S8 Ep230: PREVIEW Guest: Professor Richard Bell Summary: Professor Bell discusses his book on the American Revolution, focusing on the "darkest passage" of the war: British prison hulks in New York Harbor. He details the horrific conditions on the ship Jersey, wher

S8 Ep230: PREVIEW Guest: Victoria Coates Summary: Coates analyzes China's energy vulnerability, specifically its reliance on a "shadow fleet" importing Venezuelan oil. She suggests the US should interdict these shipments because China lacks a "Plan B." Forced to bu

S8 Ep230: PREVIEW Guest: Bill Roggio Summary: Roggio reports on the expansion of jihadist groups across Africa, including Somalia, Mali, and Burkina Faso. He warns that European powers have effectively abandoned these regions, allowing them to descend into chaos an

S8 Ep230: PREVIEW Guest: Mark Simon Summary: Simon discusses the sentencing of Jimmy Lai by the Chinese regime. He expresses doubt that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will use an upcoming business trip to demand the return of Lai, a British citizen, noting tha

S8 Ep230: PREVIEW Guest: Professor John Yoo Summary: Professor Yoo supports a national security strategy that prioritizes the Western Hemisphere and homeland defense over conflicts in Europe or the Middle East. He argues that US leadership has overlooked vital eco

S8 Ep230: PREVIEW Guest: Tom Modly Summary: Former Acting Navy Secretary Modly advocates spinning the Navy off from the Pentagon to improve its standing. He highlights the dangerous disparity in industrial power, noting that China's shipbuilding capacity is nearly

S8 Ep229: THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR AND THE PROBLEM OF SUCCESSION Colleagues Gaius and Germanicus, Friends of History Debating Society, Londinium, 91 AD. In the final segment, Gaius and Germanicus analyze the New York Times characterizing the Trump presidency as a "

S8 Ep228: THE GILDED AGE, GROVER CLEVELAND, AND THE ASSERTION OF SOVEREIGNTY Colleagues Gaius and Germanicus, Friends of History Debating Society, Londinium, 91 AD. The second segment pivots to a historical comparison involving Grover Cleveland, the only American p

S8 Ep228: THE ACTOR-EMPEROR AND THE SHIFT FROM DIGNITAS TO INTIMACY Colleagues Gaius and Germanicus, Friends of History Debating Society, Londinium, 91 AD. In this session, set against the backdrop of a cold winter in Londinium, Gaius and Germanicus explore the evo

S8 Ep227: THE MUTINY PLOT AND THE DECISION TO EXECUTE Colleague Richard Snow. Spencer's "mutiny" plot is revealed to a steward, triggering Mackenzie's paranoia. Mackenzie arrests Spencer, Cromwell, and Small without concrete evidence of an uprising. An irregular co

S8 Ep227: THE MUTINY PLOT AND THE DECISION TO EXECUTE Colleague Richard Snow. Spencer's "mutiny" plot is revealed to a steward, triggering Mackenzie's paranoia. Mackenzie arrests Spencer, Cromwell, and Small without concrete evidence of an uprising. An irregular co

S8 Ep227: THE OVERCROWDED SOMERS AND SPENCER'S ISOLATION Colleague Richard Snow. Snow describes the Somers as a fast, overcrowded school ship filled with teenage midshipmen. He details Spencer's isolation due to his physical disability and surly demeanor. Spencer v

S8 Ep227: THE SOMERS MUTINY: SPENCER AND CAPTAIN MACKENZIE Colleague Richard Snow. Snow introduces the Somers mutiny, focusing on midshipman Philip Spencer, a troubled youth obsessed with pirates, and Captain Mackenzie. Mackenzie, who changed his name for an inheri

S8 Ep227: THE COCKPIT HUMILIATION AND FRANKLIN'S TRANSFORMATION Colleague Richard Munson. Munson describes the "Cockpit" humiliation in London, which transformed Franklin from a royalist mediator into a revolutionary. They discuss his founding of the American Philo

S8 Ep227: ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS AND THE FRANKLIN STOVE Colleague Richard Munson. The discussion focuses on Franklin's electrical experiments, including the Leiden jar and conservation of charge. Munson explains that the kite experiment had practical origins for li

S8 Ep227: FRANKLIN'S PRINTING SUCCESS AND SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS Colleague Richard Munson. Munson details Franklin's success in the "high-tech" printing industry, which generated the wealth necessary for his scientific pursuits. The segment covers his political battle

S8 Ep227: ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTS AND THE FRANKLIN STOVE Colleague Richard Munson. The discussion focuses on Franklin's electrical experiments, including the Leiden jar and conservation of charge. Munson explains that the kite experiment had practical origins for li

S8 Ep226: DUELING MONUMENTS AND THE HEART OF DARKNESS THEME Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. The feud extends into the 20th century with "dueling monuments" in Ohio, where the Cresap Society and local residents erect competing memorials near the site of Logan's Elm t

S8 Ep226: JEFFERSON, LUTHER MARTIN, AND THE CANONIZATION OF A FALSE ACCUSATION Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. Thomas Jefferson publishes "Logan's Lament" to argue against French theories of American inferiority, but in doing so, he canonizes the false accusation ag

S8 Ep226: THE TRAGIC FATE OF LOGAN AND JEFFERSON'S DISCOVERY Colleague Robert G. Parkinson. The narrative reveals the tragic fate of the Mingo leader, Logan. In 1794, a surveyor encounters a Native American who admits to killing his uncle, Logan, near Lake Erie aro