Episode #44- What Went Down at the Siege of V...

In this bonus episode Sebastian takes questions about episode 249, 250, and 251. First, he does his best to grapple with how morality should factor into history education. Then a listener provides an epic email about Orson Welles' legendary production of "Voodoo Macbeth" and curs ...  Show more

When the HMS Dreadnought was launched in 1906 it completely revolutionized naval warfare. It made all previous ships obsolete and helped spur an arms race between Britain and Germany. For many the Dreadnought was symbol of the militarism that was sweeping Europe before World War ...  Show more

The 1683 Siege of Vienna often gets described in apocalyptic terms. It has been characterized as the ultimate showdown between Christianity and Islam. There is no doubt that it was a dramatic and significant moment in European history, but should it be mythologized as the ultimat ...  Show more

The Ottoman Empire was gigantic; at one point it reached the walls of Vienna to the Persian Gulf and beyond. It was established at the end of the 13th century with its centre in what is now modern Turkey. It held swathes of Europe for centuries right up to the First World War. ...

When Tsar Nicholas II was executed in 1918 the Bolsheviks pumped the Russian media full of misinformation. The official story was that the Tsarina and the Prince had been spared and moved to a safe location. Absolutely nothing was said about the four imperial princesses. This wou ...  Show more

The Battle of Stalingrad was the deadliest battle of the Second World War, and one of the bloodiest in the history of warfare. Infamous for its atrocious conditions and brutal house-to-house fighting, the battle raged for just over 5 months and concluded with an estimated 2 mi ...