Year: 2026

436: Too Good to Be True

Mark Podcast
Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku (upper center) and two destroyers take evasive action as American bombers attack on the second day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea.

The Americans invaded Saipan, because they could use it as an airbase from which they could bomb Japanese cities, including Tokyo.

The Japanese anticipated this move and sent their fleet in the hope of forcing the decisive naval battle they’d been trying to wage for more than two years.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“The Marines’ Hymn”
Music composed in 1867 by Jacques Offenbach. Public domain.
Performed by The United States Marine Corps Band. 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.

435: D Plus One

Mark Podcast
Caen Canal Bridge with British paratroopers. This drawbridge was one of their first objectives. Note the glider on the ground on the opposite side of the canal.

At Normandy, Allied forces struggled to expand and link their beachheads against the gathering German defenders.

Adolf Hitler was surprisingly calm upon hearing the news of the landings and confident the Allies would be defeated.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Fantaisie
Composed in 1898 by Gabriel Fauré. Public domain.
Performed by Lydia Roth, flute, and Gwen Varineau, piano. Used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 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.

434: The Longest Day III

Mark Podcast
US soldiers leave a landing craft and wade toward Omaha Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944.

In this episode, we conclude our look at the Normandy landings.

The most difficult invasion site was Omaha Beach, where cliffs overlook the beach. The defending German soldiers were able to rake the approaching Americans with deadly machine-gun fire.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Invercargill March
Composed in 1909 by Alex Lithgow. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Air Force Band. Public domain recording. 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.

433: The Longest Day II

Mark Podcast
African-American soldiers guarding German POWs in a barbed-wire enclosure on Utah Beach.

The Normandy landings took place on five designated beaches—three for British and Canadian forces and two for the Americans.

The American landings on Utah Beach went relatively smoothly, although the rough seas caused hundreds of deaths before the force made it ashore.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Symphony No. 94 in G, “Surprise”
Composed in 1791 by Franz Josef Haydn. Public domain.
Public domain recording. 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.

432: The Longest Day I

Mark Podcast
Gliders (on the ground) arrive in Normandy with airborne reinforcements the evening of June 6, 1944. Overhead are the planes that towed them, returning to their bases.

The night before the dawn amphibious landings at Normandy, three Allied airborne divisions landed at the invasion site to prepare the way.

These landings were dangerous, and combat between Allied paratroopers and German garrison forces was vicious.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Piano Sonata No. 14, “Moonlight”
Composed in 1801 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by Paul Pitman. Public domain recording. 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.

431: Bombing Your Allies

Mark Podcast
A group of B-17s takes flight.

The fact of German occupation of France and other members of the United Nations alliance made it inevitable that British and American air forces would be bombing their own allies and killing civilians they were supposed to be “liberating.”

This forced Allied commanders to make some hard decisions.

  • Listen now:

Transcript.

Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Miroirs
Composed in 1905 by Maurice Ravel. Public domain.
Performed by Robert Ewen Birchall and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY 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.