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Paramount Pictures was the second biggest Hollywood film studio of the period.

The company was notable for its business practices. It signed some of the biggest stars of the time, owned its own theaters, and was big enough to insist on demanding terms from other theaters that wanted to show its films.

• Listen now:

Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Rondo alla turca
Composed in 1784 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Public domain.
Performed by Markus Staab and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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The Red Army of 1943 was very different from the Red Army of 1941. It was far more mobile, for one thing.

Following their victory over the German Army in the Battle of Kursk, the Germans retreated westward. But the Red Army just kept coming.

• Listen now:

Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Overture to Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman).
Composed in 1843 by Richard Wagner. Public domain.
Performed by the University of Chicago Orchestra and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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Dmitri Shostakovich, the Soviet composer, was one of the most prominent artists the USSR ever produced.

While his home town of Leningrad was under siege, Shostakovich was composing a symphony.

• Listen now:

Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Symphony No. 5 in E minor.
Composed in 1888 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

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When the Germans first invaded the USSR, the war seemed remote to the citizens of Leningrad.

But by early September, the Germans had cut off Leningrad from the rest of the country and laid siege to the city, the longest siege of modern times.

• Listen now:

Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Symphony No. 5 in E minor.
Composed in 1888 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Public domain.
Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

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Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.