Explaining History
Nick Shepley
The Explaining History Podcast, created and hosted by Nick Shepley, offers a comprehensive exploration of 20th-century history through weekly episodes. For over a decade, this podcast has been providing students and history enthusiasts with in-depth analyses of key events, processes, and debates that shaped the modern world.The podcast covers a wide range of topics within 20th-century history, including:- Major historical events like World Wars I and II, The rise and fall of communism, fascism and imperialism- Political movements and ideologies- Economic developments and crises- Social and cultural changesEpisodes typically run for about 25 minutes, offering concise yet informative discussions on specific subjects. The podcast invites listeners to engage with complex historical topics in manageable segments, making it ideal for students and busy history enthusiasts.Expert InsightsNick frequently invites expert guests to contribute their knowledge and perspectives, enriching the podcast with diverse viewpoints and specialized expertise. This approach helps listeners understand the competing debates and interpretations surrounding historical events and processes.Educational FocusThe podcast is particularly valuable for students, especially those studying A-level history. It offers targeted content aligned with specific curricula, such as the AQA syllabus for Russian history. This educational focus makes it an excellent supplementary resource for formal history studies.Chronological ApproachWhile the podcast primarily focuses on the 20th century, it adopts a chronological approach to storytelling. This method allows listeners to follow the progression of events and understand how different historical moments are interconnectedEngaging PresentationNick's presentation style combines rigorous historical analysis with an engaging narrative approach. The podcast aims to not only inform but also captivate listeners, making complex historical topics accessible and interesting to a broad audienceBy offering this mix of comprehensive content, expert insights, and engaging presentation, the Explaining History Podcast serves as a valuable resource for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of 20th-century history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 6, 2019 • 25min
The Nazi Cultural Revolution 1933-39
Seizing political power was just the beginning of the Nazi programme, creating a profound and lasting cultural change among Germans to undo the perceived corruption of Germanic culture by the Weimar Republic was the longer struggle. Hitler's war on liberal democracy and socialism was in his view a bid to reclaim the essence of German identity from false and foreign ideas. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 31, 2019 • 26min
German and Austro-Hungarian military planning 1906-1914
Germany and Austria were outnumbered in terms of troops and cavalry by nearly 2:1 in 1914 and desperately needed to win a rapid war on the western front if they stood any chance of victory. For both powers a long drawn out conflict would result in social unrest, economic ruin and revolution. For both powers, following the failure to encircle and destroy the French and British armies in 1914, this was the inevitable outcome. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 31, 2019 • 24min
The Origins of Fascism: Part Two
This is the second in a series on the development of fascism in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. In this podcast we examine the legacy of racial thinking, imperialism and the interaction of romantic nationalism and racial thought. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 29, 2019 • 25min
Spain's state of emergency and the Falange Party - 1934
In 1934 a new interior minister in the right wing government that took power in late 1933, Salazar Alonzo, declared a state of emergency and the right wing CEDA movement that supported the government demanded extreme action against striking peasants and workers. A new fascist party, the Falange, formed in early 1934 to wage a bloody war against the left, believing in the 'bullet and the fist' as tools to preserve Spain from the spectre of socialism. The Falange would usher in a new phase of violent class confrontation in Spain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 22, 2019 • 25min
Britain, America and Palestine 1939-42
During the Second World War, the fate of British and French mandates in the Middle East was a constant pressure on war time diplomacy and on American domestic policy. The legacies of the Anglo-French carve up of the Middle East after the war and the pressures placed on both empires by the Axis powers gave Jewish nationalism and the careerism of Roosevelt's chief rival Wendell Wilkie new opportunities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 22, 2019 • 25min
Exile and deportation in Stalinist Russia 1928-41
Administrative exile had been used by the Tsarist regime against political dissidents and the revolutionary intelligentsia, however the mass deportation of entire ethnic and social groups was a new phenomenon under the Stalinist regime. This podcast explores the exile and deportation of class groups and nationalities and the mass dekulakisation campaigns. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 20, 2019 • 25min
The Nazi Quarry Camps 1938-40
Hitler's vision of a new Germany, built in vast neoclassical grandeur, required stone to be quarried and bricks to be manufactured in vast quantities. Three camps, Flossenburg, Mauthausen and Orianenburg were created to supply these materials. They were significantly different from the existing network of camps and far more lethal in the 18 months before the outbreak of the Second World War. Listen to the full podcast now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 8, 2019 • 25min
The origins of fascism: part one
In the late 19th Century a series of intellectual and ideological movements coalesced into the beginnings of fascist thought. Romanticism, nationalism and racial thinking created the intellectual climate for authoritarian creeds based around race, identity and a rejection of materialism and modernity to develop. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 7, 2019 • 23min
Forced labour and the Nazi camp system
During the 1930s the Nazi regime attempted to exploit prisoners for their labour but there were few examples of successful profiteering and as the decade wore on prisoners were mainly forced to build the infrastructure of the Nazi camp system itself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 7, 2019 • 26min
Building Mao's police state 1949
Initially, Mao proceeded with caution against the social enemies of the Communist Party, using the tools of state repression left behind by Chiang Kai Shek's Kuomintang. Assigning a new legal social class status to all Chinese citizens saw many later condemned to forced labour, imprisonment Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
