Best Atomic Broadcasting Podcasts (2025)

1
How a British Governor of Virginia Raised an Ex-Slave Regiment in 1776 to Fight Patriots and Triggered the Revolutionary War 55:09

15h ago55:09

55:09

As the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775, dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved every bit as decisive as the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain. Virginia, the largest, wealthiest, and most populous province in British North America, was led by Lord Dun…

1
How a Marine Embedded with Mao Zedong’s Guerrillas in the 30s Became WW2’s Most Celebrated Special Forces Leader 55:46

3d ago55:46

55:46

He was a gutsy old man.” “A corker,” said another. “You couldn’t find anyone better.” They talked about him in hushed tones. “This Major Carlson,” wrote one of the officers in a letter home, “is one of the finest men I have ever known.” These were the words of the young Marines training to be among the first U.S. troops to enter the Second World Wa…

1
EP. 92 Einar Tells All 56:44

4d ago56:44

56:44

Einar finally reveals his secret. Catch us at Tremendicon (May 30th - June 1st): https://tremendicon.com/ And also at Hutch Comic Con (June 20th & 21st): https://naclcomiccons.com/ If you enjoyed the show, we'd love to connect with you on social media using our handles below, or via email at [email protected] Discord: https://discord.gg/…

1
Microbes Were Discovered in the 1600s. Why It Take 200 Years For Doctors To Start Washing Their Hands? 54:16

8d ago54:16

54:16

Scientists and enthusiastic amateurs first confirmed the existence of living things invisible to the human eye in the late sixteenth century. So why did it take two centuries to connect microbes to disease? As late as the Civil War in the 1860s, most soldiers who perished died not on the battlefield but of infected wounds, typhoid, and other diseas…

1
Plessy AND Ferguson—Activism and the Fight for Justice and Equal Rights 15:52

9d ago15:52

15:52

In 1892, Homer Plessy, a mixed race shoemaker in New Orleans, was arrested, convicted and fined $25 for taking a seat in a whites-only train car. This was not a random act. It was a carefully planned move by the Citizen’s Committee, an activist group of Free People of Color, to fight a new law being enacted in Louisiana which threatened to re-impos…

1
From Einstein’s Chalkboard to Oppenheimer’s Nuclear Test: The 50-Year Path to the Atomic Bomb 48:14

10d ago48:14

48:14

The story of the atomic age began decades before Robert Oppenheimer watched a mushroom cloud form over the New Mexico desert at the Trinity nuclear test in mid 1945. It begins in 1895, with Henri Becquerel’s accidental discovery of radioactivity, setting in motion a series of remarkable and horrifying events. By the early 20th century, a brilliant …

1
Japan’s Desperate Air Battles Against the US in the Final Months of WW2 37:15

15d ago37:15

37:15

The B-29 Bomber led the Allied strategic bombing offensive against Japan, succeeding when US Bomber Command switched from high-level daytime precision bombing to low-level nighttime area bombing. The latter tactic required Superfortresses to attack their targets individually, without a formation or escorting fighters for protection. Despite this, J…

1
D-Day From the East: The Soviet Operation Bagration Crippled the Wehrmacht in Late 1944 42:08

17d ago42:08

42:08

Throughout the war on the Eastern Front, there were two consistent trends. The Red Army battled to learn how to fight and win, while involved in a struggle for its very survival. But by 1944 it had a leadership that was able to wield it with lethal effect and with far more effective equipment than before. By contrast, the Wehrmacht had commenced a …

1
EP. 91 The Morning After 55:56

18d ago55:56

55:56

The party compares notes while recovering from a whirlwhind day (and a hangover, for some). Catch us at Tremendicon (May 30th - June 1st): https://tremendicon.com/ And also at Hutch Comic Con (June 20th & 21st): https://naclcomiccons.com/ If you enjoyed the show, we'd love to connect with you on social media using our handles below, or via email at…

1
Pilgrimages Involved Penitent Marches, Visiting Holy Places, and Watching Drunken Emperors Go on Chariot Rides 44:53

22d ago44:53

44:53

Pilgrimages are a universal phenomenon, from China’s bustling Tai Shan to the ancient Jewish treks to Jerusalem. But why? What is it about a grueling penitent march to an isolated temple that has become a prerequisite for a civilization of any size, whether Chicen Itza in the Mayan Empire or the holy sites of Mecca? To explore this is today’s guest…

1
Britain Learned How to Set Up Its Global Empire on a Tiny Bermudan Island 44:02

24d ago44:02

44:02

Years before Jamestown planters made New World farming profitable by growing tobacco, and years before their countrymen up north in Plymouth Colony managed to overcome their starvation conditions and acclimate to New England’s growing conditions, there was an English settlement in Bermuda that was wealthier, larger, and more prosperous. It was esta…

1
EP. 90 Friggin' Figfiller! 59:45

25d ago59:45

59:45

Our heroes make an unlikely truce and uncover some disturbing revelations... If you enjoyed the show, we'd love to connect with you on social media using our handles below, or via email at [email protected] Discord: https://discord.gg/rnExSzgYY3 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AtomicBroadcasting/ Instagram: @atomicbroadcasting Facebook:…

1
The Hatfield-McCoy Feud Started Over a Pig and Nearly Escalated Into a Regional War 45:20

29d ago45:20

45:20

The origins of the Hatfield-McCoy conflict (between the Hatfield family of West Virginia, led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, and the McCoy family of Kentucky, led by Randolph "Old Randall" McCoy) begins with a dispute over a pig. From here, it escalated from minor disagreements to violent encounters that spanned decades, nearly sparking…

1
Pie Down Here: Listening Back—Alabama Sharecroppers and Communist Organizers, 1930s 37:43

1M ago37:43

37:43

Pie Down Here — Produced by Signal Hill In the 1980s, when Robin D.G. Kelley was 24 years old, he took a bus trip to the Deep South. He was researching and recording oral histories with farmworkers and Communist Party members who had organized a sharecroppers union in Alabama during the Great Depression. Kelly used those oral histories to write his…

1
The 1845 Potato Blight Struck Across Northern Europe. Why Did Only Ireland Starve? 48:41

1M ago48:41

48:41

In 1845, a novel pathogen attacked potato fields across Europe, from Spain to Scandinavia—but only in Ireland were the effects apocalyptic. At least one million Irish people died, and millions more scattered across the globe, emigrating to new countries and continents. Less than fifty years after the union of Ireland with the rest of Great Britain,…

1
EP. 89 The Fae-Blooded 1:00:31

1M ago1:00:31

1:00:31

The party attempt to rat out more information from Hodi about the Eoredson's plans. If you enjoyed the show, we'd love to connect with you on social media using our handles below, or via email at [email protected] Discord: https://discord.gg/rnExSzgYY3 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AtomicBroadcasting/ Instagram: @atomicbroadcasting Fa…

1
A Simple Tennessee Preacher Transformed Abolitionism from a Deeply Unpopular Radical Movement to a Centrist Cause 51:18

1M ago51:18

51:18

Sitting high above the small community of Ripley, Ohio, a lantern shone in the front window of a small, red brick home at night. It was a signal to slaves just across the Ohio River. Anyone fleeing bondage could look to Reverend John Rankin’s home for hope. To the slaveholders they fled from, Rankin’s activities as a “conductor” on the Underground …

1
How Benjamin Franklin’s Stove Invention Kept Early America From Freezing 41:53

1M ago41:53

41:53

The biggest revolution in Benjamin Franklin’s lifetime was made to fit in a fireplace. Assembled from iron plates like a piece of flatpack furniture, the Franklin stove became one of the era's most iconic consumer products, spreading from Pennsylvania to England, Italy, and beyond. It was more than just a material object, however—it was also a hypo…

1
Roman Churches Had No Involvement in Marriage. How Did It Become a Holy Sacrament by the Middle Ages? 38:25

1M ago38:25

38:25

For much of Christian history, the Church had little involvement in marriage, which was primarily a contract between families. It wasn’t until the fourth century that church weddings emerged, and even then, they were mostly reserved for the elite. Fast forward to the High Middle Ages, and marriage became a sacrament of the Roman Catholic Church. Si…

1
A Tribute to George Foreman: An Unexpected Kitchen—The George Foreman Grill 22:38

1M ago22:38

22:38

In 2004, we opened up a phone line on NPR asking people to tell us about their Hidden Kitchens— secret, underground, below the radar cooking, and how people come together through food. One caller told us about immigrants and homeless people, who didn't have official kitchens, using the George Foreman Grill to make meals and a home. Did George Forem…

1
How a Mess Cook Saved Dozens of Sailors from Shark Infested Waters Off the Coast of Guadalcanal 28:21

1M ago28:21

28:21

On the night of September 5, 1942, the USS Gregory (APD-3), a converted destroyer turned high-speed transport, was caught in a deadly ambush near Guadalcanal. The ship had been supporting U.S. Marine forces, ferrying troops and supplies, when it was mistaken for a larger threat by a group of Japanese destroyers. Outgunned and unable to escape, Greg…

1
Ep. 88 Cutting Out the Middle Man 57:18

2M ago57:18

57:18

Zephear has a tense encounter with one of the Eoredsons that goes... well, it goes. If you enjoyed the show, we'd love to connect with you on social media using our handles below, or via email at [email protected] Discord: https://discord.gg/rnExSzgYY3 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AtomicBroadcasting/ Instagram: @atomicbroadcasting Fa…

1
Humanity’s Past Suggests We Only Have 10,000 Years to Change or Go Extinct 53:19

2M ago53:19

53:19

We are living through a period that is unique in human history. For the first time in more than ten thousand years, the rate of human population growth is slowing down. In the middle of this century population growth will stop, and the number of people on Earth will start to decline - fast. As Gee demonstrates, our population has peaked, and is dec…

1
The 16th Century Ottomans Nearly Conquered Europe. Why Did European Kingdoms Make So Many Alliances With Them? 51:05

2M ago51:05

51:05

The determined attempt to thwart Ottoman dominance was fought by Muslims and Christians across five theaters from the Balkans to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, from Persia to Russia. But this is not merely the story of a clash of civilizations between East and West. Europe was not united against the Turks; the scandal of the age was the al…

1
EP. 87 Taking Care of Business 51:48

2M ago51:48

51:48

The party make preparations and gather intel in Jol before going after their next target. If you enjoyed the show, we'd love to connect with you on social media using our handles below, or via email at [email protected] Discord: https://discord.gg/rnExSzgYY3 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AtomicBroadcasting/ Instagram: @atomicbroadcast…

1
Fort Stanwix and the Forgotten Revolutionary War Siege That Convinced France to Help the US 42:07

2M ago42:07

42:07

After a series of military defeats over the winter of 1776–1777, British military leaders developed a bold plan to gain control of the Hudson River and divide New England from the rest of the colonies. Three armies would converge on Albany: one under Lieutenant General John Burgoyne moving south from Quebec, one under General William Howe moving no…

1
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston - Revisiting Manzanar 44:49

2M ago44:49

44:49

In 1981 The Kitchen Sisters interviewed Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston for a story about life on the homefront during World War II. Jeanne told stories of her childhood growing up in Manzanar, a hastily built detention camp surrounded by barbed wire and armed guard towers in the midst of the Owens Valley in the Mojave desert, where Japanese Americans wer…

1
Enough is Enuf, Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell 39:21

2M ago39:21

39:21

No language is as inconsistent in spelling and pronunciation as English. Kernel and colonel rhyme, but read changes based on past or present tense. Ough has many pronunciations: ‘aw’ (thought), ‘ow’ (drought), ‘uff’ (tough), ‘off’ (cough), ‘oo’ (through). In response to this orthographic minefield, legions of rebel wordsmiths have died on the hill …

1
EP. 86 Who's At the Windoor? 46:16

2M ago46:16

46:16

The party find themselves the target of unwanted attention after their late night monster fight. Jakob Rozalski: https://jrozalski.com/ If you enjoyed the show, we'd love to connect with you on social media using our handles below, or via email at [email protected] Discord: https://discord.gg/rnExSzgYY3 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/A…

1
Did Haiti’s First and Last King Squander the Revolution or Succeed in Underappreciated Ways? 51:04

2M ago51:04

51:04

Slave, revolutionary, king, Henry Christophe was, in his time, popular and famous the world over. Born to an enslaved mother on the Caribbean island of Grenada, Christophe first fought to overthrow the British in North America, before helping his fellow enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue, as Haiti was then called, to end slavery. Yet in an incredi…

1
What Ancient Greeks and Victorian Explorers Thought Was at the North Pole 41:34

2M ago41:34

41:34

The North Pole looms large in our collective psyche—the ultimate Otherland in a world mapped and traversed. It is the center of our planet’s rotation, and its sub-zero temperatures and strange year of one sunset and one sunrise make it an eerie, utterly disorienting place that challenges human endurance and understanding. Erling Kagge and his frien…

1
EP. 85 There Will Be A Body 36:05

2M ago36:05

36:05

Zephear and his nightmarish stalker conclude their final, fatal meeting. If you enjoyed the show, we'd love to connect with you on social media using our handles below, or via email at [email protected] Discord: https://discord.gg/rnExSzgYY3 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AtomicBroadcasting/ Instagram: @atomicbroadcasting Facebook: Ato…

1
Nothing Healed America’s Wounds After the Civil War Like Baseball 50:35

2M ago50:35

50:35

The nineteenth century was a time of rapid growth and development for the game of “base ball,” and players George Wright and Albert Spalding were right in the thick of it. These two young men, the first superstars of the professional game, won the hearts of a country in search of a unifying spirit after a devastating civil war. Today’s guest is Jef…

1
How an 1870 Murder Created San Francisco 37:52

2M ago37:52

37:52

Shortly before dusk on November 3, 1870, just as the ferryboat El Capitan was pulling away from its slip into San Francisco Bay, a woman clad in black emerged from the shadows and strode across the crowded deck. Reaching under her veil, she drew a small pistol and aimed it directly at a well-dressed man sitting quietly with his wife and children. T…

1
The Tom Luddy Connection: The Man, The Movies, The Rolodex 53:14

3M ago53:14

53:14

Tom Luddy was a quiet titan of cinema. He presided over the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley for some 10 years, co-founded and directed The Telluride Film Festival for nearly 50 years, produced some 14 movies, match-made dozens of international love affairs, and foraged for the most beautiful, political, important, risky films and made sure there w…

1
Failed Futures: If Alexander The Great Hadn’t Died, He Might Have Conquered Europe, Circumnavigated Africa, and Built His Own Silk Road 34:20

3M ago34:20

34:20

And Alexander wept, seeing as he had no more worlds to conquer. That’s a quote from Hans Gruber in Die Hard, which is a very convoluted paraphrase from Plutarch’s essay collection Moralia. There’s plenty of truth in that unattributed quote from Mr. Gruber. Alexander the Great’s death at 323 BC in Babylon marked the end of the most consequential mil…

1
Why the Anabasis is the Second-Most Influential Greek Epic (After Homer’s Works) 48:43

3M ago48:43

48:43

Imagine being stranded thousands of miles deep in enemy territory with 10,000 soldiers, no allies, no clear way home, and the only means of escape was by foot. This was the predicament faced by Xenophon and the Greek mercenaries in Anabasis, one of the most gripping survival stories of the ancient world. In this episode, we delve into the incredibl…

1
EP. 84 Rabbit Hunt 48:25

3M ago48:25

48:25

Zephear's dealings with his old nemesis come to a head, with the fate of the Voldens in the balance. If you enjoyed the show, we'd love to connect with you on social media using our handles below, or via email at [email protected] Discord: https://discord.gg/rnExSzgYY3 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AtomicBroadcasting/ Instagram: @atom…

1
The American Revolution Would Have Been Lost Without a Ragtag Fleet of Thousands of Privateers 59:36

3M ago59:36

59:36

Privateers were a cross between an enlisted sailor and an outright pirate. But they were crucial in winning the Revolutionary War. As John Lehman, former secretary of the navy under President Ronald Reagan, observed, “From the beginning of the American Revolution until the end of the War of 1812, America’s real naval advantage lay in its privateers…

1
House/Full of Black Women 52:59

3M ago52:59

52:59

For almost a dozen years, 34 Black women gathered monthly around a big dining room table in an orange house on Orange Street in Oakland, CA — meeting, cooking, dancing, strategizing — grappling with the issues of eviction, erasure, gentrification, inadequate health care, and the sex trafficking of Black women and girls overwhelming their community.…

1
Did Lincoln Save Global Democracy or Undermine It Using Wartime Powers? 57:26

3M ago57:26

57:26

Did Abraham Lincoln preserve democracy during the Civil War, or did he endanger it in the process? To explore this paradox, we’re joined by renowned historian and Lincoln scholar Allen Guelzo, author of Our Ancient Faith. Guelzo takes us deep into the high-stakes decisions of Lincoln’s presidency, from the suspension of habeas corpus to the Emancip…

1
EP. 83 The Bogeyman Smelled Like Coleslaw 47:50

3M ago47:50

47:50

The party comes back together to deal with an old foe once and for all. If you enjoyed the show, we'd love to connect with you on social media using our handles below, or via email at [email protected] Discord: https://discord.gg/rnExSzgYY3 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AtomicBroadcasting/ Instagram: @atomicbroadcasting Facebook: Atom…

1
The 1541 Spanish Expedition Down the Amazon to Find the Imaginary “El Dorado” and Valley of Cinnamon 40:32

3M ago40:32

40:32

As Spanish conquistators slowly moved through Latin America, they encountered levels of wealth that were unimaginable. Most famously, Incan Emperor Atahualpa was captured by Francisco Pizarro and paid a ransom of a room filled with gold and then twice over with silver. The room was 22 feet long by 17 feet wide, filled to a height of about 8 feet. S…

1
Everyday Life for the 500K German POWs House in America During World War Two 1:02:31

3M ago1:02:31

1:02:31

During World War II, approximately half a million German prisoners of war were held in the United States, housed in 700 camps spread across the country, from Florida to Maine. These POWs were treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, often working in agriculture and other industries to alleviate domestic labor shortages. Today, evidence of…

1
EP. 82 Tomgruv's Most Wanted 50:05

3M ago50:05

50:05

With the party separated, and the law turned against them, the party must deal with threats from multiple directions and come back together without losing all they've sought to save... If you enjoyed the show, we'd love to connect with you on social media using our handles below, or via email at [email protected] Discord: https://discord…

1
The Arsenal of Democracy: How the Revolver and Repeating Rifle Democratized Gun Ownership and Armed the United States 56:07

3M ago56:07

56:07

The United States is the most heavily armed nation in the world, with an estimated 400 million guns in private hands. But few know that this legacy can be directly traced back to a handful of gunmakers who worked in the Springfield Armory of Massachusetts in the early 1800s. Their names became synonymous with American guns—Colt, Smith, Wesson, Winc…

1
Spotlight on Black Pet Care Entrepreneurs 36:30

3M ago36:30

36:30

Lured in by a blackboard sign on the street in Davia’s neighborhood announcing “Spotlight on Black Entrepreneurs,” we enter the creative and growing world of Black-Owned Pet Businesses. Lick You Silly dog treats, Trill Paws enamel ID Tags, The Dog Father of Harlem's Doggie Day Spa, gorgeous rainbow beaded Dog Collars from The Kenya Collection, Sir …

1
Owning Land Was The Best – and Usually Only – Way to Be Rich in the Ancient World 44:24

3M ago44:24

44:24

For millennia, humans eked out survival atop the surface of the Earth and land had no unique value. Eventually, however, humans turned land into an advantage. For several thousand years, control of land meant control of natural resources, like water and wild animals. For several thousand more years it meant agricultural production, raising domestic…

1
Benjamin Franklin – In the 200 Years After His Death – Funded New Businesses, Supported Boston and Philadelphia, and Play Pranks 37:53

4M ago37:53

37:53

When Benjamin Franklin died on April 12, 1790, he made a final bet on the future of the United States -- a gift of 2,000 pounds to Boston and Philadelphia, to be lent out to tradesmen over the next two centuries to jump start their careers. Each loan would be repaid with interest over ten years. If all went according to Franklin’s inventive scheme,…

1
When American Gilded Elite Bought Up English Country Houses, It Create an Epic Transatlantic Clash of Cultures 44:09

4M ago44:09

44:09

For generations, the great palaces of Britain were home to living histories, noble families that had reigned for centuries. But by the end of the nineteenth century, members of elite society found themselves, for the first time, in the company of arrivistes. Their new neighbors—from chorus girls to millionaire greengrocers to guano impresarios—lack…

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