After the Pod: Operation Ajax

We have a lot to say about this one. If you haven't already, make sure to listen to the full Operation Ajax pod so you can listen along! And this our last episode for the season! We'll be back in 2027!

For our last podcast episode of the season (we'll be back in 2027) we wanted to talk about the first CIA sponsored coup, the success of which caused several other coups: Operation Ajax. It was the last coup for Great Britain and the first coup for the US. Thank you all for a fun first season! We can't wait to show you what we have in store for the next one!Sources: Abrahamian, Ervand. “The 1953 Coup in Iran.” Science & Society 65, no. 2 (2001): 182–215.http://www.jstor.org.turing.library.northwestern.edu/stable/40403895.“Aug. 19, 1953: Operation Ajax - Priya Satia.” Aug. 19, 1953: Operation Ajax - Priya Satia | Department of History, June 25, 2020.https://history.stanford.edu/news/aug-19-1953-operation-ajax-priya-satia.Israeli, Ofer. 2013. “The Circuitous Nature of Operation Ajax.” Middle Eastern Studies 49 (2): 246–62. doi:10.1080/00263206.2012.759108.BALAGHI, SHIVA. “SILENCED HISTORIES AND SANITIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHIES: THE 1953 CIA COUP IN IRAN.” Biography 36, no. 1 (2013): 71–96. http://www.jstor.org.turing.library.northwestern.edu/stable/23541162.

Oh jeez. In this AtP episode we go on tangents, discuss disease, shipping lanes, Jimmy Carter, & racism. What more could you ask for?

Sea travel is underrated. That's why today we discuss one of the most bold undertakings in order to expedite boat travel. We'll take a look under the hood and see why it was such a problem for so many years. Creating the canal | american experience | official site | PBS. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/panama-canal-creating-canal/. Early plans - autoridad del canal de panamá. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://pancanal.com/en/early-plans/. Ferdinand, viscount de lesseps | French diplomat & suez canal builder | britannica. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ferdinand-vicomte-de-Lesseps. Milestones in the history of U.S. Foreign Relations - Office of the historian. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/panama-canal. Panama Canal - construction, US intervention, trade | Britannica. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Panama-Canal/American-intervention. The Panama Canal - Short History of... Accessed July 8, 2026. https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ISxoFHimn1jyb8GcphldB. Panama Canal Treaties, Jimmy Carter, teaching U.S. ... Accessed July 8, 2026. https://billofrightsinstitute.org/e-lessons/the-panama-canal-treaties-jimmy-carter/. Panama Canal: History, Impact & Canal Zone | History. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/panama-canal. Panama declares independence from Colombia | history | research starters | ebsco research. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/panama-declares-independence-colombia. Panama declares independence from Colombia | November 3, 1903 | history. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-3/panama-declares-independence. Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla | French engineer, Panama Canal negotiator | Britannica. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Philippe-Jean-Bunau-Varilla. Visit the Panama Canal. Accessed July 8, 2026. https://www.tourismpanama.com/places-to-visit/panama-city/things-to-do/historical-sites/panama-canal/.

Today we talk about our thoughts and opinion on all of the wild things that happened in the multiple waves of the Black Death

Today we talk about the many waves of the Black Death and all of the crazy ideas about it that came from these medieval people.Sources“Bubonic Plague: The First Pandemic | Science Museum.” The Science Museum. Accessed 2026. https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/bubonic-plague-first-pandemic.“The Great Plague 1665 - The Black Death.” Historic UK. Accessed 2026. https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Great-Plague/.“Historical Plague Doctors — Newcastle Castle.” Newcastle Castle. Accessed 2026. https://www.newcastlecastle.co.uk/castle-blog/historical-plague-doctors.“Introduction - San Francisco Plague (1900-1904): Topics in Chronicling America - Research Guides at Library of Congress.” Library of Congress. Accessed 2026. https://guides.loc.gov/chronicling-america-san-francisco-plague.“When Pope Gregory IX Declared a War on Cats - Historycolored.” History Colored. Accessed 2026. https://historycolored.com/articles/7385/when-pope-gregory-ix-declared-a-war-on-cats/.Ziegler, Philip. The Black Death. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2009.

We're back to talk about the crazy, insane Aaron Burr Conspiracy. Someone should have talked less, smiled more...

Ever wonder what happens after the musical Hamilton? What about our favorite character Aaron Burr? What happens to him! Well, today we talk about that. Aaron Burr conspired to overthrow the western part of the United States and become king. His legacy is being the center of the first trial for treason in the new country. Someone threw away his shot. Sources:“The Burr Conspiracy.” PBS. Accessed March 26, 2026. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/duel-burr-conspiracy/. “Aaron Burr.” Historical Society of the New York Courts, January 25, 2019. https://history.nycourts.gov/figure/aaron-burr/. “The Burr Conspiracy.” National Counterintelligence Center . Accessed March 26, 2026. https://irp.fas.org/ops/ci/docs/ci1/ch1d.htm. Shafroth, Morrison. “THE AARON BURR CONSPIRACY.” American Bar Association Journal 18, no. 10 (1932): 669–73. http://www.jstor.org.turing.library.northwestern.edu/stable/25709909.Hobson, Charles  F. “The Aaron Burr Treason Trial .” Federal Judicial Center. Accessed April 12, 2026. https://www.fjc.gov/sites/default/files/trials/burrtrial.pdf. “Chapter XI: Trial of Aaron Burr for High Treason (1806-1807) | Virginia Museum of History & Culture.” Virginia Museum of History and Culture. Accessed April 12, 2026. https://virginiahistory.org/learn/american-statesman-john-marshall/chapter-xi-trial-aaron-burr-high-treason-1806-1807.

Today we talk more about how crazy ideas the US and UK had during the World War 2 and the Cold War as well as our favorite of the dumb ideas

Today we dive into some of the many crazy ideas that the US and UK had for helping the fight in WW2 and the Cold WarSources:Bender, Jeremy. “During the Cold War, the UK Designed Nuclear Land Mines That Were Reliant on Chickens.” Business Insider, November 13, 2016. https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-developed-chicken-warmed-nuclear-landmines-2016-11. Eschner, Kat. “The CIA Experimented on Animals in the 1960s Too. Just Ask ‘Acoustic Kitty.’” Smithsonian.com, August 8, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cia-experimented-animals-1960s-too-just-ask-acoustic-kitty-180964313/. Hawking, Tom. The CIA once trained cats to be Cold War Spies, March 13, 2026. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/2026-03/2026-03-13_popsci.com-the_cia_once_trained_cats_to_be_cold_war_spies.pdf.Kalb, Marvin. “Dateline Moscow: The Cuban Missile Crisis Reporting from the Soviet Capital about Seven Days That Changed the World.” ReVista, February 27, 2026. https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/dateline-moscow-the-cuban-missile-crisis-reporting-from-the-soviet-capital-about-seven-days-that-changed-the-world/. Martin, Keith. “The Saga of the Bird-Brained Bombers.” NIST, March 4, 2025. https://www.nist.gov/blogs/taking-measure/saga-bird-brained-bombers. Nakamura, Pedro. “Project Iceworm: A Cold War Plan to Hide Nukes under Ice Explains Greenland’s Distrust of Trump.” Los Angeles Times, February 6, 2026. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2026-02-06/project-iceworm-u-s-cold-war-plan-to-hide-nukes-in-greenland. “New View of the ‘City under the Ice’ - NASA Science.” NASA, February 10, 2026. https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/new-view-of-the-city-under-the-ice-153616/. “Office of the Historian, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, History of Strategic Air Command 1 July 1975-31 December 1976, Historical Study No. 161, Volume I, 15 July 1976, Top Secret, Excised Copy, Excerpt.” National Security Archive. Accessed 2026. https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/document/20805-27. Stromberg, Joseph. “B.F. Skinner’s Pigeon-Guided Rocket.” Smithsonian.com, August 18, 2011. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/bf-skinners-pigeon-guided-rocket-53443995/.