Episodi

  • The note nailed to the Town Hall door warned judges of innocent blood

    The note nailed to the Town Hall door warned judges of innocent blood
    Oct 21 2026
    In 1546 Ipswich, a man known only as Kerby faces burning for heresy, denying transubstantiation under the Act of Six Articles. A mysterious note warns judges of innocent blood.

    The note nailed to the Town Hall door warned judges of innocent blood

    This episode explores the first recorded burning for heresy in Ipswich, focusing on the case of Kerby and the broader religious tensions in England under Henry VIII. It delves into the shifting religious landscape and the personal choices made in the face of extreme pressure.

    Person: Kerby
    Date: 1546
    Location: Cornhill, Ipswich
    Event: Burning for heresy
    Law: Act of Six Articles

    - Kerby was condemned to burn for denying that the bread and wine of the Mass became the literal body and blood of Christ.
    - The Act of Six Articles, passed in 1539, reasserted core Catholic doctrines and made denial of transubstantiation a capital offense.
    - A note, written in Latin and English, was nailed to the Town Hall door, warning judges that innocent blood would be required at their hands.
    - William Foster, Justice of Copdock, brought the accusation against Kerby and another man named Roger for denying transubstantiation.
    - Robert Wingfield visited Kerby in gaol, urging him to seek mercy by emphasizing the pain of the fire and the sweetness of life.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 min
  • The apple bite that made him die content and cost his career's future

    The apple bite that made him die content and cost his career's future
    Oct 20 2026
    A celebrated Soviet director films an old man’s final apple bite in an orchard - can one shot of harvest topple a career and a nation's image?

    The apple bite that made him die content and cost his career's future

    In this episode, we follow the arc of a filmmaker whose rural images and ordinary death unsettled the Soviet cultural machine. The episode traces his rise from a village in Chernihiv to international acclaim, and asks how a film about soil and harvest became intolerable at home.

    Person: Oleksandr Petrovych Dovzhenko
    Event: Release and nine-day domestic run of the film Earth (opened April 8, 1930)
    Location: Viunyshche, Chernihiv region; Odessa; Moscow; Ukrainian steppe
    Period: 1894 birth - 1930s career peak
    Topic: Censorship of the film Earth and its exhibition abroad as a state trophy

    - Born in Viunyshche in 1894, Dovzhenko lost twelve siblings by age eleven, shaping his visual focus on soil, harvest, and death.
    - Arrived in Odessa in 1926 with no cinema experience and made Arsenal within two years, a film that gained Stalin's approval.
    - Shot Earth over nine months, centering on peasants, harvest, and an old man dying content with an apple in his mouth.
    - Earth opened April 8, 1930 and was removed from Soviet screens nine days later amid attacks in Izvestia calling it defeatist.
    - Despite Soviet censorship at home, the government sent the censored print of Earth to Paris, Berlin, and London as proof of Soviet artistic achievement.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    15 min
  • The one man who stood in the room and made twenty‑four walk into silence

    The one man who stood in the room and made twenty‑four walk into silence
    Oct 19 2026
    A celebrated writer stood in a Shanghai room as comrades gathered - days later some were gone; how did a clandestine cell system fail?

    The one man who stood in the room and made twenty‑four walk into silence

    In this episode, we trace the moments before a clandestine meeting in Shanghai where twenty‑four writers and activists were arrested and five League members were later executed. We follow the League of Left‑Wing Writers’ cell structure, its growth across Chinese cities, and the decision to keep meeting despite bans - what fault in the network allowed so many to be gathered in one place?

    Person: Lu Xun
    Organization: League of Left‑Wing Writers (Zuolian)
    Date: March 1930 (meeting referenced); 7 February 1931 (executions)
    Location: Shanghai; Chinese Arts University (founding meeting)
    Event: Arrest of twenty‑four writers and subsequent executions of five members

    - Lu Xun, not a Arts Party member, gave the League’s inaugural address and remained a visible presence among the founders.
    - The League built a cellular security design: no membership lists, cells of four or five, and one supervisor above each cell.
    - From its founding fifty, the League expanded to an estimated four hundred members and published multiple magazines across Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, and Tokyo.
    - The Kuomintang banned the League in September 1930, after which it continued underground, cell by cell, operating despite the White Terror set in motion by 1927 purges.
    - Twenty‑four people met in one room - a concentration that bypassed the League’s intended cell limits and suggests knowledge or coordination beyond a single captured member.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    14 min
  • The demotion that stripped his command and cost him his head

    The demotion that stripped his command and cost him his head
    Oct 18 2026
    A high-ranking gentleman and his captain share Communion at the southern tip of the world - hours later one orders the other's execution; how does a man fall from that high?

    The demotion that stripped his command and cost him his head

    In this episode, we follow Thomas Doughty's rise from educated courtier to expedition leader and his unraveling aboard Francis Drake's voyage. We trace the personal ruptures, demotions, and a shipboard trial that turned friendship into a fatal contest of authority.

    Person: Thomas Doughty
    Person: Francis Drake
    Date: June 30, 1578
    Location: Puerto San Julián
    Event: Shipboard trial and execution order

    - Doughty, born c.1545, was a learned courtier and former secretary to Christopher Hatton who helped assemble Drake's 1577 expedition.
    - The fleet left Plymouth in 1577 with five vessels; Doughty was initially given command of the captured prize Mary before being reassigned and demoted to the Swan.
    - Doughty accused Drake's brother Thomas of stealing from the Santa Maria cargo; Drake did not punish his brother and instead punished Doughty publicly.
    - After a storm separated the Swan, Drake accused Doughty of causing it by witchcraft, a charge Doughty could not practically disprove.
    - Doughty and his brother John were formally arrested on June 3, 1578; a jury of sailors convened at Puerto San Julián for a trial that would decide his fate.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    15 min
  • The signed portrait of Maurras pushed him into Vichy power - and his fall

    The signed portrait of Maurras pushed him into Vichy power - and his fall
    Oct 17 2026
    An admiral keeps a signed portrait of Charles Maurras as he seizes France’s colonies in 1940-how does a republican’s son become Vichy’s enforcer?

    The signed portrait of Maurras pushed him into Vichy power - and his fall

    In this episode, we trace the career of René-Charles Maurras from provincial republican roots to rear admiral and Secretary of State for the Colonies under Vichy, and we follow the decisions that put him at the center of France’s collapsing empire. How did a naval officer’s authority, ideology, and a Maurras portrait shape the path that led him to command colonial power in wartime?

    Person: René-Charles Maurras
    Date: born 19 September 1886; executed 28 August 1944
    Location: Pujols-sur-Dordogne; served at Toulon, Dunkirk-Calais-Boulogne
    Event: Appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies, 6 September 1940
    Topic: kept a signed portrait of Charles Maurras; suspended colonial assemblies 27 October 1940

    - Born into a republican family in Pujols-sur-Dordogne, Maurras chose the École Navale in 1904 and rose through naval ranks with rapid promotions and commands.
    - A decorated submarine commander in WWI and Knight of the Legion of Honor, he combined real seamanship with a growing attraction to nationalist right ideas.
    - He kept a signed portrait of Charles Maurras in his cabin, a constant emblem of the ideological framework that informed his decisions.
    - Promoted to rear admiral by October 1939, he coordinated at Dunkirk in 1940 and viewed the evacuation as proof of France’s collapse.
    - Appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies on 6 September 1940, he pushed measures like suspending elected colonial assemblies and transferring full powers to governors.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    18 min
  • The Golden Party Badge that turned a bank clerk into a political climber

    The Golden Party Badge that turned a bank clerk into a political climber
    Oct 16 2026
    A Bavarian bank clerk flashes a Golden Party Badge and rises in Danzig-how does a teller become a political climber with power over life and death?

    The Golden Party Badge that turned a bank clerk into a political climber

    In this episode, we follow the trajectory of Albert Forster from a Fürth bank clerk to a high-ranking Nazi official in Danzig, tracing the decisions, networks, and moments that accelerated his ascent. What choices and opportunities turned ledger-balancing into political climbing?

    Person: Albert Maria Forster
    Date: 28 February 1952 (execution), 1922-1930s (rise)
    Location: Fürth, Bavaria; Nuremberg; Danzig
    Event: Joined Nazi Party Nov 1923, Golden Party Badge holder, entered SS May 1926
    Status: Youngest Reichstag member (1930), SS leader for Nuremberg and Fürth

    - Fired from his bank job at age 21 for proselytizing and recruiting at work, then doubled down on party activity.
    - Attended Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch trial and adopted audacity as a political tactic that reshaped his career choices.
    - Rejoined the reconstituted party in April 1925, earning membership number 1924 and the Golden Party Badge as early currency.
    - Founded and led the SS group for Nuremberg and Fürth, and wrote for Der Stürmer to expand his network.
    - Parachuted into Danzig in February 1930 as an outsider, displacing Arthur Greiser and igniting a bitter local rivalry.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 min
  • Make it short. The Traitor's Last Order

    Make it short. The Traitor's Last Order
    Oct 15 2026
    A seventy-one-year-old statesman kneels on the scaffold in The Hague-how does a nation-builder fall to a traitor's noose?

    Make it short. The Traitor's Last Order

    In this episode, we follow the final months that led Johan van Oldenbarnevelt from decades of power to the scaffold. The episode traces his rise from a scholar in Amersfoort to the Land's Advocate of Holland, the political decisions and rivalries that made his authority invisible, and the single rupture that exposed it all-what choice finally made him public enemy number one?

    Person: Johan van Oldenbarnevelt
    Date: 13 May 1619
    Location: Binnenhof courtyard, The Hague
    Age: 71
    Event: Execution following trial

    - Born in Amersfoort in 1547, educated in Leuven, Bourges, Heidelberg and Padua, absorbing four legal traditions.
    - Rose to Pensionary of Rotterdam by 1576 and became Land's Advocate of Holland and West Friesland in 1586, holding the post for thirty-two years.
    - Brokered the Union of Utrecht (1579), unified six East India trading companies into the VOC (1602), and negotiated the Twelve Years' Truce (1609).
    - Longstanding tension with Maurice of Nassau dated to 1600 when Van Oldenbarnevelt compelled Maurice to lead an exposed campaign at Nieuwpoort.
    - A forty-page diary by servant Jan Francken recorded the final months, vanished for nearly two centuries, and resurfaced in 2018 in Van Oldenbarnevelt's birthplace.

    To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.

    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    19 min
  • The grenade he fished with blew off his hand - and began his fall

    The grenade he fished with blew off his hand - and began his fall
    Oct 14 2026
    A railroad worker's son claws his way to the second most powerful position in Fascist Italy, building a system of brutal repression. But what happens when the architect of terror finds himself running from his own creation?

    The grenade he fished with blew off his hand - and began his fall

    This episode explores the rise of Roberto Farinacci, a man who climbed from poverty to become a key figure in the Fascist state. It delves into the methods he employed and the ideology that drove him, leading to a dramatic end in a Lombardy town square.

    Person: Roberto Farinacci
    Born: October 16, 1892
    Birthplace: Isernia, Molise region, Italy
    Political Affiliation: Socialist, Irredentist, Fascist
    Key Role: Party Secretary of the Fascist state

    - Roberto Farinacci, born to a railroad worker, moved to Cremona in 1909 and began his political career as a socialist and irredentist.
    - He founded the newspaper Cremona Nuova and organized Blackshirt squads in Cremona, known for their extreme brutality, including the use of castor oil.
    - Farinacci participated in the March on Rome in 1922 and consolidated power alongside Mussolini, always pushing for a more extreme version of Fascism.
    - In 1925, he was appointed Party Secretary, becoming the second most powerful man in Italy, and used this position to centralize and purge the party.
    - After being quietly moved aside by Mussolini, Farinacci lost his right hand in 1935 while fishing with a grenade during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War.

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    © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
    This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: business@obomedia.com.
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    17 min