Joseph Stalin | Intellectual and Killer

During the summer break, the 15-Minute History team will be republishing some of your favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on February 9, 2026.---American progressives at the turn of the 20th century saw major flaws in the United States Constitution and worked to corr ...  Show more

Would Britain have surrendered if Germany had destroyed its army at Dunkirk? This week, Joe and Jon explore one of the classic "what ifs" of the Second World War.Join us every Thursday this summer for new pop quizzes and on Mondays for rebroadcast episodes! 

Joseph Stalin - the “man of steel” - was the party secretary who plotted a route to absolute power, becoming head of the Eastern Bloc and chief nemesis of the United States. But how did a man from the Georgian frontier of the Russian Empire do it? In 1917, the 300-year-old Romano ...  Show more

Before he became the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world, Joseph Stalin was an idealistic, but ruthless revolutionary. A Marxist from a young age, he devoted much of his life to overthrowing Imperial Russia. But as his star rose among the Russian socialists, ...  Show more

Josef Stalin is a titan of modern history – and one of its most infamous leaders, responsible for the deaths of millions. Danny Bird spoke to Robert Service to chart the Soviet tyrant's life, from his childhood in Georgia to his rise to become the dictator of the Soviet Union and ...  Show more

How did a young boy from Georgia become a merciless politician who shaped the Soviet Empire in his own brutal image? Historian and bestselling author, Simon Sebag Montifiore, is back on the podcast to talk to Dan about the rise of Joseph Stalin, a man who caused the death and suf ...  Show more