Emperor Augustus Featuring Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy

09/13/20 • 72 min

Augustus was the first Roman emperor, reigning from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He was the first ruler of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. His status as the founder of the Roman Principate has consolidated an enduring legacy as one of the most effective and controversial leaders in human history. He rose out of the ashes of prolonged periods of civil war and set the groundwork for the Roman Empire that is well known today. To explain his life and achievements we interviewed Dr. Adrian Goldsworthy who is a leading historian of the ancient world and author of acclaimed biographies of Julius Caesar, Augustus, and Cleopatra. Some of his other work includes In the Name of Rome, Pax Romana, and Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors. A great interview about one of the most interesting figures and leaders in the ancient world.

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The Battle of Khe Sanh Featuring Gregg Jones

On the morning of January 21, Marines at Khe Sanh Combat Base realized they were surrounded by the North Vietnamese Army and the only road leading to the base was cut off. Over the next 4 months, Marines would fend off multiple attacks in the various outposts surrounding the area and the base itself. By the time soldiers from the First Cavalry Division broke the siege, Over 100,000 tons of bombs were dropped by US aircraft and over 158,000 artillery rounds were fired in defense of the base. To explain the significance of the battle and its impact on the Vietnam War, we interview Gregg Jones who is an award-winning investigative journalist and international news correspondent. He has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a fellow at the Kluge Center and Black Mountain Institute, and a Botstiber Foundation grant recipient. He is the author of three acclaimed nonfiction books. Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines, and The Rise and Fall of America's Imperial Dream which was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. Last Stand at Khe Sanh received the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation's General Wallace M. Greene Jr. Award for Distinguished Nonfiction.

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British to American Hegemony Featuring Dr. Kori Schake

Hegemonic States have been at the center of International Systems for centuries. They dictate politics, economics, and military policy. But what happens when another state rises to challenge the status quo? Usually, it ends in war, rarely do we see peaceful transitions between hegemonic systems. Today, we examine the transition between Great Britain and the United States which experienced a peaceful transition in the late 19th century and one of the few cases where this occurred. To help explain this unique relationship, we interview Dr. Kori Schake who the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Before joining AEI, Dr. Schake was the deputy director-general of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. She has had a distinguished career in government, working at the US State Department, the US Department of Defense, and the National Security Council at the White House under the Bush Administration. She has also taught at Stanford, West Point, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, National Defense University, and the University of Maryland. She has been widely published in policy journals and the popular press, including in CNN, Foreign Affairs, Politico, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. She is also a contributing writer at The Atlantic and War on the Rocks. An interesting episode about a critical time in American History and Foreign Policy.