031 – A rebellion in the south, a lion in the north and how Henry II got on

We draw a profile of the Italian poet and activist Gabriele D'Annunzio up to the time in which he takes command of an expedition to take the city of Fiume, the current day Croatian city of Rijeka. We take a look at his extreme lifestyle of women, drugs and excesses such as being the first recognised Italian toappear naked in a photo! We also have a look at the situation in Italy between WWI and the expedition to Fiume in 1919.

8 Mar 202221min

In honour of the Ukrainian people, I look back at my fond memories of Ukraine in the "Italian" city of Odessa.

1 Mar 202228min

and 15th century Genoa to catch up on all their wars with Venice and the Aragonese as well as all the internal infighting between the various Doria, Spinola, Fieschi, Grimaldi and Campofregaso for which external rulers are constantly called in, the, Anjou, Milan, France, Monferrato, milan again and so on.

22 Feb 202219min

We take a break from our narrative of the history of Fascism to talk about the definition of Totalitarianism with Jackson Van Uden. Jackson is a Historian, Author and Podcaster. He hosts the History with Jackson YouTube channel and Podcast where he speaks about History from across the ages, and interviews historians about their research. As an author he has written several articles on a variety of different topics and has also recently published a book entitled the ’The Crystallisation of Totalitarianism’.

8 Feb 202237min

Filippo Maria Visconti, now sole Duke of Milan, has a bit of time to take a breather, before the chaos of the wars of Lombardy vs Venice and Florence, with special guest stars

1 Feb 202225min

After the untimely death of the first duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the duchy is thrown into turmoil as the widow, Caterina Visconti attempts to hold onto the realm of her sons, Giovanni Maria and Filippo Maria through internal intrigue and external military pressure from Florence, Venice and many others trying to take advantage of Milan's moment of weakness.

25 Jan 202220min

We follow the life and times of Giovanni di Bicci De Medici, shrewd banker and able politician as he navigates the complicated waters of early 15th century Florentine politics as the republic prepares to kick of an age of unprecedented cultural renewal: the Renaissance

13 Jan 202222min

We celebrate our 4th anniversary by announcing a new podcast: The K-Rock Chelsea Hotel; the 1 millionth global listen and a guest episode about 14th century Italy on The History of England podcast.

4 Jan 202254min