History As It Happens

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Since the New York real estate developer-turned-realty TV star Donald Trump entered politics a decade ago, his personality has dominated Americans' lives. Where did Trump's malignant charisma come from? Where did he learn the art of the deal and how to master the media? And what about the ways of the liar, the cheat, and the bully? From his mentor, Roy Cohn.

Our guest is Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and biographer Kai Bird, the author with Susan Goldmark of 'American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn's Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump.'

Further reading:

The Age of Cohn by Martin Di Caro (book review)

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Sixty years ago, in late August 1966, a remarkable film premiered at the Venice Film Festival. The Italian director Gillo Pontecorvo's 'The Battle of Algiers' portrayed the brutal realities of the Algerian war for independence against colonial France. It has inspired revolutionaries fighting for national liberation ever since. Historian Martin Evans, an expert on empires at the University of Sussex, explores why Pontecorvo's masterpiece has endured and still resonates.

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Some 23 years after the U.S. invaded Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein, the country's stability and sovereignty remain compromised.

Washington continues to demand that Baghdad disarm powerful, Iran-backed Shia militias — a promise the new Iraqi prime minister Ali al-Zaidi made during his July visit to the Oval Office. The war over the Strait of Hormuz is exerting even more pressure on Iraq's delicate balancing act.

Here to explain Iraq's difficult geopolitical position and internal politics is Adam Weinstein, the deputy director of the Middle East program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

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Myanmar is not a country. It is a place of endless violence and ethnic strife, with its 50 million people trapped in another civil war, now in its fifth year, with no end in sight. Since its independence from Great Britain after the Second World War, Burma (now Myanmar) has been ruled mostly by military juntas. Every generation or so, a better future has seemed possible, but democracy and economic prosperity have never been allowed to blossom.

Our guest is historian Maitrii Aung-Thwin, who teaches Myanmar and Southeast Asian history at the National University of Singapore. He is the co-author of A History of Myanmar Since Ancient Times.

Further reading:

The War Forgotten by the World is an Apocalypse Now (New York Times)

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Since returning to the White House in 2025, President Trump has threatened to annex Greenland by force, mused about making Canada the 51st state, claimed he was ready to retake the Panama Canal, and turned Venezuela into a vassal by kidnapping its leader. Trump is trying to turn the clock back to a time when annexation (or territorial expansionism) was a norm in international relations. Since its birth, the United States has been expansionist, but its conduct has taken on different forms over time.

In this episode, author Mark Kawar traces the historical shift from annexationism to global influence through alliances, trade relations, and military bases. It's what some call hegemony, others imperialism.

Recommended reading:

America, but Bigger: Near Annexations from Greenland to Galapagos by Mark Kawar

Why America Stopped Annexing Territory by Mark Kawar (article in Law & Liberty)

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