In 1974, a Japanese soldier named Hiroo Onoda emerged from the Philippine jungle, unaware that World War 2 had been over for nearly 30 years. During those three decades, Onoda waged a murderous guerilla insurgency against the residents of Lubang island, leaving a trail of corpses and broken lives in his wake. Meanwhile, the defeated Empire of Japan was undergoing a radical transformation that would reshape the trajectory of East Asia. In this standalone episode of Conflicted, we weave these two parallel stories together into an examination of the nature of loss, persistence, and hope. SOURCES: Ballinger-Fletcher, Zita. “Was Hiroo Onoda a Soldier or Serial Killer?” History Net. May 2 2023. Betuel, Emma. “73 Years Later, The A-Bomb Trees Still Grow in Hiroshima” Inverse. Aug 6 2018. Buruma, Ian. Year Zero. A History of 1945. 2013.  Dower, John W. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. 1999. Gallicchio, Marc. Unconditional: The Japanese Surrender in World War II. 2020.  Harmsen, Peter. War in the Far East: Asian Armageddon 1944-1945. 2021. Onoda, Hiroo. No Surrender: My Thirty Year War. 1974. Paine, S.C.M. The Japanese Empire. 2017.  Spector, Ronald. In The Ruins Of Empire. 2007.  Toll, Ian W. Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific 1944-1945. 2020.  Walker, Brett L. A Concise History of Japan. 2015. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 17th, 1991, Operation Desert Storm begins. As President Bush braces for high casualties, Saddam Hussein desperately seeks a path to survival. In Baghdad, Coalition air forces rain hell on Iraqi soldiers and civilians alike, while American diplomats scramble to defuse a potential crisis in Israel. US infantrymen come face-to-face with the fourth largest army in the world…with surprising results. As oil wells burn and journalists jockey for access, the war reaches a bloody climax at the “Highway of Death”.  SOURCES: Aburish, Said K. Saddam Hussein: The Politics of Revenge. 2000. Atkinson, Rick. Crusade: The Untold Story of the Gulf War. 1993. Al-Radi, Nuha. Baghdad Diaries. 1998. Baudrillard, Jean. The Gulf War Did Not Take Place. 1991.  Bergen, Peter L. The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden. 2021. Charles Rivers Editors. The Gulf War. 2018. Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars. 2004. Coll, Steve. Branigin, William. “US scrambled to shape view of ‘Highway of Death’”. 3.11.1991. Corrigan, Jim. Desert Storm Air War. 2017. Coughlin, Con. Saddam: His Rise and Fall. 2005.  DeGhett, Torie Rose. “The War Photo No One Would Publish”. 8.8.2014. Dunnigan, James F. Macedonia, Raymond M. Getting It Right. 1995.  Engel, Jeffrey A. When the World Seemed New.  Finlan, Alastair. The Gulf War 1991. 2003.  Gordon, Michael R. Trainer, Bernard E. The General’s War. 1995.  “The Gulf War” / FRONTLINE. PBS. Jan 9, 1996. Hallion, Richard P. Desert Storm 1991. 2022.  Hiro, Dilip. Desert Shield to Desert Storm: The Second Gulf War. 1991.  Hiro, Dilip. Cold War in the Islamic World. 2018. Karsh, Efraim. The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988. 1989. Karsh, Efraim. Rautsi, Inari. Saddam Hussein. A Political Biography. 1991. Khadduri, Majid. Ghareeb, Edmund. War in the Gulf, 1990-1991. 1999. Jarecke, Kenneth. Cervenka, Exene. Just Another War. 1991.   Lockwood, Stuart. 2015 June 5. “That’s Me In The Picture”. The Guardian. MacArthur, John R. Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the 1991 Gulf War. 1992.  Mufson, Steven. 1990 Aug 6. “Kuwait Assets Form Vast, Frozen Empire”. The Washington Post. Murray, Williamson. Woods, Kevin M. The Iran-Iraq War. 2014. Meacham, Jon. Destiny and Power. 2015. Morris, David J. Storm on the Horizon. 2004.  Riedel, Bruce. Kings and Presidents: Saudi Arabia and the United States. 2019. Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead. 2003.  Woodward, Bob. 1991, May 4. “Regal Audience for a Forceful Presence”. The Washington Post Wyndham, Buck. Hogs in the Sand. 2020.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you’re a fan of Conflicted, we think you’ll enjoy this special featured episode of The French History Podcast. In this episode, host Dr. Gary Girod breaks down what really happened at the Battle of Poitiers, one of the largest battles in early Medieval Western Europe. But was it the cataclysm so many people think it was?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the Iraqi army digs into Kuwait, the world considers how to respond to Saddam Hussein’s breach of national sovereignty. President George H.W. Bush vows that the aggression “will not stand” and begins assembling an international coalition to force a withdrawal. Invited into Saudi Arabia, the recently reformed American military prepares for an eventual confrontation with Iraq’s battle-hardened forces. Meanwhile, a hostage crisis unfolds and a domestic debate threatens to fracture Bush’s Coalition.  SOURCES: Aburish, Said K. Saddam Hussein: The Politics of Revenge. 2000. Atkinson, Rick. Crusade: The Untold Story of the Gulf War. 1993. Al-Radi, Nuha. Baghdad Diaries. 1998. Baudrillard, Jean. The Gulf War Did Not Take Place. 1991.  Bergen, Peter L. The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden. 2021. Charles Rivers Editors. The Gulf War. 2018. Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars. 2004. Coll, Steve. Branigin, William. “US scrambled to shape view of ‘Highway of Death’”. 3.11.1991. Corrigan, Jim. Desert Storm Air War. 2017. Coughlin, Con. Saddam: His Rise and Fall. 2005.  Dunnigan, James F. Macedonia, Raymond M. Getting It Right. 1995.  Engel, Jeffrey A. When the World Seemed New.  Finlan, Alastair. The Gulf War 1991. 2003.  Gordon, Michael R. Trainer, Bernard E. The General’s War. 1995.  “The Gulf War” / FRONTLINE. PBS. Jan 9, 1996. Hallion, Richard P. Desert Storm 1991. 2022.  Hiro, Dilip. Desert Shield to Desert Storm: The Second Gulf War. 1991.  Hiro, Dilip. Cold War in the Islamic World. 2018. Karsh, Efraim. The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988. 1989. Karsh, Efraim. Rautsi, Inari. Saddam Hussein. A Political Biography. 1991. Khadduri, Majid. Ghareeb, Edmund. War in the Gulf, 1990-1991. 1999.  Lockwood, Stuart. 2015 June 5. “That’s Me In The Picture”. The Guardian. Mufson, Steven. 1990 Aug 6. “Kuwait Assets Form Vast, Frozen Empire”. The Washington Post. Murray, Williamson. Woods, Kevin M. The Iran-Iraq War. 2014. Meacham, Jon. Destiny and Power. 2015. Morris, David J. Storm on the Horizon. 2004.  Riedel, Bruce. Kings and Presidents: Saudi Arabia and the United States. 2019. Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead. 2003.  Woodward, Bob. 1991, May 4. “Regal Audience for a Forceful Presence”. The Washington Post Wyndham, Buck. Hogs in the Sand. 2020.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded the tiny emirate of Kuwait. The resulting conflict triggered a chain reaction that changed the world. In this first installment in a three-part series, we trace the origins of the Kuwait crisis, chronicle Saddam’s rise to power in Iraq, and explore America’s symbiotic relationship with the Persian Gulf.  SOURCES: Aburish, Said K. Saddam Hussein: The Politics of Revenge. 2000. Atkinson, Rick. Crusade: The Untold Story of the Gulf War. 1993. Al-Radi, Nuha. Baghdad Diaries. 1998. Charles Rivers Editors. The Gulf War. 2018. Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars. 2004. Coll, Steve. Branigin, William. “US scrambled to shape view of ‘Highway of Death’”. 3.11.1991. Corrigan, Jim. Desert Storm Air War. 2017. Coughlin, Con. Saddam: His Rise and Fall. 2005.  Dunnigan, James F. Macedonia, Raymond M. Getting It Right. 1995.  Finlan, Alastair. The Gulf War 1991. 2003.  Gordon, Michael R. Trainer, Bernard E. The General’s War. 1995.  Hallion, Richard P. Desert Storm 1991. 2022.  Hiro, Dilip. Desert Shield to Desert Storm: The Second Gulf War. 1991.  Hiro, Dilip. Cold War in the Islamic World. 2018. Karsh, Efraim. The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988. 1989. Karsh, Efraim. Rautsi, Inari. Saddam Hussein. A Political Biography. 1991. Khadduri, Majid. Ghareeb, Edmund. War in the Gulf, 1990-1991. 1999.  Mufson, Steven. 1990 Aug 6. “Kuwait Assets Form Vast, Frozen Empire”. The Washington Post. Murray, Williamson. Woods, Kevin M. The Iran-Iraq War. 2014. Meacham, Jon. Destiny and Power. 2015. Morris, David J. Storm on the Horizon. 2004.  Riedel, Bruce. Kings and Presidents: Saudi Arabia and the United States. 2019. Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead. 2003.  Wyndham, Buck. Hogs in the Sand. 2020.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Where does the two-day weekend come from? In this standalone episode of Conflicted, we trace the historical trajectory of that oasis of leisure and free time we call “the weekend”.  From its mystical beginnings in the religions of antiquity to its hard-fought development in Gilded Age America, we’ll untangle the surprising origins of everyone’s favorite part of the week.  SOURCES: Hunnicutt, Benjamin. Free Time: The Forgotten American Dream. 2013. Onstad, Katrina. The Weekend Effect. 2017.  Loomis, Erik. A History of America in Ten Strikes. 2018. Murolo, Priscilla. Chitty, A.B. From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend. 2001. Green, James. Death in Haymarket. 2006.  Brecher, Jeremy. STRIKE! 1972.  Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. 1980. Thomas, Gordan. Morgan-Witts, Max. The Day the Bubble Burst. 1979. BBC. (2019, September 5). Who invented the weekend? BBC Bitesize. Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. “Presidential Speeches: Downloadable Data.” Accessed Feb 19, 2023. data.millercenter.org  Captivating History. The Industrial Revolution. 2020.  Grossman, Jonathan. “Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage.” Monthly Labor Review 101, no. 6 (1978): 22–30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41840777. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a plot to assassinate Mohandas Gandhi unfolds, the Mahatma goes to existential lengths to reconcile India’s Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities. Meanwhile, a shadow war erupts between India and Pakistan over the picturesque kingdom of Kashmir, threatening the future of both nations. Jawaharlal Nehru bids farewell to friends, a lover, and the innocence of the nation he must now lead. A dying Muhammed Ali Jinnah reflects on his choices.  Sources: Akbar, M.J. Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. 2011. Tharoor, Shashi. Nehru: The Invention of India. 2003. Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What The British Did To India. 2017. Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2007. Guha, Ramachandra. Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World. 2018. Collins, Larry; Lapierre, Dominique. Freedom at Midnight. 1975.  Sarila, Narendra Singh. The Shadow of the Great Game. 2005. Charles Rivers Editors. The Punjab. 2018. Charles Rivers Editors. British India. 2017. Puri, Kavita. Partition Voices: Untold British Stories. 2019. Malhotra, Aanchal. Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects From A Continent Divided. 2017. Von Tunzelmann, Alex. Indian Summer. 2007. Zakaria, Anam. The Footprints of Partition. 2015. Ahmed Akbar. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity. 1997. Urvashi, Butalia. The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. 1998. White-Spunner, Barney. Partition. 2017. Lawrence, James. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. 1997. Hamdani, Yasser Latif. Jinnah: A Life. 2020. Fischer, Louis. Gandhi. 1950.  Kidwai, Anis. In Freedom’s Shade. 2011.  Saxena, Chandni. “ON RELIGION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON WOMEN DURING PARTITION OF INDIA.” 2014.  “India: A People Partitioned” Broadcast on the BBC World Service, 1997. Compiled and presented by Andrew Whitehead, producer Zina Rohan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The “chief sufferers” of Partition, according to Mohandas Gandhi, were women. As the subcontinent descended into chaos, women of all three religious communities become prime targets in the war for honor and land. Across the Punjab, tens of thousands of women and girls were assaulted, abducted and trafficked across the border. In response, the governments of India and ­Pakistan worked together to recover them – with mixed, and tragic, results.  Sources: Akbar, M.J. Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. 2011. Tharoor, Shashi. Nehru: The Invention of India. 2003. Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What The British Did To India. 2017. Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2007. Guha, Ramachandra. Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World. 2018. Sarila, Narendra Singh. The Shadow of the Great Game. 2005. Charles Rivers Editors. The Punjab. 2018. Charles Rivers Editors. British India. 2017. Puri, Kavita. Partition Voices: Untold British Stories. 2019. Malhotra, Aanchal. Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects From A Continent Divided. 2017. Von Tunzelmann, Alex. Indian Summer. 2007. Zakaria, Anam. The Footprints of Partition. 2015. Ahmed Akbar. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity. 1997. Urvashi, Butalia. The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. 1998. White-Spunner, Barney. Partition. 2017. Lawrence, James. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. 1997. Hamdani, Yasser Latif. Jinnah: A Life. 2020. Fischer, Louis. Gandhi. 1950.  Kidwai, Anis. In Freedom’s Shade. 2011.  Saxena, Chandni. “ON RELIGION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON WOMEN DURING PARTITION OF INDIA.” 2014.  “India: A People Partitioned” Broadcast on the BBC World Service, 1997. Compiled and presented by Andrew Whitehead, producer Zina Rohan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Partition finally becomes reality in August 1947, the new boundary sparks a mass migration in the Punjab and Bengal. Atrocity and ethnic cleansing soon follow. The Sikhs, a long-ignored but well-armed religious minority, mobilize to stake their claim. Edwina Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru plunge into the fray, desperate to assuage a refugee crisis in the city of Delhi.  Sources: Akbar, M.J. Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. 2011. Tharoor, Shashi. Nehru: The Invention of India. 2003. Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What The British Did To India. 2017. Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2007. Guha, Ramachandra. Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World. 2018. Sarila, Narendra Singh. The Shadow of the Great Game. 2005. Charles Rivers Editors. The Punjab. 2018. Charles Rivers Editors. British India. 2017. Puri, Kavita. Partition Voices: Untold British Stories. 2019. Malhotra, Aanchal. Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects From A Continent Divided. 2017. Von Tunzelmann, Alex. Indian Summer. 2007. Zakaria, Anam. The Footprints of Partition. 2015. Ahmed Akbar. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity. 1997. Urvashi, Butalia. The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. 1998. White-Spunner, Barney. Partition. 2017. Lawrence, James. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. 1997. Hamdani, Yasser Latif. Jinnah: A Life. 2020. Fischer, Louis. Gandhi. 1950.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s 1947. After many long years of struggle, India is about to gain its independence from the British Empire. But freedom will come at a cost. To facilitate the handover of power, the Crown sends Lord Louis Mountbatten – the last Viceroy – to hammer out a deal between the competing political factions. Muhammed Ali Jinnah battles his terminal illness and uncovers a shocking secret. Jawaharlal Nehru falls for a captivating woman. And all the while, India’s Muslim and Hindu communities prepare for a bloody civil war.   Sources: Akbar, M.J. Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. 2011. Tharoor, Shashi. Nehru: The Invention of India. 2003. Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What The British Did To India. 2017. Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2007. Guha, Ramachandra. Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World. 2018. Sarila, Narendra Singh. The Shadow of the Great Game. 2005. Charles Rivers Editors. The Punjab. 2018. Charles Rivers Editors. British India. 2017. Puri, Kavita. Partition Voices: Untold British Stories. 2019. Malhotra, Aanchal. Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects From A Continent Divided. 2017. Von Tunzelmann, Alex. Indian Summer. 2007. Zakaria, Anam. The Footprints of Partition. 2015. Ahmed Akbar. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity. 1997. Urvashi, Butalia. The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. 1998. White-Spunner, Barney. Partition. 2017. Lawrence, James. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. 1997. Hamdani, Yasser Latif. Jinnah: A Life. 2020. Fischer, Louis. Gandhi. 1950.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the British Raj crumbles, old animosities begin to stir in the subcontinent’s communities. Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru face a formidable new adversary in the form of Muhammed Ali Jinnah, who calls for the creation of a separate Muslim nation - Pakistan. Hindu-Muslim tensions, fueled by political polarization and corrosive rhetoric, explode into sectarian violence during the Great Calcutta Killing of August 1946.  Sources: Akbar, M.J. Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. 2011. Tharoor, Shashi. Nehru: The Invention of India. 2003. Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What The British Did To India. 2017. Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2007. Guha, Ramachandra. Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World. 2018. Sarila, Narendra Singh. The Shadow of the Great Game. 2005. Charles Rivers Editors. The Punjab. 2018. Charles Rivers Editors. British India. 2017. Puri, Kavita. Partition Voices: Untold British Stories. 2019. Malhotra, Aanchal. Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects From A Continent Divided. 2017. Von Tunzelmann, Alex. Indian Summer. 2007. Zakaria, Anam. The Footprints of Partition. 2015. Ahmed Akbar. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity. 1997. Urvashi, Butalia. The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. 1998. White-Spunner, Barney. Partition. 2017. Lawrence, James. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. 1997. Hamdani, Yasser Latif. Jinnah: A Life. 2020. Fischer, Louis. Gandhi. 1950.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the summer of 1947, the British Raj relinquished its hold over the Indian subcontinent. In its wake, two new nations were created: India and Pakistan. The hastily-drawn border between the countries slashed through communities and bisected entire provinces, triggering one of the largest forced migrations in human history. In the first episode of a multi-part series, we examine the twilight years of the British in India, as well as the forceful personalities who helped loosen its colonial grip. From Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru to the elegant Earl of Mountbatten, we’ll begin assembling the cast that that will be forced to grapple with the looming crisis.  Sources: Akbar, M.J. Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. 2011. Tharoor, Shashi. Nehru: The Invention of India. 2003. Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What The British Did To India. 2017. Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2007. Guha, Ramachandra. Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World. 2018. Sarila, Narendra Singh. The Shadow of the Great Game. 2005. Charles Rivers Editors. The Punjab. 2018. Charles Rivers Editors. British India. 2017. Puri, Kavita. Partition Voices: Untold British Stories. 2019. Malhotra, Aanchal. Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects From A Continent Divided. 2017. Von Tunzelmann, Alex. Indian Summer. 2007. Zakaria, Anam. The Footprints of Partition. 2015. Ahmed Akbar. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity. 1997. Urvashi, Butalia. The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. 1998. White-Spunner, Barney. Partition. 2017. Lawrence, James. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. 1997. Hamdani, Yasser Latif. Jinnah: A Life. 2020. Fischer, Louis. Gandhi. 1950.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On September 1st, 1983, a South Korean commercial airliner inexplicably drifted 200 miles off course into restricted Soviet airspace. In response, a Soviet fighter plane intercepted the aircraft, fired two missiles, and shot it down, killing all 269 people on board. In this standalone episode, we examine one of the most enduring outrages of the Cold War, a mystery that baffled investigators and inflamed political animus for more than a decade.  SOURCES: Degani, Asaf. Taming HAL: Designing Interfaces Beyond 2001.  Westad, Odd Arne. The Cold War: A World History. 2017. Service, Robert. The End of the Cold War. 2015. Downing, Taylor. 1983: Reagan, Andropov, And A World On The Brink. 2018. Dobbs, Michael. Down With Big Brother. 1997.  Hersh, Seymour. The Target Is Destroyed. 1986.  Dallin, Alexander. Black Box: KAL 007 and the Superpowers. 1985. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/dailydiary/1982-09.pdf Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After weeks of uncertainty and fear, the Great Crash finally arrives on October 24th, 1929. While America’s financial infrastructure burns, Jesse Livermore makes $100 million in a single week. Wall Street’s great cheerleader, Sunshine Charlie Mitchell, schemes and maneuvers to puff up the bull market and preserve his legacy. Amidst the wreckage of the Great Depression, a scrappy immigrant lawyer named Ferdinand Pecora leads a Federal investigation into Sunshine Charlie and National City Bank that shakes the very bedrock of American financial law.    SOURCES: Ahamed, Liaquat. Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World. 2009. Allen, Frederick Lewis. Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s. 1931 Blumenthal, Karen. Six Days in October. 2002.  Charles Rivers Editors. Jesse Livermore. 2021. Charles Rivers Editors. Wall Street. 2020. Galbraith, John Kenneth. The Great Crash 1929. 1955. Galbraith, John Kenneth. A Short History of Financial Euphoria. 1990. Geisst, Charles R. Wall Street: A History. 1997. Klein, Maury. Rainbow’s End. 2001.  Morris, Charles R. A Rabble of Dead Money. 2017. Nations, Scott. A History of the United States in Five Crashes. 2017. Parker, Selwyn. The Great Crash. 2008. Perino, Michael. The Hellhound of Wall Street. 2010. Rubython, Tom. Jesse Livermore: Boy Plunger. 2016. Thomas, Gordon. Morgan-Witts, Max. The Day the Bubble Burst. 1979. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special featured episode of History Daily, host Lindsay Graham gives an atmospheric retelling of the events of December 2nd, 1956. On that day, the communist revolutionary Fidel Castro launched the Cuban Revolution.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As economic disaster looms in the Fall of ‘29, the American public is blissfully unaware, entranced by stratospheric share prices and the sunny proclamations of Wall Street cheerleaders. Jesse Livermore, the infamous “Boy Trader”, follows his hunches and prepares for the coming catastrophe. The Federal Reserve, rudderless and impotent after the untimely death of its leader Ben Strong, sits on its hands. “Sunshine” Charlie Mitchell, chief executive of the country’s largest bank, injects fresh life into the boom as the stock market bubble inflates to dangerous heights of make-believe.  SOURCES: Ahamed, Liaquat. Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World. 2009. Allen, Frederick Lewis. Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s. 1931 Blumenthal, Karen. Six Days in October. 2002.  Charles Rivers Editors. Jesse Livermore. 2021. Charles Rivers Editors. Wall Street. 2020. Galbraith, John Kenneth. The Great Crash 1929. 1955. Galbraith, John Kenneth. A Short History of Financial Euphoria. 1990. Geisst, Charles R. Wall Street: A History. 1997. Klein, Maury. Rainbow’s End. 2001.  Morris, Charles R. A Rabble of Dead Money. 2017. Nations, Scott. A History of the United States in Five Crashes. 2017. Parker, Selwyn. The Great Crash. 2008. Perino, Michael. The Hellhound of Wall Street. 2010. Rubython, Tom. Jesse Livermore: Boy Plunger. 2016. Thomas, Gordon. Morgan-Witts, Max. The Day the Bubble Burst. 1979. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the worst financial disasters in history unfolded on Wall Street in late October of 1929. Within a week, 30 billion dollars had disappeared into thin air, leaving the global economy in tatters and heralding the beginning of a worldwide Depression. But what exactly happened? And why? In Part 1 of this 3-Part series on the Wall Street Crash of 1929, we discover how the American public became fatally infatuated with the stock market during the “Roaring 20’s”; and how one debauched day trader – Jesse Livermore – saw the whole thing coming.  SOURCES: Ahamed, Liaquat. Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World. 2009. Blumenthal, Karen. Six Days in October. 2002.  Charles Rivers Editors. Jesse Livermore. 2021. Charles Rivers Editors. Wall Street. 2020. Galbraith, John Kenneth. The Great Crash 1929. 1955. Galbraith, John Kenneth. A Short History of Financial Euphoria. 1990. Geisst, Charles R. Wall Street: A History. 1997. Klein, Maury. Rainbow’s End. 2001.  Morris, Charles R. A Rabble of Dead Money. 2017. Nations, Scott. A History of the United States in Five Crashes. 2017. Parker, Selwyn. The Great Crash. 2008. Perino, Michael. The Hellhound of Wall Street. 2010. Rubython, Tom. Jesse Livermore: Boy Plunger. 2016. Thomas, Gordon. Morgan-Witts, Max. The Day the Bubble Burst. 1979. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some revere it as an art form, others revile it as a blood sport, but no matter where you stand, few traditions stir up strong emotions quite like the centuries-old ritual of bullfighting. Born in the villages of rural Spain, refined in the crowded arenas of Seville, and fetishized by wandering aficionados like Ernest Hemingway, the “corrida de toros” holds a special place not only in Spanish cultural life but in human history. Beneath the pomp and pageantry, will we find senseless animal cruelty? Or a transcendent reflection on the human condition? SOURCES: Bailey, C. (2007). “Africa Begins at the Pyrenees”: Moral Outrage, Hypocrisy, and the Spanish Bullfight. Ethics and the Environment. Bentley, Logan. (1962). “What The Horns Couldn’t Do”. Sports Illustrated. Colenutt, Mark. Spanish Bull: A Provocative Guide to Bullfighting. 2014. Conrad, Barnaby. The Death of Manolete. 1958. Dozier, Thomas. (1955) “The One Who Lived”. Sports Illustrated. Gamado, Ignacio. Discovering the World of Bullfighting. 2021. Hardouin-Fugier, Elisabeth. Bullfighting: A Troubled History. 2010. Hemingway, Ernest. Death in the Afternoon. 1932 Kennedy, A.L.: On Bullfighting. 1999. McCormick, John. Bullfighting: Art, Technique & Spanish Society. 1998 Mitchell, Timothy. Blood Sport: A Social History of Spanish Bullfighting. 1991. Ribezzo, Viviana. Adresi, Marta. The Corrida: The History of Bullfighting from its Origins to Present Day. 2018. Tauromaquia. Jaime Alekos. 2017. Tynan, Kenneth. (1955) “The Death of Manolete”. The Paris Review Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s 1992. The 40th Army is long gone and the Soviet Union has collapsed, but war still rages across Afghanistan. As the Afghan communist regime crumbles, Ahmed Shah Massoud and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s forces clash in Kabul. While America turns its back and the Mujahideen turn on each other, new threats arise and threaten to sweep the old generation of freedom fighters away – The Taliban and Osama bin Laden. (Part 4 of Ghosts in the Mountains) SOURCES: Ahmadi-Miller, Enjeela. The Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan. 2019. Alexievich, Svetlana. Zinky Boys. 1989. Ansari, Mir Tamim. Games Without Rules: The Often-Interrupted History of Afghanistan. 2012. Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History. 2010. Borovik, Artyom. The Hidden War. 1990. Braithewaite, Rodric. Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979-1989. 2011. Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to 2001. 2004. Dobbs, Michael. Down with Big Brother: The Fall of the Soviet Empire. 1997. Feifer, Gregory. The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan. 2009. Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. The Soviet-Afghan War, 1979-89. 2012. Galeotti, Mark. Storm-333: KGB and Spetsnaz Seize Kabul. 2021. Gall, Sandy. Afghan Napoleon: The Life of Ahmed Shah Massoud. 2021. Grad, Marcela. Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader. 2009. Goodwin, Jan. Caught in the Crossfire. 1987. Grau, Lester W. The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics In Afghanistan. 1996. Hosdon, Peregrine. Under a Sickle Moon: A Journey Through Afghanistan. 1986. Kalinovsky, Artemy. A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. 2011. Kaplan, Robert D. Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 2001. Rosen, Ethan. The Bear, The Dragon, & the AK-47. 2017. Sands, Chris. Qazizai, Fazelminallah. Night Letters: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the Afghan Islamists Who Changed the World. 2019. Tanner, Stephen. Afghanistan: A Military History of Afghanistan from Alexander the Great to the War Against the Taliban. 2009. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the CIA wages a covert proxy war against the Soviet 40th Army, the Mujahideen are showered with billions of dollars and cutting-edge weaponry. An old animosity between two prominent Mujahideen commanders – Ahmed Shah Massoud and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar - turns into a bitter, deadly rivalry. Meanwhile, Soviet reformers led by Mikhail Gorbachev attempt to extricate the USSR from Afghanistan with a shred of dignity intact. After the Soviet withdrawal, the world turns it back on Afghanistan as a civil war rages between the Mujahideen factions – and the Taliban emerges. SOURCES: Ahmadi-Miller, Enjeela. The Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan. 2019. Alexievich, Svetlana. Zinky Boys. 1989. Ansari, Mir Tamim. Games Without Rules: The Often-Interrupted History of Afghanistan. 2012. Barfield, Thomas. Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History. 2010. Borovik, Artyom. The Hidden War. 1990. Braithewaite, Rodric. Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979-1989. 2011. Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to 2001. 2004. Dobbs, Michael. Down with Big Brother: The Fall of the Soviet Empire. 1997. Feifer, Gregory. The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan. 2009. Fremont-Barnes, Gregory. The Soviet-Afghan War, 1979-89. 2012. Galeotti, Mark. Storm-333: KGB and Spetsnaz Seize Kabul. 2021. Gall, Sandy. Afghan Napoleon: The Life of Ahmed Shah Massoud. 2021. Grad, Marcela. Massoud: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Afghan Leader. 2009. Goodwin, Jan. Caught in the Crossfire. 1987. Grau, Lester W. The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics In Afghanistan. 1996. Hosdon, Peregrine. Under a Sickle Moon: A Journey Through Afghanistan. 1986. Kalinovsky, Artemy. A Long Goodbye: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan. 2011. Kaplan, Robert D. Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan. 2001. Rosen, Ethan. The Bear, The Dragon, & the AK-47. 2017. Sands, Chris. Qazizai, Fazelminallah. Night Letters: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the Afghan Islamists Who Changed the World. 2019. Tanner, Stephen. Afghanistan: A Military History of Afghanistan from Alexander the Great to the War Against the Taliban. 2009. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices