Podcast Episodes
Back to Search7278: Louis XVI — The Shy King Whose Hesitation Ruined France | pplpod
Episode 7278
Louis XVI was a locksmith by hobby and a king by accident of birth. He was shy, indecisive, and more comfortable taking apart mechanical devices than…
6 days, 2 hours ago
7277: John Adams — The Science Nerd America Called a Tyrant | pplpod
Episode 7277
John Adams was the most intellectually gifted of the founding fathers and possibly the least suited to politics. He was vain, honest to the point of …
6 days, 2 hours ago
7281: Rocky Marciano — The Short Heavyweight Who Retired Undefeated | pplpod
Episode 7281
Rocky Marciano stood five feet ten inches in an era when heavyweight champions towered over six feet. He compensated with a work rate and punching po…
6 days, 2 hours ago
7273: Philip II of Spain — The Messianic Micromanager Who Ruled Half the World | pplpod
Episode 7273
Philip II of Spain ruled the largest empire the world had ever seen and tried to manage every detail of it personally. He spent his days alone in the…
6 days, 2 hours ago
7274: Henry V — The Real King Behind the Battle Scars and Shakespeare's Legend | pplpod
Episode 7274
Henry V took an arrow through the face at sixteen and spent weeks having it surgically extracted. The scar he carried for life marked a king far more…
6 days, 2 hours ago
7271: Henry VII — The King Who Backdated His Reign to Punish His Enemies | pplpod
Episode 7271
Henry VII won the Battle of Bosworth and then backdated his reign to the day before the battle, making every man who had fought for Richard III techn…
6 days, 2 hours ago
7272: Roger Bannister — The Medical Student Who Broke the Four-Minute Mile | pplpod
Episode 7272
Roger Bannister ran the first sub-four-minute mile while training as a full-time medical student, squeezing in workouts during his lunch break. The f…
6 days, 2 hours ago
7276: Isabella of Castile — The Ruthless Rise of Spain's Most Powerful Queen | pplpod
Episode 7276
Isabella of Castile seized her brother's throne, married Ferdinand of Aragon against his wishes, completed the Reconquista, expelled the Jews, and fi…
6 days, 2 hours ago
7275: Mary I — The Real Woman Behind the Bloody Mary Legend | pplpod
Episode 7275
Mary I of England burned nearly three hundred Protestants at the stake and earned the name Bloody Mary. But the woman behind the legend was a devout …
6 days, 2 hours ago
7270: Charles I — The King Who Wore Two Shirts to His Own Execution | pplpod
Episode 7270
Charles I wore two shirts to his execution on a freezing January morning so that the crowd would not see him shiver and mistake it for fear. It was a…
6 days, 2 hours ago