Japan isolated itself from other countries for centuries. In the land of the samurai, tradition and honour were central. Guns were seen as dishonourable – until they weren’t. We see how Japan only changes its capital city via anagram (this could be next: Yo-ok-t?). So we investigate the remarkable Meiji modernisation period of a century or so ago, which launched Japan as a superpower – and prepared Japan to be a world-leader in technology, as the country still is today.

Check out the photos from our trip on https://www.dadandmelovehistory.com/

After the end theme music you’ll find these questions:

1. What was a ‘shogun’?

2. What was Kyoto?

3. What anagram of KYOTO did the Japanese capital move to?

4. Which country was Commodore Perry from and what did he force Japan to do in the 1850s and 1860s?

5. Japan modernised its education system, economy, transport, communications and what else?

6. By the early 1900s, Japan’s modernisation made its power rise. What countries did Japan invade before 1941?

Here’s our website, where you'll find photos, info about each episode and links to our social media: dadandmelovehistory.com - here, you can also listen to episodes.

We also strongly recommend the family-friendly History Detective podcast, as advertised in our pod. Check out historydetectivepodcast.com!

For mature history lovers: read industry reviews of Dad’s World War II novels, A Chance Kill and The Slightest Chance, at paulletters.com. Available as e-books, as well as in paperback. Dad’s first wartime novel, A Chance Kill, is a love-story/thriller based on real events in Poland, Paris, London and Prague. The Slightest Chance follows the remarkable true story of the only escape from Japanese imprisonment by a Western woman during World War II.

Please rate and review us wherever you get podcasts. And share our podcast on social media and recommend it to friends – that's how we'll keep going. We will bring you episodes throughout the year, so stay subscribed on your podcast app!

Podcast cover art by Molly Austin

All instrumental music is from https://filmmusic.io and composed by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Sound effects are used under RemArc Licence. Copyright 2025 © BBC

We look at the rise of the Nazis and how they created and ruled what they called Germany’s “Third Reich”.

When Hitler became ‘Chancellor’ - that means prime minister - Germany was still a democracy. How did Hitler and the Nazis turn a country with elections and a variety of political parties (groups) into a dictatorship where the Nazi party had eliminated all other groups, giving themselves total power?

There are lots of photos from our trip to Germany on https://www.dadandmelovehistory.com/

WARNING regarding young children: towards the end, we do discuss the Holocaust.

After the end theme music you’ll find these questions, followed by outtakes:

1. What does the German word “Reich” mean?

2. In the summer of 1914 in Munich, what news was announced that Hitler liked?

3. Before the Nazis’ 1923 attempt to take over Germany, Hitler was not well-known. When the Nazis tried to begin a revolution in 1923 in Munich to take over Germany, why do you think they failed?

4. What do you think Hitler and the Nazis gained from this failed revolution of 1923?

5. The people of Germany later voted for Hitler and the Nazi Party more than for any other party. When did Hitler become ‘Chancellor’ (Prime Minister) of Germany?

6. What was ‘Dachau’ and why do you think the Nazis wanted it to be built so soon after the Nazis took over Germany?

7. What were the Nuremberg Trials and who was Rudolf Hess?

8. Why were these trials important?

Here’s our website, where you'll find photos, info about each episode and links to our social media: dadandmelovehistory.com.

We also strongly recommend the family-friendly History Detective podcast, as advertised in our pod. Check out historydetectivepodcast.com!

For mature history lovers: read industry reviews of Dad’s World War II novels, A Chance Kill and The Slightest Chance, at paulletters.com. Available as e-books, as well as in paperback. Dad’s first wartime novel, A Chance Kill, is a love-story/thriller based on real events in Poland, Paris, London and Prague. The Slightest Chance follows the remarkable true story of the only escape from Japanese imprisonment by a Western woman during World War II.

Please rate and review us wherever you get podcasts. And share our podcast on social media and recommend it to friends – that's how we'll keep going. We will bring you episodes throughout the year, so stay subscribed on your podcast app!

Podcast cover art by Molly Austin

All instrumental music is from https://filmmusic.io and composed by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Sound effects are used under RemArc Licence. Copyright 2024 © BBC

A beacon of hope, the Statue of Liberty has welcomed millions of immigrants to the United States and to a new life. The statue overlooks New York harbour, close to Ellis Island immigration centre: if the USA is a land of immigrants, Ellis Island is where those immigrants landed.

Built by France for the USA, there was some debate about which city the statue should be placed in. Then there was how to pay for a pedestal large enough to hold Liberty.

We are grateful to Suzanne Mannion, Director of Public Affairs at the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, for arranging our visit, and to our interviewee, Jonathan da Silva, Assistant Manager of the American Family Immigration History Centre on Ellis Island.

After the end theme music you’ll find these questions, followed by outtakes and an extra recording we made in the Statue of Liberty Museum:

1. Where was the first federal immigration centre for the USA?

2. What was the ‘kissing post’?

3. Why do you think immigrants would be happy to see the Statue of Liberty when their ship arrived in New York?

4. Who paid for the pedestal - the base platform - that the Statue of Liberty would be built on?

5. Can you name any other city that requested that the Statue of Liberty be placed their area?

6. What do the seven rays or spikes on the Statue’s crown represent?

Here’s our website, where you'll find photos, info about each episode and links to our social media: https://www.dadandmelovehistory.com/ - here, you can also listen to episodes.

For mature history lovers: read industry reviews of Dad’s World War II novels, A Chance Kill and The Slightest Chance, at paulletters.com. Available as e-books, as well as in paperback. Dad’s first wartime novel, A Chance Kill, is a love-story/thriller based on real events in Poland, Paris, London and Prague. The Slightest Chance follows the remarkable true story of the only escape from Japanese imprisonment by a Western woman during World War II.

Please rate and review us wherever you get podcasts. And share our podcast on social media and recommend it to friends – that's how we'll keep going. We will bring you episodes throughout the year, so stay subscribed on your podcast app!

Podcast cover art by Molly Austin

All instrumental music is from https://filmmusic.io and composed by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Sound effects are used under RemArc Licence. Copyright 2024 © BBC