443: Shoot the Works

April 26, 2026April 25, 2026 Mark Podcast

The body of Major Thomas Howie, resting on the rubble of St. Croix Cathedral, amid flowers laid by US soldiers.

The German investigation into the assassination attempt against Adolf Hitler led to over 7,000 arrests.

In France, the Americans finally broke out of Normandy.

Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Transcendental Etudes
Composed in 1852 by Franz Liszt. Public domain.
Performed by Shuwen Zhang and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 3.0 license. Source.

Closing War Theme

Except when otherwise indicated, the contents of this podcast are © and ℗ 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 by Mark Painter, all rights reserved. Some music and sound effects used by arrangement with Pond 5.

442: Make Peace, You Fools

April 19, 2026April 6, 2026 Mark Podcast

In Normandy, combat raged, though progress was slow.

In the United States, the Democratic Party nominated Franklin Roosevelt for a fourth term as President.

Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“The Washington Post”
Composed in 1889 by John Philip Sousa. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Marine Band. Public domain recording. Source.

Closing War Theme

441: The Plot to Assassinate Hitler

April 12, 2026April 6, 2026 Mark Podcast

The meeting room after the bomb exploded.

High-ranking officers in the German Army had been discussing getting rid of Hitler since 1938, though it was mostly idle talk.

But as the war turned against Germany, disaffection in the Army grew, until finally an attempt was made to assassinate Hitler and overthrow the Nazi government.