Short History Of...

Thierry Do Espirito, an expert on the Knights Templar and author of *The Knights Templar for Dummies*, delves into the rise and fall of this legendary order. He reveals how the Templars, sworn to poverty, became a formidable military and financial force. Key discussions include their ruthless tactics during the Crusades, the innovative banking system they implemented, and the dramatic events leading to their decline, including the infamous arrests orchestrated by King Philip IV and the trials that ensued. Their transformation from elite warriors to subjects of legend is both intriguing and tragic.

For thirteen years from 1920, the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic drinks was banned in the USA. The age of prohibition was a rowdy time: enlivened by jazz and wild parties; darkened by violence and lawlessness. But how did it come about? Who were its heroes and villains? And how did it change the face of the country it sought to purify?This is a Short History of Prohibition.Written by Danny Marshall. With thanks to Daniel Okrent, author of Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition.For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When five men are caught inside a Washington DC office block in June 1972, it’s noted in police records simply as a ‘burglary’. So how does this bungled break-in go on to unravel a web of corruption and conspiracy, shatter America’s trust in its leadership, and topple President Richard Nixon, the most powerful man in the world?This is a Short History of the Watergate Scandal.Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Michael Dobbs, author of King Richard: Nixon and Watergate, an American Tragedy.For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While British women had been requesting the right to vote for decades, in the early 1900s, the Suffragettes refused to take no for an answer. But despite their PR expertise, as their methods became more violent, theirs was a movement that divided the nation. But what radicalized them? Were they revolutionaries? Terrorists? Or simply an oppressed majority with no legitimate way to protest?This is a Short History of the Suffragettes.Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Helen Pankhurst, author of Deeds Not Words: The Story of Women’s Rights Then and Now, and to Dr Diane Atkinson, author of Rise Up Women: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes.For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the border between the Western world and the Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War. Starting out as a simple barbed wire fence, it would grow in scale and complexity to become a 27-mile concrete edifice, incorporating watchtowers, trenches, electric fences, and landmines. But what was its purpose? How did it impact the people whose city it divided? And what did it take, in the end, to bring it down?This is a Short History of the Berlin Wall.Written by Duncan Barrett. With thanks to Iain MacGregor, author of Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, The Berlin Wall, and The Most Dangerous Place on Earth.For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For over six hundred years the Ottoman Empire ruled swathes of the Middle East, North Africa, and Southern Europe. As an Islamic superpower centred on what is now Turkey, theirs is a story of surprising alliances and enemies, trade, war and progress. But who were its leaders? How did it become so powerful? And after its eventual collapse, what legacy did it leave behind?This is a Short History of the Ottoman Empire.Written by Danny Marshall. With thanks to Professor Marc David Baer, author of The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars, and Caliphs.For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Underground Railroad helped up to 100,000 enslaved people to freedom. It was America’s first civil rights movement, operated by Black and white people united in their abhorrence of slavery. But how was it established? Who were its passengers, and the people risking everything to assist them? And what part did it play in America’s descent into civil war?This is a Short History of the Underground Railroad.Written by Kate Simants. Special thanks to historian Fergus Bordewich, author of Bound for Canaan; and to public historian and lecturer Christopher Miller of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Centre in Cincinnati, Ohio.For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

April 13th, 1970. 200,000 miles from Earth, three astronauts are approaching lunar orbit when they hear a noise. Deep in the spacecraft, a tiny wiring fault has caused an entire oxygen tank to explode. Now, it’s a race against time to save the lives of the crew of Apollo 13. It could have been the worst disaster in the history of manned space exploration. So how did things go so wrong? And who truly deserves the credit for the efforts to get the three men home again?This is a Short History of Apollo 13.Written by Duncan Barrett. Special thanks to Ben Feist of NASA, creator of the interactive multimedia website, ApolloinRealTime.org; and historian Rob Godwin, author of Apollo 13, The NASA Mission Reports.For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Forged by the Great Depression, Bonnie and Clyde became icons of lawlessness, thrilling and shocking America with their crime sprees and doomed romance. But what drove them to lives of such violence? And with the full might of the police against them, how did it all end? This is a Short History of Bonnie and Clyde.Written by Danny Marshall, with thanks to Paul Schneider, journalist and author of Bonnie and Clyde – The Lives Behind The Legend.For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Antarctica, October 1915. 1200 miles from civilisation, Ernest Shackleton watches from the ice as his ship finally crumples. To survive, he and his 27 men must now undertake an epic, death-defying journey, amid impossibly harsh conditions. Shackleton’s expedition is one of history’s greatest tales of human endurance. But what went so badly wrong? And with no hope of rescue, how will they make it home to tell the tale?This is a Short History of Ernest Shackleton.Written by James Benmore. With special thanks to Dr. Stephanie Barczewski, Professor of History at Clemson University and author of Antarctic Destinies: Scott, Shackleton, and the Changing Face of Heroism.For ad-free listening, exclusive content and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Now available for Apple and Android users. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices