Ancient to Recent

In this history podcast episode of Ancient to Recent , we follow Genghis Khan as his newly united Mongol nation collides with the great settled empires to the south, beginning a cycle of conquest that would change world history forever. Having unified the steppe through blood, loyalty, and merit, Temüjin now faced a new challenge: how to sustain his people without endless civil war. The answer lay...

In this history podcast episode of Ancient to Recent , we explore the early life of Genghis Khan , the rise of Temüjin , and the origins of the Mongol Empire on the Eurasian Steppe. Born into violence, betrayal, and extreme poverty, Temüjin’s childhood was defined by abandonment, hunger, and survival. After his family was cast out by their own clan, he endured slavery, exile, and constant danger i...

By early 1867, the Second Mexican Empire was fighting for its life. French troops had gone, Republican armies were closing in from every direction, and Maximilian’s authority barely extended beyond a shrinking patchwork of territory. Yet rather than flee, abdicate, or negotiate, the emperor chose to stand and fight, taking everything on honour, loyalty, and a belief that destiny had not yet abando...

By late 1865, the Second Mexican Empire was beginning to unravel. French support, once the foundation of Maximilian’s throne, was wavering, Republican resistance was intensifying, and pressure from a resurgent United States threatened to turn Mexico into a flashpoint for international conflict. Yet at the very moment the empire required decisive leadership, Maximilian seemed increasingly detached...

At the height of his power, Emperor Maximilian believed he could reconcile monarchy with liberal reform and heal a nation torn apart by decades of war. By the end of 1864, the Second Mexican Empire stretched to the U.S. border, Republican forces were on the run, and French troops appeared to have secured the throne. Yet the empire’s greatest victories concealed its deepest weaknesses. This episode...

In 1864, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria crossed the Atlantic to claim a crown forged in diplomacy, ambition, and illusion. What awaited him in Mexico was not the enlightened monarchy he imagined but a nation exhausted by war, divided by ideology, and pushed to the breaking point by foreign intervention. This episode follows Maximilian and Carlota as they enter Mexico City in triumph, una...

In 1864, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria took the throne as Emperor Maximilian of Mexico , believing he could unite a fractured nation and build a modern empire. Instead, he stepped into one of the most violent political storms of the 19th century. Backed by Napoleon III’s French army , opposed by Benito Juárez and the Mexican Republican forces, Maximilian struggled to rule a country divi...

At Nuremberg in 1945, the last leaders of the Third Reich faced judgment before the world. Hermann Goering arrived determined to turn the courtroom into his personal stage, launching a defiant performance that briefly revived the shattered pride of his fellow Nazis, but could not save him from the evidence closing in around him. Psychologists Douglas Kelley and Gustave Gilbert battled to decode th...

In 1945, the Allies seized the top surviving Nazi leaders and locked them inside a secret U.S. prison known as Ashcan . At the center of it all was Hermann Göring , Reichsmarschall, head of the Luftwaffe, Hitler’s chosen successor, and the highest-ranking Nazi to face justice. Inside Mondorf-les-Bains, a young U.S. Army psychiatrist, Dr. Douglas Kelley , began a groundbreaking mission: to uncover...

In 1932–33, Ukraine faced one of the deadliest tragedies of the 20th century, the Holodomor. Stalin’s regime seized food, blacklisted entire villages, sealed Ukraine’s borders, and used starvation as a weapon to crush resistance. Millions died as the Soviet state destroyed Ukrainian culture, language, and identity. In Episode 23, Joseph Parkinson uncovers how the famine was engineered, how the OGP...

By the end of the 1920s, Stalin had a vision, to forge a new Soviet man and break the old peasant world forever.  Across Ukraine, a war was declared on the countryside. Villages were torn apart, churches destroyed, families deported, and the proud independence of Ukraine’s farmers was crushed beneath the machinery of collectivisation. Through forced labor, quotas, and terror, millions were driven...

In the aftermath of revolution, Ukraine lies in ruins. The Bolsheviks have won the Civil War but for Lenin, victory is not enough. From the brutal terror of the Cheka to forced grain seizures and man-made famine, Ukraine becomes the testing ground for a new kind of tyranny. As millions starve and resistance is crushed, a new figure rises from the shadows: Joseph Stalin. His plan for collectivizati...

In the spring of 1917, as the Russian Empire collapses under the weight of war and revolution, Ukraine dares to dream of freedom. From the hopeful marches through Kyiv’s sunlit streets to the bitter struggle against Bolshevik armies, this is the story of how Ukraine first tried to forge its own destiny. But revolution brings chaos. Armies rise and fall, cities burn, and hunger stalks the land. The...

As the smoke of Hastings clears, William the Conqueror’s work has only just begun. From the burning towns of Sussex to the frozen wastes of Northumbria, England descends into chaos. The Godwinsons rise from exile to challenge the Norman invader, rebellions erupt from Devon to York, and the Vikings return one last time to stake their claim. But William answers rebellion with terror, slaughter, fami...

The stage is set. As Edward the Confessor’s reign falters and his death throws England into crisis, two rivals begin their march toward destiny. In Normandy, Duke William proves himself against France and Anjou, crushing enemies and securing alliances that will one day fuel his claim to the English crown. In England, Harold Godwinson rises in the shadow of his father, steering the Godwin dynasty t...

In this opening episode of our Norman Conquest series, we trace the story of England before 1066, from the rise of the Anglo-Saxons to the Viking invasions that reshaped the land. We meet Edward the Confessor, a king who never should have worn the crown, yet whose reign set the stage for the greatest turning point in English history. From Alfred the Great’s defiance to the chaos of Ethelred the Un...

The Korean War erupts in a storm of artillery, but Kim Il Sung's plans for a swift victory unravel as UN forces push back the North Korean advance. As the conflict descends into a brutal stalemate, Stalin's death and a changing geopolitical landscape create an opportunity for Kim to solidify his rule.  This episode takes you through the pivotal battles of the Korean War, the power struggle...

In the early days of the 20th century, Korea was under the grip of Japanese imperial rule, a period that reshaped the peninsula forever. Out of this turmoil emerged Kim Il Sung, a partisan fighter who would go on to become the founding leader of North Korea. In this episode of Ancient To Recent , Joseph Parkinson takes you through Kim’s early life, the struggles of Korean nationalism, the Japanese...

In the 1980s, Father Patrick Ryan stood at the heart of the IRA’s international network, funding operations, brokering weapons, and evading capture across borders. Part Three follows his role in daring attacks and the high-stakes chase to bring him to justice. Inspired by Jennifer O’Leary’s  The Padre .  New episodes every Friday at 8 PM CET  Follow on Spotify, YouTube & Instagram @AncientToRe...

In the 1980s, Father Patrick Ryan became one of the IRA’s most valuable allies. From secret Libyan arms deals to the Brighton bombing that nearly killed Margaret Thatcher, his story is one of faith, firepower, and the deadly politics of the Troubles. In Part Two, we follow his journey from rural Ireland to the heart of an international struggle, uncovering how belief and rebellion collided in Brit...

In the 1980s, a Catholic priest became one of the IRA’s most valuable allies. From secret Libyan arms deals to the Brighton bombing that nearly killed Margaret Thatcher, Father Patrick Ryan’s story is one of faith, firepower, and the deadly politics of the Troubles. We follow his journey from rural Ireland to the heart of an international struggle, uncovering how belief and rebellion collided in B...

In this powerful final chapter of our Alexei Navalny series, we follow Russia’s most prominent opposition leader from the 2017 acid attack that scarred him, to his poisoning with Novichok, his defiant return to Moscow, and his slow death inside Putin’s prisons. Through corruption exposés, political trials, and the relentless brutality of the Russian state, Navalny’s life became a test of whether t...

In Part II of Ancient to Recent’s deep dive, Alexei Navalny takes his fight against Vladimir Putin to the streets, the courts, and the ballot box. From rigged Moscow elections to uncovering multi-million dollar corruption at the Kremlin’s core, discover how Navalny became Putin’s most dangerous opponent and the ruthless tactics used to bring him down. 🎧 New episodes every Friday, 8PM CET 📲 Follo...

There was no warning. Just radioactive rain and the beginning of a story that shaped modern Russia. In this premiere episode of Ancient to Recent , we explore how the Chernobyl disaster, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the chaos of the 1990s led to the rise of Vladimir Putin and the emergence of his most dangerous opponent: Alexei Navalny. Follow the origin story of a man who dared to speak the...

In this epic episode of Ancient to Recent , we unpack the tragic and complex chain of events that dragged Germany and the world into the First World War. From the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo to the infamous "blank cheque" to Austria, we explore how imperial ambition, strategic paranoia, and domestic turmoil pushed Germany into a devastating global conflict. We examine Ge...