The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world close to nuclear war. But who saved the world? Was it US President Kennedy? Or was it a young Russian submarine office named Basil (in Russian, Basil = Vasily)?

Check out maps and photos on https://www.dadandmelovehistory.com/

After the end theme music, you'll find these questions:

1. Who were the two superpower countries on opposite sides to each other during the Cold War (1945-91)?

2. What did the US government not like about Cuba?

3. What did American U2 spy planes see in Cuba that threatened the USA?

4. Why do you think President Kennedy did not invade Cuba nor fire nuclear weapons at it?

5. How did Vasily Arkipov save the world from World War III?

6. After the Russians removed their nuclear missiles from Cuba, where did the USA remove their missiles from?

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 recommend the family-friendly History Detective podcast. 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 more episodes, 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 2026 © BBC

This episode is a bonus re-release in the run-up to ANZAC Day, this special extended episode was recorded over several years and first released in April 2019. It's a lot more serious than our usual fun-filled shows, but there's lots to learn for kids and adults! And if you know a teacher who could use this episode, please share it with them – and with any other friends.

We go to an ANZAC service in Australia, where World War One is particularly remembered. Then we go to Remembrance Day in Hong Kong, which just over 75 years ago was invaded by the Japanese during World War Two.

We are grateful to Lindisfarne Anglican College for allowing us to visit their ANZAC assembly, and thanks go to their special guest, Major Matina Jewell (retired) for the interview. Recurring at points throughout this episode is the sound of Lindisfarne's School Marching Band, led by Mr Dale Norton. And thank you, retired Sergeant Kelvin Fawcett.

Questions for after you've listened:

1. What does A-N-Z-A-C – ANZAC -- stand for?
2. Why is Nov 11 an important date for remembering people from wars?
3. What happened at Gallipoli in WWI?
4. What is the Last Post?
5. Which country is the Menin Gate in?
6. What colour are poppies?
7. Who wrote the poem 'In Flanders Fields'?
8. Why is it important to remember people who died in wars?

We have recorded a new show for editing in the near future, so watch this space. We're also working on a Dad & Me Love History book and are looking for an illustrator - do you know someone with the skills and the passion?

See our webpage, and join us on: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

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.

See you in two weeks!

Podcast cover art by Molly Austin

Instrumental music by Kevin MacLeod

Sound effects used under RemArc Licence. Copyright 2026 © BBC

Exciting news! We are writing a Dad & Me Love History book! And we need help - if you know a graphic designer with the skill and interest to add illustrations to our Dad & Me Love History book pitch, please email dadandmelovehistory@gmail.com

On to this epsiode, where we go back through the archives and play you highlights from our original recordings of Dad (& Me) jokes, from Ancient Romans to African Moors to the invention of cars!

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 used under RemArc Licence. Copyright 2026 © BBC

Did WWII really start in 1931 in Asia?

Yes, it pretty much did - ten years before Pearl Harbor. Today, we investigate how and why the Japanese Empire attacked itself – and how that led to war with China and beyond! We are joined by expert historian, Quin Cho (Archival Researcher for https://www.pacificatrocities.org/). Quin has literally written the book on this: The Kwantung Army and the Japanese Occupation of Manchuria, available from September 2025.

This is the second of three episodes in Dad & Me's series on modern Japan. Check out the photos from our research trip on https://www.dadandmelovehistory.com/

After the end theme music, you'll find these questions:

1. When did World War II begin for the USA?

2. When did World War II begin in Europe?

3. In Asia-Pacific, war began between Japan and which country?

4. How did Japan fake an attack on the Japanese-owned railway in Manchurian, in north-east China in 1931?

5. Which country faked an attack against Poland in 1939?

6. Why do you think these countries choose to fake an attack by the other side?

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

Re-released for July 4!

The one where we play lots of music and explain what it means. The production company behind Hamilton the Musical gave us the full rights to use and publish their music in our pod – so you'll hear some big numbers in this episode. You'll also learn a lot about history from a hip-hop musical that treats its audience as the intelligent beings that our listeners are!

There are some big plot spoilers in here – but no worse than if you simply listen to the musical's soundtrack. On Disney+, Hamilton the musical is rated PG-13, but we spare you the worst of the language here. You will hear 'd**n' and 'h*ll' amid the lyrics of the songs we include from the Hamilton musical. (Lin-Manual Miranda, the creator of Hamilton, also composed the music for Moana; the two sound rather different.)

Here are some questions to see how much you understood from today's show:

1. What was James' favourite line from the musical?

2. In the song "Guns and Ships" which country was the superpower and who were they fighting against?

3. What do you think George Washington meant when his character sang "History has its eyes on me"?

4. Do you think different people can believe different versions of the same period of history?

5. Where did they make the new US capital and what is it called?

6. The Hamilton Project found that the musical has what percentage of historical accuracy?

Please rate and review us wherever you get podcasts. Look on our webpage for images that accompany each episode.

And join us on: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

Have fun!

Dad & Me

Podcast cover art by Molly Austin

Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, 2016. Copyright © Warner Music.

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