History In Five Minutes Podcast

Russia's mafia excels at money laundering, organ trafficking, and the trade. It has to do with inefficient local govenrment extending from the tsarist period to today. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes   FROM NOVEMBER 27 TO DECEMBER 1, ALL OF MY BOOKS ARE ONLY $0.99!   Click on the titles below to go to the sales page and get them at the discount. 1. Off the Edge of the Map: Marco Polo, Captain Cook, and 9 Other Travelers and Explorers that Pushed the Boundaries of the Known World 2. Spies, Espionage, and Covert Operations: From Ancient Greece to the Cold War 3. How Iowa Conquered the World: The Story of a Small Farm State's Journey to Global Dominance 4. History's Greatest Generals: 10 Commanders Who Conquered Empires, Revolutionized Warfare, and Changed History Forever 5. Lost Civilizations: 10 Societies that Vanished Without a Trace 6. History's Most Insane Rulers: Lunatics, Eccentrics, and Megalomaniacs from Emperor Caligula to Kim Jong Il 7. The Most Powerf

  Why did you have to be 100% Sicilian to join the Italian Mafia in 1950s New York? It all has to do with Sicily's history of foreign governments and solving problems itself. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes   FROM NOVEMBER 27 TO DECEMBER 1, ALL OF MY BOOKS ARE ONLY $0.99!   Click on the titles below to go to the sales page and get them at the discount. 1. Off the Edge of the Map: Marco Polo, Captain Cook, and 9 Other Travelers and Explorers that Pushed the Boundaries of the Known World 2. Spies, Espionage, and Covert Operations: From Ancient Greece to the Cold War 3. How Iowa Conquered the World: The Story of a Small Farm State's Journey to Global Dominance 4. History's Greatest Generals: 10 Commanders Who Conquered Empires, Revolutionized Warfare, and Changed History Forever 5. Lost Civilizations: 10 Societies that Vanished Without a Trace 6. History's Most Insane Rulers: Lunatics, Eccentrics, and Megalomaniacs from Emperor Caligula to Kim Jong Il 7. The Mos

In this episode, learn about the man who dressed like Django, convinced LIncoln to enact the Emancipation Proclamation, and fought off men by the dozen with his bowie knife. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes  

Everybody believes carrots improve your eyesight, so of course this fact is not true. But why does everybody believe it? Because the British government lied to the public during World War II to make them eat an unpopular vegetable during war rationing, of course! Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes      

  Tricking enemy intelligence into thinking your army is larger than it actually is has been a favorite move for generals throughout history. General Patton used this trick to defeat the Germans several times using nothing but inflatable tanks and wooden guns. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

How do you get your ships into an enemy harbor when it sits behind the strongest fortifications on earth and guarded by a massive sea chain? If you are Sultan Mehmed fighting the  Siege of Constantinople in 1453, you grease timbers and push the ships up a hill, of course! Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes  

War is deceit. But some are better at deceit than others. Especially the Persian Empire, who managed to conquer the Egyptians by playing on one of their most deeply held religious beliefs -- cat worship. See the novel way that Persia defeated Egypt in the Battle of Pelusium (525 BC) Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Vampires didn't always sparkle or maintain a vegan diet of deer -- they were once known as bloodthirsty killers. The myth of vampires goes back centuries and exists in many different cultures. But where does the myth originate? Are there any real historical figures that inspired the myth? Find out in this episode! Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Nobody believes that love conquers all more than a Knight Templar. Particularly since one knight embalmed his enemy to prove his love to his paramour. To learn more about the Knights Templar check out A.A. Grishin's new book "Legends of the Knights Templar." You can learn more about his work at his website http://knightstemplarvault.com/. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

  In our second part of the Knight's Templar podcast series, we'll look at a particular gruesome story. You will never look at a skull and crossbones flag the same way. To learn more about the Knights Templar check out A.A. Grishin's new book "Legends of the Knights Templar." You can learn more about his work at his website http://knightstemplarvault.com/. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

  Learn about crazy legends from the Knights Templar, the military order founded during The Crusades. Our first story is about a headless man that terrorizes the Czech Republic's capital. To learn more about the Knights Templar check out A.A. Grishin's new book "Legends of the Knights Templar." You can learn more about his work at his website http://knightstemplarvault.com/. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Prohibition is a byword for a failed policy. But it failed in ways you might not expect. Find out how Prohibition is unintentionally responsible for the creation of the U.S. Income Tax code, homebrewing, and an upsurge in fake rabbis running around New York. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

  If you want to get rid of a nasty pest, it might seem sensible to offer a bounty as a reward. But nothing backfires quite like a bounty. We look at bounties on snakes in Delhi, rats in Vietnam; and feral pigs in Fort Benning, Georgia. In each case, bounty hunters found loopholes in the system and made the problem much worse than it was in the beginning. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Beware those who test Murphy's Law. We will look at the greatest unintended consequences in history, starting with Australia's introduction of the rabbit into its ecosystem. Spoiler alert: Disaster ensues. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Debates over vaccines go back way further than Jenny McCarthy. And they have influenced history in ways we still don't appreciate -- chief among them helping America win the Revolutionary War. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Think your job is the worst in the world? Well, it isn't. Not by a long shot. Try being a Roman slave, condemned to walk a water wheel for the rest of their life. Or an English tosher, who roamed London's sewers, looking for treasure. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Meet England's 16th-century martyr who boldly challenged the government establishment for her faith. Think of Anne Askew as England's Joan of Arc, but with less swordsmanship. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

  In this episode, we do a Paul Harvey-esque description of a U.S. president, where his identity isn't revealed until the end. You know what the news is. In a minute, you're going to hear the rest of the story! Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

Ladies in waiting were required parts of any royal court. But why is the job so enduring -- even up to the 21st century -- when all they appeared to do was help the queen get dressed? Is there more to the job than this? You bet! Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes

George Koval was as American as they came -- he was from Iowa, a World War II vet, and loved baseball…. Except for the fact that he stole nuclear secrets for the Soviets and launched the Cold War nuclear arms race. Like this podcast? Click here to subscribe to the podcast via iTunes