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Arguing History
Russian and Eurasian Studies June 13, 2023

Socialist Cultures and Politics of Secularism and Atheism

A Discussion with Todd Weir and Victoria Smolkin

Todd Weir and Victoria Smolkin

Hosted by Stephen Bittner
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Two new books on secularism and atheism in German and Soviet socialist cultures are reshaping scholarly understandings of the relationship between socialism and religion. Todd Weir and Victoria Smolkin show …

Arguing History

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Scholarly discussions of controversial historical topics.

Russian and Eurasian Studies June 10, 2023

New Histories of Violence in and around the Second World War

A Discussion with Max Bergholz and Nicole Eaton

Max Bergholz and Nicole Eaton

Hosted by Stephen Bittner
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Why does state-led and intercommunal violence occur? How do past episodes of mass violence reverberate in the present? How do victims and perpetrators make sense of each other in the …
History Ex Silo May 20, 2023

Empires after World War II: The Cases of the USSR and France

A Discussion with Rachel Applebaum and Emily Marker

Rachel Applebaum and Emily Marker

Hosted by Stephen Bittner
Where lay the fissures of Soviet power in Eastern Europe during the Cold War? Why did France fail in its postwar efforts to make its African colonies part of France …
Russian and Eurasian Studies February 28, 2023

Soviet Hippies and German “Other ‘68ers”

A Conversation about Youth Non-Conformity and Protest

Juliane Fürst and Anna von der Goltz

Hosted by Stephen Bittner
On first glance, Soviet hippies would seem to have little in common with right-wing student protestors in West Germany in 1968. Yet as Juliane Fürst and Anna von der Goltz …
Russian and Eurasian Studies February 21, 2023

Rethinking the End of the Russian and Habsburg Empires

A Discussion with Joshua Sanborn and Dominique Kirchner Reill

Joshua Sanborn and Dominique Kirchner Reill

Hosted by Stephen Bittner
Historians often think of World War I and the period surrounding it as the acme of nationalism in European politics. In two very different books, Joshua Sanborn and Dominique Kirchner …
Arguing History January 3, 2023

The Russo-Ukrainian War from a Military Point of View

Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
On February 24 2022, Vladimir Putin shocked the world by invading Ukraine. In this short interview, veteran military historian Jeremy Black looks at the conflict from a military point of …
Arguing History October 6, 2022

On the Life and Legacy of Queen Elizabeth II

A Discussion with Jeremy Black

Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022. She reigned for 70 years, longer than any other British sovereign. In this interview, Charles Coutinho discusses her life and legacy with historian …
Arguing History September 21, 2022

How Should We Remember Winston Churchill?

Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
How should we remember the complicated figure of Winston Churchill? Was he (in the words of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan) "The greatest Englishman in history?" Or was Churchill at base (as a …
Arguing History June 21, 2022

Ukrainian Nationalism in Historical Context

A Discussion with John-Paul Himka, David R. Stone, and Alexander Watson

John-Paul Himka, David R. Stone, and Alexander Watson

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
In the midst of the ongoing war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, it is vital that the lay-educated public understand the historical origins of the conflict. It is with …
Big Ideas June 3, 2022

Are We Entering a "Neo-Medieval" Era?

A Conversation with Greg Lewicki

Greg Lewicki

Hosted by Stephen Satkiewicz
Our world is being marked by a transition of epochs towards a more “Neo-Medieval” era. What is even meant by “Neo-Medieval”? Greg Lewicki argues that “Neo-Medieval” is characterized by seven …
Arguing History May 24, 2022

Putin's War on Ukraine in Historical Perspective

Jeremy Black, Thomas Otte, David R. Stone, and Alex Watson

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of stopping anytime soon, it was thought a worthwhile idea to have an informed discussion with four expert historians of 19th and …
General History October 19, 2021

The Darker Angels of Our Nature

Refuting the Pinker Theory of History & Violence

Philip Dwyer and Mark Micale

Hosted by Galina Limorenko
In The Better Angels of Our Nature Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker argued that modern history has witnessed a dramatic decline in human violence of every kind, and that in the …
Arguing History September 30, 2021

Why did the US Fail in Afghanistan?

A Discussion with Jeremy Black

Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
With its ultimate debacle in August 2021, a discussion of the twenty-year military involvement of America and the West in Afghanistan is most timely. Accordingly, there is no one more …
Arguing History March 5, 2021

Clio's Battles

Historiography in Practice

Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
To write history is to consider how to explicate the past, to weigh the myriad possible approaches to the past, and to come to terms with how the past can …
Arguing History July 21, 2020

The Cold War as History

A Discussion with Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
The Cold War, the on again and off again confrontation between the West and the Soviet Union is one of the most famous historical episodes of the short twentieth century …
Arguing History June 11, 2020

Why Did the Allies Win World War One?

A Discussion with Jeremy Black

Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
The Great War was perhaps the greatest single upheaval of the 20th century. While World War II saw more lives lost, in terms of the shock to European/Western civilization, the …
Arguing History April 27, 2020

Why Did the Allies Win World War II?

A Discussion with Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
Why did the Allies win World War II? In the this podcast of Arguing History, Professor of History Emeritus at Exeter University, Jeremy Black and Dr. Charles Coutinho of the …
Arguing History March 12, 2020

The Origins of World War One

A Discussion with Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
Who or what originated and/or caused the Great War from breaking out in July 1914? Was it Serbia with its expansionist and aggressive designs on Austria-Hungary? Was it Austria-Hungary itself …
Arguing History February 14, 2020

Slavery in World History

A Discussion with Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
Notwithstanding the fact that slavery is almost as old if not older than human civilization itself, involving almost every country and continent on the face of the planet, the vast …
Arguing History December 27, 2019

The Treaty of Versailles One Hundred Years On

A Discussion with Jeremy Black

Hosted by Charles Coutinho
The Versailles Treaty of 1919, celebrates its one-hundred anniversary this year. And, yet unlike the more recent centenaries, such as that of the outbreak of the Great War or the …