Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchSuleiman the Magnificent: Conquest, Law, Hurrem, and the Ottoman Golden Age
Episode 13240
When Suleiman the Magnificent died during the siege of Szigetvar in 1566, his inner circle hid his death from the army for 48 days. This episode look…
5 days, 1 hour ago
Booker T. Washington: From Slavery to Tuskegee and the White House Dinner
Episode 13239
Booker T. Washington got into the Hampton Institute by sweeping a room three times and dusting it four, and he went on to become the first African Am…
5 days, 1 hour ago
Attila the Hun: The Scourge of God, His Strategy, and His Mysterious Death
Episode 13238
Two empires saw Attila as a punishment sent by God, yet his name probably meant "Little Father." This episode separates propaganda from strategy usin…
5 days, 1 hour ago
Andrew Carnegie: Steel Monopolist, Homestead, and the Gospel of Wealth
Episode 13237
In 1901 a bank in Hoboken built a special vault just to hold Andrew Carnegie's gold bonds from the sale of his steel empire. This episode explores th…
5 days, 1 hour ago
Thomas Edison: Menlo Park, the War of the Currents, and the Real Man
Episode 13236
When Thomas Edison died in 1931, lights across the United States were dimmed in his honor. This episode looks past the textbook inventor to the ruthl…
5 days, 1 hour ago
Cesar Chavez: Farm Worker Organizer, Boycotts, and a Legacy Reexamined
Episode 13235
Cesar Chavez left school after eighth grade and went on to build one of the most powerful labor movements in American history, only to see his legacy…
5 days, 1 hour ago
Giuseppe Garibaldi: Red Shirts, the Expedition of the Thousand, and Italy
Episode 13234
Giuseppe Garibaldi turned down a Union command from Abraham Lincoln because the war was not yet being fought explicitly to abolish slavery. This epis…
5 days, 1 hour ago
Georges Danton: The Thunderer Who Built the Terror and Died by It
Episode 13233
In 1793 Georges Danton had his late wife exhumed at night so a sculptor could make a cast of her face. This episode explores the larger-than-life law…
5 days, 1 hour ago
Mehmed the Conqueror: The Fall of Constantinople and an Ottoman Paradox
Episode 13232
Mehmed II battered down walls that had stood for a thousand years, yet he also collected Christian relics, built a multilingual library, and invited …
5 days, 1 hour ago
Saladin: The Scholar Sultan Who Retook Jerusalem and Won Over His Enemies
Episode 13231
When Saladin died in Damascus, his treasury held a single piece of gold and 40 pieces of silver. This episode explores the paradox of Yusuf ibn Ayyub…
5 days, 1 hour ago