History Date Night: A WWII Podcast | Podcast on RSS.com

History Date Night: A WWII Podcast

History Date Night: A WWII Podcast

by Justin and Jennie

Season 1

Episode 24 - No Terms, No Time

This episode of History Date Night covers Feb 23-29, 1940: London celebrates its first wartime victory with HMS Exeter and Ajax, Finland faces harsh Soviet peace terms and is abandoned by Sweden, the RMS Queen Elizabeth departs secretly for New York, and the Manstein Plan is set. Sartre reflects on French morale, Mussolini appears worn, Carbon-14 is discovered, Hattie McDaniel wins a historic Oscar, and the Graf Spee's wreck becomes a British intelligence asset.

Episode 23 - The Baedeker Invasion

In February 1940, Manstein's daring plan for the invasion of France gets Hitler's approval, Finland's defenses falter as Sweden refuses military aid, and the first cavity magnetron marks a leap in radar technology. The German invasion of Norway is planned from a tourist guidebook, Gestapo and NKVD coordinate in Poland, Kretschmer's U-boat sinks HMS Daring, and Operation Wikinger ends in German disaster by friendly fire and mines. Amidst these events, a five year old is enthroned as Dalai Lama.

Episode 22 - The Navy's Here

This episode covers February 11-16, 1940: The Soviet breakthrough of Finland's Mannerheim Line prompts Finnish peace talks. Germany and the USSR sign a major trade pact, exchanging oil for military tech. A Royal Navy destroyer raids a Norwegian fjord to rescue 299 POWs, accelerating plans for Germany’s invasion of Norway. Key events also include the recovery of Enigma rotors, Rommel's promotion, Guderian's tank strategy, and the death of espionage author John Buchan.

Episode 21 - 400 Shells Per Minute

This episode covers February 5-10, 1940: the Allies plan to occupy Norway’s ports to cut off German iron ore, while the Soviet assault on Finland’s Mannerheim Line intensifies with up to 400 shells per minute. Łódź Ghetto is established, Blaskowitz’s SS atrocity complaints are sidelined, a double agent dismantles German espionage in America, Roosevelt publicly defends Finland, and Manstein’s transfer leads to Hitler embracing his invasion plan.

Episode 20 - Wave After Wave

This episode covers January 28–February 4, 1940, when the Winter War shifts from Finnish resilience to Soviet attrition. Daladier defends liberty, Hitler vows victory despite Germany's fragile economy, and the Soviets hint at peace talks. Personal stories include a Norwegian boy's birthday aboard a U-boat, the first German plane shot down in England, Meyerhold's execution, Prague's stations renamed to erase Czech identity, and Frank Sinatra's debut recordings.

Episode 19 - No Hour to Lose

This episode covers January 21-27, 1940: HMS Exmouth lost with all hands, British-Japanese naval tensions, the Enigma code breakthrough at Bletchley Park, French army stagnation, Charles de Gaulle’s ignored warnings, pivotal Nazi decisions on Auschwitz and the Final Solution, Krivitsky’s missed exposure of Kim Philby, South Africa narrowly staying in the war, and Churchill’s urgent call for action as WWII intensifies.

Episode 18 - Europe in the Deep Freeze

This episode covers January 11–20, 1940, as the Winter War pauses; the Soviets regroup and retrain, preparing a new offensive. Finland faces starvation and freezing Soviet troops in isolated forest pockets. Europe endures record cold, women pilots join the RAF, Allies break key Enigma codes, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet premieres under blackout, the Three Stooges lampoon Hitler, resistance is hunted in Warsaw, Vatican Radio exposes Nazi atrocities, and Churchill envisions a united future.

Episode 17 - Dead Men on the Road

This episode of History Date Night covers January 1940: Finland shatters Soviet divisions at Raate Road, Britain starts food rationing and expands conscription, Unity Mitford returns after a failed suicide attempt, and a German navigation error in Belgium leads to a major change in the invasion plan of France. Warsaw endures starvation and atrocities, while China's collaborationist government is exposed as a sham. Key events set the stage for decisive shifts in WWII.

Episode 16 - A Hard Year

This episode of History Date Night reviews December 1939, as WWII reshapes the world. Highlights include the RAF's disastrous daylight raid at Heligoland Bight, German and British clashes near America, and the revelation of German shipborne radar. The episode covers brutal Soviet and Nazi occupations in Poland, Finland's fierce resistance against the USSR, and the global mood at Christmas. Key military tech advances and a devastating Turkish earthquake close a year that leaves 1940 shrouded in uncertainty and fear.

Episode 15 - The End of the Spee

This episode of History Date Night covers Finland's first major Winter War victories, the League of Nations' historic expulsion of the Soviet Union, RAF's costly daylight bombing lessons, the dramatic Battle of the River Plate and Graf Spee's scuttling, Canada's rapid military buildup, Allied air training plans, Hitler's order for Norway's invasion, and the resilience of wartime Paris. It closes with the somber reality of Warsaw's occupation.

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