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The American Balance Between Church and State: Reynolds vs. United States
Few individuals have been as crucial to understanding the delicate balance between church and state as George Reynolds. In 1879, Reynolds became the defendant in a landmark legal challenge that inadvertently tested the l…
Francis Vigo: The Italian Patriot Who Helped Win the American Frontier
Among the many figures who aided the American Revolution, few are as intriguing—or as overlooked—as Francis Vigo. An immigrant from what is now northern Italy, a former soldier in the Spanish army, a fur trader, financie…
THE FASTEST GIRL IN SOMALIA Episode 3: The Sahara
When Samia realizes living in Ethiopia won’t get her to the Olympics, she begins a dangerous journey north toward Libya and then to Europe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Democratic Socialism. Hope or Hopeless?
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is having a big moment. Its candidates and its membership are both surging. Before Zohran Mamdani and AOC, there was its founder, Michael Harrington, a.k.a 'the man who discover…
Who Was Noor Inayat Khan and Why Did One of Britain's Bravest Wartime Agents Become a Hidden History?
Today Noor Inayat Khan is commemorated in films, books and memorials. And even though there is more recognition of her role as a Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent during World War Two, she still struggles to be in…
The U.S. Civil War Leadership of General Philip H. Sheridan
In Little Phil: A reassessment of the Civil War Leadership of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, historian Eric J. Wittenberg critically examines the military performances of the famous Union commander. Jeb Smith considers this. G…
THE FASTEST GIRL IN SOMALIA Episode 2: Nowhere to Run
After Beijing, Samia returns to Somalia where athletes are hunted, sports are banned, and her Olympic dream increasingly puts her life in danger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
THE FASTEST GIRL IN SOMALIA Episode 1: Nine Seconds
A teenage runner from the East African country of Somalia arrives at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with borrowed gear, little formal training, and a dream far bigger than the race in front of her. Learn more about your ad ch…
King John: Civil War - John Strikes Back - Part 4
The apparent triumph of Magna Carta in June 1215 proved extraordinarily short-lived. The charter had been intended to impose limits upon King John's authority and restore a measure of political stability, but neither sid…
The War of the Worlds Panic: America's Most Famous Media Myth?
Interest in media history and the origins of widely repeated cultural narratives has remained strong among readers of popular history, particularly cases where modern historical research has substantially revised a long-…
Episode 248: The Last Game
The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly s…
How two swing states changed American voting
Today on the show, the balance of Congressional power is up for grabs in this midterm election. It could be determined by a small number of voters in a few battleground states. Blueprints from the past could be the guid…
Introducing: The Fastest Girl in Somalia
Olympian Samia Yusuf Omar will stop at nothing to get to the next Summer Olympics. Running across borders. Running away from authorities. And running for her life. From 30 for 30 Podcasts, The Fastest Girl in Somalia te…
How baseball got its beat
Major League Baseball’s postseason is just a few weeks away, and here on Throughline we know the power of a good walk-up song. But how did baseball become such a musical sport? And where did the idea for walk up-music co…
Is it time for a Luddite Renaissance?
Calling someone a "Luddite" is usually an insult – shorthand for someone who is behind the times. But the real Luddites weren't just afraid of change; they were a labor movement fighting to save their jobs from being rep…
Episode 247: Babies
The Memory Palace is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Radiotopia is a collective of independently owned and operated podcasts that’s a part of PRX, a not-for-profit public media company. If you’d like to directly s…
The school report that changed public education
In 1966, the federal government commissioned a massive survey aimed at solving educational inequality. Instead, the explosive Coleman Report unleashed a 60-year debate over race, resources, and what education in America …
The SAT's 100-year grip on higher ed
For generations, the SAT has loomed large in the lives of teenagers. The quest for a perfect or near-perfect score has filled many test takers with dread. In this episode, a listener's question makes us wonder... who dec…
Episode 246: Last Standing
Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Ra…
THE BETRAYAL OF SHOHEI OHTANI Episode 6: Footnote
One man begins a prison sentence and the other goes on a World Series run, but putting to rest questions about what really happened between these two men isn’t so simple. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastch…
A Song of Myself
Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Ra…
THE BETRAYAL OF SHOHEI OHTANI Episode 5: The Feds
Encrypted text messages, a trunk full of baseball cards, and a private bank account - federal law enforcement takes us inside their investigation of Shohei and Ippei. Next episode coming Tuesday, August 11th. Learn mo…
Show 74 - Mania for Subjugation IV
The stage is set for an in-person showdown between Alexander and Persia's Great King. The resulting Battle of Issus, although often ignored by Hollywood, is one of the most important battles in all ancient history. It ge…
Episode 66: White Heat/White Lights
Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes & Noble, or directly from Random House. Or order the audiobook at places like Libro.fm. The Memory Palace is a proud member of Ra…
Rush, Hall, Bartlett, and Thornton
This is a special episode commissioned by Aspen Ideas: Health and originally performed at the 2026 festival in Aspen, Colorado. Order The Memory Palace book now, dear listener. On Bookshop.org, on Amazon.com, on Barnes …
Show 73 - Mania for Subjugation III
Attacking the largest empire the world had ever seen is a huge endeavor at any age, but try doing it at 21. Alexander, fusing the qualities of a Napoleon with a gladiator, aims for immortality. The Persians are just in h…
Show 72 - Mania for Subjugation II
Is it safe to hand control of the deadliest army in the world to a 20-year old? If you are Thracian, Triballian, Illyrian or Theban, the answer is definitely no. Alexander becomes king and fights off threats to his rule …
Celebrating the Legacy of the Office of Strategic Services 82 Years On
From the OSS to the CIA, how Wild Bill Donovan shaped the American intelligence community.
Show 71 - Mania for Subjugation
What's the recipe for making a historically world-class apex predator? In the case of Alexander the Great, it might be the three Ns: Nature, Nurture, and Nepotism.
Seminoles Taught American Soldiers a Thing or Two About Guerrilla Warfare
During the 1835–42 Second Seminole War and as Army scouts out West, these warriors from the South proved formidable.
This Patient Rider Spent Months Retracing the Pony Express on Horseback
.image-13796819 { max-height: 100%; --left: 40.91%; --top: 52.46%; } In 2019 Will Grant embarked on a 142-day, 2,000-mile horseback journey from the Pony Express stables in St. Joseph, Mo., to trail’s end in Sacram…
10 Pivotal Events in the Life of Buffalo Bill
.image-13796758 { max-height: 100%; --left: 54.92%; --top: 29.55%; } William Frederick Cody (1846-1917) led a signal life, from his youthful exploits with the Pony Express and in service as a U.S. Army scout to his…
During the War Years, Posters From the American Homefront Told You What to Do — And What Not to Do
.image-13796261 { max-height: 100%; --left: 41.28%; --top: 14.20%; } If you needed some motivation during the war years, there was probably a poster for that.
The One and Only ‘Booger’ Was Among History’s Best Rodeo Performers
.image-13796414 { max-height: 100%; --left: 44.18%; --top: 28.38%; } Texan Sam Privett, the colorfully nicknamed proprietor of Booger Red’s Wild West, backed up his boast he could ride anything on four legs.
Show 70 - Twilight of the Aesir II
Pagan Viking Sea Kings spend the 10th and 11th centuries morphing into Christian monarchs. But with rulers like Harald Bluetooth and Svein Forkbeard it's debatable whether things will be any less horrific for Scandinavia…
Show 69 - Twilight of the Aesir
This show picks up where Dan's Thor's Angels show left off. In the early Middle Ages Pagan Germanic-language speakers like the Vikings are a dying breed. Many of their contemporaries wish they'd die faster.