In this concluding episode of the definitive podcast history of torture, the focus is on interpersonal torture by non-state actors. This episode provides an overview of psychopathic torture, torture in the drug trade, torture for information, sexual torture, torture between ethnic groups and torture for entertainment. It should be pointed out, as Peter Edwards (1996)… Continue reading A History of Torture: Interpersonal Torture /// 102...
Jun 20, 2025
American torture. For years, philosophers, jurists, and legal theorists struggled with American use of torture in the war on terror. Just a few days after the events of the September 11th attacks, President George Bush was authorizing the use of torture on suspected members of international terrorist organizations. After a few months, American leaders were… Continue reading An American Torture Story /// 101
May 19, 2025
This is a history of torture on the North American continent, including Native American, Canadian and United States torture practices. It’s all here and it’s all free on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and its sociopolitical impact. This is part six of an ongoing series on torture. You can find part five… Continue reading A History of Torture in America /// 100
Apr 20, 2025
The Cambodian Genocide was a second holocaust. Approximately 1.6 million human beings were killed in the terrible bloodletting. But the genocide was unique – it’s one of the only cases in human history where people from the same ethnic group murdered whole segments of its own population – guilty of being born in the wrong… Continue reading A History of the Cambodian Genocide /// 99
Mar 20, 2025•1 hr 2 min
The Soviet punitive system was the heir of literally hundreds of years of secret police interrogation. For centuries, the Czar’s secret police had tortured, refined, and perfected the art of interrogation – all of it based on practice – not theory. That is why American researchers were so amazed at the Soviet interrogation success rate.… Continue reading Gulag: A History of Soviet Torture /// 98
Feb 19, 2025
The Inquisition: it’s a byword for tyranny in much of the Western world – especially among the English-speaking peoples of the world. In today’s episode the surprising origins, history, and impact of the Inquisition are detailed. In addition, this episode features a concise history of torture in India. It’s all here and it’s all free… Continue reading The Inquisition: A History /// 97
Jan 19, 2025
This is part two of an ongoing series providing an exhaustive history of torture. All forms of torture, including forms never detailed in any other history of torture, will be covered in this series. Come and hear the way men share their love for one another. It’s all here and it’s all free on Battlecast… Continue reading A History of Torture: Roman, Christian and South American /// 96
Dec 20, 2024
“Torture was legal, morally accepted, and commonplace in most ancient, medieval, and early modern societies.” This was the way historian Christopher Einolf succinctly described the history of torture: ubiquitous, common; in short: everywhere. Torture is a sort “reverse” gospel – as it is written in Il Libro Dell’avversario, chapter 6: And when the wealthy governors… Continue reading An Universal Institution: The Definitive History of Torture /// 95...
Nov 19, 2024
The Battle of Takur Ghar, also known as the Battle of Robert’s Ridge, was one of the bloodiest engagements in the history of the United States’ war in Afghanistan. Dozens of men died in the hills and mountains of the Shahi-Kot Valley. Scores more were wounded. The battle also featured one of the first documented… Continue reading The Battle of Takur Ghar /// 94
Oct 19, 2024•1 hr 40 min
Thousands of drone strikes have killed tens of thousands of targets since the introduction of unmanned aerial vehicle warfare in the early 2000s. This is the story of that warfare. It’s all free and it’s all here on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war and its sociopolitical impact. Download episode 93 here: download… Continue reading Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A Military History /// 93
Sep 21, 2024
A man is sitting on his porch before he suddenly geysers upward, somersaulting through the air like a discarded plaything. A work truck is cruising across the Gaza Strip at fifty-miles-an-hour and then is suddenly crushed like a coke can and engulfed in flames. Scores of mass-produced Turkish drones flood the Armenian sky, raining death… Continue reading Drones: A Military History /// 92
Aug 21, 2024
The Battle of Hamburger Hill was one of the most famous battles of the Vietnam War. Almost immediately after the conclusion of the battle, dumbfounded American journalists described the horrific assault of Hill 937 – and the inexplicable American withdrawal from the hill just a few days later. To journalists, and their well-fed, luxuriating readers… Continue reading The Battle of Hamburger Hill part 3 /// 91...
Jul 21, 2024
Hamburger Hill is one of the most famous battles from the Vietnam War. This is the complete story of that bloody conflict. It’s all here and it’s all free on Battlecast, the world’s foremost podcast on war and its sociopolitical impact. This is part two of an ongoing series. You can find part one here.… Continue reading The Battle of Hamburger Hill part 2 /// 90
Jun 21, 2024
Hamburger Hill. It’s a battle made famous by the 1987 film with the same name. But the real battle of Hamburger Hill, also known as the Battle for Hill 937, took place almost two decades before the film was released – comprising more than a week of fierce, modern combat in horrendous mountainous terrain which… Continue reading The Battle of Hamburger Hill: an Audio History /// 89
May 20, 2024
Mass suicide. It’s a rare event, something unique, like an uncommonly beautiful woman – it commands our attention. Using the methods developed by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, this podcast is an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of mass suicide through he lens of three case studies – one ancient, and two modern. The Siege of Masada 73… Continue reading An Audio Guide to Mass Suicide: Masada, Cowra, Jonestown /// 88...
Apr 21, 2024
Anarchy. Cannibalism. Disorder. These are adjectives, empty words, that we use to try, however futilely, to describe the total pain, the uprooted lives, the destroyed families, the ethnic cleansing that have taken place throughout human history. In this episode of Battlecast, we will tear our thesaurus in half looking up synonyms for torture and bloodshed,… Continue reading A Military History of The Liberian Civil War /// 87...
Mar 19, 2024
This podcast is a complete history of violence in the small African nation of Liberia. This is part two of an ongoing series. You can find part one here: A Military History of Liberia part one. Download episode 86 here: download link Maps and Images: Extensive maps and images are posted to the historical atlas… Continue reading A Military History of Liberia /// 86
Feb 20, 2024
In the 1820s, a small number of freed Black Americans settled in West Africa. They called their country Liberia, land of freedom. From the beginning, conflict with the more than 15 indigenous ethnic groups ensued, and the American-Liberians formed themselves into a new ruling class, dominating natives in the country for more than 150 years,… Continue reading Black Apartheid: A Military History of Liberia /// 85...
Jan 21, 2024
The Battle of New Market took place on May 15, 1864 and has been made famous in numerous films and literary works. Hundreds of cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, many of them children, fought toe-to-toe with Union veterans, their small frames the only thing holding back the Federal blue tide. For years, the boys… Continue reading Field of Lost Shoes: The Battle of New Market /// 84
Dec 23, 2023
The Second Battle of Fort Fisher was one of the most important battles of the American Civil War. Fort Fisher was the last shield of Wilmington, North Carolina – the final port open to the Confederacy in 1864. Outnumbered and outgunned, facing one of the largest armadas ever assembled in human history, the Confederates fought… Continue reading To the Last Man: The Second Battle of Fort Fisher /// 83...
Nov 21, 2023
In this podcast history of the Second Battle of Fort Fisher, Dr. Luke Wolf recounts the epic battle in all it’s gory detail. This is part two of an ongoing series. You can find part one here: part one. Download episode 82 here: download link Maps and Images: Extensive maps and images are posted to… Continue reading A Military History of the Battle of Fort Fisher /// 82
Oct 22, 2023
It was Christmas Day, 1864 when one of the largest armadas ever assembled by mankind began to deluge Fort Fisher, one of the largest forts in the world, with tens of thousands of shells. The Confederates refused to surrender and fought to the last man. Their fort guarded the last remaining port of the Confederacy,… Continue reading Civil War D-Day: The Battle of Fort Fisher /// 81
Sep 21, 2023
This is the story of the New Mexico State Prison Riot – the most violent penitentiary riot in United States history. This is not an episode for people who are squeamish because within these audio waves are embedded burst heads, mass sexual torture, drug-fueled abuse, a story more painful than pain. It’s a tale from… Continue reading American Nightmare: The New Mexico Prison Riot /// 80
Aug 20, 2023
Murder. Mass rape. Mass torture. Violence beyond violence. Millions upon millions of dollars of property damage. An institution turned upside down – the strong fool ruling over the weak doctor; the prisoner over the guard; evil let loose over the good and the weak. Such is the New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot. More than thirty… Continue reading The Definitive History of The New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot /// 79...
Jul 21, 2023
Made famous in the film We Were Soldiers, the Battle of Ia Drang was the first major conventional battle between regular North Vietnamese forces and the United States military. Drawing from numerous first-person accounts, the Battle of Ia Drang is recounted with vivid detail in this episode. It’s a battle which directly changed the tactics… Continue reading The Battle of Ia Drang /// 78
Jun 19, 2023
The Battle of Ia Drang was the first conventional conflict between American forces and North Vietnamese forces during the Vietnam War. For days the two sides met at the foot of the Chu Pong Massif – giving and receiving death, pain, and disfigurement. It’s a battle made famous in the film We Were Soldiers. It’s… Continue reading We Were Soldiers: The Battle of Ia Drang /// 77
May 20, 2023
For more than a decade after the September 11th attacks, the United States of America devoted a seemingly limitless amount of time and resources to finding one man – Osama bin Laden. This is the story of that manhunt. It’s all here and it’s all free on Battlecast – the world’s foremost podcast on war… Continue reading Zero Dark Thirty: The Manhunt for Osama bin Laden /// 76
Apr 19, 2023
Today’s episode recounts the life and death of Chris Kyle – the greatest American sniper in United States history. It’s the final episode of a two part series. It’s 2000 yard shots; it’s death; it’s confused anger and groundless indignation – mixed together into one potent podcast. It’s also the definitive podcast history of Chris… Continue reading Chris Kyle – Greatest American Sniper /// 75
Mar 19, 2023
Chris Kyle was the greatest sniper in American history. The subject of the book and film American Sniper, this is the definitive biographical podcast regarding his life, the controversy surrounding his actions, and his battles. It’s also the story of the Second Battle of Fallujah – one of the bloodiest battles the United States has… Continue reading American Sniper: Chris Kyle and the Battle of Fallujah /// 74...
Feb 19, 2023
On March 1, 1896 one of the most important events in Western imperial history took place; it was the Battle of Adwa. In this one decisive battle, Ethiopia defeated Italy and threatened to drive the Italians into the sea. Crushed by the Ethiopians, Italy’s entire foreign policy was upended for decades. Hundreds of thousands of… Continue reading The Colonized Strike Back: The Battle of Adwa /// 73
Jan 21, 2023
