Apple News Today: ‘The Rest Is History’ Hosts on Their Top Moments from America’s Past

Date: December 6, 2025
Host: Shamita Basu
Guests: Dominic Sandbrook & Tom Holland (Hosts of ‘The Rest Is History’)

Episode Overview

This episode of Apple News Today features a lively conversation with Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland, acclaimed historians and hosts of the hit podcast The Rest Is History. With their recent accolade—Apple Podcasts Podcast of the Year—the pair join Shamita Basu to discuss their favorite, most surprising episodes from American history. Their selections span from the fall of the Aztecs to the tumultuous events of 1968, offering fresh perspectives, notable anecdotes, and playful banter while also reflecting on how to approach contested histories.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Are People Flocking to History Now?

Timestamp: 00:47–03:21

• Dominic and Tom attribute the boom in historical content to the enduring appeal of great storytelling and the accessibility of the internet.
• Historians often miss mass audiences by focusing on dry academic details, while The Rest Is History puts stories and characters front and center.
  • Quote [Dominic]:
    “These are great stories that we’re telling... They are what it is to be human. They’re the building blocks of our civilization. So why wouldn’t you be interested in them?” [01:55]
• Tom reflects on how digital access has lifted the pressure to learn everything in school:
  • Quote [Tom]:
    “For us, it’s like stumbling on an enormous seam of gold, and we just keep hacking away at it... The fascination is limitless.” [02:44]

2. The Fall of the Aztecs: American History Begins

Timestamp: 03:21–08:13

• Their first highlight reaches back to the early 1500s with the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs by Hernan Cortés—an event Tom says is almost science fiction in its otherworldliness.
  • Quote [Tom]:
    “If you like science fiction... then Cortés meeting with Montezuma is the closest you get to that in Earth history.” [04:14]
• Dominic connects this episode to the broader arc of American and world history, describing the “Columbian Exchange” and how this initial encounter colors centuries of colonialism.
  • Quote [Dominic]:
    “This is the establishment of European colonialism... It has a massive, massive influence on world history for the next 500 years.” [05:13]
• Tom highlights both the personal relationships (e.g., Cortés and Malinche) and the epic scope of two “hermetically sealed ways of being human clashing with one another.” [05:31]
• Memorable story: The legend of the “Owl Man,” a dramatic, almost mythical, but ultimately futile defense by the Aztecs.
  • Quote [Tom, on the Owl Man]:
    “It’s like the Indiana Jones moment where... he shoots the guy with the sword. And with that moment, a whole way of conceptualizing the world collapses.” [07:01]

3. Navigating Contentious Histories

Timestamp: 08:13–09:35

• Dominic and Tom discuss striving to honor multiple perspectives, presenting debated historical events as open discussions, not dogmatic conclusions.
  • Quote [Dominic]:
    “We tell it not just from the Spanish perspective or the perspective of the indigenous people, but to give them both equal weight... There’s never a right answer in history. It’s a debate. It’s a discussion.” [08:39]

4. Abraham Lincoln: Humanity, Legacy, & Mrs. Lincoln

Timestamp: 09:35–16:46

• As self-professed “patriotic (British) podcasters,” the hosts bring a playful, irreverent tone to discussing Lincoln and the Civil War.
  • Quote [Dominic]:
    “We disapprove of the very existence of the United States as an independent Republic. Just to remind a lot of your listeners, there’s 250 years of back taxes that you owe us.” [10:01]
• Lincoln’s fatigue and premonitions about his death: The hosts discuss Lincoln’s exhaustion post-war and his oft-quoted sense that he may not survive to see peace.
  • Quote [Dominic]:
    “Lincoln is absolutely exhausted... He does say several times to people... ‘I feel that my story is ending.’” [11:22]
• They deconstruct the myth and humanity of Lincoln, noting both his strengths and the strain he endured.
  • Quote [Tom]:
    “Figures who appear to us in the imagination as figures hewn from marble... But there you get a sense of what it would have been like...” [12:23]
• Playful debate about Mary Todd Lincoln, challenging her reputation.
  • Quote [Tom, jokingly defending her]:
    “You’re just racking up reasons why actually she’s tremendous and probably the best woman in American history.” [16:29]
  • Quote [Dominic]:
    “She stole like 7,000 spoons or something. I mean, that’s a lot of spoons.” [15:21]
  • Quote [Tom]:
    “Well, she was just very good at it. What can I say?” [15:24]
  • Tom pledges his “sword” to defend Mary:
    • “No, I’ve pledged my sword to her.” [16:42]
• Overall: They emphasize Lincoln’s humanity, the complexity of his era, and the resonance these stories still have.

5. 1968: The Most Tumultuous Year

Timestamp: 16:46–21:52

• Their six-part series on 1968 underscores its political and cultural upheaval: Vietnam, assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, the DNC riots, George Wallace’s campaign, and Nixon’s comeback.
  • Quote [Dominic]:
    “It’s amazing that so many things happen in such a short period. The sense of everything unraveling...” [17:34]
  • Quote [Tom]:
    “The soundtrack you have in your head is so amazing... The Technicolor quality of the clothing, you can visualize it.” [18:17]
• Dominic, whose doctorate was on Eugene McCarthy, reflects on the personal connection to these events.
• Both highlight the era’s relevance to today—drawing explicit parallels between 1968’s polarization and the current American political climate.
  • Quote [Dominic]:
    “You see it with Nixon... he basically says to the old Democratic rank and file, your old party no longer understands you because it’s been taken over by those weird boffins...” [26:10]

6. Parallels Across History: Patterns and Misconceptions

Timestamp: 21:52–27:39

• Tom draws connections from Roman history to American anxieties about “the Republic under threat,” noting that such fears have deep roots but aren’t iron laws of history.
  • Quote [Tom]:
    “My background is late Republican Rome... That anxiety about what happens if a Caesar should arrive has been an enduring one.” [21:53]
  • “[Benjamin Franklin]: It’s going to be a republic, if you can keep it.” [21:52]
• George Wallace as a forerunner of Trump: populism, culture wars, shifting party allegiances.
  • Quote [Dominic]:
    “Every single state that voted for George Wallace in 1968 voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024... There are so many parallels. It’s uncanny, the similarities and the echoes.” [25:19]
• Shifts in the Democratic Party toward educated, progressive suburbs and the loss of its “working class” base—a dilemma continuing today.
  • Quote [Dominic]:
    “The problem the Democrats had in 2016 and 2024 is that they were perceived... as the party of kind of elitist liberal activists...” [27:15]

7. Covering Living Memory & Historical Bias

Timestamp: 27:39–30:36

• The hosts address the challenges of discussing recent history with living witnesses, handling pushback and differing perspectives.
  • Quote [Dominic]:
    “People often have a massive investment and a stake in something... They’ll say, ‘I lived through this and it was nothing like that.’” [28:01]
• Tom argues that distance brings perspective, and sometimes historians many years removed can provide more balanced accounts than eyewitnesses.
  • Quote [Tom]:
    “The temptation is always to privilege [witnesses], to say their understanding... must be better than the contemporary historian, because they were there. I think this is exactly the opposite.” [28:43]

8. What’s Next for ‘The Rest is History’?

Timestamp: 30:36–31:52

• Despite covering vast swathes of history, the hosts emphasize there are always new stones to turn, stories to explore, and series to expand—citing their multiple returns to topics like the French Revolution for deeper dives.
  • Quote [Tom]:
    “We did an episode on the French Revolution in 50 minutes. We are now... coming up to our fourth series on the French Revolution, going into it in great detail.” [30:52]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On what history offers:
  “Why wouldn’t you be interested in them? They are what it is to be human.” – Dominic [01:55]
• On Aztecs and Science Fiction:
  “If you like science fiction... then Cortés meeting with Montezuma is the closest you get to that in Earth history.” – Tom [04:14]
• Defending Mary Todd Lincoln:
  “She’s tremendous and probably the best woman in American history.” – Tom [16:29]
• On George Wallace and Trump:
  “Every single state that voted for George Wallace in 1968 voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024... The similarities and the echoes.” – Dominic [25:19]
• On being an historian:
  “There’s never a right answer in history. It’s a debate. It’s a discussion.” – Dominic [08:39]

Episode Structure & Major Timestamps

• [00:04] - Intro and premise
• [00:47] - The appeal and resurgence of history
• [03:21] - The fall of the Aztecs
• [08:13] - Navigating historical debate and inclusion
• [09:35] - The Lincoln era and his legacy
• [13:12] - Mary Todd Lincoln: debate and defense
• [16:46] - 1968: Why it matters
• [21:52] - Patterns across history; Rome and the Founders
• [23:15] - George Wallace’s legacy
• [25:53] - The Democratic Party’s transformation
• [27:39] - Covering living memory and distance in historical analysis
• [30:36] - What’s next for the podcast?

Conclusion

This engaging episode showcases Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland’s clever blend of insight, humor, and deep historical knowledge. They revisit turning points in American history not just as recitations of familiar narratives, but as dynamic, still-relevant dramas—reminding the audience that history is not finished but always being reinterpreted. Their frankness about debate and subjectivity makes the field inviting and alive, and their playful rapport adds warmth to the weightiest moments.

Recommended for listeners seeking connection between the past and present, and for anyone looking to rekindle their sense of wonder at the sweep of history.