Captain Kidd and the Nazis

June 6, 1944. As thousands of Allied soldiers prepare to storm the beaches of Normandy, they climb down rope nets into small wooden landing craft bobbing in the dark waters of the English Channel. Within hours, these boats will carry them into the largest amphibious invasion in h ...  Show more

Search "World War II with Tom Hanks" wherever you get your podcasts! New episodes drop every Tuesday. World War II with Tom Hanks reexamines history’s most devastating conflict for a new century. Across twenty hours, the series traces the war’s full arc–from the rise of fascism t ...  Show more

As England waged war against France in 1689, Scottish sailor William Kidd led a deadly mutiny aboard a French privateer in the Caribbean. It was his first act in becoming one of the most feared sea captains of his generation. After Kidd retired from piracy and settled down in ...

In 1717, the pirate known as Blackbeard launched an attack along the Atlantic seaboard, disrupting international trade and striking terror into sea captains and colonial governors. Working with his sidekick, the “Gentleman Pirate” Stede Bonnet, Blackbeard blockaded the busy po ...

In the early 18th century, one man makes his name as the most notorious pirate of all time. The legend of Edward Thatch has spawned television shows, novels, and major motion pictures. Stories abound of his wild eyes striking fear into enemy hearts, of the six pistols strapped to ...  Show more

In this new season of Dictators, we're looking at a unique kind of tyrant: the pirate captain. Leading dictatorial democracies, these captains held onto freedom with an iron grip. Today, we'll investigate Captain Henry Every's murky origins and the fateful mutiny that led to his ...  Show more