This week's pop quiz comes to us courtesy of a budding historian at Mr. Streeter's school! He asked about some details from our episode on George Patton a few weeks ago, and his questions were really deep and insightful. Thanks, Joshua, for sending these in--we love hearing from you (and everyone in our audience)!
Join us this week for a discussion on how and why the Americans revolted against King George III, the course that revolution took in the hearts and minds of the American people, and the hope seen at its end in the meeting between the King and America's ambassador, John Adams.
Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and tell us about any topics you'd like us to cover as we continue our journey to America's 250th birthday next summer!
The 15-Minute History Podcast team welcomes you to a new season of Sketches in History. This segment, just for kids, shows that history isn’t just a story—it’s an adventure. Join Lottie Archer as she dives into her extraordinary notebook, where sketches from history come to life.
In this episode, she goes back to early America to witness a great debate and compromise. She finds a building full of arguing state delegates. George Washington sits in the corner, his head bowed, as tensions in the room continue to rise. Then, one delegate rises to speak, and from this speech comes one of the greatest moments in American History. Your kids will learn about the compromise, how early Americans formed the Constitution, and experience the moments where its formation almost didn't happen!
Listen and subscribe to the 15-Minute History podcast to hear Sketches in History every other Thursday. Got a favorite historical moment? Share it with us at 15minutehistory@gmail.com, and it might just make its way into the notebook!
America is often described as a nation of ideas because its founders risked everything for principles in which they believed. But the revolutionaries had to overcome fears in their own hearts and those of their more hesitant countrymen. In this episode, Jon takes us through how America found these ideas, overcame those fears, and clung to hope of victory.
Join us for new episodes and discussions every Monday, and comment below with your questions and thoughts, or your own ideas, fears, and hopes. We love hearing from our audience!
In this week's episode, Joe and I discuss the Roman defeat at Teutoburg and how it reflected the Empire's military philosophy.
Join us for pop quizzes and "Sketches in History" episodes every Thursday, and send us your thoughts in the comments below!
Join us for a discussion on last week's episode with our regular guest Dan Lindsey! Apologies for some audio issues when he first arrived--he was a bit too close to the microphone...
Let us know your thoughts or ask questions in the comments below. We are excited to get this season going and hope you will join us every Monday for new episodes and discussions on American history.
Who were they? Were they even real? And why did they fade? Joe and Jon discuss some of history's most fascinating warriors in this week's pop quiz.
Join us this season for regular pop quizzes and our special "Sketches in History" episodes for younger listeners every Thursday. And post your comments, questions, and thoughts below.
Season Nine is here!!!
This year, we are joining Americans in celebrating our country's 250th birthday with episodes about our nation's history. In the season premier, Jon takes a look back at moments of political and cultural change to bring some context to the climate in America today.
Join us next week for our discussion and post comments, questions, and thoughts below. We are thrilled to be back for a new season and hope you will join us as we walk in history's footsteps fifteen minutes at a time.
In this week's episode, Joe follows up from our last pop quiz and asks about the knowledge lost in the Library of Alexandria, how its destruction affected other civilizations, and why preserving access to information is so important.
Join us on Monday for the start of Season 9!!
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History podcast team are republishing some of their favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on May 5, 2025.
Season 9 begins Monday, October 7!
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It was still dark. The group of men felt the breeze getting warmer as the eastern horizon began to show signs of light. One of the men, tall with no expression, watched as final preparations were made to a large object in front of the group.
The others saw the anxiety in his face in a way that only those had had been around him could discern. The man walked forward, spoke with some of the technicians, and watched them haul it away. It was going to a tower, visible in the distance. Conversations around him continued, but only because it seemed like they had to. Somehow, the silence would have been louder.
Not long after, notifications came from the tower; an all clear was given. At 5:29 a.m., a flash of light that was so brilliant it could be seen from 200 miles away blossomed in the desert. The mushroom cloud rose 40,000 feet into the air, and the shock wave was felt 100 miles from ground zero. The man who all that morning had worn no expression, would later recall remembering a Hindu scripture in that moment: "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
Another man who witnessed the test described the overwhelming impression it left: "A new thing had just been born; a new control; a new understanding of man, which man had acquired over nature." Another observer said, "The lighting effects beggared description. The whole country was lighted by a searing light with the intensity many times that of the midday sun."
Humanity had crossed a threshold.
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Join us as we show you the Manhattan Project, the reason behind the development of nuclear weapons, and the ethical implications of such an invention.
In this week's pop quiz, Joe asks about why and how military technologies fade from the battlefield.
Join us each week as we approach the start of the new season for new pop quizzes each Thursday. Comment below with your thoughts and ideas for new episodes!
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History podcast team are republishing some of their favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on October 10, 2022.
Season 9 begins Monday, October 7!
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Familiar to millions as the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien believed that myths used stories of heroes to inspire generations of readers. He began his writing career with a children’s book, and when his publisher asked for a sequel, Tolkien had to give it some thought. For much of his life, he had lamented the fact that much of English mythology had been destroyed by invading armies or imported from abroad. (For example, the most famous English myth, that of King Arthur, was a blend of Scottish and French stories.) On putting pen to paper for the first time on his magnum opus, The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien began to craft an alternate mythology for his homeland that would tell heroic tales that, he believed, were lacking in modern Britain.
Join us as we teach you about heroism through the eyes of J.R.R. Tolkien, how he incorporated heroism into stories, and how history influenced his view of heroes in fiction and real life.
In this episode, Joe asks about the changes in culture and education after the collapse of Rome, and we discuss some historical parallels to our own day.
Join us each week for Pop Quizzes, and comment below with your thoughts and suggestions for new episodes!
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History podcast team are republishing some of their favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on June 12, 2023.
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The dull hum of aircraft filled the morning air. German soldiers looked up from the French town of St. Lô, expecting to see a few enemy fighters bearing down on them. Their hearts froze in their chests as nearly a thousand bombers emerged from the clouds. They had heard of the devastation wrought by their enemy on the Fatherland’s cities, but St. Lô was only a tiny provincial settlement far from the Paris metropolis. In minutes, their world was aflame as Allied bombs exploded around them and tore flesh and metal apart in equal measure. The panzer division holding St. Lô was nearly annihilated in the first of three waves, and little was left as the sun reached its noon height. Then, the survivors heard engines approaching from the north and east in the direction of the Normandy beaches. Tanks and half-tracks bearing white stars swarmed through the town, finishing off the defenders and ripping open the Nazi left flank that had held the Allies back for over a month.
The Third United States Army is one of the best-known units of the Second World War. From the opening move on St. Lô in August 1944 to the war’s end nine months later, it liberated an area of Nazi-occupied Europe roughly the size of Afghanistan. Its soldiers were the best-trained men in the US Army, its officers and NCOs among the most professional in American military history, and its record of battle remains unsurpassed in enemy casualties inflicted and land covered. Most of the credit is due, of course, to the soldiers in tanks and trucks, but even the proudest of these would point to their commander as the man who made the Third Army such a terrifying weapon of war: General George S. Patton, Jr.
Join us for this special, double-length episode of 15-Minute History as we teach you about General George Patton, his life, leadership, heroism, and his effect on the world we know today.
This week, Joe asked about the soldiers who guard political leaders and why they sometimes turn on those whom they are sworn to protect. Why does it happen? What are the results? And could it happen today?
Join us every Thursday for pop quizzes, and comment below with your thoughts, questions, and suggestions for new episodes!
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History podcast team are republishing some of their favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on February 10, 2025.
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Seven years ago, Joe and I began this podcast with a two-part episode on the Second World War in Europe. Today, we fulfill a promise to longtime listeners with the first installment of the Pacific War--from Pearl Harbor to Midway. Join us next week for the second part next week.
This week's pop quiz takes a historic approach to Marketing 101. Joe gives us his thoughts on recent trends at American Eagle, Cracker Barrel, Budweiser, and a gun company that shall not be named. By looking at how these companies have performed recently in their brand appeal, we can draw some lessons about how businesses interact with customers and be more aware of changes in their messaging strategies.
Join us every Thursday until October when the new season starts for new pop quizzes, and comment below with your thoughts and suggestions for new topics!
Join Jon, Joe, and longtime guest host Dan as they discuss pivotal moments in history that could have gone very wrong, the effects of their outcomes, and the power of individual choice in each one.
If you would like to hear more discussions like this, let us know at 15minutehistory@gmail.com. As always, be sure to like, comment, and subscribe!
Welcome to the Pop Quiz! Every Thursday, one of the hosts will ask the other a question about history they must answer.
Have an idea for a topic? Send it to us at 15minutehistory@gmail.com or submit it to our website at https://www.15minutehistorypodcast.org. We promise not to give him any hints.
During the summer break, the 15-Minute History podcast team are republishing some of their favorite episodes. This episode originally aired on November 18, 2024.
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Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross—passed almost 17,000 classified documents to the Soviet Union for 30+ years. The information was so extensive and the volume so large, that Soviet intelligence initially suspected some of it might be disinformation, due to the high-ranking positions these spies held and the access they had. However, much of this intelligence was invaluable, influencing Soviet strategies during pivotal moments of World War II and the Cold War.
Join us as we teach you about one of the most notorious spy rings in modern history, The Cambridge Five, and the most prominent member, Kim Philby.
