In 13 years, Hitler transformed a fringe sect into Germany’s dominant political force

The story of Hitler's first—failed—attempt to takeover Germany

Infamous Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933 after his party won the majority of seats in the country's parliament, the Reichstag. His seemingly legitimate rise to power was actually his second attempt to lead Germany after his failed coup attempt in 1923 which saw him jailed for nine months. Here's the story of that failed putsch, which took place a century ago.

How the Great Depression and end of WWI paved the way for Hitler’s rise to power

The end of WWI was triggered by an armistice that blamed the conflict on Germany and required the financially struggling country to pay reparations. This outraged nationalists and ignited conspiracies that Hitler was able to capitalize on, according to this six-minute video. It was during this financial strain that the Great Depression hit.

Some senior Nazis fled to South America and lived for decades

Using so-called "ratlines" through Spain, Italy, and into South American countries like Argentina, many of Adolf Hitler's closest associates evaded capture after the fall of Berlin in 1945. This video details the fate of eight, including infamous doctor Josef Mengele and logistics expert Adolf Eichmann.

Dreaming under the Nazi Regime

Days after Hitler seized power, a man told psychoanalyst Charlotte Beradt that he had dreamed of being forced to raise his arm in a Nazi salute ("It took me half an hour to get my arm up, inch by inch"). Beradt recorded this dream and many others so they "might one day serve as evidence." This is an English translation of her work, "The Third Reich of Dreams."

Explore a podcast devoted to uncovering different conspiracy theories

Hear stories of controversial events from all around the world and come to your own conclusions about why they happened—and if someone shaped the narrative around them. From art fraud to the death of a Roman emperor, this Spotify podcast covers it all.

A four-part podcast traces how the Manhattan Project reshaped the world

This podcast series explores the origins of the Manhattan Project, its secret cities, and the scientists behind it—showing how the effort contributed to the end of World War II, launched the Atomic Age, and later led Oppenheimer to become a critic of nuclear weapons.

The Holocaust was the systematic, state‑sponsored genocide of 6 million European Jews

Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators implemented the “Final Solution”: a state-engineered campaign of antisemitic persecution and mass murder. By the end, two-thirds of Europe’s Jews—approximately 6 million individuals—had been exterminated through ghettos, mass shootings, and extermination camps.

Rewrite 1930s Germany with this alternative history game of politics

You are at the head of the Social Democratic Party in Germany in 1928 and must use parliamentary politics, the media, and more to oppose the ascendant National Socialists. This text-based, narrative simulation becomes a lesson in the complexities of political history.

Adolf Hitler deeply admired Henry Ford, citing him as an inspiration for "Mein Kampf"

Hitler frequently praised Ford's anti-semitic viewpoints, both before and during the Holocaust. While Ford denied being sympathetic to the Nazi regime, Hitler kept a portrait of Ford on his desk, and Ford accepted the highest military award available to a foreign citizen from the Nazi government.

In the 1980s, excerpts from fake diaries of Adolf Hitler were published in a prominent German magazine

Excerpts from the diaries were published in other publications around the world, like The Sunday Times, despite uncertainty about their authenticity. After forensic analysis, the diaries were proven to be fake. The diaries were produced by Konrad Kujau, a petty criminal who frequently produced counterfeits.

Hitler's 1941 invasion of the USSR doomed Nazi Germany

Hitler unleashed Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941, underestimating Soviet resilience, Russian winter, and logistics. His overconfidence—rooted in early victories like France—turned this campaign into a strategic catastrophe, shifting the war’s momentum irreversibly—often cited as his greatest blunder.

Conspiracy theories today are often born from online radicalization

New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose examines how individuals become radicalized while using platforms like YouTube. Hate crimes that took place before the COVID-19 pandemic inspired the podcast, which looks at online commentators, algorithms, and isolation, and possible explanations for how increased online activity can sometimes lead to violent crime.

The 10 main elements of fascism

This 10-minute video explains the 10 main elements of fascism, which it describes as the "cult of the leader" who promises national restoration that stymies the tide of a country's takeover by various groups. The main elements of fascism include...

Hear how Putin's Soviet childhood shaped his rule

In this podcast, journalist Julia Ioffe traces Putin's worldview to his "dvor"—the rough Soviet courtyards where he learned power, loyalty, and survival. The series shows how these early lessons shape his war in Ukraine.

Hear the story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech

This podcast traces Dr. King’s path into the Civil Rights movement and the buildup to the 1963 March on Washington, unpacking how his speech became a defining moment in US history.

Radar saved the British Royal Air Force from Nazi air assaults

Radar technology—particularly the Chain Home early-warning system—enabled the RAF to detect incoming Luftwaffe raids up to 80 miles out, coordinate fighter deployments through the Dowding System, and achieve interception rates over 90%. This technological edge was pivotal in winning the Battle of Britain and halting Germany's air campaign.

How much power does the Federal Reserve really have?

Although mechanisms for transparency exist, it wouldn’t be difficult for the incredibly powerful institution to go rogue in the wrong hands. In this podcast episode, analysts game out how such a scenario would go.

Who was Maximilien Robespierre, leader of the Reign of Terror?

This 28-minute podcast details the life and death of French revolutionary Maximilien Robespierre, who was killed by the people he previously led in 1794. Robespierre is considered the leader of the Revolution's Reign of Terror, a period of intense...

Tony Hawk’s rise from outsider to skateboarding legend

In this podcast, Tony Hawk discusses his path from being an outsider in a niche sport to becoming skateboarding’s most recognizable figure—reflecting on competition dominance, business ventures, and lessons learned throughout his career.

The Illuminati were a real espionage society in the 1770s

Bavarian professor Adam Weishaupt founded the group in 1776 as an anti-clerical, anti-royalist sect that used hierarchy, codes, and surveillance as a proto-spy network. Within a decade, it was suppressed, but the mythology never quite died. Today, it functions as an adaptable conspiracy theory, able to fit any era's anxieties about who really holds power.

A backgrounder on North Korea’s power structure

North Korea has been ruled by three generations of the Kim family since 1948, one of the world’s longest-running dynastic dictatorships, where absolute authority flows from the Supreme Leader. Read the Council on Foreign Relations' backgrounder to understand the country’s structure of power.

Anne Frank's father, Otto, speaks to the BBC

The 13-year-old Jewish girl Anne Frank has inspired millions with her optimistic diaries amid Nazi oppression in the Netherlands. In 1976, her father—the sole survivor among Anne's immediate family—showed the world the original copy of one of Anne's three diaries in this BBC interview. Hear why Otto decided to publish the diaries and how that decision changed his life.

Franklin D. Roosevelt used radio to connect directly with Americans through his 'Fireside Chats'

Beginning in 1933, FDR harnessed the new medium of radio to explain policies and reassure the public during the Great Depression and World War II. His conversational fireside chats revolutionized presidential communication.

The rise of ISIS, explained in 6 minutes

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is incredibly powerful, and has seemingly done the impossible. The group has seized vast areas of the Middle East to form a mini-state it calls a reincarnation of the ancient Caliphate. Since forming, ISIS has waged war with all of its neighbors and has launched deadly terror attacks all over the world. This six-minute video, by Vox, outlines the history and rise of ISIS.

Rock 'n' roll's history in 60 seconds

In the late 1940s, rock 'n' roll emerged from a mix of blues, country, gospel, and jazz. It gained traction through radio, rebellious icons, and evolving sound. This overview traces the genre’s roots, rise, and lasting influence—from early pioneers to the British Invasion and beyond.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

About 12.5% of US adults experience a phobia in their lifetime, a diagnosis that hinges on the intense fear interfering with daily life and persisting for at least six months.

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

View the ten deadliest tornadoes in US history.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.