Episodios

  • Ken Burns Reimagines the American Revolution | A Conversation with Ken Burns & Sarah Botstein

    Ken Burns Reimagines the American Revolution | A Conversation with Ken Burns & Sarah Botstein
    Nov 17 2025
    November 16, 1776. George Washington rows toward Manhattan to inspect the fort that bears his name, only to meet a full-scale British assault already underway. By afternoon, Fort Washington has fallen, and General Washington is forced to abandon New York City. The Continental Army is sick, outnumbered, and demoralized. For a moment, the Revolution seems lost. Facing his worst defeat of the war, Washington himself is questioning their odds. In their new PBS documentary, The American Revolution, Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein set out to tell this version of the Founding Fathers, showing fear, chaos, and uncertainty. They also highlight oft-overlooked characters: the women and children following the army in supporting roles, the Native nations whose decisions shaped the continent, or the enslaved people listening closely to talk of liberty. This week, we talk with Ken Burns and Sarah Botstein about the revelations behind their decade-long project. How did they revisit a story that’s been told so many times, it almost feels like a myth? And how does that myth fit into the world today? The American Revolution is a six-part, 12-hour documentary now premiering on PBS. The series is directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David P. Schmidt. It's also narrated by a guest from one of our recent episodes, Peter Coyote. -- Get in touch: historythisweekpodcast@history.com Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    39 m
  • The Grinnell 14 Take On the Bomb (feat. Peter Coyote)

    The Grinnell 14 Take On the Bomb (feat. Peter Coyote)
    Nov 10 2025
    November 16, 1961. Fourteen college students from Iowa have driven nearly a thousand miles to the White House. They’re fasting, protesting, and calling for an end to nuclear bomb testing. These students, later known as the Grinnell 14, will help ignite the student peace movement of the 1960s. Actor Peter Coyote (then Peter Cohon) was one of them. He joins us to remember how it felt to grow up under the shadow of the bomb, why they believed Kennedy’s “peace race” could change the world, and what happened when they found themselves face-to-face with the White House. Special thanks to Peter Coyote. He requested we credit him as a “good person,” which we agree with. -- Cover art: Peter Cohon protesting in front of the White House on Nov. 16, 1961, AP Photo/Harvey Georges HISTORY This Week is brought to you by Surfshark! Go to surfshark.com/HistoryThisWeek or use code HistoryThisWeek for 4 extra months of Surfshark. Get in touch: historythisweekpodcast@history.com Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    28 m
  • The Forgotten Life & Tragic Death of President James Garfield | A Conversation with ‘Death by Lightning’ Creator Mike Makowsky

    The Forgotten Life & Tragic Death of President James Garfield | A Conversation with ‘Death by Lightning’ Creator Mike Makowsky
    Nov 3 2025
    November 3, 1880. Congressman James Garfield wakes up on his quiet farm in Ohio to learn that he’s been elected President of the United States. He never campaigned to be on the ticket. He never wanted the presidency. But the nation, weary of corruption and hungry for reform, has chosen him to lead. But four months after taking office, Garfield will be shot by a man who believes he’s owed a government position. And the president’s short, remarkable life will end in tragedy. This week, we’re talking with writer and showrunner Mike Makowsky, creator of the new Netflix series Death by Lightning, about the extraordinary story of America’s forgotten president. How did Garfield rise from poverty to the presidency? What might he have achieved if he’d lived? And what does his assassination reveal about political violence, then and now? Death by Lightning releases on Netflix on November 6th. It’s an adaptation of Destiny of the Republic by Candace Millard, which we also consulted for this episode. -- Get in touch: historythisweekpodcast@history.com Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    36 m
  • The Haunting Case of H.H. Holmes

    The Haunting Case of H.H. Holmes
    Oct 27 2025
    October 28, 1895. It’s the first day of a murder trial in Philadelphia, and H.H. Holmes has been left to represent himself. His lawyers say they haven’t had time to prepare for his case, although they may just want to avoid defending the man some newspapers are already saying is “sure to grace a gallows.” Holmes has been accused of murdering his business associate, but rumors swirl that he may have killed dozens, even hundreds more. A century later, some still call him "America's first serial killer." But how did H.H. Holmes earn this reputation? And why is it so hard to learn the truth about this legendary fiend? Special thanks to Adam Selzer, author of H.H. Holmes: The True Story of the White City Devil, and Harold Schechter, professor emeritus of literature at Queens College and author of Depraved: The Shocking True Story of America's First Serial Killer. ** This episode originally aired October 25, 2021. Get in touch: historythisweekpodcast@history.com Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    34 m
  • Land of the Free? The Real Story Behind the Star-Spangled Banner

    Land of the Free? The Real Story Behind the Star-Spangled Banner
    Oct 23 2025
    October 19, 1814. An eager audience files into the Holliday Street Theater in Baltimore, about to see a debut performance, described as a “much-admired new song.” The composer of this song, Francis Scott Key, had written the lyrics during a recent battle in Baltimore, trapped on a British ship as he watched the rockets red glare from afar. Key wasn’t a professional songwriter – a prominent lawyer in Washington D.C., he specialized in cases related to slavery, both defending enslaved people and slave catchers. But his real legacy became this song, entitled “The Star-Spangled Banner.” How did Key come to watch the Battle of Baltimore play out from the deck of an enemy ship? And how did his relationship with race and slavery shape the song we now call our national anthem? Special thanks to authors Marc Leepson and Tim Grove for sharing their voices and expertise for this episode. ** This episode originally aired October 19, 2020. -- Get in touch: historythisweekpodcast@history.com Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    31 m
  • They Saw What the United Nations Couldn’t

    They Saw What the United Nations Couldn’t
    Oct 20 2025
    October 24, 1945. The Charter of the United Nations is signed, promising to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” Back when the charter was drafted a few months earlier in San Francisco, delegates from around the world gathered to build a new era of peace and human rights. Among them is Mary McLeod Bethune, the only Black woman in the U.S. delegation, and she already sees the contradictions beneath the moment: colonial powers writing freedom into a document that excludes millions. Years later, journalist Marguerite Cartwright will carry that insight forward, holding the UN to the ideals it claimed to represent. Why did these two Black women believe the UN was so important, when their own country continued to deny them equality? And how can their work reframe the way we view the struggle for Civil Rights beyond U.S. borders, for all nations?  Special thank you to Keisha Blain,  professor of Africana Studies and History at Brown University and author of Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights. -- Get in touch: historythisweekpodcast@history.com Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    33 m
  • How LEGO Rebuilt the Toy Itself

    How LEGO Rebuilt the Toy Itself
    Oct 13 2025
    October, 1955. In living rooms across Denmark, children tear open the box of a brand-new toy: the LEGO System in Play. Inside are plastic bricks, a printed playmat of roads, little houses and trees — everything in perfect scale. As they build, something new is taking shape. It looks simple, but it’s a radical idea — every piece connects, no matter when or where it’s made. It’s more than a toy — it’s a system. That quiet innovation will turn a small family workshop into one of the most successful companies in the world. How did a small-town Danish carpenter launch a plastic toy empire? And how did LEGO re-envision what a toy can be? Special thanks to Kristian Reimber Hauge, corporate historian at the LEGO Idea House; Daniel Konstanski, historian for Blocks Magazine and author of The Secret Life of LEGO® Bricks: The Story of a Design Icon; and Chris Byrne, researcher, historian, and “The Toy Guy.” We also want to thank Dana Goldsmith, Andreas Friis, and Roberta Cardazzo. Get in touch: historythisweekpodcast@history.com Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    31 m
  • Stalin’s War on Genetics

    Stalin’s War on Genetics
    Oct 6 2025
    October 11, 1955. Nearly three hundred of the Soviet Union’s top scientists sign a secret letter demanding the removal of one man: Trofim Lysenko. For decades, Lysenko had Joseph Stalin’s ear, ruling Soviet biology with an iron fist—banning genetics, rewriting textbooks, and sending dissenting scientists to prison or worse. How did a peasant-turned-agronomist convince Stalin that wheat could turn into rye, and that ideology mattered more than evidence? And when politics replace science, what—and who—gets destroyed? Special thanks to William deJong-Lambert, author of The Cold War Politics of Genetic Research: An Introduction to the Lysenko Affair; and Nikolai Krementsov, author of Stalinist Science. -- Get in touch: historythisweekpodcast@history.com Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    41 m