History As It Happens

Subscribe for early access, ad-free listening, and bonus content! HAIH Premium subscribers got this episode on Thursday, March 12. What is neoliberalism? Is it to blame for the crisis of American democracy? In this follow-up episode to What is Neoliberalism?, the historian Nelson Lichtenstein discusses the enormous economic changes that have transformed American capitalism, from free trade to global financialization following the Cold War's final chapter. Rather than "neoliberalism," today's complex problems would seem to need a new lexicon. Recommended reading: A Fabulous Failure: The Clinton Presidency and the Transformation of American Capitalism

Subscribe now to listen to the entire 25-minute episode (or preview 5 minutes). The regionwide war now engulfing the Greater Middle East has threatened to involve Turkey, after Iranian ballistic missiles headed for the country were successfully intercepted by NATO air defenses. Also, last month, former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett warned that a "new Turkish threat is emerging," accusing Ankara of plotting to encircle Israel with Islamist allies. In this episode, historian Howard Eissenstat explains Turkey's real interests in the war's outcome and why its relationship with Israel is dangerously deteriorating. Howard Eissenstat teaches at St. Lawrence University and the Stockholm University Institute of Turkish Studies (SUITS). Eissenstat's research focuses on the intersection of nationalism, religious identity, and policy in the Turkish Republic.

Subscribe for early access, ad-free listening, and bonus content! HAIH Premium subscribers got this episode on Monday, March 9. The Nazis were in many ways unique, but the Army psychiatrist who evaluated the two dozen defendants at Nuremberg in 1945 saw in Germany's war criminals the potential for authoritarianism in all societies, including America. Douglas Kelley's warnings were not well received at the time, but they resonate today, as unaccountable authoritarian figures make war in Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Author Jack El-Hai is our guest. Jack El-Hai is a magazine writer and nonfiction author who covers history, medicine, and crime. Among his many books is The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Göring, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WWII. Credit: Audio excerpts are from Nuremberg (2025), Sony Pictures Classics.

Subscribe for early access, ad-free listening, and bonus content! HAIH Premium subscribers got this episode on Thursday, March 5. In wars from Eastern Europe to the Greater Middle East, new technologies and tactics are transforming some battlefields, while in other theaters, warring states are leaning on failed ideas and magical thinking to somehow produce different and better outcomes — all while civilians shudder under the earth-shaking power of missiles and bombs. In this episode, Anatol Lieven of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft reflects on the changing face of battle and the old mistakes repeated by modern statesmen. Recommended reading: Ukraine marks biggest evolution in military tactics since WWII by Anatol Lieven (Responsible Statecraft)

Subscribe now to listen to this entire 20-minute episode (or preview 5 minutes). Is the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran legal under international law? Did President Donald Trump fulfill his oath to the Constitution before hurling the country into another war in the Greater Middle East? And what about Iran's retaliation, which is sending missiles and drones into Gulf States aligned with the U.S? In this episode, Adil Haque, an expert on international law and the ethics of war, answers pressing questions about the new conflict threatening to pitch the Greater Middle East into chaos. Subscribe at historyasithappens.com for all our bonus content, ad-free listening, and early access to two regular episodes every week.

Subscribe for early access, ad-free listening, and bonus content! HAIH Premium subscribers got this episode on Monday, March 2. This is the third episode in an occasional series for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The idea of the frontier compelled Americans to seek new lands and independence since before the days of the American Revolution. Before the United States became a powerful global empire, ordinary Americans sought to conquer a continent, making war against Native Peoples. In this episode, historian Alan Taylor explains what drove common farmers to cross the Appalachians despite a royal proclamation forbidding such settlement. Alan Taylor is professor emeritus of history at the University of Virginia and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner. America250 podcast series: Episode 1:  Thomas Paine's Common Sense Episode 2:  Ideas of the American Revolution Recommended reading: American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 by Alan Taylor

Subscribe for early access, ad-free listening, and bonus content! Editor's note: Shortly after this episode was published, news broke that Iran's Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in an air strike. Americans awoke on Saturday to learn their leaders, along with Israel, launched another unprovoked air attack against Iran. Unlike last June's 12-day-long war, President Donald Trump says the goal this time around is to topple the clerical regime in Tehran so the Iranian people can rise up. Historian Jeremi Suri, an expert on U.S. foreign policy, joins this special episode of History As It Happens to assess the start of another U.S. war of choice in the Greater Middle East. Historian Jeremi Suri teaches at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He co-hosts This is Democracy podcast and co-writes Democracy of Hope newsletter.

Subscribe for early access, ad-free listening, and bonus content! History As It Happens Premium subscribers got this episode on Thursday, Feb. 26. Twenty-six years after coming to power, Vladimir Putin is prosecuting a ruinous war in Ukraine and tightening the screws of repression at home. How much longer can his rule endure under these suffocating circumstances? In this episode, historian Nina Khrushcheva shares what she saw during her recent trip to Russia — in a society descending into tyranny, but where some expressions of discontent are still permitted. Khrushcheva teaches at the New School. She is an editor of and a contributor to Project Syndicate. She's the author of several books, including one about her great-grandfather: Nikita Khrushchev: An Outlier of the System (2024). Recommended reading: Russia's Descent into Tyranny by Nina Khrushcheva in Foreign Affairs, the official publication of the Council on Foreign Relations. Subscribe to the podcast at https://historyasithappens.supercast.com/

Subscribe now for early access to this episode and all future shows. Early access is the newest benefit of becoming a History As It Happens Premium subscriber. You'll get new episodes a day or two ahead of everyone else, plus ad-free listening and bonus content! The Russian invasion of Ukraine is entering its fifth year with no end in sight despite several rounds of U.S.-mediated negotiating sessions. The battlefield dead and wounded have reportedly surpassed a million men, yet neither side is on the brink of military or political collapse. Neither side is close to victory. In this episode, historians Michael Kimmage and Mark Galeotti try to place this tragic and unnecessary conflict in historical perspective, as the opposing armies send a generation of their young to fight and die over piles of rubble in eastern Ukraine. Michael Kimmage is the founding director of the independent Kennan Institute. He is the author of "Collisions: The War in Ukraine and the Origins of the New Global Instability." Mark Galeotti is an Honorary Professor at University College London, an expert on Russian military history, and the author of many books, including "Forged in War: A Military History of Russia From Its Beginnings to Today." Subscribe at https://historyasithappens.supercast.com

Subscribe now to listen to this entire 28-minute episode (or preview 7 minutes). The United States may soon be at war in the Middle East — again! President Trump is weighing whether to attack Iran, although neither he nor any administration official has bothered to fully explain why. Congress seems unwilling or incapable of intervening, although there is little public enthusiasm for another unnecessary war in the Greater Middle East. What the hell is going on? The Cato Institute's Justin Logan takes us inside the "imperial presidency." Justin Logan is the director of defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute. He is an expert on U.S. grand strategy, international relations theory, and American foreign policy.

Subscribe now for access to the back catalog of 525+ episodes. Plus ad-free listening and bonus content. Germany is rearming, and it's making some of its European allies a little uncomfortable. No one believes a militarily powerful Germany would be bent on conquest. Rather, German hegemony, meant to deter Russian aggression, could renew rivalries and competition with European allies at a time when cooperation and coordination are necessary, according to historian Liana Fix. Liana Fix teaches at Georgetown University. She is a senior fellow for Europe at the Council on Foreign Relations, whose official publication is Foreign Affairs.  Recommended reading: Europe's Next Hegemon by Liana Fix (Foreign Affairs)

Subscribe now for 24/7 access to the entire catalog of 500+ episodes. Chinese President Xi Jinping is purging the military's leadership, raising doubts about the People's Liberation Army's readiness. China has not fought a war since 1979, so how can anyone know whether the United States' No. 1 rival can fight and win a conflict in Taiwan, the South China Sea, or some other flashpoint? David Finkelstein, an expert on Chinese military and security matters at CNA, is our guest. CNA is an independent research institute in Arlington, Virginia. 

Subscribe now to enjoy ad-free listening and bonus content. Keep the narrative flow going in 2026! "Nuremberg," starring Russell Crowe, Rami Malek, and Michael Shannon, has renewed interest in the landmark trials of Nazi war criminals after the Second World War. The movie is an important reminder that justice is possible if there's a will to seek it, as it seems unimaginable that many of today's worst perpetrators will ever end up in the dock at The Hague. Alex Whiting, an expert on international law and former ICC prosecutor, is our guest. Credit: audio excerpts are from Nuremberg (2025), Sony Pictures Classics. 

Subscribe now to listen to this entire 28-minute episode (or preview 7 minutes). Nuclear arms control, RIP. The expiration of the New START treaty, agreed in 2010, marks the end of an era that began in 1972 with the first major U.S.-Soviet strategic nuclear arms pact brokered by Nixon and Brezhnev. In this episode, weapons control expert Joe Cirincione reflects on the new arms race underway and the potential for more countries to take the nuclear leap, plunging the planet into a dangerous new era. Recommended reading: The Greatest Nuclear Threat by Joe Cirincione (Strategy & History newsletter) Why Trump Let Nuclear Arms Control Die by Stephen Holmes (Project Syndicate)

This is the second episode in an occasional series for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Listen to the first show here. Why did America's eighteenth-century revolutionaries revolt? Which ideas influenced their decisions and behavior? The answers depend on which revolutionaries you're talking about, from colonial society's elites to ordinary people hoping to survive the crisis with their lives and property. The ideas of the American Revolution are indispensable to understanding why a long and bloody war was fought to throw off the yoke of tyranny. Historian Kate Carté is our guest. Subscribe now to enjoy ad-free listening and bonus content. Keep the narrative flow going in 2026! Recommended reading: Religion and the American Revolution: An Imperial History by Kate Carté, historian, Southern Methodist University

Subscribe for 24/7 access to the entire catalog of 500+ episodes (or listen free to only the 40 most recent episodes). The fascism debate is intensifying as the Trump administration lurches deeper into authoritarianism. Analogies abound, trying to connect or liken what's happening today to the death of democracy in interwar Europe — or to dark chapters in America's past. Is there an American fascism? Is it possible to look for it without invoking history's most infamous fascist, Adolf Hitler? Historian Gavriel Rosenfeld is our guest. Gavriel Rosenfeld is a historian at Fairfield University and the president of the Center for Jewish History. He's the author or editor of eight books, including The Fourth Reich: The Specter of Nazism from World War II to the Present and Fascism in America: Past and Present. Additional reading: An American Führer? Nazi Analogies and the Attempt to Explain Donald Trump by Gavriel Rosenfeld (Cambridge University Press — article) The Counterfactual History Review — Blog by Gavriel Rosenfeld

Subscribe now to enjoy ad-free listening and bonus content. Keep the narrative flow going in 2026! It wasn't very long ago when U.S. policymakers relied on a species of grand strategist known as the Sovietologist. It was the Cold War, and the strategies for dealing with the USSR ranged from containment to rollback, to détente and peaceful bridge-building. Zbigniew Brzezinski formulated the latter. President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser was an ardent anti-communist with a pragmatic streak, whose goal was to accelerate the breakup of the Soviet Empire. He also supported Palestinian autonomy, and after the Cold War, Brzezinski backed NATO expansion in Eastern Europe while criticizing the excesses of the global war on terror. In this episode, the Financial Times' Edward Luce discusses his timely biography, Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Great Power Prophet. Also read: Martin Di Caro's review of Luce's book for Responsible Statecraft.  

Subscribe for 24/7 access to the entire catalog of 500+ episodes. Non-subscribers may listen to only the 40 most recent episodes. President Trump's harsh immigration crackdown would not be possible without a militarized law enforcement apparatus that presidents and legislators of both political parties built over decades. Even before the 9/11/2001 terrorist strikes, immigration began to be viewed as a national security concern requiring billions to beef up enforcement and deportations, while sensible immigration reform failed to pass Congress time and again. In this episode, historian Jeremi Suri explores the origins of today's crisis as President Trump's federal paramilitary force terrorizes American communities. Jeremi Suri teaches history at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He writes the newsletter Democracy of Hope and co-hosts This is Democracy podcast. Subscribe to History As It Happens Premium: www.historyasithappens.com Further reading: ICE Needs the DOGE Treatment by Jeremi Suri (Wall Street Journal)  

Subscribe now to listen to the entire 28-minute episode. (Or preview 7 minutes). On the streets of Minnesota, a federal paramilitary force in combat gear is executing a deliberate policy of terror and violence against American citizens and their immigrant neighbors. The lawless conduct of President Trump's immigration enforcers has supercharged a debate that's been roiling since 2016: Is Trumpism a form of fascism? In this episode, historian Roger Griffin argues that American (and global) democracy is under assault not from a resurgence of fascism, but from anti-liberal forces and ideas at odds with the universal values that were supposed to gain ascendance after 1945: democracy, human rights, and tolerance.

Subscribe now for 24/7 access to the entire catalog of 500+ episodes, ad-free listening, and bonus content. Non-subscribers may listen to only the 40 most recent episodes. The Trump administration's National Security Strategy calls for "flexible realism" in foreign policy, a supposed departure from the military adventurism that led to disasters in the Greater Middle East. Realism prioritizes national interests rather than ideology or high principles, such as democracy and human rights. Is Donald Trump a realist? What are the historical origins of realism? What are its opposites? In this episode, scholars Linda Kinstler and Stephen Wertheim break it down. Linda Kinstler is a contributing writer for New York Times Magazine and a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. Stephen Wertheim is a senior fellow in the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  Recommended reading: The Theory That Gives Trump a Blank Check For Aggression by Linda Kinstler (New York Times)