiopian War, Part III 32:44

2M ago32:44

32:44

Today I conclude the events of the initial Italian invasion of Ethiopia. It's an anti-climatic affair, with the collapse of the main Ethiopian armies the big challenge facing the invaders were the distances and geography involved. Still, there were numerous half-hearted gestures that delayed the Italians establishing their rule for many months afte…

1
Episode 189 - The Italo-Ethiopian War, Part II 32:16

2M ago32:16

32:16

Today I cover the big battles of the war, and sad to say, they do not go Ethiopia's way at all. Despite promising tactical successes in the first few months of the conflict, the weight of Italian firepower finally overwhelmed the defenders on all fronts. Bibliography for this episode: Mockler, Anthony Haile Selassie's War Oliver Branch Press 2003 P…

1
Episode 188 - The Italo-Ethiopian War, Part I 29:43

2M ago29:43

29:43

Today I finally begin covering the actual Italian invasion of Ethiopia, which will take three installments. The first few months of the invasion were marked by a slow Italian advance, Ethiopia getting its army together, and the invaders quickly turning to chemical weapons. Bibliography for this episode: Mockler, Anthony Haile Selassie's War Oliver …

1
Episode 187 - Regia This, Regia That 25:04

2M ago25:04

25:04

This week I cover the other two branches of the Italian military, the navy and air force. Like the army, the get bad reputations. Also like the army, there are reasons for this, which I get into during the episode. Bibliography for this episode: Gooch, John Mussolini and His Generals Cambridge University Press, 2007 Bagnasco, Erminio and Mark Gross…

1
Episode 186 - The Italian Army 39:36

3M ago39:36

39:36

It's finally time to take a hard look at the fighting forces of one of the major players in our story. And since this is a new kind of episode for me, I'm happy that I'm taking the baby step of talking about one of the smaller examples. Italy gets maligned a lot during this period, and there are good reasons for this, but today I not only want to c…

1
Supplemental 1 - Jargon 42:36

3M ago42:36

42:36

I'm trying something new today, and this episode isn't intended to advance the narrative at all, but it is intended to give a crash-course on military organization and important kinds of equipment. It's not intended for everyone, as some of you already know everything that I cover, and many of you who do not are not going to be interested in the ma…

1
Episode 185 - The Invasion of Ethiopia Wasn't Built in a Day 29:47

3M ago29:47

29:47

The Ethiopian Crisis kicked off over a border incident in the village of Walwal in October-December 1934, and then proceeded to slow-burn develop until the Italian invasion actually came in October 1935. It was a period of diplomatic maneuverings, and served to deliver a fatal blow to the system of collective security that had been so painfully bui…

1
Episode 184 - No Time Like the Present 30:05

3M ago30:05

30:05

Ethiopia was not Mussolini's preferred target in the early 1930s. His expansionist ambitions gravitated more towards the Balkans, and Yugoslavia in particular. But diplomatic and military realities, the pressure of an emerging fascist rival, and Italy's own weakness forced his attention towards East Africa as an alternative. Bibliography for this e…

1
Episode 183 - Ethiopia, Part II 30:18

3M ago30:18

30:18

I wrap up the intro to Ethiopia this week by covering the key points of Menelik's successful reign, and the rise to power of Ras Tafari Makonnen. Who before this episode is finished will have established himself under his much more famous royal name of Haile Selassie. His reign would see forceful attempts at modernization, which was carried out aga…

1
Episode 182 - Ethiopia, Part I 30:14

4M ago30:14

30:14

Today marks the start of another new miniseries, this time cover the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. But before I get going on the main topic, I'm going to be spending the next two episodes introducing modern Ethiopia. If you missed the overview histories from last season, you're in luck as this is a crash course how the country unified and survived …

1
Episode 181 - Backlash 34:35

4M ago34:35

34:35

Given all the misfortune to have befallen the Roosevelt administration going into the 1934 mid-terms, you'd probably think FDR and the Democrats were going to pay a political price. Well, turns out their opposition wasn't exactly the most effectual. Or in the case of Huey Long it was complicated by actually being a Democrat at the time. Anyway, tod…

1
Episode 180 - An Entirely Different Deal 32:42

4M ago32:42

32:42

One of the big criticisms of the New Deal, and one of the most valid, was the fact that it didn't do much of anything to try and tackle the plight of African-Americans. Sure, the relief efforts and public works projects were mostly made available to all Americans. But these efforts didn't reckon with the institutional discrimination of the country,…

1
Episode 179 - Rebirth of the Labor Movement 29:00

5M ago29:00

29:00

Organized labor might as well have been pronounced dead during the 1920s, and the Depression didn't seem like it'd be a big help in rejuvenating it. But thanks to a dramatic policy change from the Roosevelt administration, unions got a new lease on life. This would of course be challenged by the owner class, and the first couple years of worker res…

1
Episode 178 - Agriculture Adjustment 29:08

5M ago29:08

29:08

By 1933 the bright golden haze on America's meadows had been dimmed down to a featureless beige. Twelve years of bad times, which included four years of outright Depression, had wrecked the nation's farms. It would take unprecedented levels of intervention and organization to bring the truly lean years to a conclusion, and the collateral damage wou…

1
Episode 177 - Making Work 31:16

5M ago31:16

31:16

Possibly the most defining programs of the New Deal were the public works projects that created well-paying jobs for millions of Americans in the depths of the Depression. This shouldn't be a surprise, much of the nation's most iconic infrastructure, still in use in many cases to the modern day, was built through these programs. But they were not w…

1
Episode 176 - Redefining Money 27:46

5M ago27:46

27:46

The great economic straight-jacket of the 1920s and 30s was the Gold Standard, which created a global system that seemingly locked everybody into a stable system. I've talked about that enough already, so today I'm talking about how the Roosevelt administration began distancing itself from the old ways. Bibliography for this episode: Kennedy, David…

1
Episode 175 - A Drunk and a Department 27:34

5M ago27:34

27:34

The narrative of the New Deal really kicks off here, as I discuss the work of the National Recovery Administration. Okay, that's not totally accurate. I'm mostly talking about the public antics of its boss, former brigadier general Hugh Johnson. Who will easily win the award for most self-destructive character in this mini-series. Bibliography for …

1
Episode 174 - The First 100 Days, Part III 33:08

6M ago33:08

33:08

Wherein the special session of Congress of 1933 concludes, and I can stop making blurbs about bills and government agencies. Bibliography for this episode: Kennedy, David M. Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 Oxford University Press 1999 Hiltzik, Michael The New Deal: A Modern History Simon and Schuster 2011 Schl…

1
Episode 173 - The First 100 Days, Part II 27:56

6M ago27:56

27:56

The reforms in Washington, DC keep coming and this week we tackle public relief, housing, and farm management. Bibliography for this episode: Kennedy, David M. Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War 1929-1945 Oxford University Press 1999 Hiltzik, Michael The New Deal: A Modern History Simon and Schuster 2011 Schlesinger Jr, Ar…

1
Episode 172 - The First 100 Days, Part I 28:20

6M ago28:20

28:20

Probably the most consequential legislative session in United States history was the special session of Congress that was summoned for the first 100 days of the FDR administration. Today, and for the next two episodes after, I'll be breaking down the major pieces of legislation that constituted the New Deal's first round. Both what they were and wh…

1
Episode 171 - The 117 Days Before the First 100 Days 27:54

6M ago27:54

27:54

Getting back onto the chronological history of the United States, I take a look at the lame-duck period leading up to FDR's swearing-in. Unlike other lame-duck periods, things actually happened during this one. The economy entered a last freefall that might have spelled the end of the nation, the population sunk into despair, and Hoover tried to sa…

1
Episode 170 - FDR, Part II 35:48

7M ago35:48

35:48

FDR takes the national stage with his appointment to Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and he's off to the races. No, that's not a crack on his bout with polio, although I finally get around to covering that today. Even with health and marital setbacks, FDR never lost sight of the high office he coveted, which carried him through to the triumph of 1…

1
Episode 169 - FDR, Part I 31:19

7M ago31:19

31:19

The time has finally come to return to the United States and kickoff the history of the New Deal. But what would the New Deal be without the blue-blooded president with the gumption to defy convention? Today starts a quick two-parter covering the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt up to his election to the presidency in 1932. Bibliography for this e…

1
Episode 168 - Speak Softly and Carry a Big Industrial Sector 30:09

7M ago30:09

30:09

To close out this miniseries on the First Five-Year Plan I'm covering Soviet diplomacy during the early 30s. The Great Depression came at a good time for the USSR and covered up much of its weakness during the dislocations of the period, but there was still threats that needed addressing. Haslam, Jonathan Soviet Foreign Policy 1930-33: The Impact o…

1
Episode 167 - It's a Hard Knock Soviet Life 29:48

7M ago29:48

29:48

Life in the Soviet cities might not have wracked up the fatality count during the early 1930s that the countryside did, but it had its share of suffering all the same. Food shortages, goods shortages, black markets, all became painful facts of life that urban Soviets acclimated to. Bibliography for this episode: Fitzpatrick, Sheila Everyday Stalini…

1
Episode 166 - Stalin's Revolution 27:37

8M ago27:37

27:37

Turning more towards the culture of the Soviet Union during the early 30s, I take a look at the Cultural Revolution carried in the USSR from 1928-1931. It was a brief, but critical event that brought the most active and passionate in the Party into Stalin's camp. Which in turn gave him the foot soldiers necessary to bring the bureaucracy and intell…

1
Episode 165 - Magnitogorsk Steel 30:16

8M ago30:16

30:16

Taking a break from the thrilling world of statistics, today I zero in on the crown jewel of Soviet industrial expansion, the construction of the industrial city of Magnitogorsk. From an empty steppe there was built an entire city with the purpose of cranking out the steel and iron that would help fuel Soviet industry. It was no small task, and the…

1
Episode 164 - Brakes Not Included 27:38

8M ago27:38

27:38

If collectivization was the great failure of the 1st Five-Year-Plan, then rapid industrialization was its great success. But don't worry, there was still enough mayhem during those days to make the story of building factories an interesting one. Bibliography for this episode: Allen, Robert C. Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Indust…

1
Episode 163 - Kolkhoz, Part III 32:59

9M ago32:59

32:59

To wrap up this look at collectivization in the USSR, I focus in on the famine years of 1932-33. Why it happened, how it affected people, how the state responded. Really kind of hard to describe the scale of it, although I give it a shot. Bibliography for this episode: Fitzpatrick, Sheila Stalin's Peasants: Resistance & Survival in the Russian Vill…

1
Episode 162 - Kolkhoz, Part II 38:31

9M ago38:31

38:31

The first year of collectivization was a wild time, even before the massive famine of 1932-33. The world of the peasantry was turned upside down, and modes of life that had predominated for generations were changed forever. And a bunch of people got deported and a band of Communist faithful showed up to lend a hand. Bibliography for this episode: F…

1
Episode 161 - Kolkhoz, Part I 29:42

9M ago29:42

29:42

The massive swing towards collectivized agriculture during the 1930s was one of the Soviet Union's most defining moments. Where the state had been previously weak in the countryside, the movement of the peasants onto the collective farms (the kolkhoz) changed that for the rest of the USSR's history. It also created dislocations and conflicts that w…

1
Episode 160 - Decisions, Decisions 29:56

9M ago29:56

29:56

The commencement of the 1st Five Year Plan in the USSR signaled quite a break from state policy as it was in the 20s. And by that, I mean kicking the NEP to the curb. This shift caused no small debate within the Soviet hierarchy, and Stalin would use the divisions as a wedge against his enemies. Bibliography for this episode: Allen, Robert C. Farm …

1
Episode 159 - A Plan and a Party 41:13

9M ago41:13

41:13

New miniseries! Today I begin covering the First Five Year Plan, the mother of all five year plans. You might have heard about them in places other than the USSR, you might even have one of your own. But there isn't anything like this one. I break down why the Plan was so central to Soviet history, as well as take time to introduce the supporting p…

1
Episode 158 - The Long March, Part II 37:10

10M ago37:10

37:10

Today's episode is a double-conclusion as both the Long March and this miniseries come to a close. The northern course of the March was more notable for adverse climates and geography, which was probably worse than what the Nationalists could throw at them. Bibliography for this episode: Short, Philip Mao, A Life Henry Holdt and Company LLC 1999 Wi…

1
Episode 157 - The Long March, Part I 30:50

10M ago30:50

30:50

By autumn 1934 it was clear that the Communists could not stay in southeast China. The solution was to step out for a walk, a long one. Bibliography for this episode: Short, Philip Mao, A Life Henry Holdt and Company LLC 1999 Wilson, Dick The Long March 1935: The Epic of Chinese Communism's Survival The Viking Press 1971 Chung-gi, Kwei The Kuominta…

1
Episode 156 - Marching to the Long March 31:21

10M ago31:21

31:21

Switching gears in China, today I switch to covering Mao and the CPC's misadventures in southern China. The stretch of time between the end of the 20s and the start of the Long March were filled with false starts and missed opportunities as competing interests among the Communists squandered the victories over Chiang Kai-shek's encirclement campaig…

1
Episode 155 - Chiang Gets Kidnapped 35:26

10M ago35:26

35:26

OK, so there's a lot more to this episode than the Xi'an Incident, but it's the most dramatic. Other than that, we've got secret societies, half-baked ideologies, and the false impression that things could get better in KMT China. Bibliography for this episode: Fairbank, John K & Denis Twitchett The Cambridge History of China, Volume 12: Republican…

1
Episode 154 - Best Laid Plans 29:24

11M ago29:24

29:24

With the Japanese outright occupying Chinese territory, Chiang Kai-shek had to move fast. A war was guaranteed, but preparations still needed to be made and domestic enemies still needed to be taken care of. Bibliography for this episode: Fairbank, John K & Denis Twitchett The Cambridge History of China, Volume 12: Republican China 1912-1949, Part …

1
Episode 153 - Manchurian Goodbye 30:16

11M ago30:16

30:16

Today the focus shifts back to the misadventures of Chiang Kai-shek and the Nanjing government. The Central Plains War had been won, and it looked for the briefest of moments that things were going to be fine for them. Then the new campaigns against the Communists fell into disarray, and in September 1931 the Japanese invaded Manchuria. For Chiang,…

1
Episode 152 - Let Sleeping Bears Lie 40:14

11M ago40:14

40:14

A fun and not very well-known little border war was the Sino-Soviet conflict of 1929. Basically the Soviets controlled the railways of northern Manchuria, and the Chinese wanted them out. Simple idea, difficult to execute in practice, and the way it was handled opened the door for the Red Army to humiliate the warlord forces of Manchuria. Which wou…

1
Episode 151 - The Central Plains War 29:15

11M ago29:15

29:15

We get the real-deal history underway with some very familiar material: a warlord showdown. Except this would be bigger than ever, and would decide if Chiang Kai-shek's centralizing policies even had a prayer. Bibliography for this episode: Fairbank, John K & Denis Twitchett The Cambridge History of China, Volume 12: Republican China 1912-1949, Par…

1
Episode 150 - Enter the Nanjing Decade 28:10

12M ago28:10

28:10

Last season I left off my China coverage with the successful conclusion of the Northern Expedition. But just because that long campaign was successful didn't mean that Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT had everything go their way. To kick off this new mini-series I'll be spending some time re-introducing some older friends, as well as newer groups and fa…

1
Episode 149 - Restoration 37:47

12M ago37:47

37:47

When events in China cooled off, the ones back in Japan heated up. With the exit of Japan from the League of Nations in 1933, the unilateralist approach was chosen to secure the empire. But even then, there was disagreement on approach that would create conflict on the home islands that were only starting to get resolved by the time formal war with…

1
Episode 148 - Jewel of the Empire 28:12

12M ago28:12

28:12

Today we wrap up our close-in look at the puppet state of Manchukuo and cover what drove the state and kept it a function part of the Japanese Empire. The short answer is money, but there were also fitful attempts at building an identity mixed in there too. Not terribly successful ones, but enough that there was a veneer of legitimacy covering up t…

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