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Historically High

A dive into historical topics from an elevated perspective. New episodes will be out every Wednesday. Find us on our socials:@Historicallyhi on Twitter @historicallyhighpod on Instagram. Don't forget to like, rate, subscribe, and let your friends know what they are missing.

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26 episodes
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Avg 2 hr 39 min
English

Episodes 26

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Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

#248
Wednesday · 2 hr 1 min
The Reagan Assassination and John Hinkley Jr.
This episode is a long strange trip into the mind of John Hinckley Jr. John attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. Firing five shots, Hinckley would strike the President once. He was arrested immediately following the shooting. That's when the Hinckley case takes a turn. John Hinckley Jr had quite an obsession with Taxi Driver, and Jodie Foster. In John's mind, he was a Travis Bickle type character. In his mind, he needed to do something to make Jodie realize she loved him. That thing
#247
September 11 · 1 hr 52 min
9/11: Part 2
In the conclusion of our two-part September 11 deep dive, we step straight into the chaos of the morning itself—and the global fallout that followed. We walk through the timeline as it unfolded in real time: how the planes were taken, the shock of the strikes, the collapse of the towers, the hit on the Pentagon, and the fierce resistance aboard Flight 93, where ordinary passengers mounted a revolt in the skies over Shanksville. Alongside the devastation, we highlight the staggering, improbable
#246
September 9 · 2 hr 10 min
9/11: Part 1
This week on Historically High, we begin our two-part deep dive into September 11 by pulling back the curtain on everything that led to that fateful Tuesday morning. To understand how four commercial airliners were turned into guided missiles, you have to rewind decades. We start in the brutal, scorched valleys of the Soviet-Afghan War, tracking how the mujahideen resistance gave birth to both the Taliban and al-Qaeda. From there, we trace the rise of Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the
#245
September 2 · 2 hr
WW2: The USS Enterprise
The Japanese incorrectly thought they sink her three times earning her the moniker, The Grey Ghost. This week on Historically High, we chart the legendary run of the USS Enterprise (CV-6)—the carrier that carried the Pacific War on her back when it was literally Enterprise vs. Japan, and served as the godmother of modern naval aviation by pioneering 24-hour night combat and revolutionizing damage control. From her near miss at Pearl, to her critical role at Midway, to holding off suicide swarm
#244
August 26 · 3 hr 27 min
The Clinton-Lewinsky Scandal
This week, we’re diving into the absolute circus of the late '90s: the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. We trace Bill’s slippery journey from slick Arkansas Governor dodging the Paula Jones lawsuit straight into the Oval Office, where a federal government shutdown, a strategic flash of a whaletail, and an unpaid intern collided to change American politics forever. Add in Linda Tripp armed with illegal cassette tapes, Kenneth Starr treating Whitewater like a personal soap opera, and the wildest semantic
#243
August 19 · 2 hr 31 min
The Khmer Empire
This week on Historically High, we journey into the heart of ancient—and present-day—Cambodia to chart the epic rise and fall of the Khmer Empire. While Europe was just beginning to stumble into the Renaissance, Angkor had already perfected the largest pre-industrial city on the planet. From the uncomfortably massive Tonlé Sap lake to the awe-inspiring stone skyline, wonder at the jaw-dropping architecture of complexes like Angkor Wat and the Bayon. Plus, we unravel the empire’s true engine of
#242
August 12 · 3 hr 23 min
Ted Kaczynski: The Unabomber
We are finally here. Ted Kaczynski. The Unabomber. Insane IQ. Graduated high school at 15. Had a run-in at Harvard with a professor who worked for the OSS. Youngest associate professor at Cal Berkeley. Left academia for a shack in the Montana woods. Ted Kaczynski had a strong belief that technology was ruining humanity. In 2026, I'm not so sure we disagree. What we do disagree with was sending bombs in the mail to get the attention of the masses. If you don't know, you're about to find out. Join
#241
August 5 · 3 hr 10 min
K2: The Savage Mountain
Welcome to the Savage Mountain—a 28,000-foot pyramid of vertical blue ice, 60-degree rock walls, and a building-sized ice block that hangs over your head like a loaded gun. This week, we climb through the brutal history of the world's second tallest peak. Now while Everest might be just a little taller, 780' to be precise, K2 much tougher to summit and far deadlier. K2's historical death rate is 1 dead for every 4-5 climber that summit while Everest sits somewhere around 1 out of 100 who summit.
#240
July 29 · 3 hr 41 min
The Red Scare: McCarthy V Communism
In the late 1940's and 50's America went through a type of mass hysteria fueled by both foreign governments and our own. The Cold War had just begun between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Russians soon built and tested an atomic bomb so Americans no longer felt untouchable in our own country. It was a time when accusations of being a communist or even attending a meeting unknowingly could land you in jail. It's during this Crimson Panic that Senator Joseph McCarthy began his one man
#239
July 22 · 2 hr 9 min
The History of Cheese
Here we are. The History of Cheese. My love letter to cheese. Cultures. Milk. Rennet. Salt. That's all you need to start making cheese. The history starts prior to written history. The cheesemaking process was carried across the world by war and exploration. That process mixed with the nature and animals of the regions, helped shape unique new kinds of cheese. We have a lot to cover from cheese crime to cheese types to cheese games to cheese getting you high? Join us as we get Historically High
#238
July 15 · 3 hr 19 min
Gears of War: A History
In this episode Prof. Chris emerges from his Nerdery to talk about the rise and catastrophic fall of Sera, the world where the Gears of War franchise takes place. Humanity on Sera repeatedly stood on the precipice of absolute peace, only to be dragged back into the crucible of total war by a nightmarish foe. We examine how human greed, ideological fanatacism, and a failure to look beneath the surface ultimately sealed the fate of Seran civilization. Plus there's chainsaws on machine guns, giant
#237
July 8 · 2 hr
The Great Depression: Global Edition
When the global economy flatlined, it didn't just cause a financial crisis—it opened the doors for radical extremism. The Great Depression broke Germany’s fragile democracy, fueling Adolf Hitler's rapid ascent to absolute power. As the rest of Europe retreated into a paralysis of economic self-preservation, the continent unknowingly cleared the runway for a second world war.
#236
July 1 · 2 hr 29 min
The Great Depression: USA Edition
While the 1920s are famous for jazz and flappers, the actual foundation of the decade was built on a massive, unsustainable wartime gamble. How the rush to feed a burning Europe turned American farmers into accidental engines of global ruin. We’ll see how Washington’s messy post-war IOUs turned international finance into a global game of hot potato between Britain, France, and a broken Germany. And how it ruined people who never touched a stock or saw a ticker in their lives. Welcome to the Grea
#235
June 24 · 2 hr 13 min
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid
We're not talking about the 1969 classic motion picture starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, we're discussing the real life Butch and Sundance. Bank robbing and train heist were kinda the M.O. for these honorable thieves at the tail end of the western outlaw era.
#234
June 17 · 2 hr 27 min
The Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was the largest land and armored battle in the history of warfare. With a total combined 2.8 million troops, 6000 Tanks or Armored Vehicles, and 4,000 airplanes between the Nazis and the Soviets. The operation was the last real attempt for Hitler to reverse Germany's position on the Eastern Front.
#233
June 10 · 2 hr 9 min
The History of Disneyland
Disneyland, The Magic Kingdom, The Happiest Place on Earth. It goes by many names but regardless of what you call it, it's always fun. The history of Disneyland is a wild story of one man's desire to create a place where parents and kids could have fun together....I think he succeeded.
#232
June 3 · 2 hr 38 min
Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great of Russia wasn't born Catherine, nor was she even Russian. The story of Catherine is of a girl being sent to another country to marry the future ruler of that country before overthrowing said husband and leading Russia into a golden age.
#231
May 26 · 3 hr 20 min
Historical Castaways, Shipwrecks, and Survival
For a decent chuck of history humanity has taken to the waves answering the call of exploration...or colonization or both. But the sea is a dangerous place and sometimes people become lost, stranded, or left to survive on islands or adrift at sea. Today we bring you 5 very different stories all with a very common theme.
#230
May 20 · 2 hr 20 min
Spartacus and The Servile Wars
The Servile Wars were three separate slave rebellions against the Roman Republic between 135 and 71 BCE. The third and final was led by Spartacus, a Thracian Gladiator who began his fight for freedom by breaking out of his Gladiator School with a bunch of other trained death machines.
#229
May 13 · 2 hr 24 min
Harold Shipman: Doctor Death
This week we come to the chilling story of Harold Fredrick Shipman. Over Dr.Shipman's 28ish year medical career, he treated thousands of patients. He also may have killed 250 of his patients.

Showing 1–20 of 26 episodes