History with Dad

Hitler breaks the Nazi-Soviet pact and launches the largest invasion inhistory. Stalin panics, armies clash, and civilians are caught in the middle asthe Eastern Front erupts in fire, frost, and fury. In this episode of History with Dad , we followthe brutal opening phase of Operation Barbarossa: the fall of Kyiv, the siegeof Leningrad, and the desperate defense of Moscow. We meet resistance fight...

Born Lev Davidovich Bronstein, Trotsky was Lenin’s right-hand man, the mastermind of the Red Army, and Stalin’s biggest rival. In this Dad Tangent, we trace Trotsky’s rise, his dramatic exile, and his tragic end in Mexico—with an ice axe. History, betrayal, revolution—and yes, a few sharp-edged dad jokes.

How did a Georgian kid named Ioseb Jughashvili become Joseph Stalin, one of history’s most feared dictators? In this Dad Tangent, we dig into Stalin’s rise from seminary student to Soviet strongman. Hear how he outmaneuvered rivals, ruled with terror, and left a legacy soaked in fear—and grain quotas. It’s dark, it’s gripping, and yes, there’s still room for a dad joke or two.

Caught between Hitler’s Nazis and Stalin’s Soviets, Ukraine became one of the deadliest battlegrounds of World War II. In this episode, Dad unpacks the invasion, resistance, tragedy, and impossible choices Ukrainians faced. From Babyn Yar to the Red Army to stolen factories—this is the war like you’ve neverheard it. Heavy history, human stories, and a few dad jokes to help it go down.

In this Dad Tangent, we meet Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov—better known as Lenin. Yes, that Lenin. Revolutionary, political mastermind, and the guy who decided Russia needed a total system reboot. We’ll talk about his wild journey from exiled bookworm to leader of the Bolshevik Revolution, why he was obsessed with Marxism, and how one sealed train ride across Europe flipped history upside down. Oh—and i...

In Episode 3 of History with Dad , we plunge into the chaos of the early 20th century, when Europe was a pressure cooker and Ukraine was stuck between the lid and the flame. We’ll track how World War I broke out, how empires collapsed under the weight of their own ambitions, and how Ukraine’s brief shot at independence got tangled in revolution, invasion, and civil war. You’ll meet Rasputin, the c...

In this Dad Tangent, we take a detour into the bizarre life and even weirder death of Grigori Rasputin—the mystical monk who somehow became BFFs with the Russian royal family. Was he a healer? A fraud? A hypnotist? A time-traveling rock star who got lost on the way to the 1970s? We’ll look at how Rasputin earned the trust of Tsarina Alexandra, how he became a walking scandal, and how his enemies t...

In this Dad Tangent, we dig into one of the most dramatic “you’re free… but not really” moments in Ukrainian history: the abolition of serfdom. When Tsar Alexander II ended serfdom in the Russian Empire in 1861, millions of Ukrainian peasants were technically freed—but what did that freedom actually look like? Spoiler alert: it didn’t come with land, money, or much say in the matter. We’ll explore...

In this Dad Tangent, we explore what life was like when Ukraine was split between two very different empires: Russia in the east and Austria-Hungary in the west. It’s the 1800s, and depending on which side of the imperial border you lived on, your daily reality could be wildly different—laws, language, religion, and even your chances of publishing a poem without getting arrested. We’ll dive into v...

Welcome back to History with Dad ! In Episode 2, we dive into the turbulent 18th and 19th centuries, when the independent Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate vanished under pressure from Russian imperial rule. We’ll explore how Catherine the Great pulled a political disappearing act on the Hetmans, how life in Ukraine was dramatically different under the Russian Empire versus the Austro-Hungarian Empire,...

In this Dad Tangent, we zoom in on the empress with big ideas and even bigger land grabs – Catherine the Great. While she’s often remembered for art collections and Enlightenment vibes, in Ukraine, her legacy hits a little differently. We’ll break down how Catherine quietly erased the Ukrainian Hetmanate, why she saw the Cossack leaders as both useful and dangerous, and how the Russian Empire expa...

Long hair, wild mustaches, and zero interest in following rules — the Cossacks were the rockstars of the steppe. In this tangent, Dad takes you into the world of these legendary warriors, their battles, their bonfires, and what daily life was like when your job was part cowboy, part soldier, and part rebel. Saddle up — this is history with attitude.

You’ve heard of the Mongol hordes storming across the steppe, but did you know they also had the world’s fastest mail system, passport stations, and spy ponies? In this tangent, Dad explores the surprisingly advanced side of the Mongol Empire — the one with more paperwork than pillaging.

Pull up a chair and join Dad for History with Dad — the podcast where big history meets small ears (and curious grown-ups too). In this welcome episode, Dad shares how his own love of history started, why his kids’ endless questions inspired this podcast, and what you can expect in the episodes ahead. Spoiler alert: we’re talking Vikings, Tsars, Mongols, revolutions, and plenty of “Wait, that real...

From Viking adventurers to medieval alliances, Mongol invasions to royal betrayals — this episode dives into the tangled early history of Ukraine and Russia. Dad unpacks how Kyivan Rus, a medieval powerhouse, became the origin story both nations claim today. It’s a thousand-year saga of who ruled, who rebelled, and why the past still echoes loudly in the present.

In this first Dad Tangent, we sail back to the 9th century to meet Rurik — a Viking who somehow kick-started Russian and Ukrainian history — and the fiery Princess Olga of Kyiv, who took the phrase "don’t mess with grandma" to a whole new level. These stories didn’t make it into the main episode, but they’re too wild (and too fun) to leave out. It’s history’s weird side quest — and you’re coming a...