212 - Invisible Generals

James Bond may have Q Branch supplying him with ingenious gadgets, but during the Second World War the agents of the Special Operations Executive had something just as remarkable — the SOE Camouflage Section. This secret unit developed ingenious ways to hide weapons, radios, expl ...  Show more

In this episode, I am joined by Ian Buruma to talk about life in Berlin during the Second World War. Rather than focusing on the regime at the top or the battles fought far from the city, we look at how ordinary people experienced daily life as war, repression, bombing, and fear ...  Show more

Bullard is often described as the first Black American fighter pilot – which is true – but he also had a full and fascinating life beyond that. This episode covers his travels before WWI and his military career. 

Research:

Wednesday, February 24, 2021 Hoover Institution In this special episode of Battlegrounds in honor of Black History Month, H.R. McMaster and Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Robinson, US Army (Retired), son of General Roscoe Robinson Jr., the first African American four-star general in th ...  Show more

In honor of Memorial Day, we observe the contributions of Black service members like The Harlem Hellfighters and the Tuskegee Airmen. In this episode, host Roy Wood Jr. chats with the cofounder of the Black Veterans Project, Richard Brookshire and the author of Half American: The ...  Show more

January 11, 2022. Lt. Col. James Harvey arrives at Nellis Air Force base in Nevada for the first time in 73 years. He’s there to accept a plaque celebrating the last time he was there—for the Air Force’s first ever weapons competition. Back then, Harvey and the other Tuskegee Air ...  Show more