Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
Bowie and the 1960s
In this episode of Explaining History, we dive into the fascinating world of David Bowie’s 1960s—a decade of shifting cultural currents, personal rei…
10 months ago
British spies in Mesopotamia - 1915
This episode explores part of the story of St John Philby, father to Kim and eventually advisor to King Ibn Saud. Philby was one of the few administr…
10 months, 1 week ago
Literary tastes, readers and book clubs in the inter war period
In the first decades of the 20th Century, a growth in literacy and the availability of paperback and hardback books created a culture of mass partici…
10 months, 1 week ago
Austerity Britain 2010 - 2025
The project to permanently shrink the British state and to inflict mass hardship on the most vulnerable which was commenced after 2010 has cost untol…
10 months, 1 week ago
France: Collaboration and Occupation 1940-45
When France was defeated in 1940, across its empire it underwent a period of civil war as Vichy and Free French forces faced one another. Until at le…
10 months, 1 week ago
America, oil shocks and the crisis of the 1970s
In this episode, we dive into the turbulent decade of the 1970s, exploring how the oil shocks and economic crises of the era shattered the postwar o…
10 months, 1 week ago
A radical history of Liverpool
Liverpool's modern history is one of struggle, adversity and community and today we hear from David Swift, author of Scouse Republic: An alternative …
10 months, 1 week ago
Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys - exploring the music and the melancholy of pop music's endless summer
This month Brian Wilson, one of the most gifted song writers and composers of the 20th Century passed away. In order to explore his work and the soci…
10 months, 2 weeks ago
The Battle of the Ebro: Part Two
Continued from yesterday's episode, we read again from Adam Hochschild's brilliant book Spain in Our Hearts, about the overwhelming odds faced by the…
10 months, 2 weeks ago
The Battle of the Ebro: Part One
In 1938, the fascist generals who had launched their insurrection two years earlier had divided the country but had not been able to seize Madrid. Th…
10 months, 2 weeks ago