Alan Wakim and Dustin Bass discuss the past five years and six seasons of the podcast as they say adieu. After 200 plus episodes, The Sons of History podcast has come to an end.
A little thank you note:
Today we release the final episode of our podcast. Six seasons. Five years. 200+ episodes. Bestselling authors. Award-winning historians. Guests from across America, France, the UK, and the Republic of Ireland. We have made so many friends and have been honored by our guests and our listeners. Our goal was always to make learning history a fun experience. Those of you who put up with our (Dustin and Alan) bantering and bickering, we thank you. It was always part of the show (just in case you thought otherwise). We always warned our guests before recording that we might start digging at each other and not to be alarmed. 😂 We hope that all of you who listened learned something, whether it be about the Ancient Assyrians, the Greco-Persian War, the fall of the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire, the Vikings, the Hundred Years’ War, Christopher Columbus, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, colonialism, slavery, the US Constitution and the Republican form of government, the expansion of the American West, the Gilded Age, World War 1, the Interwar Years, World War 2, the Cold War, the fall of Communism, and everything in between. Our podcast will remain available on the various platforms and on our YouTube channel, so you can always revisit the many subjects and encounter again the varied guests who hailed from places like Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, U of Virginia, Hillsdale, U of Nebraska, the Hudson Institute, the American Enterprise Institute, and all those independent historians who have dedicated decades of their lives to the pursuit of history and truth. We hope that we might have been even the slightest bit of an inspiration for you to become interested in history and to discover how the world works and how its inner workings are far more complicated than we might credit it. To all of you who have listened and will listen in the future, we give you our heartfelt thanks.
- Alan Wakim & Dustin Bass
The Sons of History
After World War I, Marshal Philippe Pétain was one of France's greatest military heroes. For decades he was held in the highest esteem, but then France fell to the Nazis in 1940 and Pétain instigated the signing of the armistice and began a collaboration with the Third Reich that has led many to wonder how he could do such a thing. Julian Jackson, preeminent historian and author of numerous works on World War II France, joined the podcast to discuss the Marshal and his fall from grace. Pétain, the subject of his latest work "France on Trial," is front and center during this conversation.
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1066 is one of the most famous years in history. It established the Norman duke, now known as William the Conqueror, as king of England. But it was hardly as simple as winning at the Battle of Hastings. Don Hollway, the author of “Battle for the Island Kingdom,” joins the podcast to discuss how the Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, Normans, and others fought for the English throne over the decades and centuries. Hollway guides us through this violent era, the betrayals, the murders, the marriages, the mayhem, and how the Church and the belief in divine destiny helped establish the throne.
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Michael Livingston is on the case again. He joins the podcast to discuss how a 600 year tradition about the location of the Battle of Agincourt and many of its teachings about the battle could very well be wrong. Just as he did with the Battle of Crécy, Livingston makes a very convincing argument that tradition has again usurped historical fact. We discuss the Hundred Years' War, Henry V, Shakespeare, and more in this fun and enlightening conversation. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe.
The Assyrian Empire is considered by many the first great empire. For several centuries this Mesopotamian people conquered and dominated the world of the Near East. Ancient and modern military scholar Mark Healy joins the podcast to discuss these ancient people, their kings, their methods for dominance, and how this empire suddenly came to an end.
Mark Healy's first book Warriors of the Old Testament was published in 1990. He has written extensively on military subjects of the ancient worlds of Egypt, Assyria, and Rome, to the modern world, specifically World War II. His specialties on World War II history are on German armor, U-boats, and the Luftwaffe. We will be talking with him about his latest book “The Ancient Assyrians: Empire and Army, 883-612 BC.”
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Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge were the political power players of the early 20th century. Their relationship proved politically beneficial to both men, but their friendship went far deeper than mere politics. We discuss with Laurence Jurdem how these two men helped shape America from the early 1900s onward.Laurence Jurdem is an adjunct professor of history at Fairfield University and Fordham College’s Lincoln Center campus. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and San Francisco Chronicle. He is the author of Paving the Way for Reagan: The Influence of Conservative Media on US Foreign Policy, and his latest work The Rough Rider and the Professor: Theodore Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, and the Friendship that Changed American History.If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe.
How did one Spartan defeat thousands of Athenians? It comes down to strategy, and, of course, having others to fight the war. When the Athenians landed on the shores of Sicily, they nearly convinced the Sicilians to acquiesce. But time was not one the Athenians' side. Dr. Paul Rahe joins the podcast to discuss Spartan strategy and how they used proxy wars to enable their ultimate victory over Athens.
Paul Rahe is the Roger and Martha Mertz Visiting Fellow in Classics at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He is the professor of history at Hillsdale College where he holds the Charles O. Lee and Louise K. Lee Chair in Western Heritage. He chairs the Board of Trustees of the Institute of Current World Affairs. And just last year, the University of Piraeus in Greece honored him with the Themistocles Statesmanship Award.
He is the author of numerous works, including Republics Ancient and Modern: Classical Republicanism and the American Revolution, Against Throne and Altar, Montesquieu and the Logic of Liberty, four volumes on the grand strategy of classical Sparta - one of which we are going to be discussing this episode, Sparta’s Sicilian Proxy War.
William Maz, author of The Bucharest Dossier and The Bucharest Legacy, talks post-Communism Romania, the reign of the oligarchs of Eastern Europe, and, of course, spies. In this episode, we dig into the ongoing struggle in Russia and Ukraine, and the evolution of secret police and intelligence communities.
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Nathanael Greene was arguably George Washington's most trusted general, and arguably the American Revolution's most consequential. Greene led the Southern War Department, and his decisions were pivotal in defeating the British. Salina Baker, author of the new book "The Line of Splendor: A Novel of Nathanael Greene and the American Revolution," joins the podcast to discuss the great general and his life.
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Is war no longer a tenable option? Dustin Bass and Alan Wakim discuss how nuclear power and biological advancements in warfare has created a deterrent to war, as well as how missed opportunities and the unwillingness to win wars has led to a culture of political and military indecision.
The Sons of History also answer a request from a review on ancient history sources.
For more suggestions on ancient history sources, see below:
Writers from the Classical Period:
Plutarch, Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius, Livy, Cassius Dio, Suetonius, Flavius Josephus, Sallust, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, Pliny the Elder, Julius Caesar, ArrianQuintus of Smyrna, Diodorus Siculus, Herodian, Ammianus Marcellinus, Quintus Curtius Rufus, Procopius, Justinian, Lucan, Appian, Aristotle, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Cicero, Seneca, Cato the Elder, Cato the Younger, Heraclitus, Epictetus, Hesiod, Homer, Virgil, Apollonius of Rhodes, Ovid, Aristophanes, Aeschylus, Sophocles, EuripidesIsidore of Seville, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, and Sun Tzu.
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Medical student, polar explorer, author, movie star, Danish resistor during World War II. Peter Freuchen seemed to be everywhere doing everything. His fascinating life has been captured by Reid Mitenbuler, author of the Freuchen biography, “Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age.” Reid’s initial encounter with the larger-than-life figure was a memorable moment in a very memorable place. But then again, everything about Freuchen is memorable. Reid Mitenbuler joins The Sons of History podcast to discuss the Great Dane.
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It’s not as easy as it sounds. Just because someone says something, doesn’t necessarily make it true. This goes for the average person, the journalist, the politician, and, yes, even historians. Dustin Bass and Alan Wakim discuss some of the topics that have come under attack in fraudulent ways, but more importantly, they discuss how to go about studying history, how to think about history and sources, and how sometimes we can’t know the full scope of a historical moment until we have all (or at least as much as possible) the information.
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Since Christopher Nolan’s recent film “Oppenheimer,” the conversation has arisen anew on the man who gave America the atomic bomb. Dustin Bass and Alan Wakim discuss who he was, the legacy he left behind, the need for America to build the nuclear weapon first, and the debate of nuclear usage. At the time of the film’s release, Alan wrote an article for The Epoch Times about creating the bomb entitled “America’s Path to the Atomic Bomb.” Dustin wrote a piece entitled “Debunking Theories About the WWII Use of the Atomic Bomb.”
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James A. Garfield is most often remembered for being assassinated only a short time after his inauguration. His death was a tragedy, but his life was a triumph. C. W. Goodyear, historian and author of the new biography "President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier," joins the podcast to discuss this incredible statesman who overcame everything that stood in his way - except the assassin's bullet.
C.W. Goodyear earned his degree in Global Affairs from Yale University in 2016. then moved to Washington, DC. His first book project was a collaboration with former naval officer Chris Fussell called One Mission: How Leaders Build a Team of Teams. His latest work is the biography of James A Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, entitled “President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier.”
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When the war between Russian and Ukraine started in February of 2022 it was the continuation of an ongoing conflict. Ukraine desires independence and Russia wants to draw the nation back into the Russo fold. Dustin Bass and Alan Wakim discuss the Russo-Ukrainian history, the problem with NATO, Putin's reasons for invading, and Zelensky's leadership. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a rating and a review.
As the rights of Americans continue to ebb and flow with each Supreme Court session, as well as local, state and federal edicts, the question arises: What would The Sons of Liberty do? Dustin and Alan break down what this freedom fighting group did and is it something Americans replicate. They also discuss the states' power of non-compliance, as well as that of the everyday citizen. A roadmap to maintaining our everyday freedoms.
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It is considered the single greatest defeat of an American Army by Indians, but it isn't nearly as well known as many other battles of the Indian Wars. The Battle of the Wabash, also known as St. Clair's Defeat, is not merely an important battle for the sake of American history, but also for the sake of military history and strategy. As cascade of failures ultimately led the destruction of General Arthur St. Clair's army, but there are many things believed about this battle-turned-massacre that are misunderstood.
Alan D. Gaff is an independent scholar and the author of several works, including the bestselling Lou Gehrig: The Lost Memoir; Blood in the Argonne: The “Lost Battalion” of World War I; Bayonets in the Wilderness: Anthony Wayne’s Legion in the Old Northwest; and his latest book that came out this year Field of Corpses: Arthur St. Clair and the Death of an American Army.
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A military victory in the Mexican-American War and the discovery of gold in California led to the great land and gold rushes that renowned historian Elliott West calls the Great Coincidence. Learn about the westward expansion, the violence that erupted, the opportunities it offered, the wealth it created, and how the new lands leveraged America's power in the world. A memorable conversation full of information, dispute, and American history.
Elliott West is the Alumni Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Arkansas. He is the author of several works, including The Last Indian War: The Nez Perce Story, The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado, which won the Francis Parkman Prize and the PEN Center Award. And his latest book, which we are going to discuss, Continental Reckoning: The American West in the Age of Expansion.
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The Texas Rangers are celebrating their bicentennial this year. You may be thinking how that is possible since Texas wasn't even declared a republic until 1836 and didn't become the 28th state until 1845. Dr. Jody Edward Ginn, author, historian, and the Director of Development for the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame & Museum, talks all things Texas Rangers - the highs, the lows, and the misunderstood.
Jody Edward Ginn is Director of Development for the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame & Museum. He’s the former Executive Director of the Texas Rangers Heritage Center in Fredericksburg, Texas. He is a former law enforcement investigator/administrator and U.S. Army veteran with two decades of experience as a Public Historian. He’s the author of East Texas Troubles. He was also a history consultant on the Netflix Original film The Highwaymen with Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson about the Bonne and Clyde saga. And lastly and probably most importantly, he made a special guest appearance on our two-part Eisenhower/Nimitz road trip documentary that came out last year.
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Patrick Weil joins the podcast to discuss Woodrow Wilson's sanity during the process of trying to ratify the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. His book, The Madman in the White House, addresses the psychobiography of Wilson written by Ambassador William Bullitt and Dr. Sigmund Freud and how they came to their conclusion - based on the testimony of many others who were close Wilson at the time - and the use of Freud's psychoanalysis.
Patrick Weil is an Oscar M. Ruebhausen Distinguished Fellow at Yale Law School and a research professor at the National Center for Scientific Research in France. He is the founder and president of Libraries Without Borders. He is also the author of The Sovereign Citizen, How to Be French, and his latest - The Madman in the White House: Sigmund Freud, Ambassador Bullitt, and the Lost Psychobiography of Woodrow Wilson.
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WEBSITE: https://www.thesonsofhistory.com/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/thesonsofhistory/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/sonsofhistory
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TheSonsOfHistory/