Twentieth Century
93 episodes · Page 4 of 4
#2654: The Bachelor Brothers Who Built a University
Two brothers, a silk collapse, and a land donation that became the University of Connecticut.
#2642: Who Takes Notes in the Situation Room?
The invisible people scribbling behind world leaders — and why their records shape history.
#2627: The Five Stans: What Makes Them Distinct
Five countries, millennia of history, and a surprising connection to Israel. A practical guide to Central Asia.
#2617: How Putin's Russia Actually Works vs. The Myth
Beyond the headlines: What daily life is really like inside Russia's personalist autocracy, and how history shaped it.
#2616: Is Democracy Actually What People Want?
A deep look at whether democracy is truly valued or just the socially acceptable position.
#2378: The Cooperative vs. Commercial Origins of Global News
From telegraphs to RSS feeds, discover how global news wires like Reuters and AP shaped factual reporting worldwide.
#2077: Why Big Armies Hate Their Best Soldiers
From WWII's fish oil raids to modern Green Beret teams, discover the real mechanics of elite military units.
#2054: From Dirt to Data: How Empires Conquered the Cloud
Why did we stop conquering land and start conquering servers? This episode traces the shift from soil to bits.
#1980: Why Ancient History Is So Violent: The "Juicy Bits" Bias
We think the ancient world was a non-stop slasher flick, but is that because the boring, peaceful parts just didn’t survive?
#1522: Rewriting History: The Global Fight Against Digital Distortion
Explore how digital platforms are re-engineering historical memory and why nearly 20% of young adults now question the facts of the Holocaust.
#1516: When Deception Becomes the Accusation
Discover how a literal naval trick evolved into a powerful weapon of modern information warfare and global distrust.
#1478: Who Owns the Truth? The Evolution of the Encyclopedia
From ancient Chinese archives to the legal war between Britannica and OpenAI, we explore the shifting battleground of human knowledge.
#1358: Why Did One Million Jews Vanish From the Arab World?
Explore the 2,700-year history and sudden 20th-century disappearance of Jewish communities across the Middle East and North Africa.
#1343: 1,100 Years in 11 Mottos: Compressing Human History
Can 1,100 years of history be boiled down to 11 sentences? Discover the "operating system" of every century from the 10th to the 19th.
#1305: The Victorian Flex: A Masterclass in Social Engineering
Discover how 19th-century dinner rules were used to exclude outsiders and how to use these ancient "bluffs" to signal social pedigree today.
#1137: The Accidental Border: How Gaza Got Its Shape
Why is the Gaza Strip shaped like that? Explore the military "glitch" that turned a 1949 armistice line into a permanent reality.
#1041: Before the Hum: Life in the Pre-Refrigeration Era
Explore the high-stakes world of food preservation, from 19th-century ice trades to the biological secrets of 50-year-old perpetual stews.
#577: The Shadow City: Why Sewers Are Civilization's Last Frontier
Explore the hidden world of urban infrastructure, from Victorian brickwork to AI-powered robots and the battle against the "fatberg."
#568: The Birth of the Border: How Countries Were Invented
How did we go from sprawling empires to rigid borders? Explore the history of the modern country, from Westphalia to the French Revolution.
#333: Before the CIA: The Secret History of Spying
Before the CIA, spying was a world of forged wax seals and secret post offices. Discover how intelligence evolved into an institution.
#327: Why We Choose to Live on Top of Each Other
From ancient Uruk to the "agricultural wall," explore why humans choose crowded cities over open spaces and the hidden costs of our urban obsession.