June 4, 1941. Reinhard Heydrich transmits a message to all regional governors in the Third Reich: prepare for “action against occult teachings.”
Heydrich is carrying out the orders of Adolf Hitler, who is furious at his Deputy Führer, Rudolf Hess. Inspired by a horoscope reading, Hess decided to fly a secret mission to Great Britain and sue for peace. But H ... Show More
Yesterday
A Meteorite Hits Ann Hodges
November 30, 1954. At about 12:45 in the afternoon, a space rock comes plummeting through the roof of a house in Sylacauga, Alabama. It bounces off a stand-up radio, ricochets around the living room, and collides with the thigh of Mrs. Ann Hodges, who’s been napping on the couch. ... Show More
37m 23s
Nov 17
Ken Burns Reimagines the American Revolution | A Conversation with Ken Burns & Sarah Botstein
November 16, 1776. George Washington rows toward Manhattan to inspect the fort that bears his name, only to meet a full-scale British assault already underway. By afternoon, Fort Washington has fallen, and General Washington is forced to abandon New York City.
The Continental A ... Show More
38m 45s
Nov 10
The Grinnell 14 Take On the Bomb (feat. Peter Coyote)
November 16, 1961. Fourteen college students from Iowa have driven nearly a thousand miles to the White House. They’re fasting, protesting, and calling for an end to nuclear bomb testing. These students, later known as the Grinnell 14, will help ignite the student peace movement ... Show More
27m 56s
Jul 2025
Mein Kampf: Hitler's dark vision for the future
Published 100 years ago in 1925, Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf was one of the most consequential books of the 20th century. It laid out Hitler's political ideology and future aspirations, as well as making the Nazi leader a lot of money. In more recent times, Mein Kampf has continued ... Show More
24m 55s
Sep 2
Part One: How Heinrich Himmler Went From Nerdy Boy To Master of the SS
Robert sits down with Prop to discuss the early life of Heinrich Himmler, the man who built the SS into Hitler's engine of genocide. (6 part series) LIVE SHOW ALERT: We are doing a new Behind the Bastards Live show! In the Alberta Rose Theatre, Portland, September 25th at 8pm! Al ... Show More
1h 10m
Jan 2025
528. The Nazis' Road to War: Hitler Prepares to Strike (Part 1)
Throughout the course of the 1930s, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party has overwhelmingly, terrifyingly seized power in Germany. Now, Hitler’s vile ambitions have turned to Czechoslovakia. On the 12th of September 1938 at the Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, he rabidly defended the suppo ... Show More
1h 1m
Dec 2024
Richard J. Evans, "Hitler's People: The Faces of the Third Reich" (Penguin, 2024)
Richard Evans, author of the acclaimed The Third Reich Trilogy and over two dozen other volumes on modern Europe, is our preeminent scholar of Nazi Germany. Having spent half a century searching for the truths behind one of the most horrifying episodes in human history, in Hitler ... Show More
1h 2m
Jun 2023
Rise to Power: Night of the Long Knives
To ward off the Western Allies, Hitler takes a trip to Venice to visit Mussolini. At home, meanwhile, Hitler’s paramilitaries, the SA, are growing restless. In a final savage act, the mother of all purges, Hitler will liquidate anyone who has ever wronged him. Under the unassaila ... Show More
54m 23s
Jul 2022
Hitler’s Henchmen: Heinrich Himmler Pt. 2
With his power secured, Himmler began a wave of terror that started in Germany and spread throughout Europe. Today we’re covering how he convinced Hitler to sanction the Nuremberg Laws, supplied Hitler with the pretext to invade Poland, and developed the Final Solution in a devas ... Show More
50m 9s
Sep 19
#481 – Norman Ohler: Hitler, Nazis, Drugs, WW2, Blitzkrieg, LSD, MKUltra & CIA
Norman Ohler is a historian and author of "Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich," a book that investigates the role of psychoactive drugs, particularly stimulants such as methamphetamine, in the military history of World War II. It is a book that two legendary historians Ian Kershaw ... Show More
4h 31m
May 2023
Rise to Power: Adolf Hitler’s Day in Court
Munich, Germany. November 1923. The Nazis have just attempted to launch a revolution. But instead, Adolf Hitler now finds himself on the run from the law. Unless he makes it to the border, the firing squad beckons. But in fact, as unlikely as it seems, Hitler is about to take Ger ... Show More
50m 54s
Jun 2023
Rise to Power: Hitler’s Secret Family
After the Wall Street Crash, the Germany economy nosedives. The Nazis find themselves within grasp of government. As Adolf Hitler makes headlines across Europe, secret relatives come out of the woodwork. With Hitler’s newfound fame comes the whiff of scandal, and a personal trage ... Show More
1h 2m