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HISTORY This Week

HISTORY This Week

By: The HISTORY® Channel | Back Pocket Studios
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 This week, something big happened. You might have never heard of it, but this moment changed the course of history. A HISTORY Channel original podcast, HISTORY This Week gives you insight into the people—both famous and unknown—whose decisions reshaped the world we live in today. Through interviews with experts and eyewitnesses, each episode will give you a new perspective on how history is written. Stay up-to-date at historythisweekpodcast.com and to get in touch, email us at historythisweek@history.com. HISTORY This Week is a production of Back Pocket Studios in partnership with the History Channel.© A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • Inside the Nazis’ Supernatural Obsession | A Conversation with Historian Eric Kurlander

    Inside the Nazis’ Supernatural Obsession | A Conversation with Historian Eric Kurlander
    Jun 2 2025
    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 Hess crash-lands in Scotland—the plan doesn’t pan out—and his failure becomes an international embarrassment. So in retaliation, Hitler cracks down on mysticism throughout Germany. Magicians, spiritualists, and faith healers are arrested, their homes get searched, and their books are confiscated. And yet, the “Hess Action” only lasts a few weeks. Because Hitler and many of the top Nazi leaders are also obsessed with the occult, the supernatural, and the fringes of science. How does Nazi Germany embrace the metaphyiscal, mysticism, and mythology? And how do they use these ideas to strengthen their fascist regime? This episode features a conversation with Eric Kurlander, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of History at Stetson University and author of Hitler's Monsters: A Supernatural History of the Third Reich. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    41 mins
  • How the Whitman Murders Redefined the American West

    How the Whitman Murders Redefined the American West
    May 26 2025
    May 30, 1855. Five thousand Native Americans come to Walla Walla to negotiate a treaty. However, it’s not exactly a fair negotiation – the territorial governor basically tells these tribes that they have no choice but to live on reservations in order to maintain peace. This moment comes in the wake of a violent time in the Pacific Northwest, a period started by the killing of Christian missionaries—namely, Marcus and Narcissa Whitman—by the Cayuse tribe. In the wake of their deaths, the Whitmans are portrayed throughout the United States as martyrs; the Cayuse, as a problem to be dealt with. But in reality, the backstory behind these murders is a lot more complicated. How did things go so wrong between the Cayuse and the Whitmans? And how did these missionaries’ deaths lead to a massive expansion of the United States? Special thanks to Bobbie Conner, director of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute; and Blaine Harden, former correspondent for the Washington Post and author of Murder at the Mission: A Frontier Killing, Its Legacy of Lies, and the Taking of the American West. We also consulted another great book putting this episode together, Unsettled Ground: The Whitman Massacre and Its Shifting Legacy in the American West by Cassandra Tate. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    39 mins
  • A Vicious Beating on the Senate Floor

    A Vicious Beating on the Senate Floor
    May 19 2025
    May 22, 1856. Charles Sumner isn’t worried about making friends in the Senate. His rhetoric is inflammatory, almost intentionally. He’s an ardent abolitionist in a time when people are still enslaved throughout the South. In his most recent speech, Sumner attacked his colleagues directly, especially pro-slavery Senator Andrew Butler. Butler’s cousin, Preston Brooks, is also in Congress, and as a southern gentleman, he decides he has to do something to retaliate. What pushes Preston Brooks to assault Charles Sumner on the Senate floor? And how does this attack help drive Americans towards civil war? Special thanks to Steve Puleo, author of The Great Abolitionist: Charles Sumner and the Fight for a More Perfect Union. Two other books we used to put this episode together: Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War by David Donald, and The Caning of Charles Sumner by Williamjames Hull Hoffer. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    42 mins
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This is the best history podcast I have found by far. It is interesting, the speakers aren't monotone and its very informative. I LOVE IT!

BEST History podcast EVER

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to find and then tell a good story is difficult. You do it well!

love the stories!!!

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This podcast is everything. I love it. If you are a history buff, you will love this. If you aren’t, you should listen anyway because you get history on digestible bits.

Love this podcast soooooo much!

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