Historically Speaking Podcast

Since its very inception, America has always had to be on the lookout for spies not just from foreign adversaries, but also from its own citizens. Alger Hiss, along with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, all American citizens, were former members of the Communist Party (a party that still exists in America today.) They were all accused of passing American secrets to the U.S.S.R. in the 1940’s and were brought to trial in the early 1950’s. In this episode, we take a deep dive into what those three were accused of, what they were found guilty of, and what their ultimate sentence was.

Episode Edits:

1. While most federal crimes have a five-year statute of limitations, acts of espionage generally carry a 10-year statute of limitations.
2. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were married in 1939, the same year Julius graduated from City College of New York.
3. Julius Rosenberg was fired from the Army Signal Corps in 1945 because they found out he was a Communist.

Episode Resources: Alger Hiss (1904-1996)

• Witness by Whittaker Chambers
• Secrecy: The American Experience by Daniel Patrick Moynihan
• Alger Hiss: Why He Chose Treason by Christina Shelton
• Interview with Christina Shelton – video by Simon & Schuster Books (She spent twenty-two years working as a Soviet analyst and a Counterintelligence Branch Chief at the Defense Intelligence Agency.)
• Hiss and Chambers Face to Face in 1948 – actual video footage
• Alger Hiss Interview 1970 – video by British Pathé

Episode Resources: Julius Rosenberg (1918-1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (1915-1953)

• The Rosenberg Trial by Jake Kobrick (Research Historian, Federal Judicial History Office, Federal Judicial Center) This is the motherload of reference material.
• Final Verdict by Walter and Miriam Schneir the rebuttal to their own 1965 book.
• Invitation to an Inquest by Walter and Miriam Schneir
• Heir to an Execution: A Granddaughter’s Story – Film Documentary
• Excerpt from David Greenglass obituary in NY Times by Robert D. McFadden
• Rebuttal to Greenglass obituary in the NY Times

Legend has it that there once was a King named Arthur who allegedly lived in the late 5th and early 6th centuries and who, with his many companions, successfully fought off numerous enemies in Britain. But was there actually an historical Arthur of real flesh and blood? The Arthurian stories are arguably the greatest legends in Western history, and here in our 50th Episode we explore how the fabled Arthur compares with the historical one.

Books:

• De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae by Gildas
• Historia Brittonum by Nennius
• The New Arthurian Encyclopedia Edited by Norris Lacy
• Historia Regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Momouth
• Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
• Anglo-Saxon England by Sir Frank Stenton

Film:

• Excalibur (1981) with Nigel Terry and Helen Mirren
• Monty Python and The Holy Grail (1975) with John Cleese and Eric Idle
• Camelot (1967) with Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave

After a six-week hiatus, we’re back and with a fast-paced adventure story that rivals even the best of Hollywood. It’s the story of Hannibal Barca. When outnumbered by the Roman military two to one, this fearless Carthaginian general, complete with eye patch and riding atop a black stallion, defied all odds in one of the bloodiest battles in all of antiquity, thus becoming one of the greatest military commanders the world has ever known. Join us as we delve into the life and times of this extraordinary man.

Episode Notes:

• The immediate predecessor of Hannibal in Spain was his brother-in-law, Hasdrubal the Fair (not to be confused with Hannibal's brother, Hasdrubal), who ruled from 229-221 BC., after which Hannibal in 221 at the age of 26 took over Carthaginian Spain.
• According to some ancient sources, Hannibal did marry an Iberian woman named Imilce and they had a son, but we do not know this for certain.

Books:

• The Punic Wars by Adrian Goldsworthy
• A History of Rome by Michael Grant
• Hannibal: The Military Biography of Rome’s Greatest Enemy by Richard Gabriel
• The Histories by Polybius
• A History of Warfare by John Keegan

Film:

• Hannibal (2006) BBC Film
• Hannibal: A March on Rome (2018) Documentary
• Hannibal in the Alps (2018) PBS Documentary

Imagine being hung three times… unsuccessfully. That’s exactly what happened to Englishman, John “Babbacombe” Lee in 1885. Or in the case of Herman Göring, being slipped a cyanide pill just hours before you were scheduled to be hung. Or foiling your pursuers by killing yourself first and being laid out in full regalia upon their arrival. Here in Episode 46, we explore seven individuals who cheated the hangman one way or another.
Books:

• Antony and Cleopatra by Adrian Goldsworthy
• Queen Elizabeth I by J.E. Neale
• Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick
• "Babbacombe" Lee: The Man They Could Not Hang by John Lee
• Jack the Ripper: The Definitive Casebook by Richard Wittington Egan
• Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer

Film:

• Cleopatra (1963) with Elizabeth Taylor
• Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed (2021) Documentary
• Jack the Ripper (2017) Documentary with Trevor Marriott
• Judgement at Nuremburg (1961) with an all-star cast
• Downfall (2005) with Bruno Ganz as Hitler

Everyone has their favorite holiday, but do you know how your favorite holiday came into being? The answers may surprise you. For instance, in 12th century England, New Year’s Day was celebrated on March 25th, but the ancient Celts celebrated their New Year (Sumhain) on November 1st. So why do we now celebrate the New Year on January 1st? And why do we now use the Gregorian Calendar as opposed to the Julian Calendar? Also, did the Druids really use human sacrifices during their celebrations? And why would shepherds be tending their flocks in the middle of December? Did slavery still exist after June 19, 1865? Here in our 30th episode we answer every single one of those questions and much more!
Episode Notes:

• King Numa Pompilius (c. 700 BC) is credited with adding January and February to the old 10-month Roman calendar, but March 1st remained New Year’s Day for Romans until the Julian calendar was developed around 45 BC.
• President Abraham Lincoln did not, in August of 1862, write to Horatio Seymour, former and future Governor of New York, about slavery and the Union, but rather to Horace Greeley, editor of The New York Tribune.
• As promised, here is Rebecca’s Spotify playlist, “October Songs”.

Books:

• A Brief History of the Calendar by David Harper, PhD, FRAS
• New Year’s Day Wikipedia article
• The Civil War Day by Day by E.B. Long
• Lincoln by David Herbert Donald
• Halloween by Ruth Edna Kelley
• A Brief History of the Druids by Peter Berresford Ellis
• The Christmas Encyclopedia by William Crump
• Historical Dictionary of Catholicism by William J. Collinge

Film:

• The Wicker Man (1973) – with Edward Woodward, Diane Cilento