April 5, 2024
The Fall of Weimar and the Rise of Nazi Germany
On this week’s episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman talk about the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazi Germany. Was Weimar doomed from the beginning?
Maitra and Stepman explain how and why Weimar disintegrated. They also talk about why Germany took a totalitarian turn between the first and second world war and why they ended up so much stronger than the victors of the Great War by 1939.
Earlier Episodes
March 2024
Maitra and Stepman talk about the legacy of World War I, the worldview of Woodrow Wilson, and much more.
M
Maitra and Jarrett Stepman talk about the rise of Imperial Japan before World War II. They explain how an isolated, highly traditional Asian society rapidly modernized in the 19th century and rivaled the great powers of the West.
Maitra and tepman talk about Fascist Italy between the wars. Stepman and Maitra explain what “fascism” really was and how it relates to socialism and other ideologies. They discuss Italy’s attitude at the end of World War I and how Italian dictator Benito Mussolini gave the Italian people the notion of a return to Roman imperial greatness.
February 2024
Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the mutiny of 1857 in India that became one of the greatest crises the British Empire ever faced.
Earlier Episodes
Maitra and Jarrett Stepman talk about the conduct and strategy of the Civil War, for both the Union and the Confederacy. They then talk about the effects of the Civil War, the casualties and the psychological impact on the nation. Most estimates put the death total at 620,000, but some more recent analyses put the number much higher.
Maitra and Stepman explain, looking at the war through the lens of slavery versus anti-slavery or racism versus antiracism fails to capture the complex nature of a drawn-out conflict that nearly ended the American republic.
JANUARY 2024
Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the Spanish Civil War, an important but largely misunderstood conflict that served as a precursor to both World War II and the Cold War.
Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the attempt by National Park Service to remove a William Penn Statue in front of his historic home in Philadelphia. Penn was the founder of the Pennsylvania colony. The move was rejected after it ignited a social media firestorm and political pushback. Is this a model for future efforts to stop the widespread iconoclasm in the West?
Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the French Revolution in the first episode of a three part series on the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.
On this week’s episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the Barbary Wars. Following the Spanish Reconquista, North African Muslim states turned to piracy to enrich themselves. For four centuries they relied on a system of piracy, slavery, and exacting tribute from European powers.
December 2023
Maitra and Stepman talk about Napoleon’s legacy as well as some alternative history. Could Napoleon really have gone to America to become a scientist?
Maitra and Stepman talk about how events spun out of control in the early 20th century, leading to the greatest wars in human history, the collapse of empires, and a total reshaping of the world’s political map.
Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the legacy of historian and statesman Henry Kissinger. Be sure to read Maitra’s piece on Kissinger in The American Conservative, “‘Historian, More Than a Statesman.”
november 2023
Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss “Great Man Theory” in the second episode of a three part series on the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss why they think about the Roman Empire and why you probably do too even if you don’t know it.
Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the French Revolution in the first episode of a three part series on the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.
Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss why they launched this podcast and explain why history is too important to be left to modern academia.