Our guest today is one of the nicest guys in the military history community (which is filled with wonderful people!) - Derek Mallett. Late of the US Army Command and General Staff College school at Ft. Belvoir, Derek taught in professional military education for several years after a stint with the Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency in Hawaii and teaching everything from high school (albeit very briefly!) to community college, as well as a summer at Texas A&M's engineering school branch in Qatar! Derek earned his BA from Culver-Stockton College, spent a semester in law school at Mizzou, then took MAs in History and Education from Truman State University, before earning his PhD in history at Texas A&M University (yep, another one of those!). He is author of Hitler’s Generals in America: Nazi POWs and Allied Military Intelligence (Kentucky) and the forthcoming Benedict Arnolds in Skirts: Race, Gender, and American National Security during the Second World War, which he co-authored with Stephanie Hinnershitz for the University of Press of Kansas. Derek is also the editor of Monumental Conflicts: Twentieth Century Wars and the Evolution of Public Memory (Routledge). Like Johnny Cash, Derek has "been everywhere, man." He's come a long way from humble roots in LaGrange, Missouri (and he pronounces "Missouri" correctly).

Join us for a delightful chat with Derek Mallett - we'll talk small towns, canned cranberry sauce, Van Halen, cruising the French countryside for WW2 plane crash sites, German POWs playing softball in Hannibal, Missouri, 1966 Thunderbirds, and much more!

Shoutout to C&J Barbeque Market in College Station, Texas!

Rec.: 11/20/2025

Another good one, recorded on Halloween even! Today's guest is the upbeat and energetic Le'Trice Donaldson of Auburn University. Le'Trice is a scholar of the Black soldier experience and founder of the Society for Black Military Studies. With a BA and MA from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a PhD from the University of Memphis, Le'Trice did the year-to-year sojourn of many new academics before landing at Auburn University. Her first book, Duty Beyond the Battlefield: African American Soldiers Fight for Racial Uplift, Citizenship, and Manhood, 1870-1920, was published by Southern Illinois University Press, and she's working on a biography of Eurene Bullard, the first African American fighter pilot. She's got a new series with the University of Virginia Press called The Black Soldier in War and Society. She found a love for history as a young student as an archive nerd and hasn't looked back.

Join us for a fun chat - we'll talk moving beyond parental expectations, working in archives, starting a professional scholarly organization and journal from scratch, working at K-Mart, Superman, Whitney Houston, and more - enjoy!

Shoutout to Lemon Grass Thai in Columbus, Georgia!

Rec.: 10/31/2025

Today's guest is Chicago-native cum St. Louis Cardinals fan Mark Grotelueschen. Mark is Professor of Military and Strategic Studies at the US Air Force Academy, where he's taught for several years both in uniform and now as a civilian in the Department of Military and Strategic Studies. A USAFA graduate and now retired Air Force officer with 27 years of service, Mark earned his MA from the University of Calgary and his PhD from Texas A&M (yep, another one of those!). Despite his Air Force background, Mark's scholarship centers on the US Army in the First World War, including his well-received book The AEF Way of War: The American Army and Combat in World War I (Cambridge) and a new project on the September 1918 Battle of Saint-Mihiel. You'll enjoy our chat - we talk growing up in a large family, discovering the Air Force had a "school," being stationed in Alaska, being mentored by Dennis Showalter and Brian Linn, even Journey tribute bands. Enjoy!

Shoutout to Steamboat BBQ in Wheaton, Illinois!

Rec.: 10/23/2025

Today's guest is the self-professed optimist and Senior Acquisitions Editor at the Naval Institute Press, Pat Carlin. Pat has been a fixture at the Society for Military History annual conference book exhibit for years, first with ABC-CLIO and now with the Naval Institute. Pat has a great story - his father was in the merchant marine and his mother escaped North Korea. Born and raised in New York City, Pat started as a writer, even writing movie screenplays and television scripts, including for All My Children! Now in the publishing world for over 20 years, Pat has his finger on the pulse of what's going on with military history. Join us for a fun one - we'll talk publishing for the US Navy, the struggles of writing for film and television, beach volleyball, Old Bay Wings, and not putting up your Christmas decorations until AFTER Thanksgiving (come on people, let's be civilized!). Pat's optimistic view on life is infectious (except when it comes to the NY Jets - there he's a "realist") - enjoy this one!

Warning - Pickle Ball is mentioned.

Shout out to Nick's Fish House and All Y'all's BBQ in Baltimore!

Rec.: 10/21/2025

Our guest today is naval historian John Beeler of the University of Alabama. John has been at Bama since 1993 and seen it all, we'd dare to say. John has written extensively on British naval policy during the Victorian era, while at the same time amassing a literal garage full of vinyl - his record collection numbers in the thousands! He is also a hyper-keen BBQ aficionado/snob, claiming that the only authentic BBQ is somewhere in North Carolina - everything else is "smoked meat." He's right up our alley - enjoy our chat with the generous John Beeler - we'll talk growing up with academic parents, follies as an undergraduate, British naval history, students at Bama, the close relationships born in graduate school, Captain Beefheart, Stubb's BBQ Sauce, and more - we really enjoyed this one.

Shout out to Archibald andWoodrow's BBQ in Tuscaloosa!

Rec.: 10/14/2025

Today's guest is the director of the University of Virginia's Nau Center for Civil War History - Caroline E. Janney. Recognized for excellence in teaching, Caroline is also an award-winning scholar. Her many publications include Burying the Dead But Not the Past: Ladies' Memorial Associations and the Lost Cause, Remembering the Civil War: Reunion and the Limits of Reconciliation, and Ends of War: The Fight of Lee's Army after Appomattox, all from UNC Press, where she is also coeditor for the Civil War America series. Caroline bleeds Blue and Orange for UVA and grew up just up the road from Charlottesville in Luray, Virginia, tucked in amongst the Blue Ridge Mountains. Join us for an entertaining chat with one of the top scholars of the Civil War - we'll talk walking Civil War battlefields as a kid with her grandfather, Cooter's Place, working summers for the National Park Service, Bodo's Bagels, coffee snobbery, George Winston, and much more.

Enjoy, and thanks for listening!

Shoutout to BBQ Exchange in Gordonsville, Virginia!

Rec.: 10/10/2025

Today's guest is the USAF Air Command and Staff College's Paul "PJ" Springer. PJ has a great story - from the farm fields of Iowa to Aggieland to Maxwell AFB, Paul had dreams of being a physicist, but the end of the Cold War and a couple of good experiences in history courses at Texas A&M put him on the righteous path. Paul has written widely on Civil War POWs, military technology, among many other subjects. Versatile in his research interests and committed to the professional development of military officers through the use of history, PJ is one of a kind. Join us for a fun chat with PJ Springer - we'll talk growing up in Iowa, getting shot, robots and military technology, the serendipity of research, call signs, and making your own bacon. Get your favorite beverage and settle in - enjoy!

Shoutout to Fat Man's Smokehouse BBQ in Montgomery, Alabama, and check out Mad Science Bacon Lab!

Rec.: 09/04/2025

We're back! Our summer hiatus is over, and it's good to get back to recording. And Season 6, no less! Our opening episode is a fun chat with Jack Bowsher, a historian of the Burma Campaign in the Second World War. Jack is Head of History at the Katherine Warington School in Hertfordshire, UK. Jack's books include Forgotten Armour: Tank Warfare in Burma, and Thunder Run Meiktila 1945: The Greatest Combined Arms Manoeuvre Battle of World War II . He is the co-host (with Robert Lyman) of The Forgotten War Podcast, and speaks widely on the Burma Campaign. You'll not find many more passionate about teaching history and knowledgeable about the Burma Campaign than Jack Bowsher. Join us for deep dives on tanks, watching war movies as a kid, Spike Milligan, Newcastle FC, building dioramas during Covid, and even working for the NHS!

Thanks as always for listening!

Rec.: 08/28/2025