Tag: History Extra

Indian Experiences in WW2

History Extra | 17 August 2023 | 0h 33m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Diya Gupta about her book India in the Second World War: An Emotional History. Backgrounds that 2.5 million Indian soldiers fought in the Second World War. Describes the complex web of emotional experiences, how Indian soldiers and civilians back home felt about the war, and how the conflict impacted their lives.

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Mindbending Experiments: How Drugs Shaped Modern Science

History Extra | 17 April 2023 | 0h 33m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Mike Jay about his book Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind. Discusses formative experiments in drug taking from the 19C when cannabis, cocaine and heroin were widely available over the counter at the local chemist. Respected scientists and doctors tested out laughing gas and chloroform on their friends at dinner parties, while philosophers and artists dabbled in drug use to try and unlock different states of consciousness and even access the spirit world.

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Tom Holland on Rome’s Golden Age

History Extra | 6 July 2023 | 0h 37m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Tom Holland about his book Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age. Discusses the golden age of Ancient Rome, or “Pax Romana”, where peace and prosperity prevailed across the Mediterranean world, from the fall of Nero to the reign of Hadrian.

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The Fall and Rise of Henry III

History Extra | 4 June 2023 | 0h 51m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with David Carpenter about his book Henry III: Reform, Rebellion, Civil War, Settlement, 1259-1272. Discusses the tumultuous events of 1258, when the king was removed from power by Simon de Montfort and a council of barons.

See also the History Extra interview about his earlier book on the first part of Henry’s reign.

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Rachel Chrastil on the Franco-Prussian War

History Extra | 1 July 2023 | 0h 40m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Rachel Chrastil about her book Bismarck’s War: The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe. Discusses the Franco-Prussian War, which Prussia quickly won, but which left consequences that played out over the following century. Covers Bismarck’s leadership, the Paris Commune and why it fell, whether Prussian victory made German unification inevitable, and whether the French desire for revenge contributed to the First World War.

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Ian Mortimer on Medieval Horizons

History Extra | 23 February 2023 | 0h 47m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with Ian Mortimer about his book Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter. Argues that the medieval period was an age of transformation, from society’s understanding of power to their views on war and exploration. Includes a discussion of the changes wrought by the 5 mph increase in maximum land speed for travel.

I confess I skipped this earlier this year but came back to it after Tyler Cowen’s nudge. This is an outstanding episode about what Cowen suggests will be one of the best books of the year.

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James Belich on The World The Plague Made

History Extra | 21 May 2023 | 0h 37m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
Interview with James Belich about his book The World The Plague Made. Argues that the inventiveness required for a depopulated world after the Black Death drove social and cultural changes that led eventually to the rise of Europe.

See also his 2018 RNZ interview.

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