History Uncensored

Eugenics is often treated as a dead ideology buried with Nazi Germany but historians and scientists argue the idea never truly disappeared - it simply evolved. Bianca Nobilo speaks to geneticists Adam Rutherford and Professor Debby Sneed, exploring how eugenics became tied to empire, racial hierarchy, forced sterilisation and genocide. Later examining the flawed science that sustained it and tracing how ancient Sparta and classical Greece were later mythologised by modern extremists. Was eugenics defeated after World War II? Or did the bad science that fuelled some of history’s worst atrocities simply adapt to a...

Why do powerful men keep idolising the ancient world? From Xi Jinping invoking Thucydides at a US-China summit, to Putin’s “Third Rome,” to Elon Musk posting “America is New Rome,” modern leaders repeatedly reach back to Greece and Rome when talking about power, destiny and empire. Bianca Nobilo explores what leaders’ historical obsessions, like Hitler and Napoleon reveal about them and why ancient figures like Caesar, Augustus, Alexander and Sparta still hold such political and psychological power today. Chronopolitics also comes into play - the political use of the past to legitimise the present and claim authority over the future...

What even is time? Physicists still can’t fully agree. Einstein showed that time bends and warps. Theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli argues it may not fundamentally exist at all. And yet modern life is ruled by clocks, schedules, deadlines and timestamps measured down to fractions of a second. Across ancient civilizations, humans developed ways to make the invisible movements of the sky measurable - first through monuments, then sundials, water clocks and eventually mechanical timekeeping. Featuring interviews with science communicator Finn Burridge from Royal Observatory Greenwich and author Jonathan Martineau, Bianca Nobilo examines how time evolved from a natural ex...

Bianca Nobilo takes us through the history behind the headlines again as President Donald Trump meets Xi Jinping in China in his first visit there in over a decade. The relationship between the two countries is one of the most important in the world. What happens between them shapes the future of the global order - trade, war, Taiwan, the Middle East, climate change. But it hasn’t always been a relationship between equals. How did America help great its own biggest rival? Listen to find out... Learn more about your ad...

Puyi began life as the emperor of China, carried into the Forbidden City as a toddler and placed upon the Dragon Throne before he was even three years old. At least in theory, Puyi ruled over around a quarter of the world’s population. Raised inside one of the most isolated and luxurious courts on earth, he was treated as divine. Eunuchs dressed him, bowed before him, and carried out his every command. Outside the palace walls, however, the world that had created emperors was beginning to collapse... Within just a few years, the Qing dynasty fell, ending more th...

Right now, there are more than 12,000 nuclear weapons on Earth. The detonation of just one could kill hundreds of thousands, flatten a city, poison survivors for generations, and reshape global politics permanently. These weapons are the ultimate currency of power. So why do some countries get to have them, while others are told they can’t? Why is Israel widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, while Iran faces intense international pressure over its program? How did North Korea—one of the world’s most repressive regimes—successfully build a nuclear arsenal, while countries like Germany and Japan did not? And what...

America was born by rejecting a king so why, 250 years later, does it keep rolling out the royal treatment? Bianca Nobilo explores the long, strange evolution of the US–UK relationship: from revolution and resentment to handshakes, state dinners and carefully choreographed diplomacy. Why has Donald Trump received such extraordinary royal attention? What does it reveal about power, politics, and perception on the global stage? Along the way, Bianca unpacks how ceremony became strategy, how soft power shapes hard politics and why the British monarchy still plays a crucial role in managing one of the world’s most important rela...

Just eleven minutes after Israel declared statehood in 1948, the United States became the first country to recognise it. Nearly seventy years later, it was also the first to formally and controversially recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This video explores one of the most consequential and emotionally charged alliances in modern history. The US–Israel relationship has been shaped not just by strategy and security, but by religion, politics, shared narratives, and powerful historical forces. From early American Puritans who saw their nation as a “new Israel,” to decades of deep military and economic cooperation - amounting to over $300 billion...

Formed in the aftermath of World War II, NATO was designed to deter Soviet expansion, anchor American power in Europe, and prevent another catastrophic war. But from its very beginning, NATO has been more than just a military pact—it’s been a political balancing act between security, sovereignty, and influence. From the creation of Article 5 and the promise of collective defence, to Cold War tensions, nuclear deterrence, and post-9/11 operations, NATO has evolved far beyond its original purpose. It has expanded eastward, intervened beyond its borders, and faced internal divisions—from Charles de Gaulle’s partial withdrawal to modern d...

The Israel-Lebanon conflict didn’t start overnight - it’s the result of decades of war, displacement, and unresolved tensions. From Lebanon’s fragile beginnings and the arrival of Palestinian refugees, to the rise of the PLO, Israel’s invasions, and the emergence of Hezbollah. Bianca Nobilo traces the key moments that shaped one of the Middle East’s most enduring conflicts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In America, apocalyptic thinking has repeatedly surged at moments of crisis. During the Cold War, evangelicals read global conflict as a countdown to the end and after 9/11, similar language returned. And today, figures around Donald Trump - and some of his supporters - have framed him not just as a political leader, but as a divinely chosen figure in a cosmic struggle between good and evil. So, what happens when politicians start using an apocalypse as not just as metaphor, but as a script - because they believe it or because they know others do...

500 years ago, a teenage warlord reshaped Iran forever. When Shah Ismail seized power in 1501, he didn’t just conquer territory - he forcibly transformed Iran into a Shia nation, laying the foundations of its modern identity. From the rise of the Safavid Empire to the belief in the Hidden Imam, Bianca Nobilo explores how religion, power, and politics became inseparably linked. This video looks at how that moment still shapes Iran today and why the country now has a Supreme Leader. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Across the 'manosphere' and trad-wife culture, a claim keeps resurfacing: that marriage works best when men lead and women obey. Accordingly, nearly a third of Gen Z men agreed that a wife should always obey her husband, and a third said the husband should have the final say in important decisions. That’s more likely than Baby Boomers or any other living generation to think so. The people pushing this ideology usually argue two things at once: that this model is traditional, and that it’s natural. So, is there some truth to this...

Are some wars inevitable and can we actually predict where conflict will break out next? In today's video, we break down the world’s most dangerous geopolitical hotspots, from rising tensions between global powers to long-standing regional flashpoints. As instability grows across multiple regions, the question is no longer if conflict will emerge but where, and why. We map conflicts from Russia, Caucasus, Levant and the Sahel regions to explore the key forces driving modern conflict, the risks of escalation, and whether history offers any clues about what comes next. With global tensions on the rise, understanding these flash-points ha...

What do a Hollywood party, a shocking death, and a desperate attempt to clean up the film industry have to do with the Oscars? Join Bianca Nobilo as she explores the infamous 1921 scandal involving silent film star Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle and the tragic death of actress Virginia Rappe - an event that ignited public outrage and threatened to destroy Hollywood’s reputation. As scandal after scandal rocked the industry in the early 1920s, studio executives feared government intervention and moral backlash. The solution? A major image overhaul that helped lead to the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts a...

The Strait of Hormuz is a strip of water, a few miles wide, through which passes enough energy to shake the whole world. It's one of the most geopolitically charged waterways on Earth, and this is not an accident of the present. It is the result of strategic geography that has channelled trade, empire and coercion for centuries. Bianca Nobilo gives us a quick history... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bianca Nobilo dives into the compelling history of the American Mafia, speaking to former mob boss Michael Franzese and more. Who were the first real gangs of New York? How deeply involved in American politics - and assassinations was the Mafia? And what did it feel like to watch your criminal empire crumble from the inside? Behind the suits and swagger were rackets, intimidation and victims - listen to find out more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Friday the 13th is considered unlucky by many - but why? There’s at least one every year, with the next one coming up this week and the calendar date causes people to skip travels, avoid important business deals and generally feel a sense of unease. It’s easy to assume it comes from ancient superstition - but this isn’t actually the case. History Uncensored’s Bianca Nobilo explains more… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Iran has been governed by the Islamic Republic for more than four decades, with the regime suppressing fundamental rights and killing thousands of Iranian people in the last few months alone. Resistance to the system has repeatedly erupted - from student uprisings, to reform movements, to mass protests led by women and young people. So why hasn’t it fallen? History Uncensored's Bianca Nobilo discusses this with Iranian historical sociologist Professor Kevan Harris, author of 'A Social Revolution: Politics and the Welfare State in Iran', which is coming soon. Le...

If you want to understand world history, regional, Middle Eastern politics, and our world's broader contest between democracy and autocracy, you have to understand Iran. It is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations and the first ancient superpower, the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus, a state that has been repeatedly conquered by Greeks, Arabs, Mongols, yet its strong national identity rooted in Persian history has never been erased. Bianca Nobilo talks us through the history of the country that the whole world now has its eyes on, to help us understand what led the events...