Yesterday

310. The Origin of The Ashes & The Killer Cricket Scandal (Part 1)

How is the history of cricket completely intertwined with the history of the British Empire? What was the Bodyline Controversy of the 1930s and how did it nearly kill a player? Who was Don Bradman and why is he believed to be the greatest sportsperson of all time? Anita and Will ... Show More

49m 22s

Nov 20

309. Tintin, Nazis, & Soviets

What was the origin story of Hergé, the Belgian illustrator who created The Adventures of Tintin? How did an unlikely friendship transform Hergé’s life and lead him to draw Tintin crying in a comic strip for the first and only time? Anita and William navigate the turbulent hot w ... Show More

45m 37s

Nov 18

308. Asterix and Obelix, Babar The Elephant, & Colonial Cartoons

How did a story made up by a mother for her sick children turn into Babar The Elephant? Why did two immigrants to France create such a patriotically French cartoon in Asterix and Obelix? How should we feel about racist depictions of people of colour in beloved children’s cartoons ... Show More

47m 27s

Jul 2021

75. The East India Company

Tom and Dominic are joined by historian William Dalrymple to tell the fascinating and shocking story of the East India Company in the 18th century. How could a gang of “spectacularly corrupt” merchants conquer vast parts of Asia from a small office in London with just 35 employee ... Show More

1h 2m

Jul 2023

Chandragupta Maurya: Hero of India

Evolving from an obscure ancient ruler to a contemporary national icon, Chandragupta Maurya's story is finally being told. However, despite tales of leading empires and defeating the successors of Alexander the Great, there is no official record of his events- only moments tak ... Show More

37m 44s

Sep 2023

Peter Good, "The East India Company in Persia: Trade and Cultural Exchange in the Eighteenth Century" (Bloomsbury, 2022)

In 1747, the city of Kerman in Persia burned amidst chaos, destruction and death perpetrated by the city's own overlord, Nader Shah. After the violent overthrow of the Safavid dynasty in 1722 and subsequent foreign invasions from all sides, Persia had been in constant turmoil. On ... Show More

55m 40s

Aug 2023

The Magna Carta in America

What does a document written in 1215 in England have to do with the United States? The Magna Carta has supposedly influenced foundational documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In this episode, Don is joined by Eleanor Janega, the new co ... Show More

29m 39s

Sep 2022

Rise of the Persians

The Achaemenid Empire, or better known as the First Persian Empire, was one of the largest empires in History - led by Cyrus the Great it covered 2.1 million square miles. But where did it come from? And what do we know about their society? It was in their DNA to travel and ex ... Show More

44m 46s

Aug 2017

Betty S. Anderson, “A History of the Middle East: Rulers, Rebels, and Rogues (Stanford UP, 2016)

As the Middle East continues to become more topical to American and European audiences, a need for textbooks to teach the history of the region has become urgent. Some such textbooks take a topical approach, others use a chronological narrative. Betty Anderson‘s A History of the ... Show More

27m 11s

1. The East India Company