Episodes

  • 155. The Founding Fathers: Benjamin Franklin (Ep 5)

    155. The Founding Fathers: Benjamin Franklin (Ep 5)
    May 30 2024
    We're all about the Benjamins. Franklin is unquestionably the most well-rounded of the Founding Fathers. Not only did he help draft the Declaration of Independence and help America define itself, but he also discovered that electricity and lightning were one and the same, reformed the postal system, and proved you couldn't catch colds from swimming. Listen as William and Anita look at their last Founding Father and his incredible range of skills. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    39 mins
  • 154. The Founding Fathers: John Adams (Ep 4)

    154. The Founding Fathers: John Adams (Ep 4)
    May 29 2024
    Often given less attention than the other Founding Fathers, John Adams is no less significant. Not only did he go on to be the second US President, but he was an accomplished diplomat and had a strong moral compass - he was one of the few Founding Fathers who was a committed abolitionist. Listen as William and Anita look at his life and extraordinary marriage to Abigail Adams. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    31 mins
  • 153. The Founding Fathers: Alexander Hamilton (Ep 3)

    153. The Founding Fathers: Alexander Hamilton (Ep 3)
    May 28 2024
    How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence impoverished in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar? Listen and find out. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    23 mins
  • 152. The Founding Fathers: Thomas Jefferson (Ep 2)

    152. The Founding Fathers: Thomas Jefferson (Ep 2)
    May 27 2024
    Thomas Jefferson is one of the most complex figures in the whole American Revolution. A child of the enlightenment, it was he who wrote 'we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are born equal'. Yet, throughout his life he possessed over 600 enslaved people and had sexual relations with some, including Sally Hemings. Listen as William and Anita dive into the early life of Thomas Jefferson and try to understand this contradiction. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    40 mins
  • 151. The Founding Fathers: George Washington (Ep 1)

    151. The Founding Fathers: George Washington (Ep 1)
    May 22 2024
    Everybody knows Washington as the strapping, powerful general and then president who helped to overthrow the British and forge America, but how did he get there? He was born into a respectable Virginian planter family, had an ordinary education and, with the exception of his tortured relationship with his mother, had a childhood of no note. However, as a young man he sought out the world and learnt all he could from it. He fought as a soldier alongside the British where he displayed his capacity for immense bravery and his ability to motivate men, setting him on his path to his great achievement. But he was not a saint, his great passion was farming and to work his farm he had vast numbers of slaves. He consistently sought to expand his land too, normally at the expense of the Native Americans. Join William and Anita as they discuss the complexity of George Washington and his life before the American Revolution. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    57 mins
  • 150. Worlds Colliding: Seizing Settlers in New England

    150. Worlds Colliding: Seizing Settlers in New England
    May 20 2024
    Deerfield, February 1704. The small, puritan town of roughly 300 inhabitants in western Massachusetts has been riven with tension ever since the French and Native American forces had begun raiding them at the end of the previous year. The snows of winter have settled over New England and, on the last night of February 1704, the village is attacked. What follows is an extraordinary tale that not only tells us about life in New England, but also illuminates the fragility of early colonial America. Listen as William and Anita discuss captivity in New England and how the religious and political dynamic of this period is far more porous than some would believe. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    40 mins
  • 149. Pocahontas: Kidnapped in Virginia

    149. Pocahontas: Kidnapped in Virginia
    May 15 2024
    One of the most famous names in American history, Pocahontas had an extraordinary life. She was the daughter of Powhatan, a great Native American chief, and was born in Werowocomoco, in what we’d now call Virginia. From a young age, she mixed with the initial English settlers and spent time in the first European settlement in America, Jamestown. But, her life was turned upside down when she was lured aboard a ship and taken prisoner by Samuel Argall, an English naval officer. Before long, presumably under a degree of duress, she had converted to christianity, married an Englishman, and was making her way across the Atlantic. Listen as William and Anita are joined by Camilla Townsend to discuss the life and legacy of Pocahontas. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    49 mins
  • 148. America: The Empire of Liberty

    148. America: The Empire of Liberty
    May 13 2024
    The Empire that dare not speak its name. America was born through an explicit rejection of empire as it forced the British from the continent and indeed many of its citizens would baulk at the suggestion their nation is an empire. Yet, over its lifetime the empire of liberty, as Thomas Jefferson himself once called it, has continually flexed its imperial muscles. In our newest series, William and Anita will take you from the great plains of North America to the shores of the Philippines and explore the history of the American Empire. In today’s episode, William and Anita look at the first colonial interactions on the North American continent as the British land in Virginia and establish contact with the Powhatan Native Americans. Twitter: @Empirepoduk Email: empirepoduk@gmail.com Goalhangerpodcasts.com Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Producer: Callum Hill Exec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    45 mins