Episodes

Harry S. Truman, a former haberdasher from Missouri, presided over the final victory in World War II, but a new conflict emerged: the Cold War. This episode explores how he responded to the unprecedented challenge of containi...

In 1945, Harry S. Truman made one of the most fateful decisions any president has ever had to make: to use the atomic bomb as a weapon of war. This episode examines the unique circumstances and earthshaking consequences of th...

Have you ever learned about a historical figure or event and thought to yourself, this would make a great movie? The guys from the Parthenon Podcast Network recently got together to discuss exactly that. In this episode Mark ...

Every four to eight years, the power of the presidency is transferred from one citizen to another. It seems routine, but the peaceful transfer of power is one of America's greatest political traditions -- and it doesn't just ...

Historians consistently rank Warren G. Harding among the worst presidents of all time, but Professor Ryan S. Walters begs to differ. In this episode, Walters discusses his new book on America's 29th president. THE JAZZ AGE PR...

During one random visit to a used bookstore, Professor Patrick Weil stumbled upon the lost psychobiography of Woodrow Wilson -- the first ever full-length psychological study of an American president, co-written by Sigmund Fr...

Americans have long cherished their First Amendment right to freedom of speech. During Woodrow Wilson's presidency, however, the government took unprecedented measures to restrict that right and, with the use of propaganda, t...

Who do you think was America's most brilliant president? Some might say Thomas Jefferson, while others say Theodore Roosevelt. Author Charles Goodyear has a different answer: James A. Garfield. In this episode, we interview M...

In Organized Crime and Punishment: A History and Crime Podcast, historian Steve Guerra and his trusty sidekick “Mustache Chris'' explore the rise of organized crime in various regions of the world and delve into the lives of ...

Theodore Roosevelt may have been America's first progressive president, but it was a bookish professor from Princeton named Woodrow Wilson who would truly fulfill the hopes of the progressive movement. In this episode, we exa...

Former Vietnam War veteran & "tunnel rat" Nick Sanza discusses his experience overseas, what it's like coming from a long lineage of military service, and what he learned from the tunnels in this interview from the Eyewitness...

In foreign policy circles, the "madman theory" asserts that acting irrationally and unpredictably can be a major advantage when dealing with one's adversaries. In recent years, some have pointed to Donald Trump and Vladimir P...

On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address. He invoked Scripture and discussed the ongoing Civil War in religious terms -- as divine punishment for the sin of slavery. It was a surprising speech ...

The roots of the Second World War in Europe lie within the First World War. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles formally ended the war between Germany and the western Allies, but the geopolitical situation it created was far from s...

Gerald Ford occupies a truly singular place in American history: he is the only chief executive who took office without getting a single vote for either the presidency or vice presidency. When he did become president, he took...

What do Italian unification, Pinocchio and pizza have in common? In this episode preview from History of the Papacy, host Steve Guerra dives in! The Risorgimento was a period of political and social upheaval in Italy that las...

Theodore Roosevelt began his second term in 1905 looking to secure his country's status as a great power, and his own place in history as a great president. To do so, he implemented progressive policies to expand the power of...

The American people have never elected a woman president, but from 1919 to 1921, they had an acting woman president and didn't even know it. When President Woodrow Wilson suffered a devastating stroke in 1919, his wife, First...

Should the U.S. government step in to "level the playing field" and ensure "fairness" in the economy? Should it break up companies that act as monopolies? What does it mean for a company to be a monopoly? These are questions ...

Theodore Roosevelt once said that he could only do one of two things: be president or control his daughter Alice. He insisted that he couldn't do both at the same time. Alice Roosevelt Longworth was, in many ways, a mirror im...

Countless books have been written about Theodore Roosevelt the statesman, the war hero, and the adventurer, but virtually none have explored his religious life. In this episode, we interview Professor Benjamin Wetzel, Profess...

It has been said that "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." In his youth, there was little to indicate that Theodore Roosevelt was destined for greatness. He spent much of hi...

If Alexander The Great Hadn’t Died, He Might Have Conquered Europe, Circumnavigated Africa, and Built His Own Silk Road “And Alexander wept, seeing as he had no more worlds to conquer.” That’s a quote from Hans Gruber in Die ...

In this episode of the Eyewitness History Podcast, Host Josh Cohen speaks with the former principal of Columbine High School, Frank DeAngelis. Frank and Josh discuss the events of the tragic shooting, what the police were doi...