Latest Worldwari Podcast Episodes
Episode 101 Jack Prior
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew It - March 12, 2022 18:44 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 7 ratingsWar As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It is a podcast about the 712th Tank Battalion in particular and World War II in general. I'm Aaron Elson. In 2005 I recorded this interview with Dr. Jack Prior, a battalion surgeon in the 10th Armored Division. If you've seen Band of Brothers, and who hasn'...
56. "To Hell and Back" (1955)
World War II Movie Night - March 04, 2022 01:40 - 41 minutes ★★★★ - 41 ratingsTonight we look at 1955's "To Hell and Back," in which Audie Murphy plays himself, doing stuff he actually did in the War. Audie didn't like the movie, but Audie-nces did, making THaB mega-successful, and seemingly influential on WWII movies for decades to come... asides include, hmm, I guess th...
Episode 106: History at a Crossroads
Reflecting History - February 28, 2022 22:30 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratings"There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen." Vladimir Lenin's famous words beg the question: are some moments in history more significant than others? Are there "crossroads" time periods in history where a given path can branch into multiple different path...
A Marine on Tinian: Part 2
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew It - February 19, 2022 20:27 - 51 minutes ★★★★ - 7 ratingsThank you for sticking with War As My Father's Tank Battalion Knew It for the past three months while I was rewriting and expanding my first book, Tanks for the Memories, now available at aaronelson.com, ebay and amazon. War As My Father's Tank Battalion is about the 712th Tank Battalion in part...
55. "Munich - The Edge of War" (2022)
World War II Movie Night - February 11, 2022 01:50 - 48 minutes ★★★★ - 41 ratingsWorld War II Movie Night does its second (only?!) NEW movie with "Munich - The Edge of War." Jeremy Irons grows out the 'stache to play former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, a man whose actions vis-a-vis Hitler and the War are hotly debated to this day. The larger story of Chamberla...
Episode 105: The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas
Reflecting History - February 07, 2022 22:30 - 21 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratingsIs it possible to ever be truly happy? What if your happiness rests on a backbone of degradation and exploitation? Is it right to sacrifice the few for the many? What should be done about injustice in the world? All of these questions and more are contemplated in Ursula Le Guin's amazing short s...
46. History's Most Special: Ludendorff and Hindenburg
History's Most - January 25, 2022 17:07 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 26 ratingsIn the first episode of 2022, we discuss some of the topics seen in Alex's new book Hindenburg, Ludendorff & Hitler, including Erich Ludendorff's post-war writings and memoirs, which allow for a glimpse into his mental state following the harrowing defeat of World War I. As well, we examine Paul...
54. "The Guns of Navarone" (1961)
World War II Movie Night - January 21, 2022 01:41 - 46 minutes ★★★★ - 41 ratings"I'm the Guns of the Navarone!" World War II Movie Night tackles this 1961 listener pick that some consider alongside such big-budget epics as "The Great Escape" and "Bridge on the River Kwai." A successful novel became a successful movie considered a classic of high-adventure cinema... asides i...
Episode 104: Education in Nazi Germany
Reflecting History - January 17, 2022 22:30 - 44 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratingsFrom universities down to the Hitler Youth, the education system in 1930's Germany was co-opted by Nazi ideology. In what ways did the endorsement of Nazi ideals by prominent thinkers and intellectuals impact popular opinion? In what ways did the education system change to align itself with Nazi...
53. "1941" (1979)
World War II Movie Night - January 01, 2022 01:22 - 42 minutes ★★★★ - 41 ratingsYou might need a drink - or some other outlet - to get through tonight's episode, as World War II Movie Night tackles Steven Spielberg's forgotten WWII comedy, 1979's "1941". Spielberg was reportedly fraught with uncertainty in his first try at comedy, so he threw every kind of joke into "1941,"...
Episode 103: The Man Who Ended History
Reflecting History - December 27, 2021 22:30 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratingsFor as long as there has been history, there has been a struggle to interpret and analyze that history. Different perspectives, ideologies, and approaches permeate the study of the past. So which interpretation of history is the correct one? Could we all come to a consensus? What if we had a tim...
45. History's Most Holiday Special: Islands and Micronations (ft. Freddy Clifford)
History's Most - December 10, 2021 19:09 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 26 ratingsWe're back! In this episode, we are joined by Alex's brother Freddy to have a discussion about the history of some of the most isolated, sparsely populated, and unique places on the planet. From the world's most remote island in the South Atlantic, to an island in the South Pacific inhabited by ...
Episode 102: On Fantasy
Reflecting History - December 06, 2021 22:30 - 16 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratingsCan something be valuable, good, or useful if it isn't real? Depending on your answer to that and your definition of real, fantasy and science fiction may not qualify. But in this episode I argue for the positive benefits of reading and watching fantasy, why it's inherently valuable, how it help...
52. "The Pawnbroker" (1964)
World War II Movie Night - December 03, 2021 02:09 - 44 minutes ★★★★ - 41 ratingsWorld War II Movie Night delves into 1964's "The Pawnbroker." Many Jewish and Black groups objected to this movie upon its release, supposedly for negative stereotypes. Rod Steiger gives a career-jumpstarting performance as Sol Nazerman, an embittered Holocaust-survivor who runs an East Harlem p...
BONUS: History as a Process
Reflecting History - November 23, 2021 19:00 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratingsHey everybody, here is a bonus episode I released a few months ago on my Patreon feed. Hope you enjoy and have a great Thanksgiving. The recent discovery of "Dragon Man" and it's potential relationship to early humanity has created some level of controversy in history and archaeology circles. ...
Episode 101: Is the Human Element of History Exploitative?
Reflecting History - November 15, 2021 22:30 - 14 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratingsIs there a conflict between a zoomed-out historical approach that is focused on facts, events, and dates, versus a more bottom up approach that is focused on ordinary people and their experience of those facts, events, and dates? More recent popular histories and storytellers have focused on the...
51. "Where Eagles Dare" (1968)
World War II Movie Night - November 12, 2021 01:56 - 42 minutes ★★★★ - 41 ratingsYou won't know who to trust as World War II Movie Night goes "Where Eagles Dare." Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood lead an operation to rescue an American general from an impregnable German castle. Pretty clear-cut, right? Actually no. Unexpected events make clear something more is going on. Hi...
A Marine on Tinian Part 1
War As My Fathers Tank Battalion Knew It - November 03, 2021 15:11 - 43 minutes ★★★★ - 7 ratingsFirst off, I want to thank all of the listeners who stuck with Myfatherstankbattalion through a three month hiatus while I worked on the greatly expanded third edition of Tanks for the Memories, which is now available at Amazon in paperback, hardcover and for Kindle and will soon be available on...
Episode 100: Cast Away
Reflecting History - October 25, 2021 21:30 - 37 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratingsWell, I never thought I would make it to 100 episodes. But here we are. A sincere thank you to everyone reading this right now and to everyone who has ever taken the time to listen to this podcast. In this episode I do a deep dive into the movie "Cast Away" starring Tom Hanks from the year 20...
50. "Saving Private Ryan" (1998)
World War II Movie Night - October 22, 2021 00:47 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 41 ratingsIt's time for World War II Movie Night's 50th episode! We begin with a State of the Podcast address, which includes reflections, status-updates, thank-yous, and a couple announcements... Then we get into it: Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan." We look at how this pivotal movie from 1998 ch...
Episode 99: Humanistic Psychology Part II
Reflecting History - October 04, 2021 23:25 - 25 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratings"Don't reach for the stars, reach for the flowers." One of the appealing aspects of humanistic psychology is it's embrace of the ordinary and it's emphasis on the fundamental goodness of human beings. Is it true that human nature is fundamentally good as humanists like Abraham Maslow say? Or is ...
49. "Escape from Sobibor" (1987)
World War II Movie Night - October 01, 2021 01:31 - 42 minutes ★★★★ - 41 ratingsA little different tonight as World War II Movie Night explores the 1987 British TV movie, "Escape from Sobibor." Alan Arkin and Rutger Hauer star in this death-camp tale that hews closely to real events, and real people. Life in Sobibor is horrible, survival is always in doubt, and escape seems...
Episode 98: Humanistic Psychology Part I
Reflecting History - September 20, 2021 21:30 - 28 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratingsIn popular culture, there is often a morbid fascination with the psychology of evil, but what about the psychology of good? Social Psychology may get most of the headlines, but Humanistic Psychology could have just as much to say about human behavior. In his book "Transcend," psychologist Scott ...
48. "Paths of Glory" (1957)
World War II Movie Night - September 10, 2021 01:18 - 46 minutes ★★★★ - 41 ratingsGrab your pith helmet! Because tonight we cheat for the second time with a World War I movie, Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" from 1957. This tight, compact movie offers a unique anti-war theme. After an offensive goes badly, a vindictive general demands three soldiers be tried for cowardice ...
Episode 97: Mono No Aware
Reflecting History - August 30, 2021 22:00 - 20 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratingsIn a massive and seemingly uncaring universe, fatalism and the resignation of inevitability is one way to look at the world. The philosophical concept of Mono No Aware and Ken Liu's powerful short story "Mono No Aware" offer an alternative point of view through concepts of inherent beauty, the t...
44. History's Most Mysterious Religion (ft. Matthew McCarty)
History's Most - August 23, 2021 18:45 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 26 ratingsIn this episode, we are joined by author, historian, and archaeologist, Dr. Matthew McCarty, for a discussion about one of the most enigmatic religions ever: Mithraism. A religion in stark contrast to the other contemporaries, Mithraism was often practiced in small, dark temples as opposed wide ...
47. "Fat Man and Little Boy" (1989)
World War II Movie Night - August 20, 2021 01:29 - 43 minutes ★★★★ - 41 ratingsFelix and Oscar got nothing on Groves and Oppenheimer, the original atomic odd-couple. This 1989 film portrays Los Alamos, the Manhattan Project, and the eventual Trinity Test. Military and Scientists butt heads about how to use the awesome power they're about to unleash. Watch a fictional-yet-f...
Episode 96: Running From Bondage with Karen Cook Bell
Reflecting History - August 09, 2021 22:00 - 44 minutes ★★★★★ - 75 ratingsIn this episode I sat down with historian Karen Cook Bell to talk about her book Running from Bondage: Enslaved Women and Their Remarkable Fight for Freedom in Revolutionary America. We discussed life as a female slave in the Revolutionary period, forms of overt and covert resistance to slavery,...
43. History's Most Misunderstood Defeat (ft. Chris Millington)
History's Most - August 09, 2021 04:30 - 1 hour ★★★★ - 26 ratingsIn this episode, we are joined by historian, professor, and author of the book France in the Second World War, Chris Millington. With him, we take a deep, reevaluating look at the 1940 fall of France, questioning the popular narrative of French cowardice, lack of preparation, and inferior milita...
Announcement: New Video Series
History's Most - August 01, 2021 05:28 - 2 minutes ★★★★ - 26 ratingsHi everyone! We're starting a new video series over on our YouTube channel about Britain's 1931 crisis called The Crisis. In it, we'll be looking at the key figures involved, the decisions they made, and the events as they happened, week by week, and sometimes day by day. And don't worry: this...
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