Podcast
Explaining History
Hosted by Nick Shepley · EN
How do we make sense of the modern world? We find the answers in the history of the 20th Century.
For over a decade, The Explaining History Podcast has been the guide for curious minds. Host Nick Shepley and expert guests break down the world wars, the Cold War, and the rise and fall of ideologies into concise, 25-minute episodes.
This isn't a dry lecture. It's a critical, narrative-driven conversation that connects the past to your present.
Perfect for students, history buffs, and anyone who wants to understand how we got here. Hit subscribe and start exploring.
Join us at Explaining History for daily modern history articles and news.
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19episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Shortest History of Scotland – Nation, Union, and the Rise of Nationalism
2w ago00:34:30Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by cultural historian Murray Pittock to discuss his new book, The Shortest History of Scotland – a concise but richly detailed journey through two millennia of Scottish history, from the Picts to the present day.Scotland’s geography – the “land of the mountain and the flood”, in Walter Scott’s phrase – made it virtually impenetrable until modern roads and railways. For centuries, the sea was the highway, and Scotland’s east‑coast ports looked as much to continental Europe as to England. Understanding that terrain is key to understanding how Scotland became a state in historical time – and why the union with England was never a foregone conclusion.Murray explains the origins of his book, written as part of the bestselling Shortest History series, and the opportunity it offered to refresh a field dominated by either heavy tomes or outdated accounts. He focuses not just on kings and battles, but on people’s lived lives, culture, and the built environment – while also signposting readers towards deeper dives, such as the Declaration of Arbroath.We then turn to the present. The story of modern Scottish nationalism begins with Winnie Ewing’s shock by‑election victory in Hamilton in 1967, and her slogan “Stop the world – Scotland wants to get on”. The post‑imperial era marginalised Scotland’s distinctive identity; Britishness, once a broad, inclusive identity shared by Australians, Canadians and New Zealanders, suddenly became something narrower and more insular. The memory of the two world wars – particularly the myth of 1940 as an English, south‑east England story – has played a complex role in the union’s longevity.Murray explores the drivers of Scottish nationalism: economic anxiety, a desire for democratic control, and an internationalist outlook that became visible in the 2016 Brexit vote, where Scotland’s pattern diverged dramatically from England’s. He also reflects on the 2014 independence referendum – where pensions and currency fears likely tipped the balance – and on devolution, which Labour hoped would “kill nationalism stone dead” but which failed partly because Scottish Labour never truly became a nationalist party.We also discuss the formation of the union in 1707, a vote “forced” by economic weakness, English obstruction of Scottish overseas trade, and a lack of alternatives. The mercantile class later profited handsomely from the British Empire, shifting Scotland’s economic centre of gravity from east to west – from the European ports to Glasgow and the American trade.Topics covered:The geography of Scotland and its historical impactWalter Scott’s “land of the mountain and the flood”The Declaration of ArbroathWinnie Ewing and the birth of modern Scottish nationalismPost‑imperial Britishness and the Festival of Britain (1951)The memory of the world wars and its role in the unionDrivers of Scottish nationalism: economic, democratic, internationalistThe 2014 independence referendum and the currency/pensions questionDevolution: Labour’s miscalculationThe 1707 union: economic weakness, Darien, and a forced voteMurray Pittock’s The Shortest History of Scotland is available now from all good bookshops. Please consider buying from an independent retailer or directly from the publisher.If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Trump and Nixon in Beijing - an instructive comparison
2w ago00:30:39Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Explaining History podcast, Nick sets the scene for an upcoming interview with historian Murray Pittock on The Shortest History of Scotland, reflecting on the current wave of nationalist politics across Scotland, Wales, and Ireland—and how these movements connect to wider shifts in British and English identity.From there, Nick turns to global affairs, unpacking the stark contrast between Richard Nixon’s landmark visit to China and Donald Trump’s far more troubled encounter with Beijing. What did Nixon understand about power, diplomacy, and long-term strategy that seems absent today?The episode explores the tangled relationship between the United States, China, and Iran, looking at how recent events may signal a shift in global power—and what that means for American influence, its allies, and the future of international politics.Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Master of Lies – Anthony Blunt, the Cambridge Spy Who Changed the Course of World War II
3w ago00:40:09Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by author Piers Blofeld to discuss his new book, Master of Lies: The Untold Story of Anthony Blunt, which re‑examines the most underestimated member of the Cambridge Spy Ring.Anthony Blunt was exposed as a Soviet agent in 1979 – long after the defections of Burgess, Maclean and Philby. For decades, he has been treated as something of an afterthought, a cultured art historian who happened to pass a few secrets to the Russians during the war. But Blofeld’s research paints a very different picture – one in which Blunt was not a minor player but a master of deception whose actions had catastrophic consequences.Blunt was recruited by the NKVD in the 1930s, joined MI5 during the war, and rose to become Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures. Officially, he stopped spying in 1945. In reality, he continued operating well into the 1950s and 60s, using his flat to debrief agents and helping to investigate the very defections of his fellow spies.But his most significant work was not stealing documents – it was disinformation. Blofeld argues that the “postgraduate level” of espionage is misleading your enemy, and Blunt was a virtuoso. He ran a deception operation that mirrored the famous “Garbo” double‑agent network, feeding the Germans false information that helped ensure the success of D‑Day. Crucially, Blunt’s information arrived at German High Command via Sweden four hours before Garbo’s did – making the deception far more convincing.Yet just three months later, Blunt sabotaged Operation Market Garden, releasing detailed Allied order of battle to the Germans. The result was 16,000 Allied casualties, a failed advance into Germany, and a prolonged war that allowed Stalin to seize Eastern Europe. Blunt’s betrayal, Blofeld argues, directly contributed to the partition of Berlin and the shape of the Cold War.We also explore how Blunt was protected by the British establishment for decades, how he edited incriminating evidence after Burgess and Maclean fled, and why Margaret Thatcher – herself misled by her own security services – finally named him in 1979.**Topics covered:**- The Cambridge Spy Ring and Anthony Blunt’s role- Blunt’s continued espionage after 1945- Disinformation as the highest form of espionage- The Garbo deception and Blunt’s mirror operation- Operation Market Garden and Blunt’s sabotage- The cover‑up and protection of Blunt by MI5- Thatcher’s outing of Blunt and its aftermath---*Piers Blofeld’s *Master of Lies* is available from all good bookshops. Please consider buying from an independent retailer.**If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.*Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →The Neocons Admit Defeat in Iran
3w ago00:26:12Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we examine a remarkable moment: the leading architect of the Project for a New American Century, Robert Kagan, admitting that the Iran crisis is a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions – and that America has effectively lost the war.**The Project for a New American Century (PNAC) was the neoconservative think tank that shaped the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration. Its vision was a unilateral American empire, able to fight and win two major wars simultaneously, with Iran at the top of its enemies list. But now, writing in *The Atlantic* – the house magazine of liberal interventionism – Kagan has declared that the Gulf War is unwinnable, that Iran has seized control of the Straits of Hormuz, and that the post-war American order is finished.What does it mean when the neocons themselves admit defeat? Kagan acknowledges that Iran has turned the straits from a passageway of free navigation into the world's most significant global pinch point. Iran will now decide which regimes can access Gulf shipping and which will be economically starved. America cannot project power into the Gulf; it has presented itself as an unreliable ally. The consequences for Taiwan, Japan, and other US partners are dire: they will not hesitate to break ties if a powerful regional predator comes calling.Kagan’s only proposed alternative is a “massive generational land and air war” occupying Iran forever – an impossibility so absurd that it reveals the neocons’ delusion. The Saudis, meanwhile, have concluded that the US and Israel are the aggressors, and that the entire attack was designed to drag them into a war with Iran. The eight-decade alliance forged by Franklin Roosevelt is now fraying. America is being expelled from the Gulf.This is the end of Pax Americana. Regional powers will now call the shots. Smaller nations will have to accommodate larger neighbours. And the neocons – after decades of advocating violent empire – have finally admitted that the project for a new American century is dead.**Topics covered:**- The Project for a New American Century (PNAC)- Robert Kagan’s *Atlantic* article- Iran’s control of the Straits of Hormuz- The end of American naval supremacy- Saudi Arabia’s break with Washington- The collapse of Pax Americana- Neocon delusion and the impossibility of occupying Iran---*If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.*Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Hobsbawm's Age of Extremes – The Golden Age, the Fall of Communism, and the Crisis of Social Democracy
3w ago00:29:52Tap to summarize**In this solo episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we return to Eric Hobsbawm's magisterial overview of the 20th century, *Age of Extremes*, to explore the paradoxes that shaped our world – and the crisis that defines our present.**Hobsbawm argued that the "short twentieth century" – from 1914 to 1991 – was defined by the confrontation between capitalism and communism. But the relationship between these two systems was stranger than simple opposition. The victory over Hitler's Germany was essentially won, and could only have been won, by the Red Army. Without the Soviet Union, the Western world would likely consist of a set of variations on authoritarian and fascist themes, not liberal parliamentary ones.Yet the most lasting result of the October Revolution was to save its capitalist antagonists – by providing the incentive of fear to reform itself after the Second World War, and by furnishing it with the popularity of economic planning. The post-war Golden Age (1947–73) – that unprecedented era of rising living standards, mass consumption, generous welfare states, and growing life expectancy – was, in Hobsbawm's word, "anomalous". It emerged from specific historical conditions: the need to stave off communist challenge, the availability of cheap energy, and the destruction of old ruling classes.That Golden Age is now long gone. Neoliberalism has de‑industrialised the West, privatised public assets, and replaced productive capitalism with rentier capitalism – where we rent the infrastructure of our own lives back from global capital. Social democratic parties across the Western world have abandoned any commitment to redistribution, embraced managerialism, and collapsed into irrelevance. Right‑wing populists – Trumps, Orbáns, Farages – have rushed into the vacuum, offering not solutions but the spectacle of permanent crisis.Hobsbawm died in 2012, but his framework helps us see our moment: an era of decay, of institutional collapse, of centre‑left parties dying. As Gramsci put it, the old is dying and the new cannot be born. And that new may not be born in Europe or America. The centre of gravity is shifting eastwards – to India and China – returning to where most of human history has been centred.We are living through the death of the post‑war social democratic order. What comes next is uncertain – but it will not look like the past.**Topics covered:**- Hobsbawm's "short twentieth century"- The Red Army and the defeat of Nazism- The paradox of Soviet communism saving capitalism- The post‑war Golden Age (1947–73) as an anomaly- De‑industrialisation and the rise of rentier capitalism- The collapse of social democratic parties- Neoliberalism, the 2008 crisis, and the absence of alternatives- Right‑wing populism and kleptocracy- The shifting global centre of gravity to Asia---*If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.*Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →The Tsar's Generals and the Press – Russian Military Journalism in the Reform Era
4w ago00:31:05Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we explore a little‑known but revealing corner of Russian history: the military press during the reign of Alexander II.After the humiliating defeat in the Crimean War, it was clear that Russia's army – and the autocracy that sustained it – needed fundamental change. Alexander II, who came to power as the war dragged on, embarked on a series of "Great Reforms", most famously the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. But reform was always a balancing act between modernisation and the preservation of autocratic power.Nowhere were these tensions sharper than in the military press. Historian E. Willis Brooks, in an essay from the collection *Reforming the Tsar's Army*, examines how War Minister D. A. Milyutin used newspapers and journals to communicate new ideas to officers and conscripts – while struggling to control the very voices he had unleashed.Publications like *Ruski Invalid* (The Russian Veteran) and *Voyeny Sbornik* (Military Review) were meant to be loyal instruments of state policy. But as they sought readers and relevance, their editors – some of them former utopian socialists – began to clash with government censors and even the Tsar's ministers. The result was a chaotic, semi‑autonomous press that both advanced reform and exposed its contradictions.We look at the founding of new military journals, the explosion in readership, and the uneasy partnership between Milyutin and his old radical acquaintance Colonel Pisarevskii, who was given the extraordinary task of running a government newspaper as a capitalist enterprise. Their struggle over "official" and "unofficial" opinions reveals the limits of censorship – even in an autocracy.Topics covered:- The Crimean War and Russia's military humiliation- Alexander II's Great Reforms- War Minister D. A. Milyutin- The military press: *Ruski Invalid*, *Voyeny Sbornik*- Censorship and the "epoch of sensorial terror"- The experiment of semi‑commercial government journalism- Pisarevskii, utopian socialism, and the dangers of editorial independence- How state‑led reform struggles with public communicationIf you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →Austerity Never Ended – The Cultural Politics of Thrift in Modern Britain
4w ago00:25:28Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we examine the enduring legacy of austerity – a policy that officially ran from 2010 to 2024, but whose cultural and political effects are still very much with us.The Labour government has made token gestures toward rolling back austerity – ending the two‑child benefit cap, for example – but the structural damage done to British society is likely unfixable without something approaching wartime levels of economic mobilisation. The real story, however, is not just about cuts. It is about how austerity was sold to the public.Drawing on Liam Stanley's *Britain Alone*, I explore how thrift became a nationalist virtue. The "keep calm and carry on" aesthetic, wartime nostalgia, and television shows like *Super Scrimper* turned prudent consumption into a marker of belonging. Those who made the "right" choices – growing vegetables, knitting, reusing leftovers – were celebrated as proper Britons. Those who didn't – often the working poor – were stigmatised as feckless, their poverty framed as a moral failing rather than a structural one.The two‑child benefit cap was never about economics. It was a weapon of class prejudice, designed to punish poor families for having "too many" children. And it worked – not because it saved money, but because it appealed to middle‑class anxieties about who deserves support.Austerity may be officially over, but its ideology of moralised consumption lives on.Topics covered:- The persistence of austerity after 2024- The two‑child benefit cap and class prejudice- Liam Stanley's *Britain Alone*- Wartime nostalgia and "austerity chic"- The "keep calm" phenomenon- TV thrift programmes and the moralisation of consumption- How consumer choices became markers of national identityExplaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →The Lost Empire of Emmanuel Nobel – Oil, Revolution, and the Birth of the Soviet State
Apr 2900:38:27Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by author Douglas Brunt to discuss his fascinating new book, The Lost Empire of Emmanuel Nobel – the story of the greatest oil magnate you've never heard of, and the turbulent Russian decades that swept him away.Emmanuel Nobel, nephew of the more famous Alfred (inventor of dynamite and founder of the Nobel Prizes), built an oil empire that by 1900 had surpassed Standard Oil. His Nobel Brothers Petroleum Company dominated the oil fields of Baku (modern-day Azerbaijan), introduced the world's first oil tanker, and supplied the Tsar's military with fuel as the Russian army mechanised. He was, for a brief window, the most important oil man on the planet.But Emmanuel was more than an industrialist. He was an unusually enlightened employer in a brutal industry – building schools and housing for his workers, who proudly called themselves "Nobelites". His benevolent practices protected him during the 1905 revolution, when Rothschild's operations were targeted. Yet even his fortune and influence could not survive the seismic forces of the First World War and the Russian Revolution.Douglas traces the Nobel family's journey from Sweden into the Russian Empire, the grandfather's bankruptcy and reinvention, the technical genius of Ludwig Nobel, and Emmanuel's transformation of Baku from a backward oil field into a global powerhouse. We explore the modernising reforms of Tsar Alexander II and Finance Minister Sergei Witte, the shift from kerosene to gasoline as the internal combustion engine took root, and the geopolitical scramble for oil that made Churchill declare petroleum "more important than food".The conversation then turns to revolution. Douglas reveals Nobel's desperate final years – writing to British leaders, warning of the Red Army's advance on Baku, and offering a plan that might have crushed Bolshevism in its cradle. Had Churchill's advice been taken in 1919, the 20th century might have looked very different. Instead, Nobel fled in disguise, aided by former employees, and watched as Stalin systematically erased his legacy – tearing down statues, renaming streets and factories, and rewriting history. Orwell's *1984* was directly inspired by the erasure of Emmanuel Nobel.**Topics covered:**- The Nobel family's journey from bankruptcy to Russian industrial might- Alfred Nobel, dynamite, and the Nobel Prizes- Baku oil fields and the rivalry with Standard Oil- The invention of the world's first oil tanker- Tsarist modernisation and foreign investment- The 1905 revolution and Nobel's "enlightened employer" reputation- Lenin, Stalin, and the Bolshevik seizure of power- Why the British failed to intervene in 1919 – a sliding-door moment- Nobel's harrowing escape from Russia- Stalin's memory‑hole: how *1984* was inspired by Nobel's erasure*Douglas Brunt's previous book explored Rudolf Diesel; his new book, The Lost Empire of Emmanuel Nobel, is published on 19th May. Please consider ordering from an independent bookstore or directly from the publisher.Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →The Death of Britain's Two-Party System – A Century in the Making
Apr 2700:34:34Tap to summarizeIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, I examine the slow-motion collapse of the political order that has defined British politics for a century – and what is likely to replace it.The term "political earthquake" gets overused. What is happening in Great Britain is more like a once‑in‑a‑century end of a political order. It began in 2024 with the death of the Conservative Party – a party that is unlikely to restore itself. And it will continue over the next few years with the death of the Labour Party.The May local elections, just a week away, will mark a major step. Labour is almost certain to lose two of the places it has dominated for generations: Wales (for a century) and London (for half a century). But this isn't just about one bad election night. It is the culmination of decades of neoliberal economics, deindustrialisation, austerity, and the systematic destruction of any alternative vision within the mainstream parties.I draw a historical parallel with the last time Britain's party system realigned: the years after the First World War, when the Liberal Party – the party of 19th‑century capital, free trade, and limited government – collapsed, replaced by a two‑party system of Labour and Conservatives. That system, cemented in 1945, survived for nearly eighty years. Now it is dying.The culprits are not just individual leaders. Thatcherism broke union power, atomised communities, and left Britain poorer and more unequal. The 2008 financial crisis blew up the economic assumptions of that model. Brexit smashed Britain's role as a transatlantic bridge between Washington and Brussels. Austerity killed hundreds of thousands, collapsed public services, and turned the country into a nation in de‑development. The Labour right's merciless destruction of the Corbyn movement left the party in the hands of a centrist technocrat, Keir Starmer – a man who, despite his blandness, has gleefully embraced racist rhetoric on immigration, supported Israel's genocide in Gaza, and handed state functions over to private equity vultures.Starmer's Labour has tried to tack to the right, hoping that voters will hold their noses and vote for "not far‑right". But that strategy is failing. In recent by‑elections, voters ignored Labour's warnings and voted Green or Plaid Cymru – proving that the old "vote for us or you'll get the fascists" threat no longer works.So what comes next? The beneficiaries are two very different parties. Reform UK – funded by a reclusive Bitcoin billionaire, backed by the propaganda channel GB News – offers a populist, proto‑fascist nationalism. The Green Party – untainted by private donations, hostile to the tabloid press, and offering a genuine left‑wing economic alternative – has already won a stunning by‑election on an anti‑racist, cost‑of‑living platform.The next decade could see Britain's political landscape transformed. A two‑party system of Reform and Greens is possible – though each would feel like an enemy occupation to the other side's voters. What is certain is that the old order is being taken out to a field and put out of its misery. And what caused it? Five decades of neoliberalism – an economic project that both main parties embraced, whose contradictions they are now incapable of addressing.Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →The Transnational Far Right – Hate, Vigilantism, and the Mainstreaming of Extremism
Apr 1600:40:20Tap to summarize**In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by Wendy Via of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism – a former Southern Poverty Law Center staffer – to discuss a new report on the transnational activities of far-right and anti-migrant groups around the world.**We often think of hate and xenophobia as local phenomena, but just like organised violence, the far‑right has become increasingly internationalised. The internet, political crises, and economic uncertainty have allowed extremist groups to learn from one another, share strategies, and normalise ideas that were once relegated to the fringes.Wendy explains how the movement has become more sophisticated in its branding. Neo‑Nazis still exist, but they no longer openly quote *Mein Kampf*. Instead, they speak of "protecting our culture" and "saving our families". The "great replacement" conspiracy theory – once confined to obscure writers – is now pushed by politicians and mainstream commentators, giving cover to unspoken reactionary ideas.We explore the alarming mainstreaming of far‑right politics. In Britain, the Conservative Party has moved from ostracising Enoch Powell to rehabilitating his ideas. In the United States, Trump’s open demonisation of Mexican immigrants – "they’re rapists" – did not end his campaign; it became a template for others. Across Europe, Latin America, and beyond, leaders have taken cues from Trump, turning immigration into an existential threat.The report also examines the rise of vigilante groups – self‑appointed militias patrolling borders and neighbourhoods. While there is no single centralised command, these groups communicate constantly, learning from each other’s tactics. Political leaders who call immigrants "the enemy" provide implicit encouragement, and wealthy figures like Elon Musk amplify hateful rhetoric, attracting young men – the demographic most vulnerable to far‑right extremism.Yet there is hope. Hungary’s recent election showed that people can push back against autocracy, even if the new leader remains conservative. A UK by‑election expected to be won by the far‑right Reform Party was instead won by the Green Party on an explicitly anti‑racist, economic populist platform. Across the world, countries are standing up to Trump and his allies, defending their sovereignty. By and large, people are decent – and the far‑right’s gains are not inevitable.**Topics covered:**- The transnational nature of far‑right extremism- The mainstreaming of the "great replacement" conspiracy theory- From Enoch Powell to the modern Conservative Party- Trump’s role in normalising hate- Vigilante groups and their cross‑border communication- Elon Musk’s influence on young men- Hungary’s rejection of Orbán’s corruption- The UK Green Party’s anti‑racist by‑election victory- Where to find hope in a dark political landscape---*Wendy Via is co‑founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. Visit globalextremism.org for resources and to support their vital work.**If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. More details soon.*Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcribe →