409. JFK: The Cuban Missile Crisis (Part 3)
After facing Nixon in America’s first televised electoral debate, JFK charms the nation. As president, he soon faces what could be the end o...
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Empire
How do empires rise? Why do they fall? And how have they shaped the world around us today? William Dalrymple and Anita Anand explore the stories, personalities and events of empire over the...
Episodes
20 of 422 episodes408. JFK: Nixon, McCarthy, & The Dark Side of Camelot (Part 2)
After his brother’s death in the skies over Britain, a young JFK must fulfil his father’s dynastic dream, but does he want it? The whole fam...
407. JFK: The Kennedy Curse Begins (Part 1)
John F. Kennedy, the youngest elected president of the United States, a man who charmed a nation. His tragic death in Dallas continues to in...
406. Norman Conquest: The First Crusade (Part 6)
How did Normans from Western Europe reach as far as Antioch in what is now Turkey? What was their role in The First Crusade? Who was the Byz...
405. Norman Conquest: Medieval Mafia Invade The East (Part 5)
They are best known for invading England in 1066, but the Normans conquered territories in the East too. Who was Robert The Weasel, and did...
404. Norman Conquest: Colonising Ireland (Part 4)
How did the Normans conquer the Celts on the fringes of their territory after 1066? What led to the events of the Norman Conquest of Ireland...
403. The Norman Conquests: The Battle of Hastings (Part 3)
For weeks, William the Conqueror has been stuck on the Normandy coast, waiting. Then the wind changes. The Normans land in England, and the...
402. The Norman Conquests: The Real Story of 1066 (Part 2)
Who was William the Conqueror? Who was Harold Godwinson? Who was Harald Hardrada? And how did these three rivals change the course of Englis...
401. The Norman Conquests: Secrets of the Bayeux Tapestry (Part 1)
The Bayeux Tapestry shows one of the defining moments in English history. But look closer at its dragon-prowed ships and its warriors, and t...
400. Stalin: A Poisonous Legacy (Part 6)
Fiona Hill is the leading authority on Russia and has been in the room with Putin and Trump. She joins Anita Anand and William Dalrymple to...
399. Stalin: Hitler’s Downfall At Stalingrad (Part 5)
Antony Beevor wrote the definitive book on the Battle of Stalingrad. He joins William Dalrymple and Anita Anand to discuss how Hitler and St...
398. Stalin: The Great Terror (Part 4)
Soon after Stalin’s purges and mass violence, Nazi soldiers launch a surprise invasion of the Soviet Union, opening up the Eastern Front of...
397. Stalin: Killing Trotsky (Part 3)
Was it an ice axe or an ice pick? The murder of Trotsky in Mexico is infamous, but what does it say about Stalin’s willingness to seek out a...
396. Stalin: The Bolshevik Revolution (Part 2)
Despite later mythology, Stalin was effectively a nobody during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Unlike Trotsky and Lenin, he was not on the...
395. Stalin: The Rise of A Tyrant (Part 1)
How did Stalin become one of the most ruthless dictators in World History? What was his childhood like in Georgia? How did he rise from a po...
394. Road To 9/11: Hijackers, CIA Failures, and America’s Darkest Day (Part 6)
How did the CIA fail to tell the FBI that known Al-Qaeda terrorists were already training inside the United States? Who was the calculated m...
393. Road To 9/11: Interviewing Bin Laden In The Caves of Tora Bora (Part 5)
What was it like to interview Osama bin Laden in the Tora Bora caves? Who were the other terrorists behind the infamous 1998 fatwa? How did...
392. Road To 9/11: Bin Laden vs Saudi Arabia (Part 4)
How did the Gulf War drive a permanent wedge between Osama bin Laden and the Saudi royal family? Why did the bin Laden family finally decide...
391. Road To 9/11: The Rise of Osama Bin Laden (Part 3)
Who were the bin Ladens, and how did they build a construction empire in Saudi Arabia? What was Osama bin Laden’s childhood like, and how wa...
390. Road To 9/11: The Soviet-Afghan War (Part 2)
Did the CIA actually fund Osama bin Laden during the Soviet-Afghan war? Who was Abdullah Azzam, the radical scholar who turned jihad into a...