HISTORY This Week

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Freud & Jung: The Original Dream Team Mar 03, 2025

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March 3rd, 1907. Dr. Sigmund Freud invites a guest into his office, Dr. Carl Jung. This is a meeting of the minds, about... the mind. Psychology. Freud and Jung will spend the next 13 hours discussing the unconscious, the hidden forces in our brains that guide our thoughts and decisions. They're two of the first doctors to explore this mysterious terrain, and this marathon meeting will spark a true friendship – until it all comes crashing down.

How did Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung help shape the way we understand the human mind, that elusive unconscious? And why did their friendship eventually fall apart?

Special thanks to our guests, Satya Doyle Byock, Jungian psychotherapist and author of Quarter Life, The Search for Self in Early Adulthood, and director of the Salome Institute of Jungian Studies; Dr. James Hollis, Jungian psychoanalyst and author of A Life of Meaning: Relocating Your Center of Spiritual Gravity; and Dr. George Makari, psychiatrist, historian, and author of Revolution in Mind: The Creation of Psychoanalysis, and director of the DeWitt Wallace Institute of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com

Hitler Stands Trial Feb 26, 2025

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February 26, 1924. 10 Defendants enter a courtroom in Munich. They are being charged with an attempted coup. They tried to overthrow the government of the Weimar Republic… and almost succeeded. All eyes are on the second defendant to enter the room. When the judge reads this man’s name into the record, he identifies him as a Munich writer named Adolf Hitler.

Today: Hitler’s first attempt to seize power. How did his 1923 coup fail? And why would Hitler later say that this failure was “perhaps the greatest good fortune of my life?”

Thank you to Thomas Weber for speaking with us for this episode, author of the book Becoming Hitler: The Making of a Nazi. Thank you also to our guest Peter Ross Range, author of 1924: The Year that Made Hitler. We also read David King’s book The Trial of Adolf Hitler in researching this episode–it’s a great resource if you want to learn more about this story.

**This episode originally aired February 21, 2022.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com

Tesla Electrifies the World Feb 24, 2025

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February 24, 1893. Most homes don't have electricity. And yet, one of the technology's pioneers, Nikola Tesla, is about to give the world a glimpse into a fully electrified future.

He takes the stage at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, and begins a demonstration. He shoots sparks out of his hands, makes himself glow, and turns on some lightbulbs. The lightbulb part doesn't sound that impressive, until you realize... they're not plugged into anything. He's holding these bulbs in his hands, and they're still radiating light. This is the promise of Tesla's future.

Today, Nikola Tesla's pursuit of wireless power. How did his relentless quest shape our world? And how did it lead to his downfall?

Special thanks to Marc Seifer, author of Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com

America’s Restaurants Meet the Michelin Man Feb 17, 2025

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February 23, 2005. New York City's culinary elite gather at Gotham Hall. Tuxedoed waiters pass around champagne flutes and decadent hors d'oeuvres, as famous chefs like Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain pose for photos and gossip with their peers before the night’s main event: an announcement that could change their lives and the fate of America's dining scene.

Édouard Michelin takes the stage. His company, Michelin, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of tires, but they also produce a restaurant guide that has dictated the fortunes of European restaurants for over 100 years. Now, the Michelin Guide, and its coveted stars, will be coming to America.

When Michelin descends on New York City, which restaurants win? Which lose? And how does the battle itself transform American food culture?

Special thanks to Peter Esmond, the former general manager of Per Se and current sales leader at DoorDash; Eric Ripert, chef of Le Bernardin in New York City; and Kathleen Squires, a food and travel writer whose work appears in the Wall Street Journal, Conde Nast Traveler and more.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com

When America Almost Had Universal Healthcare Feb 10, 2025

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February 15, 1935. The American Medical Association, the AMA, is holding an emergency meeting in Chicago. The crisis? The possibility that the federal government is about to pass universal health insurance.

Health insurance is a new concept in America at this time, but President Franklin Roosevelt's administration is looking to include it in a package that will include another piece of new legislation - Social Security. The AMA, which represents thousands of American doctors, fears that government-backed insurance could dictate how doctors care for patients, and how much money they're allowed to make. The AMA's resistance is the beginning of a nearly 20-year battle against this initiative.

How does the AMA eventually use never-before-seen tactics to fight against a national healthcare program? And how is that program ultimately defeated?

Special thanks to Marcella Alsan, Angelopoulos Professor of Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a Professor of Public Health at the Chan School of Public Health at Harvard. Her working paper on this topic is titled, Why Doesn’t the United States Have National Health Insurance? The Role of the American Medical Association.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com

Anatomy of a Campus Heist Feb 03, 2025

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February 11, 2005. FBI agents bust down the door of a cinder block house near the University of Kentucky campus. Amid flash grenades and screaming teens, they arrest three students – plus a fourth student in a nearby dorm. The crime? Stealing almost $750,000 of rare books and manuscripts from the library at Transylvania University. Why did four freshmen decide to actually go through with their real life version of Ocean’s Eleven? And how did they plan to get away with it?

Special thanks to our guests, BJ Gooch, retired special collections librarian; Eric Borsuk, whose memoir is called American Animals: A True Crime Memoir; and Tom Lecky, rare book and manuscript specialist.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com

** This episode originally aired February 6, 2023.

Could the Challenger Disaster Have Been Prevented? Jan 27, 2025

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January 28, 1986. It's freezing in Central Florida, a historically cold day. That's bad news for citrus growers, and for NASA, which is scheduled to launch the Space Shuttle Challenger from Cape Canaveral this morning.

Engineers have ben cautioning NASA that cold temperatures can make space launches dangerous. And yet, NASA decides to move ahead. They consider it an "acceptable risk" and send seven astronauts hurtling into the sky.

What went wrong with the Space Shuttle Challenger? And if engineers knew what could happen, why wasn’t this disaster avoided?

Special thanks to Adam Higginbotham, author of Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com

MLK Bonus: The Civil Rights Children's Crusade Jan 23, 2025

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To further celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we're re-releasing our classic episode about the Children's Crusade, an effort to bring the youth of Birmingham, Alabama into the Civil Rights Movement in order to affect change across the country.

April 20, 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. walks out of Alabama’s Birmingham Jail after being held for a week for peacefully protesting. He spent most of that time writing a letter that passionately defends the civil rights movement’s nonviolent tactics. But despite King’s passion, the movement’s progress has stalled. King needs a major victory in Birmingham, but he’s running out of people willing to risk their livelihoods and safety for this cause. So a new tactic starts taking shape: recruiting young people to protest. After all, kids have the least to lose and the most to gain from a more equal future. But King says the risk is too high. So what changes his mind about putting kids on the front lines? And how did the Children’s March shift Americans’ support of civil rights?

Special thanks to our guests: Children’s Crusade participants Jessie Shepherd, Janice Wesley Kelsey, and Charles Avery. And Ahmad Ward, former head of education at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and current Executive Director at Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com

** This episode originally aired April 17, 2023.

The Hit Song that Gave Us MLK Day Jan 20, 2025

Show notes

January 15, 1969. It's been less than a year since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Friends, family, and followers are gathered at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where Dr. King preached. They are there to remember him on his birthday, honor his legacy, and present a goal: an official celebration of his birthday every year, a holiday to commemorate his life and his struggle.

Getting a holiday passed may sound like a bureaucratic formality, but it would become a years-long battle, mainly led by his widow, Coretta Scott King. And without an assist from a musical legend, it may have never come to be.

Why was this holiday so controversial? And how did a still-popular song change the tide in this battle?

Special thanks to Kevin Gaines, Julian Bond Professor of Civil Rights and Social Justice at the University of Virginia; and Crystal Sanders, historian and associate professor of African American studies at Emory University.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com

How to Stop an Avalanche? Blow Up a Mountain Jan 13, 2025

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January 15, 1939. It's finally working! After countless mechanical issues, the first operational ski lift in the state of Utah is taking people up the mountain so they can glide down its slopes. Skiing conditions are ideal in the town of Alta, and this lift will allow this relatively new sport to explode in popularity. But as beautiful as Alta is, there's also a looming threat... avalanches.

Alta is in one of the most avalanche-prone areas in the entire country. It used to be a small mining town, and its residents have been dealing with avalanches for years, mourning their dead and rebuilding again and again. But now, with Alta becoming a haven for skiing, drastic measures will be needed to keep thousands of visitors safe.

How did the Alta Ski Area become the testing ground for all things avalanche control? And how did rangers find their answer to the avalanche in a deadly weapon of war?

Special thanks to Craig Gordon, avalanche forecaster with the U.S. Forest Service’s Utah Avalanche Center; Andrea Huskinson, former Alta Ski Area communication manager; and Jonathan Morgan, assistant director of the Alta Avalanche Program.

To stay updated: historythisweekpodcast.com

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