For more than a decade, the Explaining History Podcast has helped listeners around the world make sense of modern history. What began in 2012 as a simple experiment—short, accessible episodes explaining major historical events—has grown into a long-running library of carefully researched, thoughtful explorations of the 20th and 21st centuries.
This page introduces new listeners to the podcast, explains what makes it different from other history shows, and offers curated paths into more than a thousand episodes.
If you’re searching for a history podcast that goes deeper than anecdotes or trivia, this is where to begin.
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Five prime ministers in eight years. Six chancellors. Four Conservative leaders, a Labour landslide that felt less like a dawn than a pause, and now Keir Starmer, standing in the Downing Street rose garden, speaking of “national renewal” in the same syntax as a man trying to soothe a burns victim with a damp flannel
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On 5 July 1945, as the guns of the Second World War fell silent in Europe and the battle against Japan still raged in the Far East, the British people went to the polls for the first general election in nearly a decade. Victory in Europe had been declared just eight weeks earlier, and the universally admired war leader, Winston Churchill, confident of the gratitude of the nation, sought a personal mandate from the people to guide Britain through the post-war peace. At the beginning of the campaign, his personal approval rating stood at an astronomical 83%—the consummate hero of…
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The Neocons Admit Defeat – How Robert Kagan’s Atlantic Article Marks the End of the American Century Robert Kagan, a leading architect of the Project for a New American Century, has declared that the Iran war is a catastrophe and that America has effectively lost. What does it mean when the hawks themselves give up? What does it mean for a project of US imperialism when the people who designed that project publicly declare that it has failed? It means two things. Firstly, curtains for the project in question. Secondly, the prospects for American empire are now extremely grim –…
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Occupy Wall Street was not the only political reaction to the crisis. On the right, the Tea Party movement had emerged in early 2009, fueled by anger at the bank bailouts, the stimulus, and the growing national debt
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On December 16, 2008, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) did something it had never done before. It cut the federal funds rate—the benchmark interest rate that influences all other borrowing costs in the American economy—to a range of 0 to 0.25% . For all practical purposes, the Fed had pushed rates to zero. The central bank had reached the “zero lower bound,” the point at which conventional monetary policy could not push rates any lower. But the economy was still in free fall. Unemployment was rising. Banks were not lending. The housing market was collapsing. The Fed had used…
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The Great Recession of 2007-2009 was a financial and economic upheaval unlike any other, with stock market crashes wiping out $16 trillion in household wealth. Job losses soared, with 8.7 million Americans unemployed between 2007 and 2009, creating a prolonged labor market crisis.
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The 2008 financial crisis was a global catastrophe, beginning with Lehman Brothers’ collapse and rapidly spreading across the globe. European banks were heavily exposed to US subprime mortgages, leading to a domino effect that triggered nationalizations and collapses in countries like Iceland and the UK. The crisis shattered global trade, industrial production, and economies worldwide, highlighting the interconnectedness of financial systems.
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Amidst the 2008 financial crisis, Paulson and Bernanke issued stark warnings of a full-scale financial collapse, leading to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and the creation of TARP to prevent a depression.
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It has become common in the UK to talk about austerity as if it is a thing of the past – something that happened between 2010 and 2024, now supposedly over. This is completely wide of the mark. The Labour government has made some token inroads into rolling back austerity. The vote to end the two‑child benefit cap – a policy that punished poor families for having more than two children – is one example. And as the Green Party has surged on the left, Labour has suddenly realised that doing some vaguely socially democratic things might be an idea…
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In the latest episode of the Explaining History Podcast, Douglas Brunt shares the neglected story of Emmanuel Nobel, who built a vast oil empire only to be erased from history by StalinStalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (18 December 1878 – 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician, dictator and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. Read More. Despite his significant contributions and treatment of workers, his legacy was systematically obliterated, reflecting how individuals can be lost in historical narratives.
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Great Britain is experiencing a significant political shift, marking the decline of both the Conservative and Labour parties. This change, rooted in decades of neoliberalismSupply Side Economics Full Description:Supply-Side Economics posits that production (supply) is the key to economic prosperity. Proponents argue that by reducing the “burden” of taxes on the wealthy and removing regulatory barriers for corporations, investment will increase, creating jobs and expanding the economy. Key Policies: Tax Cuts: Specifically for high-income earners and corporations, under the premise that this releases capital for investment. Deregulation: Removing environmental, labor, and safety protections to lower the cost of doing business. Critical Perspective:Historical analysis suggests that supply-side policies rarely lead to the promised broad-based prosperity. Instead, they often result in massive budget deficits (starving the state of revenue) and a dramatic concentration of wealth at the top. Critics argue the “trickle-down” effect is a myth used to justify the upward redistribution of wealth. and economic turmoil, suggests a potential future dominated by Reform UK and the Green Party, as traditional political structures fail to address contemporary issues.
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The shadow banking system emerged in the early 2000s, offering a parallel financial universe to traditional banking. Investment banks and non-bank entities took center stage, performing functions akin to banks but with little oversight. Securitization, once a tool for liquidity, ballooned into complexity, masking risks with exotic structures that ultimately triggered a global financial panic when the housing bubble burst.
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A perfect storm of deregulationDeregulation Full Description:The systematic removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain business activity. Framed as “cutting red tape” to unleash innovation, it involves stripping away protections for workers, consumers, and the environment. Deregulation is a primary tool of neoliberal policy. It targets everything from financial oversight (allowing banks to take bigger risks) to safety standards and environmental laws. The argument is that regulations increase costs and stifle competition. Critical Perspective:History has shown that deregulation often leads to corporate excess, monopoly power, and systemic instability. The removal of financial guardrails directly contributed to major economic collapses. Furthermore, it represents a transfer of power from the democratic state (which creates regulations) to private corporations (who are freed from accountability).
Read more and loose monetary policy triggered the subprime mortgage crisis, reshaping modern finance. -
The podcast episode analyzes the shift from George H.W. Bush’s 1991 speech on a “new world order” during the Gulf War to Donald Trump’s chaotic foreign policy. It highlights the decline of American power, evidenced by strategic failures in Iran and the fragility of the petrodollar, signaling a dangerous global landscape ahead.
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In the latest episode of the Explaining History Podcast, I explore the competing theories attempting to explain what is happening in the Persian Gulf – and what it tells us about the end of American hegemony. (photo credit: Gage Skidmore – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en) There are many competing theories about what we are seeing in the Gulf, and many different arguments about why America is doing what it is doing. These arguments fall into roughly two camps: the idea that there is an overarching grand plan behind everything that has happened since Venezuela in January, and – for my money – the…
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Italy’s journey to democracy began in 1946 when the Constituent Assembly met in Rome. This historic assembly, featuring 21 pioneering female legislators, comprised diverse political figures, including former partisans and fascists. Over 18 months, they crafted a groundbreaking constitution that balanced individual rights with social solidarity. Their work laid the foundation for modern Italian democracy.
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In the aftermath of the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943, a unique rebellion emerged as a coalition of Sicilians sought independence from Italy. Despite controlling significant portions of the island and gaining substantial regional support, this movement faced defeat through military force and political strategies. Its legacy endures, highlighting deep-seated grievances against foreign domination and organized crime.
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Key History Topics
Global History: Key Topics
- The Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism
- The Partition of India
- The Great Depression and the Collapse of Global Trade
- The Cultural Revolution in China
- The Mexican Revolution
- The Creation of the United Nations
- The Iranian Revolution
- The Marshall Plan and the Reconstruction of Europe
- The First Indochina War
- The Global Anti Apartheid Movement
- The Holocaust: Bureacracy and Genocide
- Korea: War, Division, Development
- Operation Condor
- The Bandung Conference
- The Rwandan Genocide
- Stalin and the transformation of the USSR 1924-41
- Pakistan from Independence to Belt and Road
- The Civil Rights Movement
- The 1911 Revolution and the fall of the Qing dynasty
- Watergate and Nixon’s Legacy
- The Arab-Israeli War of 1948 and Its Aftermath
- Ghana’s Independence and the ‘Year of Africa’
- The West German Republic: From Ruins to Reunification
- The Space Race and the Cold War
- Bangladesh war of Liberation
- The Sykes Picot Agreement and the conquest of the Middle East
- The Collapse of Yugoslavia
- Deng Xiaoping and the transformation of China
- The Fall of France, 1940
- The Spanish Civil War: A Global Struggle
- Post War Australia 1945-75
- The Sri Lankan Civil War
Cultural History: Key Topics
- The Birth of Consumerism and Mass Culture
- Modernism and the shock of the new
- The Jazz Age
- The Birth of Cinema and the Hollywood Studio System
- The Culture of Weimar Germany
- Interwar Britain: Media, Modernism, and the Invention of a National Culture
- Culture and Imperialism in European colonies between the wars