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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In 1929, the stock market crash marked a turning point in American history, unfolding as a dramatic five-day saga of panic and economic restructuring. Beyond its single-event narrative, this period reveals the deep-rooted vulnerabilities of 1920s capitalism.
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Beyond its dramatic events, the Great Depression exposed capitalism’s inherent instability, with interconnected factors like banking panics and international crises transforming domestic issues into a worldwide catastrophe.
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During the Great Depression, the American West faced severe economic hardship, with the Dust BowlDust Bowl Full Description:The Dust Bowl refers to the devastation of the Great Plains, where millions of acres of farmland were rendered useless by massive dust storms. While triggered by drought, the disaster was fundamentally man-made. Driven by high wheat prices and real estate speculation, farmers had removed the native deep-rooted grasses that held the soil together to plant monocultures. Critical Perspective:This event illustrates the “metabolic rift”—the rupture between human economy and natural systems. The market demanded maximum yield without regard for soil health, leading to desertification. It forced the displacement of hundreds of thousands of impoverished families, creating a class of climate migrants who were exploited as cheap labor in the West and plummeting commodity prices leaving farms and ranches struggling. The New DealThe New Deal Full Description:A comprehensive series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It represented a fundamental shift in the US government’s philosophy, moving from a passive observer to an active manager of the economy and social welfare. The New Deal was a response to the failure of the free market to self-correct. It created the modern welfare state through the “3 Rs”: Relief for the unemployed and poor, Recovery of the economy to normal levels, and Reform of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression. It introduced social security, labor rights, and massive infrastructure projects. Critical Perspective:From a critical historical standpoint, the New Deal was not a socialist revolution, but a project to save capitalism from itself. By providing a safety net and creating jobs, the state successfully defused the revolutionary potential of the starving working class. It acknowledged that capitalism could not survive without state intervention to mitigate its inherent brutality and instability.
Read more, spearheaded by FDR, implemented programs like the CCC, WPA, and PWA to create jobs and restore economic stability. -
In the latest Explaining History Podcast episode, Dennis Broe discusses his novel Pornocopia, highlighting the intertwined evolution of the gambling and pornography industries in post-war America. By 2024, global porn profits reached $76 billion, overshadowing Hollywood’s $8.5 billion. Broe’s work explores societal conditions influencing these industries and their effects on intimacy and human relationships.
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The fatwa issued by Khomeini in 1989 against Salman Rushdie’s novel escalated into a worldwide controversy. It highlighted the intersection of religious authority and free expression, leaving a lasting impact on debates about blasphemy and state power.
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As the Iran-Iraq WarIran-Iraq War Short Description (Excerpt):A brutal eight-year conflict (1980–1988) initiated by Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Iran. While devastating, the war inadvertently strengthened the Islamic Republic, allowing it to suppress internal dissent under the guise of wartime patriotism. Full Description:The Iran-Iraq War was one of the 20th century’s bloodiest conflicts, featuring trench warfare and the use of chemical weapons. Saddam aimed to seize oil-rich territory and crush the revolutionary threat next door. Instead, Iran mobilized a massive volunteer force (“human waves”) fueled by religious fervor to defend the revolution. Critical Perspective:Khomeini famously called the war a “divine blessing.” It allowed the regime to militarize society and label any political opposition as treason. The war forged the identity of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and entrenched the narrative of Iran as a besieged fortress of Islam fighting against a corrupt world, a narrative that sustains the state to this day.
Read more dragged on into the sea, America’s dual policies fueled suspicion and hostility, setting the stage for the enduring tensions that would define U.S.-Iran relations for decades. -
In March 1917, the Tsar fell. Within days, Russian political exiles scattered across Europe began packing their bags. The only problem was getting home—and that meant going through London. The News Arrives When the February Revolution happened in 1917, one of the key challenges for governments around the world was trying to make sense of it. Russia was a difficult country to understand at the best of times. Under revolutionary conditions, it became almost impossible. Whose reports could be trusted? Which factions would prevail? And what would it all mean for the ongoing war against Germany? In Britain, the picture…
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The Iran-Iraq War, initiated by Iraq’s strategic invasion in 1980, was a brutal and prolonged struggle that reshaped the Middle East’s political landscape, leaving deep psychological and political scars that continue to impact Iranian society today.
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The 1941 invasion of Iran, orchestrated by Allied forces, was a critical yet often overlooked turning point in the country’s modern history. It led to the swift removal of Shah Reza Pahlavi, altering the geopolitical landscape and sowing seeds for later conflicts.
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In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we dive into military history—a departure from our usual focus on social and diplomatic history—to explore Richard Overy’s magisterial work, The Bombing War, and the crucial role of Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding in Britain’s survival during the summer and autumn of 1940. I’ll be honest: I’ve often shied away from military history, partly because of how it’s been popularised. The “our lads what won it” approach has never appealed to me. But there are exceptions—Harper and Baylis’s Forgotten Armies and Forgotten Wars come to mind as social histories of war in…
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Beyond the Act: What Did Emancipation Really Mean? We tend to think of historical moments like the abolition of slavery as a clean break—a line in the sand. But what if the day you were declared “free,” nothing actually changed? In the latest episode of the Explaining History Podcast, I sat down with novelist Karen Jennings to discuss her new book, The First of December. The title refers to the 1st of December 1838, the day of full emancipation for slaves in South Africa. Why the delay? Because the British government, in its wisdom, had decreed a four-year period of “apprenticeship” for the…
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In 1973, the Whitlam government ushered in groundbreaking reforms, propelled by relentless advocacy from the women’s liberation movement. With policies like equal pay and women’s refuges, they reshaped the nation’s stance on gender equality.
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In 1972, four Aboriginal men erected an umbrella in Canberra, igniting a protest that would challenge Australia’s foundations. Their demand: land rights now. This act was more than a protest; it was a bold assertion of sovereignty and a catalyst for Aboriginal political organizing.
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Experience the transformation of Australian culture from a nation confined by British influence to one bold enough to define itself through iconic music like AC/DC. Discover how Nevil Shute’s ‘On the Beach’ foresaw a nation on the brink, while AC/DC’s debut roared to life, challenging the world to recognize Australia’s unique voice.
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In 1968, Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s bold move accelerated Britain’s military exit from Southeast Asia, signaling the dawn of Australia’s independence. This pivotal shift marked a slow unraveling of the ties that bound the two nations, transforming Australia into a sovereign entity with its own unique identity.
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The Snowy Mountains Scheme was more than a hydroelectric project; it was a nation-building endeavor that tested the limits of cultural integration and technological ambition.
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From courtroom battles to grassroots activism, the women’s liberation movement permanently altered Australia’s perception of power and equality.
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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