Ancient to Recent

Joseph Parkinson | Ancient to Recent

Ancient to Recent is a history podcast that explores how the past continues to shape our world today. From forgotten empires and overlooked revolutions to the hidden lives of historical figures, each episode takes a deep dive into the moments that mattered and the ones that should have.

🎙️ New episodes every week
📚 Based on real historical research and books
🌍 Covering everything from ancient civilisations to modern events

Whether you're a casual history fan or a dedicated learner, Ancient to Recent brings you the stories that shaped the world

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S1 · E75
Sunday · 50 min
Why Western Sanctions Have Failed to Stop Putin | Stephanie Baker | Ancient to Recent | Episode 74
How did the West help create Vladimir Putin's Russia, and why has it struggled to stop him? Award-winning Bloomberg journalist and author Stephanie Baker joins Joseph Parkinson to explore the rise of the Russian oligarchs, Putin's transformation of Russia into a mafia state, and the failure of Western governments to contain the Kremlin. In this episode of Ancient to Recent, we examine how the collapse of the Soviet Union created a new class of Russian billionaires, how Western governments helped facilitate their rise, and how Boris Yeltsin's controversial loans-for-shares deal laid the foundations for Russia's oligarchic system. We explore the West's repeated miscalculations over Putin, from the optimism of the 1990s and George W. Bush's famous meeting with the Russian president to Obama's failed Russia reset. Why did Western governments repeatedly turn a blind eye to Russian aggression, corruption and authoritarianism? We also examine the international sanctions imposed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Have they actually weakened Putin's war machine? How has Russia evaded sanctions through China, India and its shadow fleet of oil tankers? And could frozen Russian assets in Europe finally be used to help Ukraine? Stephanie Baker is an award-winning journalist and the author of Punishing Putin, a detailed examination of the international effort to use financial sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. She previously reported for The Moscow Times and Radio Free Europe and is currently a journalist at Bloomberg. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction 00:48 The collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of the oligarchs 02:10 The loans-for-shares scandal 04:19 Why the West believed Russia would become a democracy 06:34 Putin's mafia state and the security services 07:11 The West turns a blind eye to Putin 09:23 The turning point: Putin's Munich speech 10:12 Why were Western sanctions against Russia so weak? 14:18 Bush, Obama and the failed Russia reset 18:09 How the West underestimated Putin 19:04 Russia invades Ukraine: the sanctions response 20:32 Freezing Russia's central bank reserves 22:45 Why won't Europe give frozen Russian assets to Ukraine? 26:14 Are Western sanctions actually working? 27:08 Russia's oil revenues and the shadow fleet 30:27 How Russia gets around Western technology sanctions 31:57 How China and India are helping Russia 33:41 Trump's approach to Russian sanctions 35:00 Could American businesses benefit from a rapprochement with Putin? 37:43 What happens if Democrats win the US midterms? 39:58 Russian interference in European elections 42:20 Does Putin pose a threat to NATO? 45:14 Could Russia deliberately provoke a NATO crisis? 45:58 What would it take to cripple Russia's war machine? 48:53 What could the West have done differently in the 1990s? ABOUT ANCIENT TO RECENT Ancient to Recent explores the history behind today's biggest political, historical and international events through conversations with leading historians, journalists, authors and experts. Subscribe for more conversations about history, geopolitics, international relations and the forces shaping our world. GUEST: Stephanie Baker BOOK: Punishing Putin #Russia #Putin #UkraineWar #Sanctions #Geopolitics
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October 22 · 53 min
Is France on the Brink of Collapse? with Louis Sarkozy | Ancient to Recent | Episode 73
France is facing growing political divisions, social unrest and economic challenges. In this episode of Ancient to Recent, Joseph Parkinson speaks with Louis Sarkozy about the recent riots in France, the history of public protest, immigration and integration, and the future of French politics. With the 2027 French presidential election approaching, they discuss Marine Le Pen's chances of winning, the frustrations driving French politics, and the wider implications for Europe. They also explore France's relationship with Russia and the security challenges facing the continent. Is France approaching a turning point and what could happen next? Subscribe to Ancient to Recent for more conversations with authors and experts on history, politics and current affairs. #France #LouisSarkozy #FrenchPolitics #FranceRiots #FrenchHistory
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October 17 · 1 hr 15 min
Napoleon III: France's Last Emperor with Edward Shawcross | Ancient to Recent | Episode 72
As a child he saw his uncles empire collapse, as a young man he was consumed by dreams of glory and as an adult he turned those dreams into reality. This is the story of Louis Napoleon, the last Emperor of France. A story of intrigue and delusion, of ambition and deceit of honour and shame as a man with nothing but his name rises to an imperial throne. In this episode Joseph Parkinson is joined by renowned historian Edward Shawcross, author of The People's Emperor, the Unlikely Rise and Spectacular Fall of Louis Napoleon. We discover how he seizes power, tried to heal Frances social ills and restore France as the premier nation of Europe. How Louis Napoleon embarks on an ambitious program of social change at home, transforming Paris into one of the world capitals. And also how he embarked on reckless adventures in Mexico and Italy that brought disaster for France. How, against all the odds he made and lost an Empire. Episodes of Ancient to Recent are out every Saturday and are available on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcast. #france #louisnapoleon #history #prussia #frenchhistory
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October 11 · 1 hr 16 min
The Rise of the Lakota | Part 5 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 71
With peace comes a new policy direction from Washington. President Grant wants to find a new approach to dealing with the native peoples of the West but ambition, greed and dreams of empire drive the United States and the Lakota onto a collision course as promises are broken and different visions of the West Clash. Imperial arrogance leads George Armstrong Custer onto the battlefield of the Little Bighorn with devastating effects for the 7th Cavalry but military victory for the Lakota cannot stop the advance of a new kind of state. Join Joseph Parkinson as we explore the world of the Lakota between the late 1860s and the 1870’s as an empire is humbled and a new West born. New episodes of Ancient to Recent are available every Saturday on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts Follow @ancienttorecent #Lakota #Sioux #AmericanHistory #USHistory
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October 4 · 56 min
The Rise of the Lakota | Part 4 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 70
As the United States descends into civil war the Lakota continue their expansion. But troubling news is brought west by the Lakota’s Sioux cousins the Dakota. The United States government signs treaties forcing the Dakota to give much of their land away in return for a reservation but as more settlements come more demands follow. The Dakota rebel and Washington settles on a policy of military force. The Dakota seek refuge with their Sioux cousins the Lakota which draws United States forces further west. Join Joseph Parkinson as we explore the world of the Lakota between 1861 and the late 1860’s as personal ambition, greed and ideology drive the United States and Lakota on a collision course that has unexpected consequences. New episodes of Ancient to Recent are available every Saturday on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts Follow @ancienttorecent #Lakota #Sioux #AmericanHistory #USHistory
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September 26 · 47 min
The Rise of the Lakota | Part 3 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 69
In the middle years of the 19th century the Lakota reach ever greater heights of power. They command a vast domain teaming with bison and they project their military might in all direction carried on the back of their powerful war horses. But North America is a land of constant change. The European empires may be a thing of the past but the United States continues its western expansion. War with Mexico and the scandalous Treaty of Guadalupe adds vast tracks of land to the American domain. Discovery of gold brings Americans rushing west causing tension with the Lakota to rise and the United States struggles to grapple with the issue of slavery. Join Joseph Parkinson as we explore the world of the Lakota between 1816 and 1861 as treaties are broken, hardline new leaders like Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull emerge and the Lakota struggle to hold their world together under constant American pressure. New episodes of Ancient to Recent are available every Saturday on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts Follow @ancienttorecent #Lakota #Sioux #AmericanHistory #USHistory
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September 19 · 49 min
The Rise of the Lakota | Part 2 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 68
Napoleon has a dream of the restoration of French imperial power in the Americas. But his dream is dashed by the collapse of French power in Haiti and France sells Louisiana to the US for pennies. The United States believes it has acquired an empire but soon finds out that the land was not for sale. The Lakota are enjoying their moment in the imperial sun, dominating trade networks as the US begins exploring and asserting control over Louisiana and war breaks out between Britain and the United States that will have a profound impact on the future of North America and the Lakota. The European rivalries for American domination come to an end as the United States and the Lakota are set on a collision course. Join Joseph Parkinson as we explore the world of the Lakota between 1800 and 1815 New episodes of Ancient to Recent are available every Saturday on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts Follow @ancienttorecent #Lakota #Sioux #AmericanHistory #USHistory
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September 12 · 52 min
The Rise of the Lakota | Part 1 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 67
The Lakota are on the rise. For generations, the Sioux had possessed one enormous advantage: numbers. But numbers alone were not enough. The Lakota lacked the horses and firearms necessary to turn their strength into military power. Caught between rival European empires and powerful Indigenous nations, their expansion had repeatedly been checked. Now, everything is about to change. In this first episode of our new series, we trace the transformation of the Lakota as they encounter two technologies that will reshape the Great Plains: the gun and the horse. We travel back to the seventeenth century, exploring the Lakota's encounters with French traders, the Iroquois, Cree, Ojibwa and other Indigenous nations competing for control of the continent. As France and Britain battle for North America, both seek Indigenous allies. The Sioux need guns. The Europeans need warriors. But the Indigenous nations have their own ambitions, rivalries and political calculations. Then comes the horse. Reintroduced to North America by the Spanish, it begins spreading across the interior. For the Lakota, it will be revolutionary. Mobility, firepower and access to the vast buffalo herds of the Great Plains begin transforming Lakota society. But the Lakota are not entering an empty wilderness. They face the Crow, Pawnee, Cree, Assiniboine, Mandan, Arikara and many other powerful peoples. Smallpox devastates the peoples of the Missouri River, shattering societies that had long acted as a barrier to Lakota expansion. As the old balance of power collapses, the Lakota move west. The Black Hills become increasingly important. The Missouri becomes a highway rather than a boundary. And the Lakota begin combining the things they need most: mobility, firepower, numbers and the buffalo. Meanwhile, Britain defeats France and emerges as the dominant European power in North America. Then, as Britain and its American colonies go to war, another great power begins to emerge. In 1776, as the American colonists declare independence, the Lakota are establishing their dominance across the Black Hills. Two peoples are declaring themselves to the world. Two nations whose futures will become inseparably intertwined. And the collision between them is only beginning. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #Lakota #Sioux #LittleBighorn #AmericanWest #NativeAmericanHistory #IndigenousHistory #GreatPlains #AmericanHistory #USHistory #AmericanRevolution #LakotaHistory #HistoryPodcast #HistoryDocumentary
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September 6 · 57 min
Leon Trotsky: The Last Prophet | Part 6 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 66
The first attempt has failed. Trotsky has survived the machine-gun assault on his home. But Stalin's campaign to destroy his old rival is entering its final stage. In this final episode, we follow Ramón Mercader as he moves deeper into Trotsky's inner circle, slowly gaining the trust of those closest to him. As Trotsky's world contracts behind fortified walls, he begins to reflect on the revolution he helped create, and the extraordinary path that brought him to Mexico. Meanwhile, in Moscow, a new plan is taking shape. This time, there will be no army. No machine guns. No dramatic assault. Just one man, one carefully constructed identity, and one final opportunity to silence the last prophet. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #Trotsky #RussianRevolution #HistoryPodcast #SovietHistory #Stalin #NKVD #RamonMercader #Trotskyism #Communism #SovietUnion #MexicanHistory #HistoryDocumentary
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August 29 · 58 min
Leon Trotsky: The Last Prophet | Part 5 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 65
The assassin is already in position. As Leon Trotsky settles into his fortified compound in Mexico, Stalin's campaign to destroy him enters its final and most dangerous phase. In this fifth episode, we follow the NKVD's hunt for Trotsky and the extraordinary operation designed to penetrate his inner circle. We meet Ramón Mercader, the young Spanish communist who would eventually become one of the most notorious assassins of the twentieth century. Under the identity of "Jack Mornard", Mercader begins a carefully constructed romance with Silvia Ageloff, a Trotskyist who unknowingly becomes the key to his access to Trotsky. As Mercader slowly works his way towards Mexico, the NKVD prepares multiple teams and infiltrates Trotsky's organisation from within. But while Stalin's agents close in, Trotsky himself begins to confront a more personal enemy: doubt. The revolutionary who once believed Marxism was an inevitable scientific truth now looks around the world and sees capitalism surviving, fascism advancing and the Soviet Union transformed into the Stalinist dictatorship he had spent years fighting. For the first time, Trotsky is forced to ask whether the revolution, and perhaps his entire life's work, had been a mistake. Yet his faith survives. As Trotsky writes his final testament and reflects on his life, the NKVD prepares to strike. In May 1940, an armed force led by the Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros launches a daring assault on Trotsky's compound. Machine guns tear through the house. The guards are overwhelmed. Trotsky and Natalia hide beneath the hail of bullets. And yet, somehow, Trotsky survives. The first attempt has failed. But Stalin is not going to give up. The next assassin will not come with twenty men and machine guns. He will come alone. He will come as a friend. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #Trotsky #RussianRevolution #HistoryPodcast #SovietHistory #Stalin #Mexico #NKVD #RamonMercader #Trotskyism #SpanishCivilWar #Siqueiros #GreatTerror #HistoryDocumentary
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August 23 · 49 min
Leon Trotsky: The Last Prophet | Part 4 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 64
Trotsky has finally found refuge. After eight years of exile, the former leader of the Red Army arrives in Mexico, welcomed by President Lázaro Cárdenas and embraced by a circle of artists, intellectuals and revolutionaries. But safety is not the same as peace. In this fourth episode, we follow Trotsky from his arrival in Mexico in 1937 as he attempts to build a new life far from Stalin and the Soviet Union. We explore Mexico’s own revolutionary history, why Cárdenas was willing to grant asylum to Stalin’s most famous enemy, and Trotsky’s extraordinary relationship with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. As Trotsky begins writing, lecturing and rebuilding the international Left Opposition, the NKVD is already closing in. We follow the infiltration of Trotsky’s organisation by Soviet agents, including Mark Zborowski, who gains the trust of Trotsky’s son Lev Sedov and provides Moscow with vital information about the movement. Then comes tragedy. Lev Sedov dies suddenly in Paris, in circumstances Trotsky immediately suspects are suspicious. As Stalin’s campaign reaches deeper into Trotsky’s family and supporters, the former revolutionary begins to realise that nowhere is truly safe. Finally, Trotsky leaves the Casa Azul and moves into a fortified compound in Coyoacán. The walls are strengthened. The windows are bricked up. Guards are posted. Weapons are stockpiled. But the greatest danger may already be inside. As Trotsky grows older and increasingly isolated, Stalin has not forgotten him. The order has been given. Now the hunt for Leon Trotsky enters its final chapter. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #Trotsky #RussianRevolution #HistoryPodcast #SovietHistory #Stalin #Mexico #MexicanRevolution #FridaKahlo #DiegoRivera #NKVD #Trotskyism #HistoryDocumentary
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August 15 · 43 min
Leon Trotsky: The Last Prophet | Part 3 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 63
Trotsky has lost his struggle with Stalin for leadership of the Soviet Union But his revolutionary fire still burns bright. The man who helped seize power and build the Red Army is now a political exile, hunted by the regime he helped create. In this third episode, we follow Trotsky from exile in Kazakhstan to Turkey, France and Norway as Stalin's campaign against his former rival intensifies. We explore Trotsky's bitter confrontation with the liberal democracies that refused him entry, the contradiction between his demands for political freedom and his own defence of revolutionary dictatorship, and his growing isolation from the Communist movement. But Stalin's vengeance reaches far beyond Trotsky himself. As the Moscow Trials and Great Terror begin, Trotsky watches helplessly as his supporters, friends and family are arrested, imprisoned and executed. His name becomes the centrepiece of Stalin's vast conspiracy theory. Finally, Norway withdraws its protection and Trotsky is forced to leave Europe. Across the Atlantic, an unlikely refuge awaits. Mexico. But as Trotsky sails towards his new home, Stalin's most dangerous enemy is about to enter the final and most terrifying chapter of his life. Can Trotsky survive when the full power of the Soviet state is determined to destroy him? 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #Trotsky #RussianRevolution #HistoryPodcast #SovietHistory #Stalin #GreatTerror #MoscowTrials #Trotskyism #RussianHistory #HistoryDocumentary
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August 8 · 44 min
Leon Trotsky: The Last Prophet | Part 2 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 62
Leon Trotsky has helped seize power, built the Red Army, and defeated the enemies of the Bolshevik Revolution. Now he is about to lose everything. By 1927, the man who had once stood beside Lenin at the centre of the Russian Revolution has been transformed from revolutionary hero into Stalin's most dangerous political rival. In this second episode of our series, we follow Trotsky through the Russian Civil War and the violent birth of the Soviet state, as he attempts to save the revolution he helped create. We explore the Bolshevik seizure of power, the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, the creation of the Cheka, and the brutal campaign of terror unleashed against the revolution's enemies. We examine the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, where Trotsky's vision of worldwide revolution collided with Lenin's determination to preserve the fragile Soviet state. As Russia descends into civil war, Trotsky transforms himself from revolutionary intellectual into military commander. Travelling across the country aboard his famous armoured train, he builds the Red Army, recruits former Tsarist officers, imposes ruthless discipline, and helps turn the tide against the White armies. But victory comes at an enormous cost. The episode also examines the Kronstadt Rebellion of 1921, when sailors who had once been celebrated as heroes of the Revolution rose against Bolshevik rule. Trotsky and Lenin responded with force, crushing the uprising and revealing just how far the revolution had travelled from the ideals of 1917. Then, with the Civil War over and Lenin dying, a new struggle begins. Joseph Stalin is quietly building a network of loyal supporters throughout the Communist Party, while Trotsky assumes that his revolutionary reputation and intellectual brilliance will make him Lenin's natural successor. It is a fatal mistake. As Lenin's death approaches, Stalin steadily isolates his rival. Trotsky loses influence, his supporters are removed, and his role in the Revolution and Civil War is increasingly rewritten. By the Fifteenth Party Congress in 1927, the outcome is no longer in doubt. Trotsky is expelled from the Communist Party, arrested by the Soviet secret police, and sent into exile in Kazakhstan. How did the revolutionary who helped create the Soviet state become its most famous exile? Why did Trotsky underestimate Stalin so catastrophically? And how did the man who helped build the Red Army become the greatest political enemy of the man who would eventually rule the Soviet Union? Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent continues the extraordinary story of Leon Trotsky, the revolutionary who helped make the Soviet Union, only to find himself hunted by the regime he had helped create. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #Trotsky #RussianRevolution #HistoryPodcast #SovietHistory #RussianHistory #Stalin #Lenin
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August 1 · 41 min
Leon Trotsky: The Last Prophet | Part 1 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 61
One of history's greatest revolutionaries awaits his assassination. As Leon Trotsky sits inside his heavily guarded villa in Mexico City, he knows that Joseph Stalin has not forgotten him. Once hailed as Lenin's brilliant lieutenant and commander of the Red Army, Trotsky has become the Soviet dictator's most dangerous enemy. His extraordinary journey began decades earlier on the vast plains of the Russian Empire. In this opening episode of our new series, we trace Trotsky's life from his childhood as Lev Bronstein on the Ukrainian steppe to his transformation into one of the most influential revolutionaries of the twentieth century. We explore the world of the Romanov Empire, the reforms of Alexander II, the rise of industrialisation, and the social tensions that pushed millions towards radical political ideas. As Russia hurtles towards crisis, the young Trotsky embraces Marxism, endures imprisonment and exile in Siberia, escapes to Western Europe, and encounters Vladimir Lenin for the first time. The episode also examines the failed Revolution of 1905, the growing divisions within the socialist movement, Trotsky's first meeting with the little-known revolutionary Joseph Stalin, and the outbreak of the First World War, which would bring the Romanov dynasty to the brink of collapse. How did the son of a prosperous farmer become history's most famous revolutionary exile? Why did Trotsky believe that only revolution could save Russia? And how did the First World War create the conditions that would transform both Trotsky and the twentieth century? Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent begins the extraordinary story of Leon Trotsky, the revolutionary who helped change the world before becoming the greatest enemy of Joseph Stalin. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #Trotsky #RussianRevolution #HistoryPodcast #SovietHistory #RussianHistory #Stalin #Lenin
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July 25 · 48 min
500 Men vs an Empire: Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico | Part 4 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 60
The conquest reaches its devastating conclusion. As Hernán Cortés launches his final assault on Tenochtitlan, one of the greatest cities on earth becomes the scene of one of history's most brutal sieges. Thirteen brigantines dominate the waters of Lake Texcoco, while tens of thousands of Spanish and indigenous allies advance along the great causeways. Street by street, canal by canal, the fate of the Mexica Empire hangs in the balance. This episode explores the final months of the siege of Tenochtitlan, where starvation, disease and relentless warfare reduce a magnificent civilisation to ruins. Despite overwhelming odds, Emperor Cuauhtémoc and the Mexica fight with extraordinary courage, refusing every offer of surrender as the city is systematically destroyed around them. But the story does not end with military victory. Following the fall of Tenochtitlan, we examine how New Spain was built upon its ashes. As missionaries sought to convert millions to Christianity, indigenous communities adapted, resisted and reshaped the new colonial world in ways that continue to influence Mexico today. We also follow Hernán Cortés after his greatest triumph, as political rivals, royal officials and the Spanish Crown gradually stripped the conqueror of the power he had fought so hard to obtain. Was the conquest truly won by 500 Spaniards alone? How much did indigenous allies determine the outcome of the war? And what lasting legacy did the fall of the Mexica Empire leave for Mexico, Spain and the modern world? Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent concludes the extraordinary story of Hernán Cortés and the conquest of Mexico. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #HernanCortes #ConquestOfMexico #AztecEmpire #Tenochtitlan #Cuauhtemoc #HistoryPodcast #Conquistadors #MexicanHistory
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July 18 · 40 min
500 Men vs an Empire: Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico | Part 3 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 59
The splendour of Tenochtitlan soon gives way to horror. As the Spaniards settle into the heart of the Mexica capital, they are overwhelmed by its wealth, its markets and its astonishing organisation. Yet beneath the city's beauty lies an uneasy calm. Surrounded by tens of thousands of warriors, Cortés knows one wrong move could mean annihilation. This episode explores the fragile relationship between Hernán Cortés and Emperor Moctezuma II as diplomacy slowly gives way to suspicion, violence and betrayal. After taking Moctezuma prisoner in one of history's boldest political gambles, the Spaniards find themselves increasingly isolated. Religious tensions deepen, human sacrifice horrifies the Europeans, and the arrival of a rival Spanish expedition threatens to destroy Cortés's entire enterprise. While Cortés marches to confront his enemies on the coast, disaster strikes in Tenochtitlan. A massacre during a sacred Mexica festival ignites a full-scale uprising, trapping the Spaniards inside the city and bringing the conquest to the brink of collapse. Could Cortés still control events from afar? Did Moctezuma truly lose the loyalty of his own people, or has history accepted the Spanish version too readily? And when the conquistadors attempt to flee the city under cover of darkness, will any of them escape alive? Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent continues the extraordinary story of Hernán Cortés and the conquest of Mexico. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #HernanCortes #ConquestOfMexico #AztecEmpire #Tenochtitlan #Moctezuma #LaNocheTriste #HistoryPodcast #Conquistadors
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July 12 · 46 min
500 Men vs an Empire: Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico | Part 2 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 58
From the mountain passes, the Spaniards finally see it. A vast city shimmering across a great lake. Towering pyramids. Broad causeways. Thousands of canoes. To many of Cortés's hardened veterans, Tenochtitlan appears less like a city than a dream. But before they reach the Aztec capital, they must first understand the empire they have entered. This episode explores the astonishing rise of the Mexica from impoverished outsiders to masters of Mesoamerica, the immense power of Emperor Moctezuma II, and the fragile political order that held his empire together. As Cortés marches inland, he acquires indispensable allies, forges an alliance with the fiercely independent Tlaxcalans, and exploits the deep divisions within the Mexica Empire. Along the way come some of the conquest's most controversial moments, including the massacre at Cholula, before the Spaniards finally enter one of the greatest cities on Earth and come face to face with Moctezuma himself. How did a few hundred Spaniards persuade thousands of indigenous allies to join their cause? Was Moctezuma paralysed by superstition, or carefully playing a diplomatic game? And when Cortés first gazed upon Tenochtitlan, did he see the richest prize in the world, or a magnificent trap from which there would be no escape? Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent continues the story of Hernán Cortés and the conquest of Mexico. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #HernanCortes #ConquestOfMexico #AztecEmpire #Tenochtitlan #Moctezuma #HistoryPodcast #Conquistadors
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July 4 · 44 min
500 Men vs an Empire: Hernán Cortés and the Conquest of Mexico | Part 1 | Ancient to Recent | Episode 57
Out of the eastern horizon, strange white shapes drift across the water. Not canoes. Not trading vessels. Floating mountains. What the peoples of the Americas witness that day will change their world forever, and it begins nearly three decades before Hernán Cortés ever sets foot in Mexico. This episode traces the origins of one of history's most consequential collisions: Christopher Columbus's desperate campaign to win royal backing for a voyage into the unknown, the fall of Muslim Granada and the expulsion of Spain's Jewish community that reshaped a kingdom's finances and ambitions, and the brutal, disease-ravaged colonisation of Hispaniola and Cuba that followed. Along the way, a young adventurer named Hernán Cortés cuts his teeth in the conquest of Cuba, before defying his own governor's orders and sailing west into legend. What began as rumours of gold and vast stone cities beyond the horizon becomes the opening act of the conquest of Mexico. Why did Spain gamble everything on Columbus's voyage? How did Europe's first moral debates over indigenous rights take shape? And what drove Cortés to risk disgrace, poverty, or death rather than turn back? Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent begins the story of Hernán Cortés and the conquest of Mexico. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #HernanCortes #ConquestOfMexico #AztecEmpire #ChristopherColumbus #SpanishEmpire #Conquistadors #HistoryPodcast
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June 27 · 51 min
The Hunt for Adolf Eichmann | Part 5 | Capture, Trial & Legacy | Ancient to Recent | Episode 56
In the conclusion of Ancient to Recent's Eichmann series, Israeli Mossad agents make their move, seizing Adolf Eichmann on a quiet Buenos Aires street and smuggling him out of Argentina under a forged identity. Inside the Mossad safe house, Eichmann is confronted with the evidence against him and slowly admits who he is. But with his family, former SS associates and Argentina's far-right networks closing in, the operation enters its most dangerous phase. What follows changes history. Eichmann's trial in Jerusalem, the first to place the Holocaust itself at the centre of an international courtroom, forces the world to confront the full scale of Nazi crimes and the human beings behind every statistic. How did Israel survive the diplomatic fallout? What did Eichmann say in his defence? And what legacy did the trial leave behind? Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent concludes the story of one of the twentieth century's most consequential intelligence operations. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts | @AncientToRecent #AdolfEichmann #Mossad #Holocaust #WorldWarII #Israel #Argentina #HistoryPodcast
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June 20 · 36 min
The Hunt for Adolf Eichmann | Part 4 | The Trap is Set | Ancient to Recent | Episode 55
In this episode of Ancient to Recent we continue the story of the hunt for Adolf Eichmann as Mossad agents close in on one of the most wanted fugitives in the world. After years of rumours, false leads and dead ends, investigators finally begin to uncover compelling evidence that Adolf Eichmann is living in Argentina under the alias Ricardo Klement. What follows is a tense race against time as Israeli intelligence works to confirm his identity before he can disappear once again. In this episode we follow the remarkable detective work that leads Mossad from a modest house on Chacabuco Street to the dusty suburb of Don Torcuato, where a series of small breakthroughs gradually transforms suspicion into certainty. Meanwhile, investigators uncover crucial links between Eichmann's family, his hidden past and the life he has built in exile. Through covert surveillance, secret photography and painstaking intelligence work, the net slowly begins to tighten around one of the principal architects of the Holocaust. As Mossad director Isser Harel, investigator Zvi Aharoni and prosecutor Fritz Bauer push the operation forward, difficult questions emerge. Can Israel legally capture Eichmann on foreign soil? What risks will the operation pose to relations with Argentina and West Germany? And what happens if the mission fails? The episode follows the final preparations for one of the most daring intelligence operations in modern history, as a small team of agents arrives in Buenos Aires and begins planning the capture of a man who has spent fifteen years evading justice. With surveillance complete, safe houses secured and the operation date set, the hunt enters its most dangerous phase. Join Joseph Parkinson as Ancient to Recent continues its series on the hunt for Adolf Eichmann, following the extraordinary events that led to one of the most famous captures in intelligence history. 🎧 New episodes every Saturday 📲 Follow on YouTube, Spotify & Instagram @AncientToRecent #AdolfEichmann #Mossad #Holocaust #WorldWarII #Argentina #HistoryPodcast #TrueHistory #AncientToRecent

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