Cover image of Second Decade

Second Decade

This is a historical show examining the momentous events and interesting people of the second decade of the 19th century, the 1810s. From Jefferson to Napoleon, from Iceland to Antarctica, historian S... Read more

Ranked #1

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36: Napoleon's Hundred Days, Part I

36: Napoleon's Hundred Days, Part I

Napoleon was the kind of guy who didn’t know when the party was over. Following his disastrous defeat in Russia in 1812 ... Read more

28 Oct 2018

42mins

Ranked #2

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4: Hawaii

4: Hawaii

Hawaii, known to Westerners in the Second Decade as “the Sandwich Islands,” was a rich and vibrant place, and the 1810s ... Read more

21 Nov 2016

46mins

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Ranked #3

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39: The Monster of Gloucester

39: The Monster of Gloucester

 In the summer of 1817, residents of the coastal town of Gloucester, Massachusetts suddenly began seeing a mysterious cr... Read more

1 Jan 2019

43mins

Ranked #4

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28: Australia, Part I

28: Australia, Part I

In the 1810s, the British penal colony of Australia, known then as New South Wales, was barely 20 years old. Already it ... Read more

29 Jan 2018

44mins

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Ranked #5

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45: Year Without Summer, Part I

45: Year Without Summer, Part I

The “Year Without Summer,” 1816, is one of those things that many people have heard of, but very few know anything subst... Read more

23 Sep 2019

53mins

Ranked #6

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29: Australia, Part II

29: Australia, Part II

Though it started as a convenient dumping ground for Britain’s human refuse, the colony of Australia was not destined to... Read more

12 Feb 2018

41mins

Ranked #7

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19: Curious King George

19: Curious King George

Despite being one of the longest-reigning British monarchs as well as wildly popular among his own people, King George I... Read more

9 Apr 2017

38mins

Ranked #8

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15: The War of 1812, Part I

15: The War of 1812, Part I

What was the War of 1812? Which countries were involved? What were the stakes? Why is it so obscure? Why does it have su... Read more

6 Mar 2017

44mins

Ranked #9

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10: Napoleon in Russia, Part I

10: Napoleon in Russia, Part I

In the summer of 1812 Napoleon’s France invaded Russia, ruled by Tsar Alexander I, with the largest army ever assembled ... Read more

16 Jan 2017

44mins

Ranked #10

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38: Napoleon's Hundred Days, Part III

38: Napoleon's Hundred Days, Part III

“Waterloo” is a name so historic and iconic that it’s taken on more than its literal meaning—when we speak of someone “m... Read more

24 Dec 2018

51mins

Ranked #11

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30: The White House, Part I

30: The White House, Part I

Originally built in the 1790s largely with slave labor, from the very beginning the White House was an eerie mirror of A... Read more

5 Mar 2018

41mins

Ranked #12

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25: The Man in the Buffalo Fur Suit

25: The Man in the Buffalo Fur Suit

You’ve probably heard of Daniel Boone and “Grizzly” Adams, the quintessential frontier mountain men who helped forge Ame... Read more

5 Nov 2017

39mins

Ranked #13

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41: Caragea's Plague

41: Caragea's Plague

If you’ve never heard of John Caragea and have no idea where Wallachia is, you’re certainly not alone. This look at the ... Read more

27 Apr 2019

48mins

Ranked #14

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31: The Great Iceland Road Trip

31: The Great Iceland Road Trip

Iceland was, in 1809, a very different place than we think of it today. It was still a picturesque, craggy island belchi... Read more

26 Mar 2018

43mins

Ranked #15

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32: Dawn of the Zulu

32: Dawn of the Zulu

Pressured by environmental change and the coming of European colonizers along the coasts, southern Africa in the 1810s w... Read more

15 Apr 2018

42mins

Ranked #16

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40: Antarctica

40: Antarctica

For most of human history, Antarctica was more of a concept than a reality. Geographers from ancient times and voyagers ... Read more

7 Apr 2019

49mins

Ranked #17

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46: Year Without Summer, Part II

46: Year Without Summer, Part II

For many people around the world, 1816 was the oddest summer they ever lived through. Snow from the previous winter was ... Read more

13 Oct 2019

55mins

Ranked #18

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23: Murder in Charleston

23: Murder in Charleston

You may not have heard of David Ramsay, but if you lived in Charleston, South Carolina in the second decade, you would p... Read more

9 Jul 2017

27mins

Ranked #19

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44: The Fires of St. John's

44: The Fires of St. John's

In the 1810s, St. John’s, Newfoundland was possibly the most remote and inaccessible corner of British America. Located ... Read more

14 Jul 2019

46mins

Ranked #20

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37: Napoleon's Hundred Days, Part II

37: Napoleon's Hundred Days, Part II

In retellings of history, Napoleon’s brief return to power in the spring of 1815 is often portrayed as an audacious surp... Read more

24 Nov 2018

43mins

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