Dictators explained

She led “a life that really, in many ways, shouldn't have been possible”. So says historian Paul Gillingham of Juana Inés de la Cruz. This 17th-century polymath and nun challenged a host of social conventions – earning, through her extraordinary books and poems, a place in the pa ...  Show more

While the crusades raged across the Holy Land in the southern Levant, the kingdoms of central and northern Europe were engaged in their own battle to extend Christendom. Speaking to James Osborne, Aleks Pluskowski details how and when the Baltic crusades – or Northern crusades – ...  Show more

We have EVEN MORE ways of making you talk. In this bonus episode James gets to explore the inner workings of a World War 2 tank. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices 

Is liberal democracy facing an existential crisis? A 2023 poll conducted by the Open Society Barometer found that faith in democracy among young people is waning. But what does this mean? Why might young people become more 'strongman-curious'?

To get to the bottom of ...

This weeks listener question about the history of seersucker leads us to a surprising discussion of etymology. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/dressed-the-history-of-fashion/donations Learn ...  Show more

In a riveting new memoir, former senior CIA officer Doug London celebrates a career in espionage, but in a lengthy conversation with host Jeff Stein, he offer candid, even brutal observations on how 20 years of counterterrorism warped the agency’s priorities and managers. Support ...  Show more