Best Written By Alexander Podcasts (2025)

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All Things Bright and Beautiful- The great Hymn written by Cecil Frances Alexander 6:47

23h ago6:47

6:47

A review of the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful by Cecil Frances Alexander, and music by William H Monk, and Martin Shaw. Your kind thoughts are appreciated.😁By Joseph Fisher

1
Moonshining Survived (and Thrived) At Least Two Decades After Prohibition Ended 45:47

1d ago45:47

45:47

The Prohibition era (1920–1933), enacted by the 18th Amendment, birthed an overnight economy of moonshiners who distilled and distributed homemade liquor to meet America’s insatiable demand for alcohol, transforming rural farmers and opportunists into underground entrepreneurs who supplied speakeasies. But this new economy didn’t disappear after Pr…

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How to Cross the Sahara as a Tenth-Century Cameleer 53:08

3d ago53:08

53:08

What comes to mind when we think about the Sahara? Rippling sand dunes, sun-blasted expanses, camel drivers and their caravans perhaps. Or famine, climate change, civil war, desperate migrants stuck in a hostile environment. The Sahara stretches across 3.2 million square miles, hosting several million inhabitants and a corresponding variety of lang…

1
How American Slaves Fled By Sea, Whether as Stowaways or Commandeering a Confederate Ship 46:06

8d ago46:06

46:06

As many as 100,000 enslaved people fled successfully from the horrors of bondage in the antebellum South, finding safe harbor along a network of passageways across North America via the Underground Railroad. Yet many escapes took place not by land but by sea. William Grimes escaped slavery in 1815 by stowing away in a cotton bale on a ship from Sav…

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Did WW2 Heads of State Want to Preserve Their Empires As Much as Defend Their Homelands? 47:51

11d ago47:51

47:51

2025 marks the eightieth anniversary of Germany’s surrender and the fall of the Third Reich. Likewise, World War II is the single most studied conflict in human history. But most Western accounts offer a one-dimensional interpretation: the war was a noble crusade against fascism, creating a convenient parable about good and evil. But this depiction…

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How a British Governor of Virginia Raised an Ex-Slave Regiment in 1776 to Fight Patriots and Triggered the Revolutionary War 55:09

16d ago55:09

55:09

As the American Revolution broke out in New England in the spring of 1775, dramatic events unfolded in Virginia that proved every bit as decisive as the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill in uniting the colonies against Britain. Virginia, the largest, wealthiest, and most populous province in British North America, was led by Lord Dun…

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How a Marine Embedded with Mao Zedong’s Guerrillas in the 30s Became WW2’s Most Celebrated Special Forces Leader 55:46

18d ago55:46

55:46

He was a gutsy old man.” “A corker,” said another. “You couldn’t find anyone better.” They talked about him in hushed tones. “This Major Carlson,” wrote one of the officers in a letter home, “is one of the finest men I have ever known.” These were the words of the young Marines training to be among the first U.S. troops to enter the Second World Wa…

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Presenting: The Kingmaker Histories 30:33

17d ago30:33

30:33

Presenting: The Kingmaker Histories Episode 3: Remedial Haggling Hey Friends! This week, we’re excited to share a fantastic steampunk fantasy fiction podcast that we adore, The Kingmaker Histories, produced by We Are Not Alone and created by our friend Meg Molloy Tuten. Set in a fictional European republic in the years leading up to World War One, …

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Microbes Were Discovered in the 1600s. Why It Take 200 Years For Doctors To Start Washing Their Hands? 54:16

23d ago54:16

54:16

Scientists and enthusiastic amateurs first confirmed the existence of living things invisible to the human eye in the late sixteenth century. So why did it take two centuries to connect microbes to disease? As late as the Civil War in the 1860s, most soldiers who perished died not on the battlefield but of infected wounds, typhoid, and other diseas…

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From Einstein’s Chalkboard to Oppenheimer’s Nuclear Test: The 50-Year Path to the Atomic Bomb 48:14

25d ago48:14

48:14

The story of the atomic age began decades before Robert Oppenheimer watched a mushroom cloud form over the New Mexico desert at the Trinity nuclear test in mid 1945. It begins in 1895, with Henri Becquerel’s accidental discovery of radioactivity, setting in motion a series of remarkable and horrifying events. By the early 20th century, a brilliant …

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Let’s Get Together- A review of The Youngbloods 1960’s classic 9:16

28d ago9:16

9:16

A review of the 1960’s classic Let’s Get Together, written by Chet Powers. A song we should always stop down for when we hear it! Your kind thoughts are appreciated.😁By Joseph Fisher

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Japan’s Desperate Air Battles Against the US in the Final Months of WW2 37:15

30d ago37:15

37:15

The B-29 Bomber led the Allied strategic bombing offensive against Japan, succeeding when US Bomber Command switched from high-level daytime precision bombing to low-level nighttime area bombing. The latter tactic required Superfortresses to attack their targets individually, without a formation or escorting fighters for protection. Despite this, J…

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Remembering Anthony Burgess with Ben Forkner 21:11

1M ago21:11

21:11

In this episode, Anthony Burgess's friend and colleague Ben Forkner, who met Burgess at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1969 and went on to have a lasting friendship with him over the subsequent years. Here, Ben Forkner looks back on this friendship and shares a tape of Burgess reading the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins which he…

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D-Day From the East: The Soviet Operation Bagration Crippled the Wehrmacht in Late 1944 42:08

1M ago42:08

42:08

Throughout the war on the Eastern Front, there were two consistent trends. The Red Army battled to learn how to fight and win, while involved in a struggle for its very survival. But by 1944 it had a leadership that was able to wield it with lethal effect and with far more effective equipment than before. By contrast, the Wehrmacht had commenced a …

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Season 1 Epsideo 16 1:40:00

1M ago1:40:00

1:40:00

By One Gay Mans Opinion

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Pilgrimages Involved Penitent Marches, Visiting Holy Places, and Watching Drunken Emperors Go on Chariot Rides 44:53

1M ago44:53

44:53

Pilgrimages are a universal phenomenon, from China’s bustling Tai Shan to the ancient Jewish treks to Jerusalem. But why? What is it about a grueling penitent march to an isolated temple that has become a prerequisite for a civilization of any size, whether Chicen Itza in the Mayan Empire or the holy sites of Mecca? To explore this is today’s guest…

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Presenting: Moonburn 30:44

1M ago30:44

30:44

Presenting: Moonburn Chapter 1 Hi Friends! This week, we’re excited to introduce you to MOONBURN, a brand new young adult, queer, slice-of-life podcast from our friends over at August Year Round Productions. In the series premiere, Lucas (Anthony Keyvan) arrives at Bourbon Street Boarding, and discovers a cassette tape the room’s first occupant, Ca…

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Britain Learned How to Set Up Its Global Empire on a Tiny Bermudan Island 44:02

1M ago44:02

44:02

Years before Jamestown planters made New World farming profitable by growing tobacco, and years before their countrymen up north in Plymouth Colony managed to overcome their starvation conditions and acclimate to New England’s growing conditions, there was an English settlement in Bermuda that was wealthier, larger, and more prosperous. It was esta…

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The Hatfield-McCoy Feud Started Over a Pig and Nearly Escalated Into a Regional War 45:20

1M ago45:20

45:20

The origins of the Hatfield-McCoy conflict (between the Hatfield family of West Virginia, led by William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield, and the McCoy family of Kentucky, led by Randolph "Old Randall" McCoy) begins with a dispute over a pig. From here, it escalated from minor disagreements to violent encounters that spanned decades, nearly sparking…

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The 1845 Potato Blight Struck Across Northern Europe. Why Did Only Ireland Starve? 48:41

2M ago48:41

48:41

In 1845, a novel pathogen attacked potato fields across Europe, from Spain to Scandinavia—but only in Ireland were the effects apocalyptic. At least one million Irish people died, and millions more scattered across the globe, emigrating to new countries and continents. Less than fifty years after the union of Ireland with the rest of Great Britain,…

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A Simple Tennessee Preacher Transformed Abolitionism from a Deeply Unpopular Radical Movement to a Centrist Cause 51:18

2M ago51:18

51:18

Sitting high above the small community of Ripley, Ohio, a lantern shone in the front window of a small, red brick home at night. It was a signal to slaves just across the Ohio River. Anyone fleeing bondage could look to Reverend John Rankin’s home for hope. To the slaveholders they fled from, Rankin’s activities as a “conductor” on the Underground …

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How Benjamin Franklin’s Stove Invention Kept Early America From Freezing 41:53

2M ago41:53

41:53

The biggest revolution in Benjamin Franklin’s lifetime was made to fit in a fireplace. Assembled from iron plates like a piece of flatpack furniture, the Franklin stove became one of the era's most iconic consumer products, spreading from Pennsylvania to England, Italy, and beyond. It was more than just a material object, however—it was also a hypo…

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Morning Has Broken- Beloved song written by Eleanor Farjeon 7:27

2M ago7:27

7:27

A review of the lyrics and music for Morning Has Broken. Lyrics written by Eleanor Farjeon, and music composed by Lachlan Macbean. Your kind thoughts are appreciated.😁By Joseph Fisher

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Roman Churches Had No Involvement in Marriage. How Did It Become a Holy Sacrament by the Middle Ages? 38:25

2M ago38:25

38:25

For much of Christian history, the Church had little involvement in marriage, which was primarily a contract between families. It wasn’t until the fourth century that church weddings emerged, and even then, they were mostly reserved for the elite. Fast forward to the High Middle Ages, and marriage became a sacrament of the Roman Catholic Church. Si…

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How a Mess Cook Saved Dozens of Sailors from Shark Infested Waters Off the Coast of Guadalcanal 28:21

2M ago28:21

28:21

On the night of September 5, 1942, the USS Gregory (APD-3), a converted destroyer turned high-speed transport, was caught in a deadly ambush near Guadalcanal. The ship had been supporting U.S. Marine forces, ferrying troops and supplies, when it was mistaken for a larger threat by a group of Japanese destroyers. Outgunned and unable to escape, Greg…

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Humanity’s Past Suggests We Only Have 10,000 Years to Change or Go Extinct 53:19

2M ago53:19

53:19

We are living through a period that is unique in human history. For the first time in more than ten thousand years, the rate of human population growth is slowing down. In the middle of this century population growth will stop, and the number of people on Earth will start to decline - fast. As Gee demonstrates, our population has peaked, and is dec…

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The 16th Century Ottomans Nearly Conquered Europe. Why Did European Kingdoms Make So Many Alliances With Them? 51:05

2M ago51:05

51:05

The determined attempt to thwart Ottoman dominance was fought by Muslims and Christians across five theaters from the Balkans to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, from Persia to Russia. But this is not merely the story of a clash of civilizations between East and West. Europe was not united against the Turks; the scandal of the age was the al…

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Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee - Van Dyke Jr and Beethoven struck Gold on this one! 7:13

2M ago7:13

7:13

A review of the hymn Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee by Henry Van Dyke Jr. Music taken from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Your kind thoughts are appreciated.😁By Joseph Fisher

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Fort Stanwix and the Forgotten Revolutionary War Siege That Convinced France to Help the US 42:07

2M ago42:07

42:07

After a series of military defeats over the winter of 1776–1777, British military leaders developed a bold plan to gain control of the Hudson River and divide New England from the rest of the colonies. Three armies would converge on Albany: one under Lieutenant General John Burgoyne moving south from Quebec, one under General William Howe moving no…

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Enough is Enuf, Our Failed Attempts to Make English Easier to Spell 39:21

2M ago39:21

39:21

No language is as inconsistent in spelling and pronunciation as English. Kernel and colonel rhyme, but read changes based on past or present tense. Ough has many pronunciations: ‘aw’ (thought), ‘ow’ (drought), ‘uff’ (tough), ‘off’ (cough), ‘oo’ (through). In response to this orthographic minefield, legions of rebel wordsmiths have died on the hill …

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His Eye Is On The Sparrow…and the Postal Service? 8:41

3M ago8:41

8:41

A review of the Hymn His Eye Is On The Sparrow by Civilla D Martin. Your kind thoughts are appreciated.😁By Joseph Fisher

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Did Haiti’s First and Last King Squander the Revolution or Succeed in Underappreciated Ways? 51:04

3M ago51:04

51:04

Slave, revolutionary, king, Henry Christophe was, in his time, popular and famous the world over. Born to an enslaved mother on the Caribbean island of Grenada, Christophe first fought to overthrow the British in North America, before helping his fellow enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue, as Haiti was then called, to end slavery. Yet in an incredi…

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Presenting: Waiting for October 19:43

3M ago19:43

19:43

Prologue - “Story Time” Karo tells Yvonne a bedtime story about the monster world. Transcript: https://monkeymanproductions.com/2024/10/wfo-s1-prologue-transcript/ Today's episode featured Robin Regalado as Karo and Tina Case as Yvvone. Written by D.J. Sylvis; sound design is by Caroline Mincks. Theme music is “An Autumn Tale” by Trace Callahan. Co…

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What Ancient Greeks and Victorian Explorers Thought Was at the North Pole 41:34

3M ago41:34

41:34

The North Pole looms large in our collective psyche—the ultimate Otherland in a world mapped and traversed. It is the center of our planet’s rotation, and its sub-zero temperatures and strange year of one sunset and one sunrise make it an eerie, utterly disorienting place that challenges human endurance and understanding. Erling Kagge and his frien…

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Nothing Healed America’s Wounds After the Civil War Like Baseball 50:35

3M ago50:35

50:35

The nineteenth century was a time of rapid growth and development for the game of “base ball,” and players George Wright and Albert Spalding were right in the thick of it. These two young men, the first superstars of the professional game, won the hearts of a country in search of a unifying spirit after a devastating civil war. Today’s guest is Jef…

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How an 1870 Murder Created San Francisco 37:52

3M ago37:52

37:52

Shortly before dusk on November 3, 1870, just as the ferryboat El Capitan was pulling away from its slip into San Francisco Bay, a woman clad in black emerged from the shadows and strode across the crowded deck. Reaching under her veil, she drew a small pistol and aimed it directly at a well-dressed man sitting quietly with his wife and children. T…

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Failed Futures: If Alexander The Great Hadn’t Died, He Might Have Conquered Europe, Circumnavigated Africa, and Built His Own Silk Road 34:20

3M ago34:20

34:20

And Alexander wept, seeing as he had no more worlds to conquer. That’s a quote from Hans Gruber in Die Hard, which is a very convoluted paraphrase from Plutarch’s essay collection Moralia. There’s plenty of truth in that unattributed quote from Mr. Gruber. Alexander the Great’s death at 323 BC in Babylon marked the end of the most consequential mil…

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Why the Anabasis is the Second-Most Influential Greek Epic (After Homer’s Works) 48:43

3M ago48:43

48:43

Imagine being stranded thousands of miles deep in enemy territory with 10,000 soldiers, no allies, no clear way home, and the only means of escape was by foot. This was the predicament faced by Xenophon and the Greek mercenaries in Anabasis, one of the most gripping survival stories of the ancient world. In this episode, we delve into the incredibl…

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The American Revolution Would Have Been Lost Without a Ragtag Fleet of Thousands of Privateers 59:36

3M ago59:36

59:36

Privateers were a cross between an enlisted sailor and an outright pirate. But they were crucial in winning the Revolutionary War. As John Lehman, former secretary of the navy under President Ronald Reagan, observed, “From the beginning of the American Revolution until the end of the War of 1812, America’s real naval advantage lay in its privateers…

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Did Lincoln Save Global Democracy or Undermine It Using Wartime Powers? 57:26

3M ago57:26

57:26

Did Abraham Lincoln preserve democracy during the Civil War, or did he endanger it in the process? To explore this paradox, we’re joined by renowned historian and Lincoln scholar Allen Guelzo, author of Our Ancient Faith. Guelzo takes us deep into the high-stakes decisions of Lincoln’s presidency, from the suspension of habeas corpus to the Emancip…

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Holy Like You- A prayer by Peyton Parrish 6:01

3M ago6:01

6:01

A review of the new song by Peyton Parrish titled -Holy Like You Your kind thoughts are appreciated.😁By Joseph Fisher

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The 1541 Spanish Expedition Down the Amazon to Find the Imaginary “El Dorado” and Valley of Cinnamon 40:32

4M ago40:32

40:32

As Spanish conquistators slowly moved through Latin America, they encountered levels of wealth that were unimaginable. Most famously, Incan Emperor Atahualpa was captured by Francisco Pizarro and paid a ransom of a room filled with gold and then twice over with silver. The room was 22 feet long by 17 feet wide, filled to a height of about 8 feet. S…

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Presenting: Femme Future Perfect 10:11

4M ago10:11

10:11

Check out this sci-fi anthology series by women and nonbinary creators wherever you listen to podcasts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesBy Alexander Danner & Jeff Van Dreason

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