O Brother When Art Thou History Podcast

The 42 Swiss Guards and The Last Stand

As a mob of mercenaries loots the Holy See, 42 Swiss Guardsmen, all that remains of the 500 who started in the fight, fortify themselves on the steps of the Vatican, to make one desperate last stand to fulfill their holy mission and defend the Pope at all costs.

The Man In The Straw Hat

160 years ago on May 12th 1862, in the midst of the American Civil War, a small Confederate boat, captained by a mysterious man in a straw hat, runs up the white flag and surrenders to the US Navy. Is it all too good to be true or could it be some true good news?

The Slave Regent versus the Shah’s Empire

After gaining his personal freedom, a former slave faces an even greater challenge when a powerful empire threatens to take away the freedom of his entire country if he cannot find a way to win a complicated war and the game of politics. 

The Heavenly Kingdom On Earth

After failing a very difficult exam, a young man in China falls into a fever dream. He soon realizes the meaning of his dream, that he is the younger brother of Jesus Christ, destined to create a heavenly kingdom on Earth. His gospel will soon change forever the course of Chinese history, and cause ripple effects around the world.

The Boy King Versus The Empires

In 1506, a child is born pre-maturely to the Queen of Hungary. Miraculously, Louis II survives, and grows up to ascend to the throne at just 10 years old. By his teens however, the two empires on Hungary’s doorstep are looking to seize his kingdom, and it will take another miracle if the young king wants to hold onto his birthright.

The Scottish Lord and the Railway Scam

In the late 1800s, a young man calling himself Lord Gordon Gordon arrives in New York City, and sets out to make his fortune. Claiming connections to wealthy Scottish railroad investors, he gets his hands on millions of dollars from a powerful American stock market speculator. But when politics come into play, things get complicated. Plus we have a new pop culture history quiz about Disney princesses!

The Journalist and the Filibuster

No, not that kind of filibuster! In the mid-1800s journalist William Walker makes a habit of invading Latin American countries to try and make his fortune, a strategy known as a “filibustering”. But can this undoubtedly illegal enterprise pay off for the American adventurer?

The Senator, The Spies and The Un-American Activities

In 1950 an obscure American Senator announces that he knows the names of 205 Soviet spies in the US State Department. Over the next five years, Senator Joe McCarthy would gain the fame he sought as he investigated “un-American activities” but at what cost?

The Mule Driver, The Emperor and The Two Triumphs

In 89 BCE, 1-year-old Publius Ventidius Bassus is marched through the streets of Rome, a slave captured by the victorious Roman army. 31 years later, he is recruited into that same Roman army, and begins a precipitous rise to the very top of the Roman political order.

The Pirate, The Commandos, The Rebels And The Island

An oddball group of soldiers and rebels are assembled on a small island in the Adriatic Sea to bolster the brave Yugoslavian resistance in their fight against Axis Germany.