logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2009
1h 5m

Yuma Totani, “The Tokyo War Crimes Trial...

Marshall Poe
About this episode
Most everyone has heard of the Nuremberg Trials. Popular books have been written about them. Hollywood made movies about them. Some of us can even name a few of the convicted (Hermann Goering, Albert Speer, etc.). But fewer of us know about what might be called “Nuremberg East,” that is, the Toyko trials held after the defeat of the Japanese in World War Two ... Show More
Up next
Yesterday
Jochen Hellbeck, "World Enemy No. 1: Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and the Fate of the Jews" (Penguin Group, 2025)
In the West, World War II is commonly understood as the Allies’ struggle against Nazism. Often elided, if not simply forgotten, is the Soviet Union’s crucial role in that fight. With this book, acclaimed historian Jochen Hellbeck rectifies this omission by relocating the ideologi ... Show More
1h 27m
Yesterday
Nina Wilen, "Securitizing the Sahel: Analyzing External Interventions and Their Consequences" (Oxford UP, 2025)
The Sahel has become a focal point of international security interventions, with external actors providing extensive security force assistance (SFA) to local military, police, and paramilitary forces. Securitizing the Sahel: Analyzing External Interventions and Their Consequences ... Show More
52m 1s
Nov 24
Marek Kohn, "The Stories Old Towns Tell: A Journey Through Cities at the Heart of Europe" (Yale UP, 2023)
Historic quarters in cities and towns across the middle of Europe were devastated during the Second World War—some, like those of Warsaw and Frankfurt, had to be rebuilt almost completely. They are now centers of peace and civility that attract millions of tourists, but the stori ... Show More
59m 34s
Recommended Episodes
Jan 2024
Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate
<p>The Warring States period brought Japan to its knees. It was a time of turbulence and treachery, with rival warlords fighting bitterly for control of the land. But by the dawn of the 17th century, one of Japan's 'Great Unifiers' had emerged victorious - Tokugawa Ieyasu, the fi ... Show More
29m 30s
Nov 2021
19: Concentration Camps... IN AMERICA?!: Japanese Incarceration
<div>After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, America became paranoid as hell, thinking every Japanese person in the U.S. was a spy. News flash: they weren’t. But that didn’t stop one of the ugliest chapters in American history from being written. Today, Bailey tells th ... Show More
41m 28s
Aug 2023
201 - Japanese Americans in WWII
<p>After the attack on Pearl Harbor, over 125,000 Japanese Americans living in the continental United States were incarcerated in prison camps. The majority of these were born in America and US citizens. This was authorised by an Executive Order from President Roosevelt.</p> <p>T ... Show More
1h 9m
Nov 2023
Operation Downfall: What if the Allies Invaded Japan?
<p>How would the Allied forces have forced the surrender of Japan had they not dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?</p><br><p>Operation Downfall was the planned invasion of Japan. It was expected to be a massive two part operation; bigger than D-Day and enormously costly. ... Show More
42m 51s
Sep 2023
WW2: How The War Ended
The Second World War officially ended on September 2nd 1945 - and it's estimated that around 3% of the Earth's population perished during the conflict. But what ultimately bought WW2 to an end - and how vital a role did the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki play in obtaining a J ... Show More
38m 16s
Apr 2024
The Original Kamikaze: The Mongol Invasions of Japan
<p>At the height of the Mongol Empire, Kublai Khan set his sights on the island of Japan. He launched two enormous invasions of that nation in 1274 and 1281 - but both of them were defeated, aided by sudden and disastrous storms that tore his fleets apart. The story of these kami ... Show More
29m 44s
Sep 2021
Part One: The Slavery Loving Fascist who Built Modern Japan
<p>Mia Wong is joined by Robert Evans to discuss Nobusuke Kishi.</p> <p><strong>FOOTNOTES:</strong></p> <ol> <li>Machiavelli’s Children Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan by Richard J. Samuels</li> <li>Chinese Comfort Women Testimonies from Imperial Japan’s Sex Slaves ... Show More
1h 2m
Aug 2017
What if the Nazis Had Won World War Two?
This episode is fifth in our Alternate History Week series, where I look at famous books of alternate history and discuss why I think their alternate timelines aren't plausible. The Man in the High Castle is Phillip K. Dick's most chilling book and the most famous example of alte ... Show More
15m 28s
Apr 2023
History of Everything: The Age of War in Japan
The Sengoku Period, also known as the Warring States Period, was a turbulent and violent period of Japanese history when rival warlords or daimyo fought bitterly for control of Japan. The period falls within the Muromachi period (Muromachi Jidai, 1333-1573 CE) of Japanese medieva ... Show More
1h 19m
Feb 2021
G. Girard and T. Lockley, "African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan" (Hanover Square Press, 2021)
The remarkable life of history's first foreign-born samurai and his astonishing journey from Northern Africa to the heights of Japanese society. When Yasuke arrived in Japan in the late 1500s, he had already traveled much of the known world. Kidnapped as a child, and trained into ... Show More
50m 43s