Explaining History
by Nick Shepley
Latest episode
The 43 Group and the Fight Against BritishPost-War Fascism
The 43 Group and the Fight Against BritishPost-War Fascism
About this podcast
How do we make sense of the modern world? We find the answers in the history of the 20th Century.
For over a decade, The Explaining History Podcast has been the guide for curious minds. Host Nick Shepley and expert guests break down the world wars, the Cold War, and the rise and fall of ideologies into concise, 25-minute episodes.
This isn't a dry lecture. It's a critical, narrative-driven conversation that connects the past to your present.
Perfect for students, history buffs, and anyone who wants to understand how we got here. Hit subscribe and start exploring.
Join us at Explaining History for daily modern history articles and news.
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Episodes
The newest 50 of 976 episodes
- The 43 Group and the Fight Against BritishPost-War Fascism · 33 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by novelist Susie Gordon to discuss her new book, *A Monster in the Ash* – a fictionalised account of the 43…
- Crossing the Gap – Health Inequality and the Divided City · 51 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by Dr David Ansell, Head of Health Equity at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, to discuss his books *The…
- Second Hand Bookshops - a secret history · 44 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by Shaun Bythell, proprietor of one of Scotland's largest secondhand bookshops and author of the bestselling…
- The unmaking of the British working class · 49 minIn this episode of The Explaining History Podcast, historian Ewan Gibbs joins us again to talk about his new book An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class. We…
- Stateless Nations – Wales, Catalonia, and the Mezzogiorno · 25 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by Sam Parry of Cardiff Metropolitan University to discuss the concept of stateless nations – nations that have…
- Gentlemen Amateurs – Staffing the Secret Service in the First World War · 29 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we return to Keith Jeffery's official history of MI6 to examine a question that gets to the heart of how the secret state was…
- Japanese War Crimes in China 1937-45 · 28 minChina’s war against Japan was one of the largest, bloodiest and most consequential theatres of the Second World War — yet it is still too often treated as peripheral to the wider…
- America's withdrawal from Iraq · 30 minIn this solo episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we examine the American withdrawal from Iraq – the product of Trump's war with Iran, and a strategic defeat of historic…
- A Way of Love – Gay Life in Post-War Britain with Peter Parker · 38 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by historian Peter Parker to discuss the remarkable rediscovery of James Courage's A Way of Love – widely…
- Bombing Damascus – France, the Mandate System, and the Atrocities of 1925 · 27 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we return to Susan Pedersen's *The Guardians* – the definitive history of the mandate system – to examine one of its darkest…
- India, America and Nehru 1940-41 · 26 min**In this solo episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we explore Srinath Raghavan's brilliant *India's War: The Making of Modern South Asia, 1939–1945* – a book that places…
- Stalin's Statues – Monuments, Memory, and the Theme Parking of History · 31 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we explore Keith Lowe's *Prisoners of History* and the contested world of memorialisation – focusing on one of the strangest…
- Macmillan's Britain – Suez, Decline, and the Winds of Change 1957-60 · 34 minIn this solo episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we explore the Macmillan years – that remarkable, contradictory period of post-war British history when the country was…
- MI6 in 1914 · 27 minMI6 and the First World War – The Birth of the Secret State In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we explore the origins of MI6 – the Secret Intelligence Service –…
- The AFD's advances– Neoliberalism, the Extreme Centre, and the Rise of the Far Right · 28 minIn this solo episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we examine the recent electoral victory of the Alternative for Germany (AFD) in the state of Saxony-Anhalt – and what it…
- Civil Rights After 1980 – The Unfinished Revolution · 35 min# Episode Description In this solo episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we tackle one of the most persistent problems in how we teach and understand the civil rights…
- The Fall of Baghdad 1917 - Part Two · 24 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we continue our exploration of Eugene Rogan's masterful The Fall of the Ottomans, examining the fall of Baghdad to British…
- The Fall of Baghdad 1917 · 25 minThe Fall of Baghdad In this solo episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we continue our exploration of Eugene Rogan's masterful The Fall of the Ottomans, examining the…
- Britain Alone – The Hostile Environment and the Remaking of Britishness · 28 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we explore the transformation of British society since Brexit – a story of the weaponisation of immigration, the erosion of the…
- Reforming the Tsar's Army – From Serfdom to Universal Service in Imperial Russia · 26 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we explore one of the most significant transformations of 19th-century Russia: the introduction of universal military service…
- Hegseth's War Crimes · 27 minHegseth's War – The Catastrophic Consequences of Maximum Lethality In this week's solo episode, I examine a ProPublica investigation into Pete Hegseth's tenure as US Defence…
- An Exceptional Hatred – Antisemitism, Free Speech, and the American Culture War · 37 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by James Loeffler, the Felix Posen Professor of Modern Jewish History at Johns Hopkins University, to discuss his…
- Harold Wilson, Corporatism, and the Paranoia of the British Right · 28 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we explore the life and legacy of Harold Wilson – the most successful Labour Prime Minister of the 20th century, and the man…
- Trump, Canada and the defence of sovereignty · 27 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, I examine the extraordinary diplomatic demands the United States has placed on Canada – demands that echo the Austro-Hungarian…
- Voter suppression and stolen US elections · 38 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by David F. Walbert, a veteran voting rights attorney whose new book, Stealing Elections American Style, traces…
- From Empire to Neoliberalism – The Long Arc of Capital and the Cannibalisation of the West · 27 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we step back from the specific history of Congo to examine the broader theoretical framework of neocolonialism – and how the…
- Belgium, America and Congo 1884-1960 · 31 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we begin a journey into one of the darkest and most overlooked chapters of the 20th century: the establishment of…
- America's Wrong Turn – How Neoliberalism Broke U.S. Healthcare with John McDonagh · 39 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by John McDonagh, professor of practice at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, former Massachusetts state…
- California and the origins of the carceral state · 28 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we explore a little‑known chapter of American history: the establishment of California's penal system as a form of coerced…
- The International Brigades and the fight for Spain · 37 minThe International Brigades and the Fight for Spain **In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by Tony Fox, organiser of the Northeast Volunteers for…
- Between Two Empires – The Arab Revolts Against the Ottomans in Mesopotamia · 31 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we explore the complex dynamics of the Mesopotamian campaign during the First World War – where subject peoples, caught between…
- Russia's post communist shock therapy 1991-3 · 49 minFalse Dawn – Russia's Two Utopian Experiments and the Legacy of Shock Therapy https://explaininghistory.org/historiography/russian-revolution/ In this solo episode of the…
- War and Empire in the 20th Century · 33 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we dive into Richard Overy's magnificent *Blood and Ruins* – a history that reframes the Second World War not simply as a…
- Mamdani, Corbyn and the War Within the Centre-Left · 33 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, I explore the striking parallels between the British Labour Party's war on Jeremy Corbyn and the Democrat establishment's…
- Quebec's secret biological warfare history · 34 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by award-winning French Canadian author Mireille Gagné to discuss her acclaimed novel, *Horsefly* – a powerful…
- Belfast and the international networked far right · 40 minNorthern Ireland, the Far-Right, and the Battle for Democracy with Heidi Birick In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined again by Heidi Birick of the…
- Italy from the fascism to post war republic · 43 minThe Toscanini Conspiracy – Arturo Toscanini, Fascism, and the Italian Resistance with Filippo Iannarone In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by…
- Militarism, Masculinity, and the Making of the American Warrior · 43 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by investigative journalist Jasper Craven to discuss his new book, *God Forgives, Brothers Don’t: Inside the…
- The Ottoman March on Egypt 1915 · 30 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we examine the opening moves of the Ottoman Empire’s war against Britain – a desperate, audacious campaign to seize the Suez…
- Adoption, Colonialism, and the Korean War · 35 min*The history that this podcast episode explores involves harm and neglect to children and some listeners may find the details disclosed distressing. In this episode of the…
- The Shortest History of Scotland – Nation, Union, and the Rise of Nationalism · 35 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by cultural historian Murray Pittock to discuss his new book, The Shortest History of Scotland – a concise but…
- Trump and Nixon in Beijing - an instructive comparison · 31 minIn this episode of the Explaining History podcast, Nick sets the scene for an upcoming interview with historian Murray Pittock on The Shortest History of Scotland, reflecting on…
- Master of Lies – Anthony Blunt, the Cambridge Spy Who Changed the Course of World War II · 40 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by author Piers Blofeld to discuss his new book, Master of Lies: The Untold Story of Anthony Blunt, which…
- The Neocons Admit Defeat in Iran · 26 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we examine a remarkable moment: the leading architect of the Project for a New American Century, Robert Kagan, admitting that…
- Hobsbawm's Age of Extremes – The Golden Age, the Fall of Communism, and the Crisis of Social Democracy · 30 min**In this solo episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we return to Eric Hobsbawm's magisterial overview of the 20th century, *Age of Extremes*, to explore the paradoxes that…
- The Tsar's Generals and the Press – Russian Military Journalism in the Reform Era · 31 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we explore a little‑known but revealing corner of Russian history: the military press during the reign of Alexander II. After…
- Austerity Never Ended – The Cultural Politics of Thrift in Modern Britain · 25 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we examine the enduring legacy of austerity – a policy that officially ran from 2010 to 2024, but whose cultural and political…
- The Lost Empire of Emmanuel Nobel – Oil, Revolution, and the Birth of the Soviet State · 38 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by author Douglas Brunt to discuss his fascinating new book, The Lost Empire of Emmanuel Nobel – the story of the…
- The Death of Britain's Two-Party System – A Century in the Making · 35 minIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, I examine the slow-motion collapse of the political order that has defined British politics for a century – and what is likely…
- The Transnational Far Right – Hate, Vigilantism, and the Mainstreaming of Extremism · 40 min**In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by Wendy Via of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism – a former Southern Poverty Law Center staffer –…
