History Talk, the history podcast from Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective

The Trump Administration’s Domestic Policies: Insights from History by Origins OSU

Ohio State University faculty experts hold a conversation that puts American foreign policy changes during the first 100 days of the second Trump administration into historical perspective. Panel members: Peter L. Hahn, Distinguished University Professor of History, The Ohio State University; Mitchell Lerner, Professor of History and Director of the East Asian Studies Center, The Ohio State Univer...

In November 1938, Albert Hofmann November 1938, first created a derivative of ergot that would later be dubbed lysergic acid diethalyamide: LSD. Written by Dr. Benjamin Breen. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. A textual version of this video is available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/april-2013-albert-hofmann-discovers-l...

On September 2, 1998, the first conviction for the crime of genocide was entered by an international tribunal. The date is an essential milestone in the development of criminal responsibility imposed by the international community for the commission of mass atrocities.

Mid-July, 64 CE, in the heart of Rome, tragedy struck as fire erupted into a massive inferno. Did Emperor Nero, regent at the time, purposely set the city ablaze or merely preside over the disaster? Written by Matthew Reich. Narration by Dr. Nicholas Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas Breyfogle. A textual version of this video is available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/...

On June 30, 1908, a massive mysterious explosion of a cosmic body shook the skies of Tunguska (in Siberia), on a date that would come to be known as International Asteroid Day. But was it an asteroid? Andy Bruno discusses the history surrounding the event. Written by Andy Bruno. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. A textual versio...

Who doesn’t love penguins? Join Ellen Arnold to learn about the many different roles that penguins took on as Europeans first began to encounter them in the mid-1500s, from quirky oddity to salvation for the starving. Over the course of the following centuries, Europeans had many different interactions with penguins, and these shaped how they understood what the birds were. Sailors and scientists...

Narrator Nicholas Breyfogle gives voice to author Stephen M. Norris' top ten World War II films. Video production by Laura Seeger and Nicholas Breyfogle. A textual version of this video is available at https://origins.osu.edu/connecting-history/top-ten-origins-world-war-ii-films. This is a production of Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective at the Goldberg Center in the Department of H...

Haile Selassie’s triumphant return to Ethiopia on May 5, 1941, signaled the re‐establishment of the Solomonic Dynasty and a sovereign Ethiopia. Written by Andrew Carlson. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video and written versions of this podcase are available at https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/may-2016-emperor-haile-selassie-i-re...

According to the traditional narrative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith was visited on September 21, 1823 by an angel who told him of an ancient record buried nearby his farm in western New York. Written by Benjamin E. Park. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. A textual version of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/joseph-smith-discovers-g...

The Berlin Airlift began on June 26, 1948, only two days after the Soviet Union's blockade of West Berlin. Written by Ian Gammon. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. A textual version is available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/berlin-airlift. Production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Additional resources: To Save a City: The Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949 (https://www.tamupress.co...

On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong (1893-1976) stood on the rostrum of Tian’anmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) and announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in his strong Hunanese accent. This momentous announcement marked the end of China’s chaotic era of foreign domination since the mid-18th century and of frequent governmental upheavals after 1911. Written by Cruz Guan. Na...

Since 2002, December 12 has been known as Poinsettia Day, created by Congress to honor the passing of Paul Ecke, Jr., who helped commercialize the plant in the United States in the middle of the twentieth century. Written by Lindsay Schakenbach Regele. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video and audio production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Textual and video versions of thi...

This presentation commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Disaster (2-3 December, 1984 in Bhopal, India), the world’s worst industrial disaster. Dr. Madhumita Dutta, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at The Ohio State University discusses the disaster, the immediate and ongoing health repercussions for the people of Bhopal, and their global legal and activist fight for...

While most of the books written about the Salem witch trials concern those who were accused of witchcraft and their accusers, Matt Goldish's new book, "Science and Specters" at Salem, turns the spotlight on the judges. They were, after all, the men who decided to accept these accusations and move the trials forward. Historians have long wondered why the judges accepted evidence based on visions of...

Musicals have sought to bring history to life onstage, with varying degrees of creative license. These are our top ten musicals based on real-life people and events that have shaped the theatre. Written by Lauren Henry. Narrated by Nicholas Breyfogle. Video production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. A textual version of this podcast is available at https://origins.osu.edu/connecting...

Presented by Lydia Walker, Provost Scholar Assistant Professor, Seth Andre Myers Chair in Global Military History, in the Department of History at The Ohio State University. After the Second World War, national self-determination became a recognized international norm, yet it only extended to former colonies. Groups within postcolonial states that made alternative sovereign claims were disregarded...

In the Year of Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo negotiated independence from Belgium to the rhythm of the country’s greatest export: Congolese rumba. The wildly popular and meaningful genre became a soundtrack to global change. Written by Emily Hardick. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video and text versions of this podc...

Alice in Wonderland, the little girl created by Oxford mathematician and logician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, also known as Lewis Carroll, came to life in 1865. While her pinafore and his frockcoat and long wavy hair, which were old fashioned even for their time, catch our eye and distance them from us on the other side of the tumultuous 20th century, our ear tells us a very different story. Written...

Few phenomena are so steeped in wonder as the total solar eclipse. Cultures through history have heralded eclipses as portentous, ominous events. Written by Matthew Smith. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video and text versions of this podcast are available at https://origins.osu.edu/read/solar-eclipses-american-history. Video production by Laura Seeger and Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. This...

The date, October 23, 1956, marked the beginning of the ill-fated revolution that ended with the re-imposition of Communist rule and the flight of some 200,000 Hungarians to Western Europe and the United States. It remains a somber anniversary of heroism in defeat that continues to resonate with Hungarians across the globe. Written by Harrison King. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video an...

Public memory of the battle for Manila includes a mixture of gratitude toward the Americans, nationalistic defiance, and horror. The liberation claimed the lives of a thousand Americans, 16,000 Japanese, and 100,000 Manileños, one tenth of the population. Written by Gregory Kupsky. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video and textual versions of this podcast are available at https://origins.o...

On December 18, 1898, the Jeantaud electric vehicle set the world’s first automotive land speed record of 63.13 km/hr (39.2 mph) over the course of a single kilometer. Although the only electric vehicle at the competition, the Jeantaud handily beat its gasoline-powered competition at the Parc Agricole d’Achères outside Paris. The Jeantaud electric car of 1898 reminds us that electric vehicles once...

After World War II, canned foods became more and more common, along with a smorgasbord of other pre-prepared, processed foods: Jellos, TV dinners, frozen peas, dehydrated juices, and eventually Tangs. On May 12th, 1965, Donald Goerke invented SpaghettiOs, the round, canned cousins of spaghetti. By 2010, over 150 million cans of SpaghettiOs were sold each year; put another way, on average, 720 mill...

The Soviet-German front that opened with Operation Barbarossa proved to be the decisive theater of the Second World War. Written by Ian Johnson. Narration by Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle. Video and textual versions of this podcast are available at ⁠https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/operation-barbarossa⁠. Production by Katherine Weiss, Dr. Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Laura Seeger. This is a production...