Conflicted: A History Podcast
Untangling history’s greatest controversies. Every month, we take a hard look at the historical conflicts that raise difficult questions, stoke controversy, and send our moral compasses spinning.
Episodes
March 22, 2025 • 84 mins
After being crowned Emperor and Empress of the Byzantine Empire, Justinian and Theodora face their first major test as rulers, the deadly Nika Riots of 532 AD.
SOURCES:
Bridge, Antony. Theodora: Portrait in a Byzantine Landscape.
Potter, David. Theodora: Actress, Empress, Saint.
Parnell, David Alan. Belisarius & Antonina: Love and War in the Age of Justinian
Hughes, Bettany. Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities.
Sarris, Peter. Jus...
Mark as Played
February 21, 2025 • 92 mins
From 527 to 565 AD, Emperor Justinian I and his Empress Theodora ruled over the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople. Together, they reshaped the Mediterranean world, weathering political upheaval, wars of conquest, and an outbreak of bubonic plague. In this first installment of a multi-part series, we explore the early years of New Rome’s greatest power couple. Rising from a disreputable background in the brothels of Constantinople,...
Mark as Played
December 20, 2024 • 144 mins
On December 3rd, 1971, India and Pakistan go to war on two fronts, battling for the future of Bangladesh. In the East, the Indian army races against time, hoping to capture Dacca and force a Pakistani surrender before the United Nations can demand a ceasefire. Meanwhile, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger unleash a fusillade of diplomatic pressure to frighten a defiant Indira Gandhi into compliance. After months of imprisonment, She...
Mark as Played
November 2, 2024 • 113 mins
As Yahya Khan’s crackdown in East Pakistan sparks a refugee crisis and a guerilla insurgency, the neighboring nation of India, led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, must decide how to respond. Meanwhile, President Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger pursue secret talks with Communist China. In Madison Square Garden, musicians George Harrison and Ravi Shankar organize a massive charity concert for the people of Bangladesh.
SOURCES:
B...
Mark as Played
October 9, 2024 • 48 mins
Join me for a special featured episode of BEEF, a scripted podcast narrated by award-winning host Bridget Todd. This episode tells the story of explorers Sir Richard Burton and Captain John Hanning Speke as they face unimaginable dangers, and their own divisiveness, while searching for the source of the Nile River.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark as Played
September 23, 2024 • 107 mins
On March 25th, 1971, President Yahya Khan launches Operation Searchlight in East Pakistan, a brutal military crackdown intended to snuff out Bengali separatism and restore West Pakistani authority. Meanwhile, an American diplomat in Dacca named Archer Blood begins reporting and documenting the slaughter, hoping to convince his government to step in and restrain Yahya. In Washington, D.C., President Richard Nixon and his national se...
Mark as Played
July 25, 2024 • 109 mins
In the wake of the deadly Bhola Cyclone, 50 million Pakistanis go to the polls on December 7th, 1970 and cast their votes in a national election, which yields unexpected and destabilizing results. As the emergent factions fight for control of Pakistan’s nascent democracy, the political process slowly disintegrates and the gulf between East and West Pakistan becomes irreconcilable.
SOURCES:
Bass, Gary K. The Blood Telegram: Nixon, ...
Mark as Played
June 8, 2024 • 95 mins
In March 1971, the nation of Pakistan was split apart by a vicious civil war, eventually culminating in the creation of a new state: Bangladesh. In this first episode of a multi-part series, we trace the origins of the conflict and introduce the key historical figures involved.
SOURCES:
Bass, Gary K. The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide.
Bennet-Jones, Own. The Bhutto Dynasty.
Carney, Scott. Miklian, Ja...
Mark as Played
March 10, 2024 • 99 mins
In January of 1948, Alfred Kinsey releases his first book, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, igniting a firestorm of controversy across the United States. As the Professor scrambles to capitalize on his newfound fame and pen a sequel, his methodology comes under attack from skeptical academics and religious conservatives. Meanwhile, Kinsey’s research team at the Institute of Sex Research embarks on a series of increasingly bizarre...
Mark as Played
February 7, 2024 • 73 mins
As Dr. Alfred Kinsey begins his foray into sex research in 1938, he faces a rising tide of controversy at Indiana University, and is soon confronted with an ultimatum. While his research develops and his methodology takes shape, Kinsey is forced to reckon with hard truths about sex – and himself.
SOURCES:
Allen, Judith A. The Kinsey Institute: The First Seventy Years. 2017.
Brenot, Phillipe. The Story of Sex. 2016.
D’Emilio, Joh...
Mark as Played
January 25, 2024 • 66 mins
In 1948, Dr. Alfred Kinsey wrote the book on sex. “The Kinsey Report”, as it came to be known, was a pioneering scientific study on the sexual habits of ordinary Americans. Divided into Male and Female Volumes, it challenged longstanding myths about sex and the religious ideology that upheld them. In this first installment of a three-part series, we explore the life, times and motivations of the enigmatic man behind the Kinsey Repo...
Mark as Played
January 13, 2024 • 22 mins
This featured guest episode of History Daily examines the events of November 16th, 1720. On that day, the trials of notorious pirates Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and John Rackham began in Spanish Town, Jamaica.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mark as Played
October 26, 2023 • 139 mins
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 As...
Mark as Played
August 9, 2023 • 125 mins
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 jour...
Mark as Played
June 30, 2023 • 63 mins
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
Mark as Played
June 17, 2023 • 107 mins
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 u...
Mark as Played
April 30, 2023 • 83 mins
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, Ric...
Mark as Played
March 2, 2023 • 96 mins
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 Amer...
Mark as Played
January 1, 2023 • 125 mins
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 cho...
Mark as Played
November 16, 2022 • 77 mins
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 tragi...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.