History Shorts

In this episode of Friday Conversations, host Peter Zablocki sits down with Oxford historian and bestselling novelist Harry Sidebottom to explore his gripping new book, Those Who Are About to Die: Gladiators and the Roman Mind.
What was it really like to spend a day at the Colosseum at the height of the Roman Empire? Harry takes us on an immersive 24-hour journey — from the gladiators' last supper the night before, through the beast hunts, public executions, and brutal combats, to the eerie quiet that followed. Far more than blood and sand, this book reveals how the games reflected and shaped the Roman psyche: their views on violence, courage, celebrity, power, masculinity, and mortality.
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In January 1897, a young woman named Elva Zona Heaster Shue was found dead inside her home in rural Greenbrier County. Her death was quickly ruled natural, despite troubling questions surrounding her husband, Erasmus Stribbling Trout Shue. The case seemed destined to fade into obscurity.
Then Zona's mother began having dreams.
In this episode of History Shorts, we explore one of the strangest murder cases in American history—the legend of the Greenbrier Ghost. According to her mother, Zona appeared night after night, describing how she had really died and identifying her killer. Driven by those visions, she persuaded authorities to take another look at the case. What followed was an investigation, an exhumation, and a courtroom drama unlike any other.
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For more than a century, the Miss America Pageant has reflected America's changing ideas about beauty, femininity, ambition, and culture. What began as a tourist attraction in Atlantic City evolved into one of the most recognizable institutions in American life—launching careers, awarding scholarships, and sparking national debates along the way.
In this episode of History Shorts, we explore the surprisingly complex history of Miss America. From its origins in the Roaring Twenties to controversies over race, gender roles, and the famous protests of the 1960s and 1970s, the pageant often found itself at the center of broader cultural battles. At different moments, it was celebrated as a symbol of opportunity, criticized as outdated, and reinvented to meet the expectations of a changing nation.
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The next time a package arrives at your doorstep—tracked, inspected, and delivered by a company whose reputation depends on reliability—you can thank a group of people who lived hundreds of years before the modern corporation existed: medieval guilds.
In this episode of History Shorts, we explore how the craftsmen and merchants of medieval Europe created many of the foundations of modern commerce. From the bustling trading centers of London, Bruges, Hamburg, and Venice came systems for quality control, professional certification, business reputation, apprenticeship training, contract enforcement, and international trade networks. Long before anyone spoke of logistics, branding, or supply chains, guild members were solving the same problems that businesses face today.
 
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Before he became the dictator of Germany, Adolf Hitler was a political agitator whose movement often relied on intimidation and street violence. Few people dared challenge him in court. One man did—and for a time, he succeeded.
In this episode of History Shorts, we tell the extraordinary story of Hans Litten, the young Jewish attorney who forced Hitler to testify under oath in a Berlin courtroom in 1931. Through relentless questioning, Litten exposed contradictions in Hitler's claims about the Nazi Party's commitment to legality and democracy, embarrassing the future dictator before a national audience. It was one of the rare moments in history when Hitler was compelled to answer difficult questions rather than dictate them.
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