Both drinks are icons of American pop culture, but if you were asked to taste the two beverages, could you tell the difference? That’s the question our special guest Priya Raghubir asks her students - and only 1% get it right.

 Priya is the Dean Abraham L Gitlow Chair of Business, from the New York University Sterne School of Business. She takes us through the history of the Cola Wars, the importance of branding, and the battle that advertisers wage for the hearts and minds of consumers. 

Footage and photographs of the Chinese army cracking down on protesters travel around the world - but due to state censorship, much about the massacre there is still unknown.

 We’re joined by special guest Jeff Wasserstrom, who is a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine. Jeff’s area of particular interest is China and Hong Kong. 

 He’s also the author of Hypodermics on the Shore, a brilliant article published in the Atlantic which we highly recommend.

 We’re very lucky to be joined in this episode by a guest who was almost as close to the case as you can get. He’s civil rights and criminal defence lawyer Ron Kuby, who represented the family of Darrell Cabey, one of the victims, in a civil lawsuit against Goetz. 

  The so-called “War on Drugs” will reach a fever pitch over this period, irrevocably changing the United States’ relationship with its black population, drug use, and its federal prison system

This episode's guest is Craig Reinarman, Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies Emeritus, at the University of California Santa Cruz. Professor Reinarman has written extensively on drug scares and Crack in particular.

We explore the complex damages caused by war and one of the darker sides of the American dream: a problem with apparently no easy solution, in a country that prides itself on its military might. 

 The 80s also saw a massive debt crisis in Latin America, where it’s known as La Decada Perdida or the Lost Decade. Money might seem like a dry topic compared to some of the many colorful events and personalities we’ve profiled on this podcast: but in the increasingly globalized world of the late 20th century, everything is connected. 

 In this episode, we’ll be telling many tragic stories about people who’ve suffered the ultimate loss and wound up putting their grief into the wrong places. 

We’ll examine how this stigma affected heavy metal as a music genre, its fans, and even the connections between metal music and our patron saint Billy Joel himself.

 Here to help us tell this story is our guest, co-founder of the International Institute of Metal Studies Brian Hickham. First he explains what is actually covered by the term “heavy metal.”

 Here with us to discuss Sally Ride is a very special guest, former NASA official from the Office of Communications, Alan Ladwig. Alan worked with Sally on numerous occasions at NASA, in the private sector, and in the academic world. 

 Thriving off a deceptive simplicity, and a healthy amount of audiences yelling at their TV screens, this spruced up version of Hangman was at one point the highest rated television show in all of syndication.

 However, the story of Wheel and its creator is far more complex than you might expect. 

 Joining us to talk about the Russian presence in Afghanistan is special guest, British military historian and author of over 60 books Anthony Tucker-Jones. He takes us through the background to, and the main events of the war – and how the conflict helped both to end the Cold War and led to the growth of militant Islam in the Middle East. 

Today, it’s often depicted in Western media as a closed and repressive society. But prior to the Revolution of 1979, Iran looked very different.

  We’re joined by a very special guest, Ervand Abrahamian, to discuss the downfall of the Shah, Iran’s last monarch, and the rise of the Islamic leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Ervand Abrahamian is widely regarded as a leading historian of modern Iran, and he’s lectured at the City University of New York for 40 years. 

 We’ll receive some help telling this story from our guest, author and journalist Brendan I. Koerner, author of The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking.

We’re joined by a very special guest, the Israeli-born historian Ilan Pappe [Eelahn Pah-pay] who is a Professor of History and the director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom. Prof Pappe shares his time between the UK and Israel. 

He’s also the author of a number of books including The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories and The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, which challenge some conventional Israeli narratives about Israel and Palestine. 

Joining us to discuss the controversial figure who was Menachem Begin is special guest Avi Shilon. Avi is a historian who specializes in Israel studies. His published works include Menachem Begin: A Life, published by Yale University Press, and a biography of Begin’s fellow Israeli Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.

The Watergate Scandal, even all these years on, is still a controversial issue; in the historical community, potentially more controversial than ever. 

So, we’re making two separate episodes hearing from guests with two different perspectives on the issue. We are joined by very special guest Geoff Shepard who was the youngest lawyer for Nixons White house staff . He has written three books on the topic of Watergate and gives a different perspective to how the history remembers the scandal. 

This pivotal moment in cultural history was held in the summer of 1969, and more than 50 years later it still has a mesmeric hold over our imaginations. At the time though, it was an unlikely success. 

With the help of special guest Joel Makower, we go behind the scenes. Joel is a journalist by training and the author of Woodstock: The Oral History, which is available in paper form and on audiobook, through Audible. 

Our guest for this episode it Dr Luke Nichter, Professor of History at Chapman University, California. His area of specialty is the Cold War, the modern presidency, and U.S. political and diplomatic history, from John F. Kennedy through Watergate. Dr Nichter’s latest book, The Year that Broke Politics, has just been released and is all about the 1968 presidential election.R

It’s difficult to cover Ho Chi Minh’s history in one episode, but to help us we’re joined by special guest Professor Tuong Vu, who gives us a snapshot of Ho Chi Minh’s life and activities. Tuong is a professor of political science at the University of Oregon and he has written extensively about political movements in Vietnam, including the Communist revolution. 

The Pill is commonly associated with better family planning, and a rise in women going out to work, as well as the more relaxed attitude towards sexuality that became more prevalent in the swinging 1960s, and the hippy movement of the 70s.

 But which came first: the Pill itself, or the drive for social change? Our special guest, Lara [Fray] Friedenfelds, is a historian of reproduction, health and parenting in America, and she joins us to discuss the development and the impact of The Pill. 

Our guest on this episode is Phillip Shenon, author of “A Cruel and Shocking Act: The True History of the Kennedy Assassination.”  Phillip was also a reporter at the New York Times for more than twenty years, where he provided extensive political coverage of affairs in the heart of Washington.

 It’s the media circus that ushered in the swinging 60s: and it’s got everything – English politicians, Cold War spies, wild parties, young showgirls and even a high society osteopath.

We’re joined by special guest Stephen Dorrill, who talks us through the colorful characters and events of the time. Stephen is the co-author of Honeytrap: The Secret Worlds of Stephen Ward, and a recently retired lecturer and honorary research fellow at the University of Leicester.

 Also known as Malcolm Little, and el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz, Malcolm X was a prominent voice in Black empowerment and served as a more provocative and anti-establishment counterpart to Civil Rights Leaders such as Martin Luther King.

 Pope Paul VI, who was born Giovanni Montini, arguably changed the relationship Lay-Catholics have with Church Leadership forever, with his determination to uphold traditional Church teachings on Birth Control. Yet Pope Paul’s career and legacy cannot be boiled down to just this one decision, however impactful. A multifaceted and complex figure, Pope Paul made a variety of socially progressive changes and thoroughly helped bring the Catholic Church into the 20th century. 

 Our special guest for this episode is Michele Dillon a professor of Sociology and the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of New Hampshire.

Sonny Liston’s challenge of Floyd Patterson, is one of the most high profile, vicious, and tragic stories in the history of boxing. With tendrils extending out into organised crime, and even the oval office, it proves that sport can be as political as anything else, and that behind any important game, there’s a great story to be told. 

So enter the ring with us, as we navigate just what happened when Sonny Liston beat Floyd Patterson. 

We’re joined by special guest, American political and presidential historian Jeff Shesol. Jeff’s the author of Mercury Rising, John Glenn, John Kennedy and the Cold War. 

While racism still exists in the United States today, and is in many ways as dangerous as ever, the desegregation of Universities in the American South cannot be taken for granted. Debatably, it all dates back to this historic conflict. So stay with us, as we dive into the frightening, and sobering history of the Ole Miss riots.  

Our guest for the week is special guest, William Doyle. William is the author of  James Meredith - An American Insurrection, along with the co-author of Meredith’s autobiography “A Mission from God”. 

We’re joined by special guest Dr Kenneth L. Campbell, a history professor at Monmouth University in New Jersey where he teaches a course on Beatles’ history. Dr Campbell is also the author of “The Beatles and the 1960s: Reception, Revolution and Social Change”, and “American Popular Culture and the Beatles”

Today, it’s remembered as a minor disaster, but it’s one of the most significant early events of the Cold War. 

Here to talk about Berlin  is our guest on this episode, retired British army officer and author Sir Barnabas (Barney) White-Spunner. Barney is the author of Berlin: The Story of a City, and a commander of the British Empire. 

 We’re joined by special guest Dennis McDougal, a music journalist based in Memphis, Tennessee, and the author of Dylan: The Biography. 

Its story, of a human born on Mars coming back and discovering Earth for the first time, is a timeless one. It has rippled through history, making its imprint on everything from religion to the Oxford English Dictionary. But who was Robert Heinlein, the man behind this novel? How did this Democrat-turned-Republican, debatably-pro-war, ex-navy-officer become a legend in the 1960s counterculture?

Were joined by special guest Vice President of the Heinlein Society, Ken Walters

He’s Adolf Eichmann, the man responsible for the transportation network that took hundreds of thousands of people to the Nazi death camps. In 1960, he’s finally captured in Argentina.  

Here to help us unpack Eichmann is special guest Giacomo Lichtner, a cultural historian of modern Europe and associate professor of history at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.  Giacomo has worked extensively on the portrayals of facism in cinema, and he also lectures about the Holocaust itself. 

He was present at some of the most significant conflicts of the 20th century, and they influenced his work. 

But the larger-than-life writer also had a softer side. To help us get to know Hemingway, we’re joined by  special guest, writer Mary V. Dearborn. Mary’s the author of Ernest Hemingway: A Biography. 

We’re joined by a special guest Adam Hochschild, a writer, historian and the author of King Leopold’s Ghost, the story of King Leopold and the Congo.

Perhaps more than any film we’ll discuss during this series, Psycho is a film so completely entrenched in the cultural consciousness that it’s hard to separate the film from its myth.

Here to talk about the history of Psycho is Andrew Hunt, a professor of history at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

Here, helping us with this episode is Musicologist, Music Historian and Rock Musician, Dr Alexander Carpenter of the University of Alberta, Canada.

Special guest Frederik Logevall, JFK’s biographer, a professor at Harvard University, joins us to tell us about John F Kennedy: his politics, his family, and his time. 

 A dominant trend in the 1930s onwards, Payola was a core part of the music industry and a huge influence on the dominant trends in popular music. Interestingly, while the practice is illegal, and suggests a rich-get-richer musical hierarchy, it played a surprisingly positive role in  pushing forward songs from more niche genres such as Country and R&B at a pivotal time in history, thus presenting a wider range of music to American audiences. 

Because of this, the issue remains a complex one with a lot of moral gray areas. 

So what is the story of Payola? How dominant really was it? And in what sort of form does it exist today?

We’re joined for this episode by special guest David Fields, a historian and associate director of the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. 

A flop that puts Crystal Pepsi and Google Glass to shame, the Ford Edsel has become synonymous with failure.  A new line of cars designed by Ford to try and compete in the upper-middle budget range, the Edsel suffered from poor planning, poor marketing, and even poorer design. Only collected nowadays by car collectors as a joke, or a historical artifact, the story of the Edsel begs the following questions. How does a company as big as Ford, mess up this badly? Who was responsible? And what impact has the Edsel left on the American Motor Industry today?

To some he’s a tyrant, and to others, he’s the hero who deposed a corrupt regime and defied America for decades. We’re joined by a very special guest, the historian and journalist Tony Perrottet. Tony is the author of several non-fiction books including Cuba Libre: Che, Fidel and the Improbable Revolution That Changed World History. He’s also a contributing editor at the Smithsonian Magazine in Washington, and has written for media outlets including The New York T

While it’s often thought of today as a fad of the past, the Hula Hoop has actually existed in a variety of different forms for centuries, and is debatably still as popular today as ever. 

Joining us to talk about it is Bunny B Star, the founding director and owner of Australian Hula Hoop company, Hoop Empire. 

For more than a century, the organized crime groups also known as the Cosa Nostra have inspired fear and fascination in America, as they change and evolve along with society. 

We’re joined by a very special guest, former journalist and accomplished author Geoff Schumacher - the vice president of exhibits and programmes at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas

Before rockets were safe enough to take humans, and even after, NASA and rival organizations sent apes into space to test conditions without risking human life. These primates risked life and limb, faced incredible danger and adversity, and saw more than most humans ever will. Now, over 50 years since the height of the space race, there are new questions to be asked. 

With a modern perspective on animal welfare, the conditions these apes were put under are dubious to say the least. 

Our guest for this episode is , Matthew Wood,  Author of  “Space Race, How the Cold War put humans on the Moon” 

 What is the story of Ben-Hur? And what impact has it left today? 

We’re joined by special guest, Philip Norman. Philip’s the author of Buddy: Philip Norman. He’s also written extensively about other rock legends, including The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Eric Clapton. 

To help us explore this complex and difficult subject, we have two guests. The first, James Essinger, author of “Frankie: The Woman Who Saved Millions from Thalidomide” and Thalidomider, academic speaker Kev Donnelon

The object of perverse levels of public attention, the pair participated in a series of Spree Killings between December 1967 and January 1968 that would go on to inspire movies, music, and extensive, unrelenting, news coverage.

The Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants are the most famous teams that chose to leave, but others followed suit, and major league baseball also eventually made its way into America’s deep south. 

We’re joined once again by very special guest, baseball historian Andy McCue. Andy’s the author of Mover and Shaker: Walter O’Malley, the Dodgers and Baseball’s Westward Expansion.

After the war, he was also the President who restored order to war-torn France. He returned to power again in 1958, when he handled the Algerian crisis, and founded France’s fifth republic.

We’re joined in this episode by very special guest, Lord Peter Ricketts, long time diplomat, and the former British ambassador to France between 2012 and 2016. 

What were the origins of the Lebanese crisis, and what led the Americans to intervene? Looking back today, did it make a difference? 

A defining film both in the history of war movies, and in cinema in general, The Bridge On the River Kwai is as grand as it was excessively ambitious.
Here to help explain is our guest, Film Historian and Blogger Wendy Whittick.

Zhou Enlai was the suave revolutionary who became Chairman Mao’s most skilled diplomat.

 In the West, he’s known as the man who helped foster a warmer relationship between China and America - and who gave a humane face to a brutal regime. 

We’re joined by special guest Michael Dillon, Professor of History at King’s College, London, and the author of Zhou Enlai: The Enigma Behind Chairman Mao. 

This metal sphere, barely bigger than a beach ball, would not only spark a decades-long scientific arms race between the world's two biggest political powers, but would end up drastically affecting the place of Science and Technology in the modern world.

But how did this come to be?

Here to help us answer that question we have Roger Launius, the former chief historian for NASA and curator of the National Space Museum at the Smithsonian. 

 Reading his most famous book, On the Road, is still a rite of passage for many teens and people in their early 20s: and his coming of age tale continues to inspire writers, musicians and actors. 

We’re joined  by special guest Brian Hassett, a lifelong “beat” and the author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jack Kerouac (and numerous other books on Kerouac and the beat generation). 

Mickey was the charismatic golden boy who rose from the mines of Oklahoma to become perhaps the best-known Yankee slugger of all time. He’s also someone who struggled immensely with fame, and with demons of his own. 

We take a look at the man behind the myth.

Behind closed doors, Great Britain and France made a secret plot with Israel to gain control of the waterway, and retain their influence in the Arab world. The conspiracy spelled the end of British Prime Minister Anthony Eden’s political career: and the Suez Canal Crisis is considered the nail in the coffin of the British Empire. 

As we explore this topic we’re joined once more by special guest Khaled Fahmy, Sultan Qaboos bin Said Professor of Modern Arabic Studies at the University of Cambridge. 

Its themes include abortion, incest and alcoholism, and even today, it probably deserves a trigger warning. 

It’s also a subversively feminist book: it gives a glimpse into hidden aspects of women’s lives, and it explores society’s changing attitudes towards sex. 

We’re joined by special guest Dave O. Dodge, the author of The Seasons of Grace: The Unauthorized Backstory of Peyton Place. 

We’re joined by special guest Professor William Taubman, an academic at Amherst College and a Pulitzer prize-winning Soviet historian, who wrote Nikita Khrushchev’s biography: Khrushchev- the Man and His Era. 

It was in Alabama that Rosa Parks, the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement” refused to give up her bus seat for a white man, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott was born. The boycott garnered interest from activists all over the world, and it led to the rise of a charismatic young preacher, named Martin Luther King Jr. 

We’re joined  by special guest Cole Manley, a PhD student at the University of Columbia. Cole is the author of the book, “The Unlikely World of the Montgomery Bus Boycott”, which explores the global impact of the protest. 

Arguably the most singular and innovative idea of Walt Disney, a man known for his singular and innovative ideas, the word Disneyland has become synonymous with adventure, joy, and painfully long queue times. But how did it come to be? 

Here to help us answer that question is theme-park engineer turned Disneyland historian, Alastair Dallas. 

Author of the book, Inventing Disneyland, Alastair was such an expert on Disneyland, that he’s inspired us to experiment a little with the format of this episode. 

Our guest is Ray Connolly, the author of ‘Being Elvis: A Lonely Life’. Ray, a veteran music journalist, was one of the only reporters to interview the star, who many people heard and saw, but few truly knew. 

From its initial telling as a satirical fantasy laced with personal tragedy in turn of the century Britain, through its re-shaping into a hyper Americanized piece of post World War two escapism by both Walt Disney and Broadway, to finally winding up as an ever underperforming piece of IP in the Hollywood Machine, the history of how we tell Peter’s story has become as captivating as the story itself. But where did it come from? And why do we, time and again, find ourselves returning to the story of the boy who wouldn’t grow up?

This Texas legend is perhaps most famous for his part in the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, which served to only build on his prodigious legend. Known in his day as the ‘King of the Frontier’, tales of his exploits would inspire and entertain millions over a century later when he hit television screens in 1950’s America.

The Disney TV show was a huge hit. By 1960 Americans had spent, in today's money, two billion dollars on Davy Crockett merchandise.

To explore the life of this iconic American we’re joined by Bill Cotter.  Bill is a Disney insider and expert, having worked there for decades and he’ll help guide us through Davy Crockett's reincarnation as a Disney sensation. 

We’re joined by special guest Andy McCue, the author of Mover and Shaker: Walter O’Malley, the Dodgers and Baseball’s Westward Expansion.

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 We are joined by guest Ronald Suny - who has just recently released a book Stalin: Passage to Revolution - which highlights his early life.

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An unassuming man, George Santayana has nonetheless inspired countless writers and caused millions to stop and think.

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