Adoption, Colonialism, and the Korean War

Adoption, Colonialism, and the Korean War

*THE HISTORY THAT THIS PODCAST EPISODE EXPLORES INVOLVES HARM AND NEGLECT TO CHILDREN AND SOME LISTENERS MAY FIND THE DETAILS DISCLOSED DISTRESSING. In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by Paige Towers to discuss her new book, What They Stole – a deeply researched exploration of intercountry adoption from Korea to the United States, rooted in a family tragedy that shook her Iowa hometown. The book begins with a shocking event: in 2008, a local bank vice president murdered his wife and children before taking his own life. For Paige, this was a window into a much larger and darker history – the story of Korean intercountry adoption, which began in the aftermath of the Korean War and continued for decades with little oversight or accountability. We trace the origins of modern intercountry adoption to the mass displacement of children during and after World War II. In Italy, Greece, and Germany, orphans filled the streets, and American GIs and missionaries began taking children home – often through informal, unregulated channels. By the time the Korean War ended, a full‑blown adoption industry had emerged, driven by a combination of military humanitarianism, Christian missionary zeal, and Cold War anti‑communism. Paige focuses on Harry and Bertha Holt, an evangelical couple who became the face of Korean adoption. The Holts started by seeking out the multiracial children of American GIs – children whose “whitened” appearance struck a chord with US audiences. But when those children proved scarce, they simply turned to Korean children, fulfilling a waiting list of 10,000 American families. The Holts pioneered “baby lifts” – chartering old military cargo planes, removing the seats, and packing up to 100 infants on unpressurised, freezing, turbulent flights. Many children died en route. The system that emerged was reckless and coercive: adoptions by proxy (parents never met their child before the adoption was finalised), falsified records, and a global pipeline that eventually supplied children to Denmark, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Paige also documents a shocking pattern of murder – Korean children killed by their adoptive parents, cases that were largely ignored by a media more interested in feel‑good rescue narratives. What does it mean when good intentions produce harmful systems? Paige argues that the humanitarian narrative of adoption has often silenced the voices of adoptees themselves – their experiences of cultural loss, identity erasure, and, in the worst cases, violence. The book is a powerful call to reckon with the colonial assumptions embedded in intercountry adoption. Topics covered: * The 2008 Iowa City murder and its connection to adoption history * World War II displacement and the origins of intercountry adoption * The Korean War and “military humanitarianism” * Harry and Bertha Holt and the Christian adoption mission * Multiracial children and the politics of “whiteness” * The shift to adopting Korean children * Baby lifts: unpressurised planes, sick infants, and deaths in transit * Adoption by proxy and the lack of regulation * European adoption pipelines (Denmark, France, Sweden, the Netherlands) * Adoptee activism and the fight for truth and reconciliation Paige Towers’ What They Stole is available now from the University of Iowa Press. Please consider buying from an independent bookshop or directly from the publisher. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share. ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory [https://www.patreon.com/explaininghistory] ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast [https://www.facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast/] Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com [https://theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com/] ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper Website: explaininghistory.org [https://explaininghistory.org/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The Shortest History of Scotland – Nation, Union, and the Rise of Nationalism

IN THIS EPISODE OF THE EXPLAINING HISTORY PODCAST, WE ARE JOINED BY CULTURAL HISTORIAN MURRAY PITTOCK TO DISCUSS HIS NEW BOOK, THE SHORTEST HISTORY OF SCOTLAND – A CONCISE BUT RICHLY DETAILED JOURNEY THROUGH TWO MILLENNIA OF SCOTTISH HISTORY, FROM THE PICTS TO THE PRESENT DAY. Scotland’s geography – the “land of the mountain and the flood”, in Walter Scott’s phrase – made it virtually impenetrable until modern roads and railways. For centuries, the sea was the highway, and Scotland’s east‑coast ports looked as much to continental Europe as to England. Understanding that terrain is key to understanding how Scotland became a state in historical time – and why the union with England was never a foregone conclusion. Murray explains the origins of his book, written as part of the bestselling Shortest History series, and the opportunity it offered to refresh a field dominated by either heavy tomes or outdated accounts. He focuses not just on kings and battles, but on people’s lived lives, culture, and the built environment – while also signposting readers towards deeper dives, such as the Declaration of Arbroath. We then turn to the present. The story of modern Scottish nationalism begins with Winnie Ewing’s shock by‑election victory in Hamilton in 1967, and her slogan “Stop the world – Scotland wants to get on”. The post‑imperial era marginalised Scotland’s distinctive identity; Britishness, once a broad, inclusive identity shared by Australians, Canadians and New Zealanders, suddenly became something narrower and more insular. The memory of the two world wars – particularly the myth of 1940 as an English, south‑east England story – has played a complex role in the union’s longevity. Murray explores the drivers of Scottish nationalism: economic anxiety, a desire for democratic control, and an internationalist outlook that became visible in the 2016 Brexit vote, where Scotland’s pattern diverged dramatically from England’s. He also reflects on the 2014 independence referendum – where pensions and currency fears likely tipped the balance – and on devolution, which Labour hoped would “kill nationalism stone dead” but which failed partly because Scottish Labour never truly became a nationalist party. We also discuss the formation of the union in 1707, a vote “forced” by economic weakness, English obstruction of Scottish overseas trade, and a lack of alternatives. The mercantile class later profited handsomely from the British Empire, shifting Scotland’s economic centre of gravity from east to west – from the European ports to Glasgow and the American trade. Topics covered: * The geography of Scotland and its historical impact * Walter Scott’s “land of the mountain and the flood” * The Declaration of Arbroath * Winnie Ewing and the birth of modern Scottish nationalism * Post‑imperial Britishness and the Festival of Britain (1951) * The memory of the world wars and its role in the union * Drivers of Scottish nationalism: economic, democratic, internationalist * The 2014 independence referendum and the currency/pensions question * Devolution: Labour’s miscalculation * The 1707 union: economic weakness, Darien, and a forced vote Murray Pittock’s The Shortest History of Scotland is available now from all good bookshops. Please consider buying from an independent retailer or directly from the publisher. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share. ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory [https://www.patreon.com/explaininghistory] ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast [https://www.facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast/] Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com [https://theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com/] ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper Website: explaininghistory.org [https://explaininghistory.org/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Trump and Nixon in Beijing - an instructive comparison

In this episode of the Explaining History podcast, Nick sets the scene for an upcoming interview with historian Murray Pittock on The Shortest History of Scotland, reflecting on the current wave of nationalist politics across Scotland, Wales, and Ireland—and how these movements connect to wider shifts in British and English identity. From there, Nick turns to global affairs, unpacking the stark contrast between Richard Nixon’s landmark visit to China and Donald Trump’s far more troubled encounter with Beijing. What did Nixon understand about power, diplomacy, and long-term strategy that seems absent today? The episode explores the tangled relationship between the United States, China, and Iran, looking at how recent events may signal a shift in global power—and what that means for American influence, its allies, and the future of international politics. Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share. ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory [https://www.patreon.com/explaininghistory] ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast [https://www.facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast/] Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com [https://theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com/] ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper Website: explaininghistory.org [https://explaininghistory.org/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Master of Lies – Anthony Blunt, the Cambridge Spy Who Changed the Course of World War II

In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by author Piers Blofeld to discuss his new book, Master of Lies: The Untold Story of Anthony Blunt, which re‑examines the most underestimated member of the Cambridge Spy Ring. Anthony Blunt was exposed as a Soviet agent in 1979 – long after the defections of Burgess, Maclean and Philby. For decades, he has been treated as something of an afterthought, a cultured art historian who happened to pass a few secrets to the Russians during the war. But Blofeld’s research paints a very different picture – one in which Blunt was not a minor player but a master of deception whose actions had catastrophic consequences. Blunt was recruited by the NKVD in the 1930s, joined MI5 during the war, and rose to become Surveyor of the Queen’s Pictures. Officially, he stopped spying in 1945. In reality, he continued operating well into the 1950s and 60s, using his flat to debrief agents and helping to investigate the very defections of his fellow spies. But his most significant work was not stealing documents – it was disinformation. Blofeld argues that the “postgraduate level” of espionage is misleading your enemy, and Blunt was a virtuoso. He ran a deception operation that mirrored the famous “Garbo” double‑agent network, feeding the Germans false information that helped ensure the success of D‑Day. Crucially, Blunt’s information arrived at German High Command via Sweden four hours before Garbo’s did – making the deception far more convincing. Yet just three months later, Blunt sabotaged Operation Market Garden, releasing detailed Allied order of battle to the Germans. The result was 16,000 Allied casualties, a failed advance into Germany, and a prolonged war that allowed Stalin to seize Eastern Europe. Blunt’s betrayal, Blofeld argues, directly contributed to the partition of Berlin and the shape of the Cold War. We also explore how Blunt was protected by the British establishment for decades, how he edited incriminating evidence after Burgess and Maclean fled, and why Margaret Thatcher – herself misled by her own security services – finally named him in 1979. **Topics covered:** - The Cambridge Spy Ring and Anthony Blunt’s role - Blunt’s continued espionage after 1945 - Disinformation as the highest form of espionage - The Garbo deception and Blunt’s mirror operation - Operation Market Garden and Blunt’s sabotage - The cover‑up and protection of Blunt by MI5 - Thatcher’s outing of Blunt and its aftermath --- *Piers Blofeld’s *Master of Lies* is available from all good bookshops. Please consider buying from an independent retailer.* *If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.* Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share. ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory [https://www.patreon.com/explaininghistory] ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast [https://www.facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast/] Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com [https://theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com/] ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper Website: explaininghistory.org [https://explaininghistory.org/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The Neocons Admit Defeat in Iran

In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we examine a remarkable moment: the leading architect of the Project for a New American Century, Robert Kagan, admitting that the Iran crisis is a catastrophe of unprecedented proportions – and that America has effectively lost the war.** The Project for a New American Century (PNAC) was the neoconservative think tank that shaped the foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration. Its vision was a unilateral American empire, able to fight and win two major wars simultaneously, with Iran at the top of its enemies list. But now, writing in *The Atlantic* – the house magazine of liberal interventionism – Kagan has declared that the Gulf War is unwinnable, that Iran has seized control of the Straits of Hormuz, and that the post-war American order is finished. What does it mean when the neocons themselves admit defeat? Kagan acknowledges that Iran has turned the straits from a passageway of free navigation into the world's most significant global pinch point. Iran will now decide which regimes can access Gulf shipping and which will be economically starved. America cannot project power into the Gulf; it has presented itself as an unreliable ally. The consequences for Taiwan, Japan, and other US partners are dire: they will not hesitate to break ties if a powerful regional predator comes calling. Kagan’s only proposed alternative is a “massive generational land and air war” occupying Iran forever – an impossibility so absurd that it reveals the neocons’ delusion. The Saudis, meanwhile, have concluded that the US and Israel are the aggressors, and that the entire attack was designed to drag them into a war with Iran. The eight-decade alliance forged by Franklin Roosevelt is now fraying. America is being expelled from the Gulf. This is the end of Pax Americana. Regional powers will now call the shots. Smaller nations will have to accommodate larger neighbours. And the neocons – after decades of advocating violent empire – have finally admitted that the project for a new American century is dead. **Topics covered:** - The Project for a New American Century (PNAC) - Robert Kagan’s *Atlantic* article - Iran’s control of the Straits of Hormuz - The end of American naval supremacy - Saudi Arabia’s break with Washington - The collapse of Pax Americana - Neocon delusion and the impossibility of occupying Iran --- *If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.* Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share. ▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive Content Become a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory [https://www.patreon.com/explaininghistory] ▸ Join the Community & Continue the Conversation Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast [https://www.facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcast/] Substack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com [https://theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com/] ▸ Read Articles & Go Deeper Website: explaininghistory.org [https://explaininghistory.org/] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.