Explaining History

Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick turns to the global dimensions of the Russian Revolution. Drawing on Robert Service's  Spies and Commissars: Bolshevik Russia and the West , we explore how the events of 1917 reverberated far beyond Petrograd. We delve into the chaotic collapse of the Romanov dynasty and the fragile "dual power" that followed. Why did the lib...

Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick turns his attention to the escalating diplomatic crisis over Greenland and what it reveals about the frailty of the post-Brexit United Kingdom. As Donald Trump eyes the annexation of Danish sovereign territory, Europe is drawing a line in the sand. But where is Britain? Nick argues that the UK's muted response exposes the utter fa...

Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick explores one of the darkest chapters of the American Civil Rights movement: the Freedom Summer of 1964 and the murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. Drawing on Jonathan Darman's  Landslide: LBJ and Ronald Reagan at the Dawn of a New America , we delve into the terrifying reality of Mississippi in the...

Episode Summary: In the second part of our deep dive into the origins of the Soviet famine, Nick continues his exploration of 1928-1929, the critical years that sealed the fate of the Russian peasantry. Drawing again on Robert Conquest’s  The Harvest of Sorrow , we examine how Stalin’s "emergency measures"—intended to be temporary—became a permanent war on the countryside. Why did the Bolshev...

Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick turns his attention to the economic chaos brewing in Washington. With Donald Trump threatening a criminal inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, we explore the dangerous politicization of America’s central bank. Why is the independence of the Fed so crucial to the global financial system? What happens when a president t...

In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick returns to the turbulent twilight of the Ottoman Empire. Following the euphoria of the 1908 Young Turk Revolution, disillusionment quickly set in. We explore the 1909 Counter-Revolution, where religious conservatives and mutinous soldiers attempted to roll back constitutional rule and restore the Sultan's absolute power. But the restoration of the...

FOR ADVERT FREE EPISODES JOIN OUR PATREON HERE Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick explores the pervasive yet elusive ideology of neoliberalism. Why do we treat free-market capitalism as a natural law, like gravity, rather than a political choice? Drawing on George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison’s  The Invisible Doctrine , we delve into the origins of the neoliber...

Episode Summary: In this urgent episode of  Explaining History , Nick addresses the breaking news from Minnesota: the execution of 37-year-old Renée Good by ICE agents. This is not just a news story; it is a historical inflection point. We explore the parallels between the unchecked violence of ICE and the early days of the Nazi SA (Brownshirts) in 1933. When a paramilitary force operates wit...

Episode Summary: In this episode of Explaining History , Nick explores the complex and often suppressed memory of China's recent past. Drawing on Tania Branigan's Red Memory , we delve into the heart of Beijing—Tiananmen Square—and unpack its layers of history, from the May Fourth Movement of 1919 to the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 and the tragedy of 1989. Why does the portrait of Ma...

Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick explores the escalating crisis that threatens to destroy the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). With Donald Trump eyeing Greenland as a territorial acquisition and European leaders issuing a rare, unified rebuke, the alliance forged in 1949 to contain Soviet power is facing its greatest existential threat. We delve into th...

Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick explores one of the most debated questions in modern history: Was the Russian Revolution inevitable? Moving beyond the simple narrative of "peace, land, and bread," we delve into the competing schools of historiography that have shaped our understanding of 1917. From the Soviet orthodoxy of historical determinism to the Western li...

Episode Summary: One day after the shock attack on Caracas, Nick returns with an update on the US intervention in Venezuela. With President Maduro reportedly abducted and Donald Trump promising to "run Venezuela," we delve into the grim logistics of occupying a nation larger than France. Drawing parallels with the Boer War, Vietnam, and the disastrous invasion of Iraq in 2003, Nick argues that whi...

Episode Summary: In this special emergency episode of  Explaining History , Nick reacts to the breaking news of US military action in Venezuela. Reports indicate Apache gunships over Caracas and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro by American forces. We explore the profound historical implications of this event. While Maduro may be a "gangster," his removal by a foreign power shatters c...

Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick takes a deep dive into the grim reality of the Soviet camp system. Drawing on Anne Applebaum’s  Gulag: A History , we explore how the camps evolved from disorganized prisons into a vast industrial complex of slave labour. We examine the "Great Terror" of 1937-38 not just as a political purge, but as a bureaucratic process dri...

Episode Summary: In the first episode of 2026, Nick embarks on a year-long exploration of Eric Hobsbawm's monumental work,  The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914–1991 . We begin by examining Hobsbawm’s premise: that the 20th century was defined by a binary struggle between ideologies that mutually excluded one another—capitalism vs. communism, democracy vs. fascism. But as Ni...

Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick explores the neglected connection between economic austerity and political repression in the early years of Fascist Italy. Drawing on the groundbreaking work of economist Clara Mattei, we delve into how Mussolini's regime used budget cuts, regressive taxation, and mass layoffs not just to balance the books, but to crush the Italia...

Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick continues his exploration of 1960s radicalism, focusing on the disconnect between the student-led "New Left" and the American working class. While the counterculture is often remembered through images of campus protests and the SDS, the reality was far more complex. Drawing on Kim McQuaid’s  The Anxious Years  and Mike D...

In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick explores how nostalgia has become a toxic force in British politics. Drawing on Liam Stanley’s  Britain Alone , we examine how the "Blitz Spirit" and memories of WWII rationing have been cynically weaponized to justify modern austerity. Why do politicians suggest that food insecure families should "learn lessons from the wartime generation"?...

Ten years after the death of David Bowie, Nick is joined by author Alexander Larman to discuss his new biography,  Lazarus: David Bowie from the Tin Machine to Blackstar . While the 1970s "Ziggy Stardust" era has been endlessly dissected, Larman shines a light on the often-overlooked second half of Bowie's career. From the artistic wilderness of the late 80s and the critical mauling of ...

Episode Summary: In the third part of our 2025 Year in Review, Nick shifts the focus to Asia, exploring the dramatic realignment of US-India relations under Donald Trump’s second term. For decades, Washington viewed India as a "natural strategic partner"—a democratic counterweight to China, showered with military aid and technology transfers. But in 2025, that special relationship has collapsed. D...

Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick explores the rise of the "Consumer’s Republic" in post-war America. We examine how the dream of the suburban idyll—white picket fences, gleaming appliances, and mass car ownership—became a central pillar of US identity and stability. Drawing on Lizabeth Cohen's  A Consumer's Republic , we delve into how corporate and politica...

In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick explores how different nations remember the Second World War, focusing on the stark contrast between American triumphalism and European melancholy. Drawing on Keith Lowe's brilliant book  Prisoners of History , we delve into the cultural psychology behind monuments like the Iwo Jima Memorial. Why does America view its soldiers as "freedom war...

In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick explores the emergence of the "New Left" in 1960s America—a movement born from the failure of Cold War liberalism to deliver on its promises. Drawing on Kim McQuaid’s  The Anxious Years , we delve into the deep disillusionment that fuelled student radicalism. Why did young activists view "vital centre" liberals like JFK and LBJ not as allies,...

Is 2025 the year the European project finally hit the wall? In this episode, we argue that 2025 serves as a massive historical inflection point—comparable to 1933, 1968, or 1989—marking the definitive end of the post-Cold War era. We explore the "perfect storm" battering the continent: the return of Donald Trump and the removal of the American security umbrella, the accelerating de-industrializati...

Episode Summary: In this episode of  Explaining History , Nick continues his exploration of post-war American affluence. We often think of the 1950s as a golden age of middle-class expansion, where the old divisions of wealth and status melted away under a wave of chrome-plated cars and suburban lawns. But was this "classless society" a reality or a comforting myth? Drawing again from James P...