Podcast Episodes

Australia Japan and the Kokoda Trail Campaign

The invasion of Australian ruled Papua New Guinea in 1942 by the Japanese presented a direct threat to Australia and to Supreme Commander in the South West Pacific Douglas MacArthur's plans to retake…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago

The Tory Right from Enoch Powell to Margaret Thatcher: 1957-1979

In the years following the Conservative Party's defeat in the 1945 general election, the Tories were forced to accept significant parts of Labour's programme, recognising their un-electability otherw…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago

Communal kitchens and Mao's Great Famine 1958-61

In 1958 as part of Mao's attempts to improve productivity and create a socialist economic miracle in China, Mao waged war against private property and family life during the disastrous 'Great Leap Fo…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago

Stalinist terror and Soviet society: Part One

In the mid 1930s, successive waves of state terror devastated not only Soviet society, but also coopted Soviet citizens into the processes of state violence. A deep fatalism was commonplace throughou…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago

Britain's media power and broken politics: In conversation with Mic Wright

In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, I speak with journalist and media critic Mic Wright about the power of Britain's media and its distorting effect on British politics

Explaining Hist…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago

The origins of the Iran Contra Scandal 1979-82

In the last years of Jimmy Carter's presidency, the ruthless Somoza dictatorship in Nicaragua was overthrown by the Sandinista revolutionaries, a coalition of the moderate and revolutionary left. The…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago

British Anti Fascism 192936

By the mid 1930s a widespread working class anti fascist movement was established in Britain, in response to the development of the British Union of Fascists, and the growth of fascist movements in E…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago

Austria, Germany and the July Crisis 1914

In 191, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie in Belgrade, the Austrian government sent a list of demands to Serbia, who they alleged was behind the plot. The fi…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago

Poverty, caste and recruitment to the Indian Army during World War Two

During the Second World War the imperial government of India, ruled by Lord Linlithgow, the Viceroy of India, was desperate for manpower and the traditional 'martial classes' that the British had rel…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago

France, Britain and the road to Suez 1952-56

In the mid 1950s, Anthony Eden and Guy Mollet, Britain and France's respective prime ministers initially showed little determination to overthrow Colonel Nasser of Egypt. However, mounting French pro…

Published on 4 years, 10 months ago