

Explaining History
Nick Shepley
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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 12, 2014 • 38min
The Provisional Government: Russia 1917
In March 1917 a provisional government established itself in Russia in the aftermath of the downfall of the Tsar. By October 1917 it had been swept away and Lenin's Bolshevik Party replaced it. The crises of 1917 and the challenge of sharing power with the Petrograd Soviet overwhelmed the government before they could establish a democratic elected regime. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 16, 2014 • 18min
The Casablanca Conference
In early 1943 the tide of the Second World War was turning in favour of the allies, following victories in North Africa. At Casablanca the British and the Americans met to discuss their two conflicting views of the future conduct of the war. The British approach triumphed, giving Churchill's strategy the upper hand but it was the beginning of the end of Britain's wartime influence.New Ebook titles: The Communist Century - http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Communist-Century-Revolution-Series-ebook/dp/B00IN6PY40/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393664105&sr=8-1&keywords=chris+kostovGeorge Orwell - http://www.amazon.co.uk/George-Orwell-Explaining-History-Century-ebook/dp/B00HLRW8YQ/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1388484876&sr=8-18&keywords=julia+routledge Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 14, 2014 • 28min
Dien Bien Phu
In 1945 France returned to its former colony in Indochina, determined to re-assert control after humiliation by Japan. The nationalist Vietminh were determined to fight for their independence and nine years later inflicted a catastrophic defeat on France at the long battle of Dien Bien Phu. How was France brought to her knees in Indochina and what were the consequences for France? Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 11, 2014 • 23min
Kruschev and the Secret Speech 1956
in 1956 Soviet leader Nikita Kruschev spoke for the first time the 20th Party Congress about the crimes of his predecessor Joseph Stalin. His speech shocked those gathered and had profound consequences for the future of the Soviet regime, this podcast explores why. You can read more about this in our three ebooks on the Soviet Regime and communism: The Communist Century: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Communist-Century-Revolution-Series-ebook/dp/B00IN6PY40/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393664105&sr=8-1&keywords=chris+kostovExplaining the Russian Revolution: A Student's Guide: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Explaining-Russian-Revolution-Students-ebook/dp/B00FX18BOS/ref=la_B005ORPZFO_1_16?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381871360&sr=1-16Stalin, the Five Year Plans and the Gulags: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stalin-five-plans-Gulags-ebook/dp/B00DQUWPYK/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373383782&sr=1-12 Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 10, 2014 • 25min
Herbert Hoover and the Great Depression
By the end of the First World War Herbert Hoover was a national hero in America for his humanitarian work. A decade later he was engulfed in an economic catastrophe following the Wall Street Crash that would claim his career and reputation. This podcast explores the contradictions and paradoxes of Hoover's character and life.Check out the Explaining History ebook on Hoover and the crash here:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roaring-Wall-Street-Crash-ebook/dp/B005G4PK8W Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jul 9, 2014 • 22min
The Heath Government 1970-74
By the early 1970s a perfect storm of inflation and mounting industrial unrest brought the government of Edward Heath to its knees. His plans to introduce free market economics and politics to Britain were abandoned and he was outmanoeuvred by the National Union of Mineworkers, resulting in the 1974 three day week.This podcast explores the crises that beset Heath and their origins in the Wilson years of the late 1960s. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jun 27, 2014 • 27min
The Scramble For China
From the 1840s onwards China endured over half a century of an unprecedented onslaught from Britain and other western powers. She was defeated, humiliated and forced to sign treaties that drained her of her wealth, Japan quickly reformed her economy and military to prevent the same process from occurring. This podcast explores the relationship between the west's 'Scramble For China' and the downfall of the Qing Dynasty. You can also download the companion ebook here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sun-Yat-birth-modern-China-ebook/dp/B00DJE8ANI Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 27, 2014 • 25min
The Baader Meinhof Gang
Why did West Germany suffer a decade of terrorism from 1967-77? During the height of Vietnam War protests, a generation of radical West German students saw a relationship between the West German Government's support for America's war and their own unresolved Nazi past. Their decision to wage an urban war against what they saw as a barely concealed Nazism would culminate in the bloody summer of 1977. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 20, 2014 • 12min
Strength Through Joy
In 1933 Hitler established a state run mass leisure organisation in Germany to help develop his vision of a socially unified, racially homogenous society. The extent to which it was successful has been an area of debate by historians of Nazi Germany and is explored in this podcast. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 16, 2014 • 18min
British Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War
Between 1936 and 1938 nearly 2,000 British men and women travelled in secret to Spain to fight on the side of the Spanish Republic against a nationalist military rebellion. Motivated by fears of a fascist Europe and by the intervention on Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on the side of the rebels, the men and women of the international brigade suffered appalling hardship and losses in an ultimately doomed struggle. Here is a short introduction exploring the context of their idealistic fight.Also check out Orwell's time in Spain here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/George-Orwell-Explaining-History-Century-ebook/dp/B00HLRW8YQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392218617&sr=8-1&keywords=julia+routledge+george+orwell Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


