War Correspondents and Vietnam: Part Two

Episode Summary:

In this episode of Explaining History, Nick returns to Philip Knightley's seminal work, The First Casualty, to examine how British and American journalists covered the Vietnam War. Wh…

Published on 1 week, 3 days ago

The Forgotten Revolution: Venezuela’s Democratic Spring of 1945

In 2025, Venezuela is once again in the crosshairs of US foreign policy, facing the threat of military intervention and heightened sanctions from a new Trump administration. But to understand the res…

Published on 1 week, 4 days ago

Your Party and the fragmented British Left in 2025

In this episode of Explaining 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 …

Published on 1 week, 6 days ago

Code Breaking: From Bletchley Park to the Cold War

In this episode of Explaining 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 re…

Published on 1 week, 6 days ago

Explaining History: The End of the Western World Order?

Is the era of Western global dominance coming to an end? This episode explores the profound decline of Western, and particularly American, "hard" and "soft" power on the world stage.

We begin by contr…

Published on 2 weeks, 6 days ago

The RAF and the origins of mass bombing 1939-40

From Restraint to Ruin - The Birth of the Bombing War

At the dawn of World War II in 1939, a fragile consensus existed among the warring powers. Spurred by an appeal from President Roosevelt, leaders …

Published on 3 weeks, 4 days ago

America and China in 2025

Explaining History Podcast: 2025 in Review - The Year the Tech War Was Lost

As 2025 draws to a close, we reflect on a pivotal year that historians may one day see as the moment the world changed forev…

Published on 3 weeks, 5 days ago

Live Aid, famine, debt and activism: A four decade struggle for justice

In this episode of the Explaining History podcast, host Nick Shepley is joined by veteran journalist and author Paul Vallely to explore the definitive inside story of Live Aid and its far-reaching le…

Published on 1 month ago

Churchill's Spaniards: how veterans of the Spanish Civil War fought for Britain

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 …

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

Poverty, power and punishment in Georgian Britain

What was life really like 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 n…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago