15-Minute History

Put her name into a search engine and you will be provided with a variety of titles such as “political activist”, “feminist”, “American social reformer”, and “sex educator”. You will be treated to the history of a person who fought hard for women’s reproductive rights. To be clear, all of this is true. We can have two conversations. The benefits of contraception and reproductive rights while being...

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts! Every other Thursday, Joe will speak about a specific person, place, or event in history in under five minutes. This week, Joe talks about the history and benefits of the assembly line that we still experience daily.

Join us as we discuss the absolute horror that was the Khmer Rouge.

Welcome to the Pop Quiz! Every other Thursday, Joe asks a topical question about history, and Jon has to answer it without any help or resources - other than his legendary memory and knowledge of history. These episodes are unedited and a fun way for the team to interact more with you, our outstanding audience. Have an idea for a topic? Want to try and stump Jon? Send it to us at 15minutehistory@g...

“I was fifteen years old when the Khmer Rouge came to power in April 1975. I can still remember how overwhelmed with joy I was that the war had finally ended. It did not matter who won. I and many Cambodians wanted peace at any price. The civil war had tired us out, and we could not make much sense out of killing our own brothers and sisters for a cause that was not ours. We were ready to support...

Welcome to the Pop Quiz! Every other Thursday, Joe asks a topical question about history, and Jon has to answer it without any help or resources - other than his legendary memory and knowledge of history. These episodes are unedited and a fun way for the team to interact more with you, our outstanding audience. Have an idea for a topic? Want to try and stump Jon? Send it to us at 15minutehistory@g...

Join us as we discuss the vile life of Vlad the Impaler, detail his monstrous actions, and show you a person in history who was objectively, evil in every way.

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts! Every other Thursday, Joe will speak about a specific person, place, or event in history in under five minutes. This week, Joe provides a brief background on how marketing has changed and why the consumer now has full control.

Join us as we teach you about the vile life of Vlad the Impaler, detail his monstrous actions, and show you a person in history who was objectively, evil in every way. Please send us your thoughts and questions on this topic for our discussion next week, via our email at 15minutehistory@gmail.com.

Welcome to the Pop Quiz! Every other Thursday, Joe asks a topical question about history, and Jon has to answer it without any help or resources - other than his legendary memory and knowledge of history. These episodes are unedited and a fun way for the team to interact more with you, our outstanding audience. Have an idea for a topic? Want to try and stump Jon? Send it to us at 15minutehistory@g...

Join us as we discuss Ivan the Terrible, his life, possible causes for his evil deeds, and the terror he caused.

Two men stood in a large room shouting at one another, raging over family and war or accusing each other of incompetence and cowardice. A third man stood nearby, servant of one and friend to both. In a corner, a young woman cowered with her face bruised and her body shaking. Anger swirled around the pair as words grew ever-more harsh. And then, the older man swung his scepter, the symbol of God&#3...

Join us as we discuss the intention and result of each leader by examining comparisons of policy during their tenure.

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts! Every other Thursday, Joe will speak about a specific person, place, or event in history in under five minutes. This week, we answer a question we have gotten from you, our outstanding audience. Some of you have asked, "If you're doing a season on villains, why aren't you covering serial killers?" We answer that today.

As we look at villains in history, we want to look at actions and their effects. The policies of Lyndon Baines Johnson and Ho Chi Minh were the reflection of two leaders operating in different contexts. Though the method by which they exercised their intentions was different, the root of their “why” is in question. Join us as we look at both the intention and result from each leader by examining c...

Welcome to the Pop Quiz! Every other Thursday, Joe asks a topical question about history, and Jon has to answer it without any help or resources - other than his legendary memory and knowledge of history. These episodes are unedited and a fun way for the team to interact more with you, our outstanding audience. Have an idea for a topic? Want to try and stump Jon? Send it to us at 15minutehistory@g...

Join us as we discuss the actions of Charlemagne, the interpretations that followed, and how such evil can be combatted.

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts! Every other Thursday, Joe will speak about a specific person, place, or event in history in under five minutes. This week, we teach you about the history of the 40-hour work week, its origins, and why it came into being. Spoiler alert: There was a good reason.

Ten long years of war in the dark forests of Saxony, and there was no end in sight. Centuries earlier, these woods had witnessed the destruction of mighty Roman legions, a fact that several Frankish scribes had already noted in their chronicles. Per-haps their king would fare better than the Roman Emperor Augustus. Their enemy, the Saxons, were a far greater threat than the older Germanic tribes h...

Welcome to the Pop Quiz! Every other Thursday, Joe asks a topical question about history, and Jon has to answer it without any help or resources - other than his legendary memory and knowledge of history. These episodes are unedited and a fun way for the team to interact more with you, our outstanding audience. Have an idea for a topic? Want to try and stump Jon? Send it to us at 15minutehistory@g...

Join us as we discuss Xerxes I, his conquest, and how hubris ruined him.

Welcome to the Pop Quiz! Every other Thursday, Joe asks a topical question about history, and Jon has to answer it without any help or resources - other than his legendary memory and knowledge of history. These episodes are unedited and a fun way for the team to interact more with you, our outstanding audience. Have an idea for a topic? Want to try and stump Jon? Send it to us at 15minutehistory@g...

Xerxes I, also known as Xerxes the Great, was a Persian king who ruled over the vast Achaemenid Empire from 486 BCE to 465 BCE. He was the son of King Darius I and Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great. This lineage protected Xerxes during his time as a prince and solidified his claim to the throne. Join us as we teach you about Xerxes I, his conquest, and how hubris ruined him.

It’s Christmas Day, 1863, and a man is reading a letter. The letter had arrived several days before, but every time he picks up the parchment, it feels like the first time. He sits quietly in the solitude of his study, his hands trembling, his mind bearing the weight of the words on the page. His eyes, now weary and red-rimmed, trace over the inked letters as he uses the words “battle”, “seriously...