History of Japan

Latest Episodes:

Episode 116 - One Man Yoshida Sep 01, 2015

Show notes

Yoshida Shigeru was the postwar Prime Minister who helped salvage Japan's economy after WWII and set the country on the course to recovery. Today we'll discuss his background, time in office, and his influence on the course of Japan's political history.

Episode 115 - The Far Side of the World Aug 24, 2015

Show notes

This week, we cover the first Japanese expeditions to Europe. How was it decided that a group of samurai should be dispatched to Rome? Were there really samurai who were also technically knights? How scandalized were the European upper classes by the idea of chopsticks? All that and more, this week!

Episode 114 - The King of the Monsters Aug 15, 2015

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This week, we cover the rise to global fame of one of Japan's greatest cultural ambassadors: Godzilla. How did a monster designed as a metaphor about the bomb become emblematic of postwar Japan? Find out this week!

Episode 113 - Rain of Ruin, Part 6 Aug 08, 2015

Show notes

In the final episode of our series on the atomic bomb, we'll talk a bit about some other theories related to the bomb before closing with some general thoughts about the bomb and what it says about how we approach and write history.

Episode 112 - Rain of Ruin, Part 5 Aug 05, 2015

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This week, we look at the Revisionist critiques of the atomic bomb. Why did America use it, and was it really necessary to end the Pacific War?

Episode 111 - Rain of Ruin, Part 4 Jul 25, 2015

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This week, we'll be covering the Orthodox position on the atomic bomb: the defense of the bomb as necessary in the face of Japanese unwillingness to surrender. We'll look at the original impetus for putting forth a systemic defense of the bomb as well as the basic arguments often used to defend its use.

Episode 110 - Rain of Ruin, Part 3 Jul 18, 2015

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This week; what exactly happened during the final, fateful weeks of World War II? What sequence of events finally led to Japan's surrender?

Episode 109 - Rain of Ruin, Part 2 Jul 11, 2015

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For our longest (non-Q&A) episode ever, we'll discuss the development of the Manhattan Project as the odd couple of Leslie Groves and Robert Oppenheimer work to complete the greatest feat of scientific engineering in history.

Episode 108 - Rain of Ruin, Part 1 Jul 04, 2015

Show notes

In our first of six episodes on the atomic bombs, we start to answer an important question; where did the idea for the bomb come from? Where did people get the idea that a sufficiently large bomb would enable them to win wars from the air?

Episode 107 - The Lair of the Wolves Jun 27, 2015

Show notes

How does a nation ruled by warriors descend into over 100 years of civil war? Find out this week as we discuss the causes of the Onin War and the collapse of the authority of the Ashikaga shoguns.

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