S8 Ep300: Guest: Ronald White. Chamberlain returned to Bowdoin College as its president, attempting to modernize the institution by introducing science and broader curricula. He faced resistance fr...
S8 Ep300: Guest: Ronald White. After the war, Chamberlain became a celebrated orator, using his rhetorical skills to preach reconciliation between North and South. Drafted by Republicans, he served...
S8 Ep300: Guest: Ronald White. Returning to duty, Chamberlain led a frontal assault at Petersburg in 1864, where he suffered a catastrophic wound through the hips that surgeons deemed fatal. Believ...
S8 Ep300: Guest: Ronald White. Chamberlain's early war experience included the massacre at Fredericksburg and a smallpox outbreak that sidelined his regiment. Under the tutelage of the disciplinari...
S8 Ep300: Guest: Ronald White. Chamberlain returned to Bowdoin as a professor, where he prioritized critical thinking over strict regimentation and married Fanny in 1855. During his tenure, he witn...
S8 Ep300: Guest: Ronald White. This segment introduces Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's early life and intellectual formation. In 1848, Chamberlain passed a rigorous entrance exam for Bowdoin College ...
S8 Ep299: DALLAS THE DOG MONITORS COCKATOO SIEGE DURING HEATWAVE Colleague Jeremy Zakis. During a severe heatwave in New South Wales where temperatures reached 115°F (43°C), Dallas the dog has been...
S8 Ep299: BAZBALL DECLARED DEAD AFTER AUSTRALIA'S ASHES VICTORY Colleague Jeremy Zakis. Australia's decisive 4-1 victory in the Ashes series is viewed as a failure of England's "Bazball" strategy, ...
S8 Ep299: SNAKE CATCHER SURVIVES EASTERN BROWN BITE Colleague Jeremy Zakis. The risks of the Australian summer are highlighted by the ironic near-death experience of Michaela, a professional snake ...
S8 Ep299: CYCLONE KOJI STRIKES QUEENSLAND AS BUSHFIRES RAGE ELSEWHERE Colleague Jeremy Zakis. Jeremy Zakis reports that Cyclone Koji, described as a "monster" system with winds reaching 90 to 100 m...
298: NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION AND ECONOMIC ISOLATION AS DETERRENCE Colleagues James Fanell and Bradley Thayer. To deter immediate Chinese aggression, Fanell advocates for "war fighting proliferation,"...
S8 Ep298: ADMITTING STRATEGIC FAILURE AND THE NEED FOR TEAM B Colleagues James Fanell and Bradley Thayer. Fanell argues the intelligence community must admit its "strategic failure" regarding China...
S8 Ep298: HISTORICAL ECHOES: THE 10-YEAR RULE AND TIANANMEN BLINDNESS Colleagues James Fanell and Bradley Thayer. The authors draw parallels between current US policy and the British Empire's 1919 ...
S8 Ep298: THE ANACONDA STRATEGY AND THE NEO-ENGAGEMENT TRAP Colleagues James Fanell and Bradley Thayer. Fanell and Thayer discuss the "Joint Sword 2024 Alpha" exercises, describing them as an "Anac...
S8 Ep297: UNORDERED HEROISM AND THE ULTIMATE BLUFF Colleague Admiral James Stavridis. Stavridis recounts the extraordinary heroism of Dorie Miller, a cook at Pearl Harbor who, despite segregation a...
S8 Ep297: EMOTIONAL DETACHMENT AND THE COURAGE TO PIVOT Colleague Admiral James Stavridis. The Admiral emphasizes emotional detachment in leadership, using The Godfather as an analogy for not letti...
S8 Ep297: RESOURCE EVALUATION: FROM IRONCLADS TO PANDEMICS Colleague Admiral James Stavridis. Stavridis examines how leaders evaluate resources under pressure. He cites David Farragut at Mobile Bay...
S8 Ep297: INTELLIGENCE AND CALCULATION IN THE CRUCIBLE OF COMMAND Colleague Admiral James Stavridis. Admiral Stavridis discusses leadership lessons from his book To Risk It All. He highlights Admir...
S8 Ep296: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SILENCE Colleague Tanya Branigan. Branigan discusses the psychological aftermath of the Cultural Revolution with professionals in Shanghai, describing the era as a "col...
S8 Ep296: A SON'S BETRAYAL Colleague Tanya Branigan. This file recounts the tragic story of Zhang Hongbing, who, as a teenager in 1970, denounced his own mother to the authorities. His mother, Fang...
S8 Ep296: IMPERSONATORS AND THE DEATH OF IDEALISM Colleague Tanya Branigan. The conversation highlights the strange phenomenon of historical impersonators, including one of Lin Biao, the general wh...
S8 Ep296: PRINCELINGS AND POLITICAL NOSTALGIA Colleague Tanya Branigan. Branigan examines "princelings" Bo Xilai and Xi Jinping, children of elite leaders who were victimized during the Cultural Re...
S8 Ep296: THE COMPOSER WHO SURVIVED Colleague Tanya Branigan. This segment focuses on Wang Xilin, a composer and former zealous party member whose career was destroyed during the Cultural Revolutio...
S8 Ep296: TEENAGE ZEALOTS AND THE TRAUMA OF VIOLENCE Colleague Tanya Branigan. Branigan details the memories of Yu Xiangzhen, a former Red Guard who attended Mao's first mass rally in August 1966....
S8 Ep296: THE MURDER OF TEACHER BIAN Colleague Tanya Branigan. The discussion turns to "Red August" 1966 and the murder of vice-principal Bian Zhongyun by her students. Her husband, Wang Jingyao, s...
S8 Ep296: THE FORBIDDEN MUSEUM OF SHANTOU Colleague Tanya Branigan. Tanya Branigan discusses her book, Red Memory, and her visit to the Cultural Revolution Museum in Shantou. Founded by former offi...
S8 Ep295: THE BATTLE FOR RAFAH AND THE FUTURE OF HAMAS Colleague Seth Frantzman. The discussion focuses on the strategic importance of Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egyptian border,...
S8 Ep295: THE OCTOPUS STRATEGY: IRAN'S PROXIES AND ISRAEL'S COUNTERATTACK Colleague Seth Frantzman. Frantzman employs the "octopus" metaphor to describe Iran as the central brain directing proxies ...
S8 Ep295: ANATOMY OF AN INTELLIGENCE FAILURE: ARROGANCE AND TECHNOLOGY Colleague Seth Frantzman. This segment analyzes the catastrophic intelligence failure leading to October 7, attributing it to ...
S8 Ep295: THE HORROR OF OCTOBER 7 AND THE ORIGINS OF HAMAS Colleague Seth Frantzman. Seth Frantzman recounts his harrowing experience on the evening of October 7, discovering a body on the road to ...
S8 Ep294: IRAN'S QUEST FOR SUPREMACY AND FUTURE NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS Colleague Brandon Weichert. Weichert discusses Iran's ultimate goal of regional supremacy, describing the regime as the "octopus...
S8 Ep294: SHIFTS IN US POLICY AND THE RISE OF THE SHIA CRESCENT Colleague Brandon Weichert. This section tracks US policy shifts from Clinton's diplomatic attempts to the unintended consequences o...
S8 Ep294: THE HOSTAGE CRISIS, THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR, AND THE CARTER DOCTRINE Colleague Brandon Weichert. Focusing on the aftermath of the 1979 revolution, this segment explores the American hostage cri...
S8 Ep294: US INTERVENTION IN IRAN: FROM OPERATION AJAX TO THE SHAH'S FALL Colleague Brandon Weichert. This segment introduces Brandon Weichert's book, The Shadow War, and examines the history of US...
S8 Ep293: THE CHINESE JUDGE AND THE MODERN LEGACY OF THE TRIAL Colleague Professor Gary J. Bass. Judge Mei Ju-ao represented China, striving to center the suffering of Asian peoples in the judgment...
S8 Ep293: DISSENT, EXECUTION, AND THE SHADOW OF IMPERIALISM Colleague Professor Gary J. Bass. Judge Radhabinod Pal of India issued a massive 1,200-page dissent, arguing the tribunal was illegitimat...
S8 Ep293: CONSPIRACY CHARGES AND THE LEGALITY OF AGGRESSIVE WAR Colleague Professor Gary J. Bass. The prosecution focused on 28 Class A defendants, alleging a grand conspiracy to wage aggressive wa...
S8 Ep293: THE COLD WAR SHIFT: GEORGE KENNAN'S STRATEGIC PIVOT Colleague Professor Gary J. Bass. By 1948, the trial's context shifted dramatically with the onset of the Cold War and the Chinese Civi...
S8 Ep293: A FLAWED TRIBUNAL: INCOMPETENT PROSECUTORS AND CRANKY JUDGES Colleague Professor Gary J. Bass. The tribunal, involving nine Allied nations, suffered from personnel issues driven by Presid...
S8 Ep293: ARRESTING THE CABINET AND DEFINING CLASS A CRIMES Colleague Professor Gary J. Bass. As MacArthur's occupation forces arrived in a ruined Tokyo, they began arresting suspects, including fo...
S8 Ep293: THE EMPEROR'S IMMUNITY AND MACARTHUR'S SWIFT JUSTICE Colleague Professor Gary J. Bass. Following the surrender on the USS Missouri, General Douglas MacArthur faced the challenge of implem...
S8 Ep293: TRUMAN INHERITS A WORLD WAR AND THE BURDEN OF JUDGMENT Colleague Professor Gary J. Bass. Following the sudden death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945, Harry Truman assumed the presid...
S8 Ep292: SOCCER STADIUMS AS PROTEST VENUES AND THE ETHNIC FACTOR Colleague Brenda Shaffer. Shaffer describes how soccer stadiums, particularly for the Azerbaijani team "Tractor," have become venu...
S8 Ep292: BROKEN PROMISES AND LINGUISTIC DISCRIMINATION Colleague Brenda Shaffer. Shaffer details how the Islamic Republic initially promised ethnic minorities linguistic and cultural rights to sec...
S8 Ep292: BROKEN PROMISES AND LINGUISTIC DISCRIMINATION Colleague Brenda Shaffer. Shaffer details how the Islamic Republic initially promised ethnic minorities linguistic and cultural rights to sec...
S8 Ep292: IRAN IS MORE THAN PERSIA: A DIVERSE MOSAIC OF ETHNIC MINORITIES Colleague Brenda Shaffer. Brenda Shaffer discusses her book, Iran is More than Persia, arguing that Iran is not a monolithi...
S8 Ep291: THE SAM ALTMAN MELODRAMA Colleague Gary Rivlin. The shock firing of Sam Altman by the OpenAI board over trust issues, Microsoft's intervention, and the rapid rehiring that solidified the ...
S8 Ep291: THE DILEMMA OF BIGNESS Colleague Gary Rivlin. How corporate giants like Google were slowed by their own business models, leading Suleyman to leave for Inflection and eventually Microsoft ...
S8 Ep291: DOOMERS VS. ACCELERATIONISTS Colleague Gary Rivlin. The ideological battle between "accelerationists" who want rapid progress and "doomers" who fear existential risk, with Hoffman positio...
S8 Ep291: TRANSFORMERS AND OPENAI Colleague Gary Rivlin. The development of the "transformer" paper at Google, the rise of large language models like GPT, and OpenAI's pivot from non-profit to a Mi...
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