Unknown History with Giles Milton

Oct 17 2022 116 ep. 11 mins 17.7k
Unknown History with Giles Milton Podcast artwork

Unknown History provides you with surprising, quirky, and remarkable tales from the past, so you can pretend you paid attention in history class. Hosted by renowned author Giles Milton.

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A Conversation On Queer History: Rasheed Newson, Jack Lowery, and Bill Goldstein on Act Up!, AIDS Activism, and 80s NYC.

Oct 17 2022 66 mins  
Hear Rasheed Newson, Jack Lowery and Bill Goldstein discuss Rasheed's new book My Government Means to Kill Me. They discuss the inspiration for the novel, activism, and the political and social reckoning of a young, black, gay man in 1980s New York City.

Bonus: The Cold War Superagent and the Ruthless Head of the CIA

Dec 16 2021 17 mins  
Unknown History is on hiatus between seasons, but in the meantime, we hope you enjoy this special excerpt from Agent Sniper: The Cold War Superagent and the Ruthless Head of the CIA by Tim Tate, brought to us by our colleagues at Macmillan Audio. You can get your copy of Agent Sniper from Amazon, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, or wherever books or audiobooks are sold.

The Broken Constitution: Lincoln's Transformation

Nov 04 2021 40 mins  
Lincoln's choices and evolution didn't just transform the meaning of the Civil War—they transformed the Consitution itself. This is the third and final installment of The Broken Constitution mini-series. Read the companion article on Quick and Dirty Tips. Follow Unknown History wherever you listen to podcasts. For more from Noah, follow Deep Background from Pushkin Industries.

The Broken Constitution: Lincoln's Choice

Oct 27 2021 35 mins  
Lincoln faced an unprecedented crisis that remains unique in American history. Were the choices he made vindicated by history? Read the companion article on Quick and Dirty Tips. Follow Unknown History wherever you listen to podcasts. For more from Noah, follow Deep Background from Pushkin Industries. Pre-order The Broken Constitution. Find Noah on Twitter.

The Broken Constitution: The American Compromise

Oct 20 2021 27 mins  
The original United States Constitution was a compromise between slaveholders and non-slaveholders. It made key compromises to protect a union between the Northern and Southern states and protected the slave trade in U.S. law. Read the transcript. Follow Unknown History wherever you listen to podcasts. For more from Noah, follow Deep Background from Pushkin Industries. Pre-orde

Coming Soon: The Broken Constitution

Oct 14 2021
Coming soon on the Unknown History podcast: the story of Abraham Lincoln's work reshaping the United States Constitution.

The Dramatic Conclusion of the Berlin Blockade

Oct 06 2021 8 mins  
After 323 days of the Berlin Blockade, a weather system nearly brought the city to its knees. However, the strength of the Germans, tenacity of the Americans (and a little bit of luck), resulted in victory.

To Save a City

Sep 29 2021 7 mins  
The Berlin Airlift of 1948 saved the city from starvation...but just barely. Unknown History delves into the astonishing ingenuity of American military alongside the hard work of German citizens that kept the city from collapse. Read the transcript. Check out all the Quick and Dirty Tips shows. Subscribe to the Unknown History podcast. Join the conversation on Facebook and

Launching the Airlift

Sep 22 2021 8 mins  
The Berlin Airlift saved the city from starvation during the Russian blockade of 1948. But supplying over two million people for over a year via airplane was a Herculean feat that almost didn't happen. Unknown History delves deeper into the American solution. Read the transcript. Check out all the Quick and Dirty Tips shows. Subscribe to the Unknown History podcast. Join the c

The Siege: Could the Berlin Airlift Save Berlin?

Sep 15 2021 9 mins  
When the Soviets cut off all supply routes to western Berlin in 1948, they didn't anticipate the ingenuity and tactical planning skills of Army Brigadier General Frank Howley. Could the Berlin Airlift really keep the entire city alive during the siege? Read the transcript. Check out all the Quick and Dirty Tips shows. Subscribe to the Unknown History podcast. Join the conversa