Posts Tagged ‘world war II’
WWII in the Pacific: Pearl Harbor to Midway, 1941-42
Superstar historian, Professor Nash, joins us to talk about the opening years of American involvement in Pacific during World War II. From Pearl Harbor to Midway, it’s a brutal chess match across the Pacific – a chess match that includes massive battles, massive casualties, and massive war crimes. And that’d only through 1942! So this…
Read MoreMan Crush Monday – Umrao Singh
Umrao Singh was one of thirty-one British Indian Army soldiers awarded the Victoria Cross during WWII, and was the only NCO in Royal Artillery or Royal Indian Artillery to receive a VC during WWII. On the night of 15-16 Dec 1944, Singh commanded a field gun detachment close to front. His defense of his position…
Read MoreMan Crush Monday – Tommy Flowers
June 5th, 1944. An undisclosed location in southern England. The planned Allied invasion of Normandy has been delayed by weather, and by concerns over German troop deployments on the northern French coast. A grumpy American general is weighing all the options. A courier rushes in and hands him an urgent notification of a decrypted German…
Read MoreAmericans Bailing Out the French
Did the United States really “bail the French out in two world wars,” or is it a blustering, bigoted myth? Professor Phil Nash joins us to discuss what actually happened in World Wars I and II, and whether the United States was “bailing out” the French or repaying a major debt from the American…
Read MoreMCM Robert Sherrod
Reporters and photographers rarely get discussed on this show. And that’s a pity because, in one way at least, reporters and photographers help provide a lot of the original material that historians use to study events and try to build up as full a picture as possible about the past. But one of the…
Read MoreThe Life of Douglas MacArthur
The five-star American general Douglas MacArthur is one of the most famous and celebrated generals in American history. Along with Patton, however, he’s one of the most misunderstood and most mythologized. Born in the 19th century, MacArthur served in both World Wars, the Korean War, and other, less extensive US military actions. Yet he is…
Read MoreThe Life of General George Patton
“Patton” vs. Patton General George Patton was one of the most famous, colorful, and talked about US generals in World War II. He is also among the most misunderstood military men in history. Famously played by George C. Scott in the 1970 movie, “Patton” (co-written by Francis Ford Coppola, by the way), Patton’s image is…
Read MoreThe Atomic Bombs
Mic dropping bomb myths The development and use of the atomic bombs during World War II was one of the most controversial historical events of the 20th century. Should it have been used? What were the alternatives? Was it an immoral act? Myths run alongside these questions, Buzzkillers, and we can get close to good…
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