History Behind News Podcast

Did you know that a determined American from Nebraska was pivotal is growing the Nazi movement in Germany after WWII? News: A Saudi Arabian immigrant rammed his car through an outdoor Christmas market in Germany (in the town of Magdeburg, 80 miles west of Berlin), killing 5 and injuring 200 others, including 41 who are in critical care. History Behind News: The 50-year-old Saudi doctor had immigrated to Germany in 2006. He has been actively anti-Islam on social media. But that doesn't explain his motivation here. If he is anti-Islam, then why kill Christians in a Christmas marketplace? Regardless of his motivation, for the growing German far-right, who believe immigrants commit most crimes and cause chaos in Germany, the Saudi doctor's heinous act is just another evidence of why Germany must cleanse and rid itself of its huge non-Christian immigrant population (more than 20% of the country now). Germany's anti-immigrant movement is not new. In fact, it pervaded politics in the 1980s. So much so that Helmut Kohl's government pushed for "Remigration" of Germany's Turkish guest workers and their families. Ergo, in 1984, there was a mass exodus of Turks out of Germany - about 250,000. The German far-right is now very powerful. And Germany is convulsing through a political crisis, the far-reaching effects of which will be felt in NATO, in the EU, in the financial markets and in how we Americans buy cars and other products from Germany (the title of a New York Time piece by a German journalism is "Germany We Knew Is Gone", featuring a cartoon of a BWM driving off the cliff). Coming soon in my program, a scholar of Germany's far-right will deep dive into the story of how an American breathed life into the German Nazi movement, and how Germany's far-right moved to the center of political power. Subscribe to my podcast and get this upcoming interview in your app: History Behind News podcast 🎧 https://lnkd.in/dvyqwkym 🎧 https://lnkd.in/gBmPQdSu

Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25? Why not in April or some other month? Full story: 🎧https://lnkd.in/gfJDzAj6 #christmas

Why do we celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25? How did colonial America celebrate Christmas? When did Christmas celebrations take off in the U.S.? Listen to interview: 🎧https://lnkd.in/gfJDzAj6 #Christmas #ChristmasTree #christmashistory

Did you know that after stocks lost 43% of their value in real terms in 1974, they didn't regain that loss until Aug. 1993 - 19 years later! News: Down Jones Industrial Average plummeted by 1,100 Points on Dec. 18, 2024. And news media are emphasizing and cautioning that this is the 1st 10-day losing streak since 1974. So, aside from the fact that 1974 was half a century ago, is there anything else that we should know about 1974 (I gave you a hint above)? History Behind News: Between 1973 and 1974 (1/11/73-12/6/74 - 694 days), the Dow Jones experienced the 7th-worst bear market in its history. The funny thing is that 1972 had been a very good year for stocks, as DJIA had gained 15%. Other than the financial crisis of 2007-08, the 1973-74 crash is the worst in US history since the Great Depression. So, what contributed to it? 1) collapse of the Bretton Woods (monetary management system), 2) The Nixon Shock - wage and price control, import surcharges, and U.S. cancellation of US dollar to gold direct convertibility, and 3) 1973 oil crisis Any lessons for 2024-25? Many. But here are two that caught my attention: A) don't mess with international trade, i.e., overreliance on tariffs is a BAD idea, and B) watch out for Middle East crisis

Another school shooting! Are guns the problem? Is it video games? Dr. Jillian Peterson has interviewed murderers on death row, families of mass shooters and also mass shooters who survived. In this interview (https://lnkd.in/gpYej7jV), an excerpt of which is below, Dr. Peterson tells the story of America's mass shooters - how does a person go from being a baby... to being a heinous murderer!

Did you know that evidence of polio dates back to ancient times. Egyptian hieroglyphs showed images of children with withered limbs and canes. And the earliest evidence of polio is of a teenage girl who lived 4,000 years ago (burial site in the UAE). In this blog, I explained the history behind polio's outbreak in America: https://lnkd.in/gqVjW3Rw Image attribution: This image is By Fixi, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://lnkd.in/gGCVDUXt.

Bashar al_Assad.... the insider story from a man who met him 15 times and wrote his biography. https://lnkd.in/gBcEFXFG

Did you know that hospital ICUs were founded in the fight against polio? And did you know, that polio gave rise to the disability rights movement? Because polio survivors were the largest disabled group in the world! News: Lawyer to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is Mr. Trump's candidate to head the Dept. of Health and Human Services, has petitioned the U.S. government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine. History Behind News: The 1952 polio epidemic was the worst outbreak in our nation's history - 3,145 died and 21,269 were disabled. For me, this raises the question that why wasn't polio a big issue in prior decades and centuries? To be sure, evidence of polio dates back to ancient times. Egyptian hieroglyphs showed images of children with withered limbs and canes. And the earliest evidence of polio is of a teenage girl who lived 4,000 years ago (burial site in the UAE). The reason polio did not explode into a pandemic in earlier centuries is, perhaps ironically, insanitary conditions. You see, poor sanitation exposed people (including children) to constant and small doses of the polio virus (does this sound like a vaccine to you?), which, in turn, created a natural immunity within the population. But in the 20th century, better sanitation and healthcare eliminated this exposure and… cases of polio exploded. Another interesting point about polio is that research for polio vaccine and polio rehabilitation were driven - not necessarily or entirely by the government - by grassroots movement - moms and dads crying out for help to fight polio! One of the guests in my program is Meredith Wadman, MD - author of "The Vaccine Race" (winner of several book prizes). In addition to speaking with me about her years in vaccine clinics in Asia and Africa, Dr. Wadman describes how in the 1950s and '60s American parents lined up to get their kids' vaccine shots and how pregnant mothers were affected most by the Rubella epidemic. She also makes this interesting statement: "Making vaccines isn't rocket science. It's harder." When I asked her what she means, she answered that meds and med devices - such as diabetes pills and heart valves - are given to sick patients, who need them then and there. But vaccines are given to healthy people, who do not need them immediately. So, there is a different risk benefit question for vaccines. And that's where history comes in. Amazingly, this history is quite accessible. Not just online and in libraries. But also within your families. Just ask your grandparents, and they'll tell you, how glad they were for vaccines. And, of course, you can also listen to my interview with Dr. Wadman: https://bit.ly/HbN-S1E41

Instead of War, let's talk love & romance in Syria & rest of Arab world ►Did you know that there are 60 Arabic words for "love"? ►Did you know that Arab love stories and love poetry date back to before Islam? ►Did you know that romantic love is written about in the Qur'an? Listen to my conversation with Dr. Hasan: 🎧https://bit.ly/UME-S1E45 #Arabic #arabs #Islam #love

Rise and Fall of Bashar Al-Assad - The Inside Story My guest met with Bashar Al-Assad many times to write his biography. But after the biography was published, Mr. Assad invited him back for more meetings! Listen to this interview🎧 https://lnkd.in/dvyqwkym #Syria #BasharAlAssad