15-Minute History

The imagery of Jesus' birth has evolved over the century, but its meaning to all humanity remains as simple as ever in this holiday season.Special thanks to my Uncle Matt for giving me the idea for this episode! - JonThis episode originally aired on December 23, 2024.

In this last episode of 2025, Jon takes us on a journey through time and space to learn the stories of several beloved Christmas carols. We hope you enjoy them, and we look forward to seeing you in January with new episodes, discussions, pop quizzes, and "Sketches in History." Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!Music: O Come All Ye Faithful

What are the essential works of history every curious reader should know, and where should someone actually start when diving into them? Join Jon and Joe for the first of many conversations about the timeless texts that shaped civilization.Join us each Thursday for Pop Quizzes and Sketches in History, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

"Based on a true story." "Inspired by actual events." "The following actually happened."These five words might be Hollywood's greatest magic trick, transforming entertainment into education, fiction into fact, and Brad Pitt's abs into ancient Greek warfare. More Americans learn their history from movies than from any other source. Think about that for a moment. Our understanding of the past - of who we were, what we've done, and where we're going - can be shaped more by screenwriters than scholars, more by CGI than citations.So what happens when Hollywood gets it wrong? When the decade-long siege of Troy gets compressed into a long weekend? When a president's decision to invade Iraq gets reduced to daddy issues?And yet - what about when they get it right? When a film captures not just the facts but the feeling of a moment? When Colin Firth's king reminds us that history turns on personal struggles as much as grand strategies? When Spielberg refuses to look away from humanity's darkest hour and finds light anyway?Join Jon, Dan, and Joe as they wade through Hollywood's version of history - celebrating the films that honor the past and calling out the ones that butcher it for a buck. From newsrooms to royal courts, from Warsaw ghettos to Trojan beaches, we're asking the question that matters: in an age where movies are our history teachers, what exactly are we teaching ourselves? And more importantly - who gets to decide what's worth remembering?

Why do dumb ideas keep popping up like weeds? Why do people embrace them despite mountains of evidence they don't work and huge piles of bodies left in their wake? Are they true believers or just grifters? And should 15-Minute History rebrand itself into "fifteen minutes of rage-bait"?Join us each Thursday for Pop Quizzes and Sketches in History, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below.