On a cold April morning in 1945, nearly five thousand young American airmen climbed into B-17s and B-24s on dusty airfields in southern Italy. A few hours later, they were flying through a sky turned black with flak over Linz, Austria, Hitler’s adopted hometown, the city he dreamed of remaking into the cultural capital of his empire. For the men in those bombers, it was supposed to be one of the last missions of the war, maybe the last. None of them wanted to die with peace so close. But as they...
Mar 05, 2026•28 min
Djene and Patrick speak with video essayist Matt Pearson, aka the “Feral Historian,” about his essay “ Sci-Fi, Satire, and the Post-WWII Mythos .” The compelling videos made by this “rogue scholar” are about 20th century history viewed through the context of science fiction. Djene and Patrick talk to Mr. Pearson about a recent entry that explores the relationship between popular portrayals of movie bad guys, historical fascist movements, and current political currents. What are the dangers in tu...
Feb 05, 2026•32 min
In the autumn of 2022, Iran was rocked by a wave of national, popular unrest, some of the most severe in recent years. The immediate cause of the revolt was the suspicious death of an Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Jîna Amini, whilst in the custody of the Tehran police. Amini’s death proved to be a lightning rod for discontent directed at the Islamist government in Iran, which took power after the 1979 revolution. Significantly, at the forefront of these protests were women, who have long chafed u...
Jan 01, 2026•27 min
In this episode of Talking History, Djene speaks with Dr. Sara McLaughlin Mitchell about conflict and cooperation over water resources. From oil and gas to lithium and rare earth elements, the story of the modern world has often been shaped by competition over natural resources. But in many parts of the world today, it isn’t oil or gold that drives tension, it’s something far more basic: water. From disputes along the Nile and the Tigris–Euphrates rivers to tensions over the Indus and the Mekong...
Dec 04, 2025•29 min
When we think of historians, we often think of educators working within the university system, teaching classes, and conducting research in dusty old archives. However, the field of history and the careers engaged in by trained historians are wider and broader than one might think. This includes the field of public history. Public history is the practice of doing history outside the traditional classroom or academic setting. It’s about how historical knowledge is created, interpreted, and, most ...
Nov 06, 2025•23 min
The Ozarks and the study of its people, history, and culture are not an infrequent topic on this show. This is in part due to this show’s production near the middle of “The Queen City of the Ozarks.” It is also influenced heavily by this show’s place in the Missouri State University community and its sponsorship by the Department of History, which offers one of – if not the – only program devoted to the study of the region. Finally, it is in no small part due to the personal obsessions and inter...
Oct 02, 2025•28 min
Nieh Hualing (1925-2024) was a Chinese-born writer, poet, and editor whose career bridged multiple cultures and continents. Born in Wuhan, she lived through the upheavals of the Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War before moving to Taiwan, where she established herself as a prominent literary figure. Her marriage to fellow writer Paul Engle eventually brought her to the United States, where the couple co-founded the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in 1967, an initi...
Sep 04, 2025•28 min
Long before the United States became a global superpower, it was already casting its gaze far beyond its borders. In the decades before the Civil War, American ships sailed to the farthest corners of the globe, to protect and expand commerce, project political and religious influence, and stake out a place in the European-dominated global order. This was a period when young American sailors and naval officers carried the ambitions of a rising republic into unfamiliar waters and foreign lands, he...
Aug 07, 2025•27 min
In 1989, political scientist Francis Fukuyama published an article, The End of History , (later expanded into a book in 1992), in which he argued that, with the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism, liberal democracy had triumphed as the final form of human government after the Cold War. Fukuyama’s ideas were extremely influential during the 1990s and early 2000s. However, over the last decade and a half, a growing number of thinkers and scholars have come to question the once widely he...
Jul 03, 2025•33 min
In this episode, Djene speaks with Dr. James Ryan about the history of modernization theory and nation-building. From Iraq and Afghanistan, over the last quarter of a century, the foreign policy of the United States has been very much defined by efforts at nation-building. These missions, grounded in the idea that democratic institutions, free markets, and strong civil societies can be engineered into existence, have had mixed results. This troubled history has led many to question the intellect...
Jun 05, 2025•27 min
Patrick and Djene speak to journalist David Griscom about his upcoming book, Cutting Fences , which examines social change in Texas in the late nineteenth century and the rise of populism. Griscom is a writer and political commentator from Austin, Texas, with deep roots in the working-class experience. His work bridges Southern history and politics with the broader traditions of leftist thought and activism. As the host of the podcast Left Reckoning and former producer of The Michael Brooks Show...
May 01, 2025•24 min
In this episode of Talking History , Patrick Needham and Djene Bajalan speak with Dr. Touré Reed about the history of anti-discrimination initiatives, from Affirmative Action to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). On January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order entitled, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government and DEI Programs and Preferencing,” which mandated an end to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives within the Federal Government. Since then, numerous l...
Apr 03, 2025•52 min•Ep. 17
In this episode of Talking History , Patrick and Djene talk with Dr. Samee Siddiqui about Indian-Japanese Relations in the early 20th century and the rise of Pan-Asianism. The history of the peoples of Asia during the 19th and 20th centuries is often looked at through the lens of their relationship with the West. This is perhaps understandable due to Western economic, military, and political dominance over the continent. However, it often means that the relationships between different peoples wi...
Mar 06, 2025•30 min•Ep. 21
When we think about fascist movements in Europe, themes like racial hierarchy, eugenics, and hostility toward disabled individuals often come to mind. However, the reality is far more complex. This month on Talking History , Djene and Patrick discuss fascism and disability with Ms. Brandie Robb. Ms. Robb is a graduate student at Missouri State University whose research focuses on disability in fascist Italy.
Jan 03, 2025•20 min•Ep. 20
The struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, the so-called “Cold War” was one of the defining conflicts of the second half of the 20th century. This conflict was not simply a geopolitical conflict between the world’s two remaining superpowers, but represented a fight for the future of humanity—one which pitted the American-led capitalist world against the Soviet-led socialist bloc. It was a worldwide struggle that touched every continent, fueled revolutions, and redefined nations...
Dec 05, 2024•25 min•Ep. 19
In recent years, there has been much public discussion in the United States over the teaching of history, from the controversies pertaining to journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones's 1619 projects and the debates surrounding confederate monuments to the perception amongst some that scholarship on the history of Israel-Palestine is promoting antisemitism. While history is often portrayed as a dry academic subject, the sometimes ill-tempered nature of the public discussion hints at the significance of hi...
Nov 07, 2024•31 min•Ep. 18
The city of Springfield, Missouri was founded in the 1830's, but the area has been inhabited for thousands of years. As the city begins work to "daylight" the small stream known as Jordan Creek in its downtown area, a group of Archaeologists from the Warren Center for Archaeological Research at Missouri State University spent part of the summer digging beneath the blacktop of a large parking lot across from Brick City to investigate the site for traces of historical and prehistorical human activ...
Oct 03, 2024•24 min•Ep. 17
Perusing the local liquor store shelves, you will encounter wines from Australia and South Africa, two former British colonies. The story of these wine producing regions is inextricably linked to mineral extraction and labor exploitation, with "viticultural capitalists" investing large sums of capital into the consolidation, expansion, and proliferation of these fledgling wine industries. This month we are joined by Dr. Chelsea Davis to talk about her award-winning article, "All that Glitters Is...
Sep 05, 2024•29 min•Ep. 16
Much to the annoyance of historians, public perceptions of the past are often shaped by popular culture, books, TV, films, and other cultural artifacts. However, despite their inaccuracies, the elements that make up popular culture are topics of great interest to historians. In this episode of Talking History , we speak to Dr. Kathleen Kennedy about the ways popular culture can provide insights into how particular societies have understood their past and how those understandings have changed ove...
Aug 01, 2024•23 min•Ep. 15
In 2022, the painful history of Canada’s relationship with its Native American population was thrust into the limelight with the discovery of mass graves at former residential schools. For Canada’s rulers, these boarding schools were seen as a vehicle to “civilize” the country’s indigenous population; to bring them into the “modern world”. However, the reality was that such schools were often the sights of great cruelty, with children being separated from their families and communities and subje...
Jul 10, 2024•23 min•Ep. 14
In this episode of Talking History , Patrick and Djene speak to Dr. Daniel Bessner about the history of Hollywood. In 2023, the Writers Guild of America, which represents over 11,000 screenwriters, went on strike. One of the central areas of their dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers was residuals from streaming services. The work stoppage culminated, after 148 days of industrial action and an estimated $6.5 billion loss to the Californian economy, in a new agreem...
Jun 06, 2024•23 min•Ep. 13
The road trip is a hallowed American tradition that is really only about 100 years old. From the Beats to the Griswolds, the idea of recreationally crossing country by car is a common trope in American media. But can we learn anything from a road trip? This week, Patrick ventures out of the studio and deep into the Ozarks on farm roads, state routes and two-lane highway to bring you an audio road trip through the Boston Mountains, the White River Hills, and the Salem and Springfield Plateaus. Jo...
May 02, 2024•24 min•Ep. 12
In this episode of Talking History , Djene speaks to Dr. Sarah Panzer about the myths and realities of life as a Samurai.
Apr 04, 2024•51 min•Ep. 11
In this episode of Talking History, Patrick and Djene speak to Dr. Louis Fishman about the origins of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Mar 07, 2024•54 min•Ep. 10
In this episode of Talking History, Partick and Djene speak with Anna Guenter and Dr. Sarah Panzer about Jewish revenge in the aftermath of the Holocaust.
Feb 01, 2024•51 min•Ep. 9
In this episode of Talking History, Djene and Patrick speak with Missouri State University professor, Dr. John Schmalzbauer, about the role of religion in the history of the Ozarks.
Jan 04, 2024•53 min•Ep. 8
In this episode of Talking History, Djen and Patrick speak with Missouri State University professors, Dr. Julia Troche and Dr. Bryan Brinkman, about the Ancient Artifacts Abroad exhibition that they organized at Springfield Art Museum.
Dec 07, 2023•26 min•Ep. 7
In this episode of Talking History, Djene, and Patrick speak with geographer and international relations specialist Fabrice Balanche about the origins and development of the Syrian Civil War.
Nov 02, 2023•24 min•Ep. 6
The Ozarks as a region are often overlooked. The difficult terrain and relative dearth of arable soil have left the plateau sparsely populated for time immemorial. Rarely registered on maps and ignored by American historians for generations, the Ozark Plateau lived in the popular imagination as a land of backward people and night-riding vigilantes for many decades. In recent years, however, scholars have begun to look at the region with a keen eye, creating the nascent field of Ozarks Studies. I...
Oct 05, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 5
In this episode of Talking History, Djene and Patrick speak with Dr. Ozan Ozavci about the history of European intervention in the Middle East.
Sep 07, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 4
