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Malcolm Gladwell on Reconstruction’s Unfinished Questions

June 15, 1865. German-American statesman Carl Schurz is traveling to Washington to meet with President Andrew Johnson when he stops at a friend’s home in Philadelphia. That night, during a séance, a teenage medium claims to summon the spirit of Abraham Lincoln… and delivers Schur ...  Show more

Why the Crusades Became Cool Again

June 8, 1191. The Crusaders and Muslim forces are locked in battle over the city of Acre. On one side is Saladin, the great Muslim leader who has already recaptured Jerusalem. On the other, an armada arrives carrying England’s king: Richard the Lionheart.The Crusades will become ...  Show more

Recommended Episodes

Operation Mincemeat: The Deception that Changed WWII
Dan Snow's History Hit

It’s 1943. The Allies are determined to break Hitler’s grip on occupied Europe and plan an all-out assault on Sicily, but they face an impossible challenge - how to protect a massive invasion force from a potential massacre. It falls to two remarkable intelligence officers, Ew ...

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Operation Mincemeat: Britain's Ghoulish Plan to Fool the Nazis
Ridiculous History

As World War II raged on in 1943, both Allied and Axis forces knew they were riddled with spies. In a dizzying cavalcade of undercover, double, and even triple agents, both sides of the war sought to deceive their opponents -- and ethical concerns increasingly took a back seat in ...  Show more

Destroying a Nazi Stronghold: The St Nazaire Raid
Dan Snow's History Hit

On 28 March 1942, in the darkest months of World War Two, Churchill approved what seemed to many like a suicide mission. Under orders to attack the St Nazaire U-boat base on the Atlantic seaboard, British commandos undertook “the greatest raid of all”, turning an old destroyer ...

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Operation Mincemeat: WW2 espionage on film
HistoryExtra podcast

In 1943, British agents concocted a daring plot to trick Hitler, involving a dead body, fake love letters and a false identity. Speaking with Emily Briffett, author and historian Ben Macintyre discusses the real history behind Operation Mincemeat, a new film adapted from his 2010 ...  Show more