S8 Ep256: COLD WAR RISE AND POLITICAL FALL Colleague James M. Scott. After the war, LeMay rose to lead the Strategic Air Command (SAC) and became Air Force Chief of Staff. However, his blunt, non-political nature caused friction with figures like Robert McNamara an

S8 Ep256: AN APOCALYPTIC WASTELAND AND THE PATH TO VICTORY Colleague James M. Scott. LeMay was relieved when reports indicated light opposition, validating his gamble. By dawn, 16 square miles of Tokyo were reduced to ash, and 105,000 people were dead—four times th

S8 Ep256: THE HORROR ON THE GROUND IN TOKYO Colleague James M. Scott. The raid began just after midnight, catching families asleep. The napalm bombs were designed to puncture roofs and spray fire inside homes, turning the wooden city into kindling. The resulting fi

S8 Ep256: STRIPPING THE GUNS FOR A SUICIDE MISSION Colleague James M. Scott. For the March 9th raid, LeMay ordered bombers stripped of all guns and ammunition to carry more incendiaries and prevent friendly fire in the dark. Crews viewed this low-level entry into a

S8 Ep256: A RADICAL SHIFT TO LOW-ALTITUDE NIGHT BOMBING Colleague James M. Scott. LeMay concluded that high-altitude precision bombing would never work over Japan. He devised a secret, perilous plan to switch to low-altitude night bombing, dropping the B-29s from 3

S8 Ep256: CURTIS LEMAY TAKES COMMAND AND TESTS INCENDIARIES Colleague James M. Scott. After Hansel was fired for a lack of results, Curtis LeMay, a pragmatic problem-solver from a hardscrabble background, took command in January 1945. LeMay realized the existing ta

S8 Ep256: JET STREAMS, BAD WEATHER, AND THE FAILURE OF EARLY RAIDS Colleague James M. Scott. Hansel's precision strategy failed due to Japan's adverse weather and violent jet streams, which blew at 230 mph and ruined bomber accuracy. The B-29, which cost $3.7 billi

S8 Ep256: THE ARRIVAL OF THE B-29 AND THE PRESSURE ON HAYWOOD HANSEL Colleague James M. Scott. In November 1944, Brigadier General Haywood Hansel arrived in the Pacific with a mission to destroy Japan's ability to wage war using the B-29 bomber. Hansel, a pioneer o

S8 Ep255: POST-WAR REFLECTIONS AND REGRETS Colleague Evan Thomas. In the war's aftermath, Henry Stimson retired feeling guilty, fearing that scientific progress, exemplified by the bomb, had outpaced human morality. General Spaatz was similarly haunted by his role

S8 Ep255: THE COUP ATTEMPT AND SURRENDER Colleague Evan Thomas. As the US prepared a third atomic bomb to drop on Tokyo, a military coup unfolded in the Japanese palace to prevent the surrender. Young officers attempted to seize the recording of the Emperor's surre

S8 Ep255: THE EMPEROR INTERVENES Colleague Evan Thomas. Following the bombing of Hiroshima, Emperor Hirohito broke with tradition to support Foreign Minister Togo, urging the deadlocked War Council to "bear the unbearable" and surrender. War Minister Anami, however

S8 Ep255: POTSDAM, STALIN, AND THE COLD WAR Colleague Evan Thomas. At the Potsdam Conference, President Truman initially excluded Henry Stimson from meetings, favoring Jimmy Byrnes, who wanted to use the bomb to intimidate the Soviet Union. Truman wrote in his diar

S8 Ep255: GENERAL SPAATZ AND THE ETHICS OF BOMBING Colleague Evan Thomas. The conversation turns to General Carl "Tooey" Spaatz, who commanded the air war in the Pacific and demanded written orders before dropping the atomic bomb. Unlike the pragmatic Curtis LeMay,

S8 Ep255: SHIGENORI TOGO AND THE JAPANESE WAR COUNCIL Colleague Evan Thomas. Thomas profiles Shigenori Togo, the Japanese Foreign Minister and the only civilian on the Supreme War Council advocating for surrender. Togo navigated a dangerous political landscape defi

S8 Ep255: TARGETING DECISIONS AND THE ATOMIC BOMB Colleague Evan Thomas. This segment details the "Target Committee" meetings led by General Groves, who initially selected Kyoto as the primary target for the atomic bomb. Henry Stimson intervened, overruling the mil

S8 Ep255: THE MORAL BURDEN OF HENRY STIMSON Colleague Evan Thomas. Evan Thomas introduces Henry Stimson, the US Secretary of War, describing him as a 77-year-old "Christian gentleman" and moralist who is simultaneously a realist about the use of power. While Stimso

S8 Ep254: Show 12-26-25 The show begins in doubts of the veneration of Cicero. and the derogation of Aggripina Minor. ROME BEFORE THE EMPERORS: CICERO'S RISE Colleague Josiah Osgood. John Batchelor introduces Josiah Osgood to discuss Marcus Tullius Cicero, a "new

S8 Ep253: WOMEN OF COMMERCE AND THE FRONTIER Colleague Emma Southon. We meet Julia Felix, a Pompeian entrepreneur who ran a luxury bath and dining complex, offering "bougie" experiences to the middle class before dying in the Vesuvius eruption. The discussion shift

S8 Ep253: QUEENS OF BRITAIN: CARTIMANDUA AND BOUDICCA Colleague Emma Southon. This segment contrasts two British queens: Cartimandua and Boudicca. Cartimandua, queen of the Brigantes, collaborates successfully with Rome, understanding they are "not to be defeated,

S8 Ep253: JULIA: THE EMPEROR'S REBELLIOUS DAUGHTER Colleague Emma Southon. Augustus uses his daughter Julia as a political tool, marrying her to Marcellus, Agrippa, and finally the reluctant Tiberius to secure an heir. While she had five children with Agrippa, her