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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), created in 1924 in a three-way merger of film companies, quickly became the industry leader in Hollywood, in no small part because of its gifted chief of production, Irving G. Thalberg.

The success of Gone with the Wind, the highest-grossing film of the era, distributed by MGM, epitomizes the stature of the studio.

• Listen now:

Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“I Wanna Go Back to Dixie.”
Composed in 1953 by Thomas Andrew Lehrer. Public domain.
Performed by the composer. 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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In the early months of the Pacific war, the Japanese quickly seized control over a large expanse of the Western Pacific and East Asia. Their remarkable fighter plane, the “Zero,” played an important role in these successes.

But although the Zero was the best fighter plane in the world when it was first introduced in 1940, by 1943, Allied aircraft technology was catching up, and Allied pilots were gaining experience in fighting against it.

• Listen now:

Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Symphony No. 9 in E minor.
Composed in 1893 by Antonín Dvořák. Public domain.
Performed by the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Barbara Schubert, and used pursuant to a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 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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Continuing from the previous episode, we look at important events in August-September 1943.

The most notable of these was the surrender of Italy. Italians hoped this meant the war would be over, at least for them, but the Wehrmacht had other ideas.

• Listen now:

Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Overture to La Forza del Destino.
Composed in 1861 by Giuseppe Verdi. Public domain.
Performed by the University of Chicago Orchestra 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 period of July-August 1943 saw major developments on the Eastern Front, in the Mediterranean, and in the Pacific.

US Navy patrol boat PT-109 was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer. Its commander, the son of financier Joseph Kennedy, rescued the survivors and became a war hero.

• Listen now:

Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

Symphony No. 7 in A Major (piano transcription.)
Composed in 1813 by Ludwig van Beethoven. Public domain.
Performed by Luis Sarro 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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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.

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Twentieth Century-Fox was created by a 1935 merger and quickly became the third-biggest Hollywood film studio. It signed such rising stars as Henry Fonda, Tyrone Power, and Shirley Temple.

Director John Ford was one of the top directors of the time, while British film director Alfred Hitchcock was lured to Hollywood, where he became an even greater success.

• Listen now:

Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies” from The Nutcracker.
Composed in 1892 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Public domain.
Performed by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 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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Not all resistance to the Nazis was in the form of armed bands in the forests with clandestine radio transmitters.

Resistance could also take the form of simply refusing to obey.

• Listen now:

Transcript.

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Playlist:

Fanfare

Opening War Theme

“Der er et yndigt land” (The national anthem of Denmark.)
Composed in 1835 by Hans Ernst Krøyer. Lyrics by Adam Oehlenschläger. Public domain.
Performed by the United States Navy Band. 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.