History Unplugged Podcast

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History Unplugged Podcast

For history lovers who listen to podcasts, History Unplugged is the most comprehensive show of its kind. It's the only show that dedicates episodes to both interviewing experts and answering questions from its audience. First, it features a call-in show where you can ask our resident historian (Scott Rank, PhD) absolutely anything (What was it like to be a Turkish sultan with four wives and twelve concubines? If you were sent back in time, how would you kill Hitler?). Second, it features long-form interviews with best-selling authors who have written about everything. Topics include gruff World War II generals who flew with airmen on bombing raids, a war horse who gained the rank of sergeant, and presidents who gave their best speeches while drunk.

  1. Key Battles of the Barbary Wars, Episode 3: The Barbary States and Their 300-Year Reign of Mediterranean Piracy

    2 DAYS AGO

    Key Battles of the Barbary Wars, Episode 3: The Barbary States and Their 300-Year Reign of Mediterranean Piracy

    The Barbary States (Morocco, Tripoli, Algiers, Tunis) were the greatest thorn in the side of the young American republic after it won independence, preying on trade ships, enslaving American crews, and demanding levels of ransom that consumed much of the federal budget. But why did the Barbary states rely on piracy for economic survival and why couldn't they engage in typical commerce? In the 16th century, the Barbary States transitioned from Mediterranean trade to piracy after Spain's conquests and Ottoman expansion disrupted their economy. Algiers and other North African ports became notorious bases for corsairs, launching raids on European shipping under the protection of the Ottoman Empire. By the early 17th century, piracy became central to their economy, with hundreds of corsair vessels operating from Algerine ports, capturing ships and enslaving crews. However, by the late 1800s, the Barbary States' power had waned due to European naval interventions, reducing their fleets and influence significantly. But they were still a major threat, as the newborn United States was soon to find out. In this episode, James and Scott look at the origins of the Barbary States and understand their perspective in the Barbary Wars. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    38 min
  2. What a Modern-Day Stonemason Can Tell Us About Hand Building 13th- Century Gothic Cathedrals and Carving Gargoyles

    4 DAYS AGO

    What a Modern-Day Stonemason Can Tell Us About Hand Building 13th- Century Gothic Cathedrals and Carving Gargoyles

    Churches are many things to us - they are places of worship, vibrant community hubs and oases of calm reflection. To know a church is to hold a key to the past that unlocks an understanding of our shared history.Andrew Ziminski, today’s guest and author of “Church Going – A Stonemason’s Guide” has spent decades as a stonemason and church conservator, acting as an informal guide to curious visitors He has restored medieval churches across the British Isles, in which he reveals their fascinating histories, features and furnishings, from flying buttresses to rood screens, lichgates to chancels. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    41 min
  3. Key Battles of the Barbary Wars, Episode 2: The British Origins of the US Navy

    OCT 24

    Key Battles of the Barbary Wars, Episode 2: The British Origins of the US Navy

    The American Navy was birthed in the Barbary Wars. Sure, there was a token navy in the Revolutionary War, but battles were mostly won in that war by American privateers (or, if you were British, pirates). To understand where the U.S. Navy came from, we need to take a step back and look at the stake of naval warfare in the 18th century.  The early American Navy resembled the British Navy in its use of British ship designs, naval tactics, and organizational structures, largely inherited from the colonial period when the colonies relied on British maritime power. Many American naval officers had British training or were influenced by British traditions, such as ship discipline, officer ranks, and the use of frigates for protecting trade routes. However, the U.S. Navy was different in its focus and scale. While the British Navy was a vast global force designed for empire-building and large-scale warfare, the early American Navy was smaller and more focused on defending American merchant ships, often relying on nimble frigates rather than large ships-of-the-line. Additionally, the U.S. Navy operated with a more democratic ethos, as naval officers in America were often more accountable to elected officials, reflecting the values of the new republic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    41 min
  4. The Conquest of Constantinople in 1453 Permanently Altered Siege Warfare, Middle Eastern Demographics, and Global Trade

    OCT 22

    The Conquest of Constantinople in 1453 Permanently Altered Siege Warfare, Middle Eastern Demographics, and Global Trade

    On May 29, 1453, Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II captured Constantinople, bringing an end to over a thousand years of Byzantine rule. The city's formidable walls, which had stood nearly impenetrable for eight centuries, finally fell to hisforces. With its conquest, Constantinople was declared the new capital of the Ottoman Empire. Some historians marked this conquest as the end of the Middle Ages. Built by Theodosius II to safeguard the "New Rome," these walls stretched from the Golden Horn to the Sea of Marmara, marking the borders of ancient Istanbul. Through centuries of earthquakes, sieges, and urban expansion, their gates and fortifications have endured, preserving the legacy of the city's past. To discuss the world-history importance of this conquest is today’s guest, Alexander Christie-Miller, author of “To The City: Life and Death Along the Ancient Walls of Istanbul.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    40 min
  5. Key Battles of the Barbary Wars, Episode 1: America Wanted to Take 1776 to the High Seas. North African Pirates Disagreed.

    OCT 17

    Key Battles of the Barbary Wars, Episode 1: America Wanted to Take 1776 to the High Seas. North African Pirates Disagreed.

    In this new mini-series, Scott Rank is rejoined by James Early (his co-host on many other military history mini-series, covering the Civil War, World War One, and the Revolutionary War) to look at a little-known war that pitted the infant United States against the Barbary States of North Africa. The Barbary Wars were a series of conflicts between the United States and the Barbary States of North Africa (modern-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya) from 1801 to 1815, fought over the piracy and tribute demands imposed on American ships. These wars marked the U.S. Navy's first significant overseas military engagements and helped establish American maritime power. We also see the birth of of the U.S. Marines and how they literally fought on the shore of Tripoli. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    30 min

  6. OCT 15

    New Series Launches Tomorrow: Key Battles of the Barbary Wars (with James Early)

    James Early and Scott will be doing a nine-part series starting tomorrow called Key Battles of the Barbary Wars (1801-1815). We look at an infant United States try to assert itself in the Atlantic World, as North African pirates demand tribute, capture crews, and do everything it can to humiliate the nation as European powers looked on, wondering if the new nation would be project any sort of power beyond its shores. New episodes every Thursday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    2 min
  7. How Civil War Vets Continued Living Despite Being Double, Triple, or Even Quadruple Amputees

    OCT 15

    How Civil War Vets Continued Living Despite Being Double, Triple, or Even Quadruple Amputees

    The Civil War wrought horrible devastation on its soldiers: Nearly 500,000 were wounded by bullets, shrapnel or sabers and bayonets. Medicine was still primited, and often a doctor could do little more than amputee an injured limb. As a result, thousands of veterans were left missing one to four limbs, yet still needed to attempt providing for their families despite few job prospects and even fewer resources available to the disable3d. In this episode we will look at profiles of seven veterans―six soldiers and one physician―and how they coped with their changed bodies in their postwar lives.Today’s guest is Robert Hicks, author of “Wounded for Life.” We look at how these soldiers were shaped by the trauma of the battlefield and hospital, and the construction of a postwar identity in relation to that trauma. In particular we discuss: Electrical treatments during the Civil War to revive damaged bodies -- part of the founding of American neurology by the physician S. Weir Mitchell Phantom limb syndrome and how the veterans still suffered from these wounds decades after the war The collective experiences of the veterans profiled in the book show how they dealt with common expectations after the injuries  How this story relates to today's war veterans  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    55 min
  8. What’s the Difference Between a Pirate, a Privateer, and a Naval Officer? In the 1700s, Very Little

    OCT 10

    What’s the Difference Between a Pirate, a Privateer, and a Naval Officer? In the 1700s, Very Little

    The pirates that exist in our imagination are not just any pirates. Violent sea-raiding has occurred in most parts of the world throughout history, but our popular stereotype of pirates has been defined by one historical moment: the period from the 1660s to the 1730s, the so-called "golden age of piracy." The Caribbean and American colonies of Britain, France, Spain, and the Netherlands—where piracy surged across these decades—are the main theater for buccaneering, but this is a global story. From London, Paris, and Amsterdam to Curaçao, Port Royal, Tortuga, and Charleston, from Ireland and the Mediterranean to Madagascar and India, from the Arabian Gulf to the Pacific Ocean. Familiar characters like Drake, Morgan, Blackbeard, Bonny and Read, Henry Every, and Captain Kidd all feature here, but so too will the less well-known figures from the history of piracy, their crew-members, shipmates, and their confederates ashore; the men and women whose transatlantic lives were bound up with the rise and fall of piracy. To explore this story is today’s guest, Richard Blakemore, author of “Enemies of All: The Rise and Fall of the Golden Age of Piracy.”  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    55 min
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About

For history lovers who listen to podcasts, History Unplugged is the most comprehensive show of its kind. It's the only show that dedicates episodes to both interviewing experts and answering questions from its audience. First, it features a call-in show where you can ask our resident historian (Scott Rank, PhD) absolutely anything (What was it like to be a Turkish sultan with four wives and twelve concubines? If you were sent back in time, how would you kill Hitler?). Second, it features long-form interviews with best-selling authors who have written about everything. Topics include gruff World War II generals who flew with airmen on bombing raids, a war horse who gained the rank of sergeant, and presidents who gave their best speeches while drunk.

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