Episode 37: Breaking the Pendulum

A special interview with military historians Dr. Mark Gerges, Dr. Jonathan Abel, and Dr. John Kuehn, experts on the Napoleonic era from the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

Napoleon cajoles the Austrians into signing a peace treaty... a treaty which practically guarantees another war in the future. He begins planning the expedition to Egypt, and we examine the rationales behind the campaign. A promising young republican general meets a tragic fate. ... Show More

An interview with the writer and historian Derek Davison, who helps us look past the myths and orientalist fantasies to see the Middle East as it actually was on the eve of Napoleon's arrival. Topics include: the unique and dysfunctional regime of the Mamelukes, religion, Ottoman ... Show More

A day at the crossroads of chance and destiny Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

Within the turmoil of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte stands out to his military superiors, first by defeating the British at Toulon, then by putting down a royalist mob in Paris when outnumbered four to one, with a “whiff of grapeshot”. Having finally shaken off the hu ... Show More

The match-up between sitting president John Adams, and his own vice president, Thomas Jefferson—an election so rife with backstabbing, mudslinging, and constitutional controversy that it nearly led to a civil war. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoic ... Show More

Media pundits love to say America is 'divided as never before' -- but how true is that? In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into multiple Congressional debacles, from that time a civil war almost happened (before the actual civil war) to that time one guy literally assault ... Show More

Lines are drawn, as Wayne LaPierre’s supremacy is tested, and the rift spills out into public. 

Elections are somewhere between sports and religions for the United States. It seems that, each and every time, people have problems with the official results. In this week's special two-part episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive deep into one of the most ridiculous elections in all of ... Show More

In the mid-1800s, the Camorra utilized a time of great political turmoil to raise their stature. But when an Italian minister realizes how much they've infiltrated into Neapolitan society, he begins a war against them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/ad ... Show More

<p>The presidential election will now go to a run-off—between candidates of political extremes. We ask how <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/11/20/chiles-voters-are-on-the-verge-of-a-terrible-mistake?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&utm_medium=podcast&utm_source=third- ... Show More

Both the left and right are likely to do well in France’s upcoming parliamentary poll, with President Emmanuel Macron’s party squeezed in the middle. The snap election could leave the country in chaos. In America, recreational use of weed is now commonplace, but what impact does ... Show More