Posts Tagged ‘world war II’
The Sound of Music – 60th Anniversary Show!
Carla von Trapp Hunter (descendant of Captain and Maria von Trapp) joins Dr. Rebecca Brenner Graham to talk about The Sound of Music, the famous musical that appeared in theaters 60 years ago this week. We bust the many myths in the Sound of Music film, and show that the real story of the von…
Read MoreThe Bombing of Dresden: 80th Anniversary Episode
This week marks the beginning of the 80th Anniversary of the bombing of the German city of Dresden during World War II. That bombing took place from the 13th to the 15th of February and caused a great deal of destruction in the city, killing up to 25,000 people. Debates about the reasons for bombing…
Read More“It’s a Wonderful Life” Myths and Urban Legends: a Professor Buzzkill Classic!
Imagine being tortured by wartime memories. Explosions, death, mutilated bodies (some of them friends of yours), all the screaming. Now, imagine them coming from a very confined and dangerous place. I’ve always thought that being in a warplane or submarine would add the extra stress of being trapped, and not even being able to contemplate…
Read MoreHow Churchill Waged War
How exactly did Winston Churchill go about directing and managing first the Battle of Britain and then Britain’s part in the wider war? Did he act like a CEO or more like a Chairman of the Board when dealing with the British government? Allen Packwood, the Director of the Churchill Archives Centre at the University…
Read MoreCode Name Puritan: Norman Holmes Pearson, Super Spy Professor
Norman Holmes Pearson actually did what a great many professors dream about doing. He was an expert in his field, but he also worked as an Intelligence Officer for the US military during World War II and the Cold War. And he wasn’t a desk jockey, but an active spy. Despite a major physical disability,…
Read MoreBattle of Stalingrad, Part 2
Professor Philip Nash continues his excellent analysis of the famous Battle of Stalingrad. The grim complications in the details of the history of this battle give us perfect insight into the nature of warfare during this period. Dr. Nash finishes up by explaining how the Battle of Stalingrad fits into the larger period of late…
Read MoreWomen in Nazi Germany, Part 2
Professor Nash tells us about wives and lovers of leading Nazis, women who participated in Nazi crimes, and women who worked against the Nazi regime. We look at everyone from Eva Braun, Hitler’s partner, to Sophie Scholl, one of the leaders of the White Rose resistance to the Nazi state. This episode shows that German…
Read MoreWomen in Nazi Germany, Part 1
The treatment and status of women under Hitler and the Nazis is fascinating, in all the wrong ways. If the Nazi reputation wasn’t bad enough, the detail presented in this episode shows that there’s no bottom to their depravity. Professor Philip Nash explains all in the first part of a major two-part series. These are…
Read MoreThe USS Indianapolis and the Famous Shark Attack – 2024 Encore
Today I am not going to bust many myths (although there are a few of those in this tale). Rather, I’m going to tell you a straight history story. But it’s also one that shows the value of diligence in historical research and the importance of righting the wrongs from the past. And those themes,…
Read MoreAmericans Bailing Out the French
Donald Trump talks about Americans being “suckers” to their allies. Is Uncle Sam really “Uncle Sucker”? Did the United States really “bail the French out in two world wars,” or is it a blustering, bigoted myth? Professor Philip Nash joins us to discuss what happened in World Wars I and II, and whether the United…
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