Frenemies: China & the USA, a History

What was it like to live on Alcatraz? And was it possible to escape? In this episode, Don speaks to a historian with the unique experience of growing up there.Jolene Babyak's father worked on Alcatraz during its 29 years as a federal maximum-security prison. She and Don discuss t ...  Show more

Driven from the United States, the Mormons journeyed West to build a new society in the desert- one that would challenge the political, economic, and moral norms of the nation they had left behind. But when the United States lay claim to the Utah Territory, a tense standoff devel ...  Show more

At the end of the 17th century, a small clan - the Akan - in West Africa began growing into what would later become the powerful Ashanti Empire.  The state grew rapidly in both wealth and land until it spanned most of modern day Ghana, the Ivory Coast, and Togo. 

For better or (mostly) worse, Jiang Qing left her mark on the 20th century.

Even before she was married to Chairman Mao, Jiang was a charismatic actor, and her passion for culture helped her spearhead the Cultural Revolution as part of the Communist Party in China, l ...

It's considered to be the bloodiest civil war in history, but there's a fair chance you've never heard of it. The Taiping Rebellion convulsed China from 1850 to 1864, leading to over 20 million deaths and severely weakening the Qing dynasty, but it remains little known outside of ...  Show more

For decades after the Second World War, the Soviet Union and the United States of America were locked in a conflict of ideology that took the planet to the brink of catastrophe. Known as the Cold War, it was an era of paranoia, fear and mutual suspicion, where the contest for sup ...  Show more