Age of Marshall

In this episode, Glen J. Carpenter speaks with historian Dr. Ashley Vance about the U.S. Army in occupied Germany after World War II. Their conversation examines daily life after Germany’s surrender, the collapse and reconstruction of local authority, the cigarette economy, demobilization, the U.S. Constabulary, the Berlin Airlift, American families in Germany, and the Army’s transition from occup...

Glen J. Carpenter speaks with Dr. Ed Gitre of Virginia Tech about The American Soldier in World War II , a major digital history project built around wartime surveys and firsthand responses from American service members. Their conversation examines how the U.S. Army used social science to understand morale, training, propaganda, race, gender, civilian transition, and the everyday experience of sol...

Glen J. Carpenter speaks with Amy Butler Greenfield, author of The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life , about one of the most remarkable intelligence figures of the 20th century. Their conversation examines Friedman’s path from Riverbank Laboratories to professional codebreaking; her work against rum runners, organized crime, and wartime espionage netwo...

Glen J. Carpenter speaks with historian J. Furman Daniel about the relationship between George C. Marshall and George S. Patton. Their conversation examines Marshall’s role as mentor, manager, and judge of talent; Patton’s rise through the interwar Army; the Louisiana and Carolina maneuvers; the Knutsford Affair; Patton’s command limits; and the ways Marshall helped make Patton’s wartime success p...

Glen J. Carpenter speaks with Christopher C. Gorham, author of The Confidante: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Helped Win WWII and Shape Modern America , about Anna Rosenberg’s remarkable career. Their conversation examines Rosenberg’s rise from New York politics to the Roosevelt and Truman administrations; her role in Executive Order 8802 and the GI Bill; her relationship with George C. Marshal...