Historium

A conversation with Derek Baxter, author of new book The Forgotten World War: Exploring the Secret History of the American Revolution, from Spain to India and Back Again . Our interview touches on the Revolutionary War's unsung heroes, the various factions involved, and the battlegrounds across the world which elevated the war to a truly global conflict.  Derek's latest book is OUT NOW....

A crash landing of a Japanese warplane interrupts the idyllic island life of Ni’ihau, where the Hawaiians have no idea that a world war just started.  For more episodes: patreon.com/historium Music: Mission by Naoki Sato Dogfight by Thomas Wander Ebb Tide by Houston & Dorsey Hawaiian Sunset by The Polynesians Opening by David Wingo Queenie’s Suite by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis Less Likely by...

The dawn of America’s drone program in the Second World War changes the course of presidential history.  For the rest of this bonus episode and access to all other bonus episodes:  patreon.com/historium Support the show

The colonial ambitions of Scotland soon go sideways as they face the full brunt of Murphy's Law. The colonists face disease, mutiny, starvation, and shipwrecks before the backdrop of the golden age of piracy.  The colony's ultimate fate unites a kingdom. For more episodes: patreon .com/historium Music: Hector the Hero by Geoff Knorr All in Circles by Shida Shahabi The British Empire by B...

Two boys go missing in rural Appalachia. Search parties scour the foothills, accusations fly, and some seek supernatural help in hopes of finding the pair of lost children. For the rest of this episode and access to Historium's entire back catalog of bonus episodes: patreon.com/historium Support the show

Against all odds, Shuja rises again. A figurehead for the British East India Company, he watches as an invading army devastates his homeland—in his name. Meanwhile, Dost Mohammed’s son Akbar Khan leads a counterforce to be reckoned with. In time, he becomes a threat to his own father’s power. The British, chief among them Alexander Burnes, learn the hard way: The wicked will not go unpunished. For...

The British East India Company plots an invasion of Afghanistan. A bogus casus belli and puppet king are all they need—and the rivalry between their agent, Alexander Burnes, and a Russian spy named Ivan Vitkevitch becomes a zero sum game.  This is the beginning of the Great Game, or, as the Russians knew it: The Tournament of Shadows. For the more episodes and the rest of the series: https://www.p...

In early 19th century Afghanistan, two warring dynasties contend for the throne. While the Sadozai brothers—grandsons of the empire’s founding king—feud amongst themselves, the Barakzai clan plots its ascendance. Shuja ul-Mulk of the Sadozais and Dost Mohammed Khan of the Barakzais grow up together in court, but as young men they become bitter enemies. Eventually, they must face each other on the...

"I can say more with music than I ever could with words.” -Eric Dolphy Music: - Ceiling Gazing by Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle - Nero's Nocturne by Chilly Gonzales - Warm Canto by Mal Waldron, Eric Dolphy, & Booker Ervin - Easy Opium by Ben von Wildenhaus - Rearranging Furniture by Gabriel Yared - The Homeless Wanderer by Emahoy Tsege Miriam Gebru - God Bless the Child by Eric Do...

What if sound lives forever? Music: Imaginary Landscape No. 4 by John Cage Tezeta by Mulatu Askatke Electronium Music Score by Raymond Scott Lacrymae by Melodium Kapsburger by Clogs A Lake by Emily A. Sprague Tiden Effert Hoffet by I.B. Sundstrom When the Northern Lights by Max Richter X-Ray by Youth Lagoon Legions (War) by Zoe Keating Disintegration Loops #3 by William Basinski 92982.3 by William...

The story of one of the worst numerical beatdowns in the history of professional sports. Music: - Reckless by Brocker Way - Green Groves of Erin by Yo Yo Ma  - Concerto No. 2 in G minor by Vivaldi - Classic Battle by Sam Spence - Denmark by Portland Cello Project - Independant by Brocker Way - Tilting at Windmills by Brocker Way - Ride of the Valkyries by Richard Wagner - Spanish Flea by Herb Alpe...

(This is an unlocked Patreon bonus episode. For more bonus episodes, check out www.patreon.com/historium) Chicago, 1979. Disco was on top of the world. And some people didn't like that… When a failing baseball team and a peg-legged promoter hosted an anti-disco radio DJ armed with a quarter stick of dynamite… things quickly got out of hand. Welcome to Disco Demolition Night. Support the show

An episode from a show I love called The Wind.   "Western Films as America’s origin story, and why they sound the way they do." For more episodes: https://thewind.org/ For our bonus episode with Fil: patreon.com/historium Support the show

Neils Bohr returns with a new plan for world peace, Oppenheimer’s enemies close in from all sides as the Cold War warms up, and shadowy figures from the world of high finance work to expand the American nuclear weapons program. Original music for this series by https://mountainstandardtime.substack.com/ Additional music by Alarm Will Sound, Marisa Anderson, Kali Malone, Zoe Keating, Julie Kent, Be...

Norwegian commandos execute a daring sabotage mission to cripple the Nazi nuclear program. The fall of Werner Heisenberg.  Original music for this series by https://mountainstandardtime.substack.com/ Additional music by Hildur Guðnadóttir, Max Richter, William Basinski, Moondog, Sølvguttene, Jed Kurzel, Hala Strana, Anne Hytta, Nine Inch Nails, and Nico. For bonus episodes and a special series pat...

Robert Oppenheimer leads the Manhattan Project at a secret research facility in Los Alamos. Meanwhile, counterintelligence seeks to unearth a secret communist spy ring within the very heart of the nuclear weapons program. A cold war starts before a world war ends. Original music for this series by https://mountainstandardtime.substack.com/ Additional music by Ludovico Einauldi, Luke Howard, Alarm...

On the eve of the Second World War, physicists learn of the possibility of splitting the atom. Two rival nuclear programs emerge and the race to the atomic bomb begins...  Original music for this series by https://mountainstandardtime.substack.com/ Additional music by Kali Malone, Benoît Pioulard, Zoe Keating, Nine Inch Nails, Choral Arts Northwest, and The Louvin Brothers. For the rest of the ser...

The story of Halley’s Comet—the only reoccurring comet visible to the naked eye that shows up every 75 years or so. Throughout history its appearance has marked profound change, from the conquest of the British Isles to the fall of the Qing Dynasty. For more bonus episodes: patreon.com/historium   Music: Hello! by David Wingo & Explosions in the Sky Time’s Blur by Lord Huron Opening (arr. for...

Summer 1929 was the pinnacle of a new era of banking, and Charles E. Mitchell emblematized the live-fast-die-young ethos of roaring twenties stock salesmen. As the Great Crash led into the Great Depression, Charlie’s ambition brought about his downfall and forced him to go toe-to-toe with one of most doggedly committed prosecutors of the era: Ferdinand Pecora. It’s a story that’s more timely now t...

Tehran 1943.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin meet together for the first time with hopes of overcoming their ideological differences in order to win the Second World War. For bonus episodes: patreon.com/historium Music:  Nightbook by Ludovico Einauldi  Vanguard by Bear McCreary History is Listening by Dario Marianelli & Vikingur Olafsson Increase by David Lang...

In the late 1700s, a chess-playing automaton marched across Europe, achieving checkmates against novices and masters alike–all while hiding an incredible secret… Music: - Concerto for Lute and Plucked Strings by Siefried Behrend & DZO Chamber Orchestra - Clockwork Toccata, Op. 68 by Fulvio Caldini & the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet - Concerto no. 5 en la mineur by Bach - Mr. Moustafa b...

This episode was always a feel-good fan favorite, so I decided to pluck it from the archives, rewrite it, re-record it, and remix it now that I'm a better writer with better equipment. Merry Christmas! 'During the first Christmas of the First World War, troops from opposing armies defied orders and participated in a series of impromptu ceasefires in the no man’s land between the trenches...

In 1925, dog sled teams faced extreme subzero temperatures, whiteout conditions, and hurricane-force winds to deliver medicine to sick children in the remote mining town of Nome, Alaska. This feat of interspecies heroism would become one of the most harrowing rescue attempts in American history. Music: Etude by Joep Beving Prelude for Piano and Malaria by Worrytrain Born Unto Trouble by Bill Elm &...

In early 1964, on the eve of The Beatles’ first international tour, Ringo Starr fell ill. To avoid cancelling the shows at the height of Beatlemania, they hired Jimmie Nicol as a temporary replacement. The stand-in drummer serves as a case study in what happens to a human psyche when propelled from relative obscurity to worldwide fame (and back again…) all in the span of a few months.  For relevan...

After Columbus opened Pandora’s Box by crossing the Atlantic, conquistadors ventured into the New World for god, glory, and gold; rarely in that order. One of these conquistadors, Francisco Pizarro, could not ignore the rumors of an empire of golden cities in the cloud peaks of the Andes, which sent him on a collision course with Atualpa, the god emperor of the Inca Empire. Facebook: @HistoriumPod...