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"This war, like the next war, is a war to end war." - David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of England (1916)

Oh, how wrong Prime Minister David Lloyd George was.

1916 stands as one of the most devastating and defining years of the First World War. It was a year where industrialized warfare reached a grim new peak, and entire landscapes were transformed into symbols of endurance and loss.

In this episode, the Hungry Historian is joined by his longtime heterosexual life mate, Mr. Ryan Harrison, and they dive deep into two of the most infamous battles in human history: Verdun and the Somme.

At Verdun, the German strategy aimed not just at victory, but at bleeding France dry. What followed was a brutal, grinding struggle that lasted nearly the entire year. It became an unrelenting test of will, where the French army, under the rallying cry “Ils ne passeront pas” (“They shall not pass”), fought to hold the line at any cost.

Meanwhile, on the Somme, British and French forces launched a massive offensive intended to relieve pressure on Verdun and break the stalemate on the Western Front. Instead, it became synonymous with the horrors of trench warfare. From the catastrophic first day to the introduction of new technologies like the tank, the Somme revealed both the futility and the frightening evolution of modern war.

Together, these battles encapsulate the essence of 1916: attrition on an unimaginable scale, courage in the face of relentless firepower, and the tragic human cost of a war with no quick end in sight.

Join the Hungry Historian and Mr. Harrison as they explore the strategies, the leadership, and the soldiers’ experiences that defined this pivotal year, and examine how Verdun and the Somme came to symbolize the endurance, sacrifice, and devastation of the Great War.

As for a Featured Recipe, Chef Money has stopped by to offer up the perfect accompaniment to your next Sunday roast dinner. Something that he has been calling "Somme de Terre".

Cheers!

Featured Recipe

Somme de Terre

• 8 medium to large starchy potatoes (Yukon gold, russet, gala)
• 1 TBSP olive oil
• ½ Cup of butter – cut into small cubes
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• Sprigs of fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

** Featured Recipe directions and Chef tips are available within the episode!**

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"We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields." - Lt-Col John McRae

1915 was meant to be a brief detour on the road to victory. Instead, it became the year the war showed its teeth.

On this episode, The Hungry Historian takes listeners deep into the second full year of the First World War. It was the year when early optimism rotted away in the trenches and the conflict hardened into something far more brutal, far more modern, and far more unforgiving.

What began as a war of movement stalled into a grinding contest of endurance, where nations learned just how much blood and steel industrial society could produce. 1915 was the year trenches became permanent, civilians became targets, and new weapons reshaped the battlefield in terrifying ways.

It was a year of catastrophic offensives, desperate gambles, and political decisions made far from the front lines. Across Europe and beyond, the war widened, dragging empires, colonies, and entire populations deeper into the abyss.

Join The Hungry Historian as the war becomes a machine, and the world learns the cost of feeding it.

As for feeding you, Chef Money is cooking up a Featured Recipe based on one of the larger talking points of 1915, the Shell Shortage. Hope you're ready to make some Shells of your own!

Cheers!

Shells

Ingredients

•18 to 20 jumbo pasta shells
•2 cups of your favourite Marinara Sauce
•5 to 6 fresh spinach
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
•(At least) ¼ cup grated parmesan, plus for garnish
•(At least) 2 garlic cloves, grated
•1 teaspoon dried oregano
•1 teaspoon lemon zest
•1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
•Sea salt
•Fresh ground black pepper
•Chopped fresh parsley, for serving

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"We are about to engage in a battle on which the fate of our country depends...the moment has passed for looking at the rear...Troops that can advance no farther must, at any price, hold the ground they have conquered and die on the spot rather than give way." - General Joseph Joffre, Order of the Day - September 5th, 1914.

In the summer of 1914, Europe stood at the height of its confidence. Empires were wealthy, technology was advancing at a breathtaking pace, and many believed that war, if it came at all, would be brief, controlled, and cleansing.

When a gunshot rang out in Sarajevo, few imagined it would ignite a global conflict. Yet within weeks, diplomatic miscalculations, rigid alliances, and decades of simmering tension dragged the continent into war. What followed was not the heroic struggle so many expected, but the opening act of a catastrophe that would reshape the modern world.

On this episode, the Hungry Historian examines the opening months and battles of the First World War. Follow along as we go over the rush to mobilization, the confidence of generals and politicians, the grand strategies meant to deliver swift victory, and the belief that speed and offensive spirit would decide the conflict.

Instead, these first battles revealed a grim new reality.

On the Western Front, mass armies collided with machine guns and heavy artillery, producing casualties on an unprecedented scale. On the Eastern Front, sweeping movements and unexpected defeats shattered assumptions about both Russian weakness and German invincibility.

As 1914 unfolded, the war exposed the brutal power of industrialized violence. Soldiers marched off amid cheering crowds, only to find themselves trapped in landscapes of fire, mud, and fear.

By the end of the year, the world had changed. The war that began with optimism and illusion ended 1914 in stalemate and shock, with millions dead or wounded and no clear path forward. This episode explores how those early months set the tone for the rest of the First World War, and why 1914 stands as the moment when the old world finally broke apart.

Never one to disappoint, Chef Money has traded in his jacket for a bartender apron and is bringing you a featured recipe inspired by today's episode and one of the premier weapons of the First World War - The French 75.

Cheers!

The French 75

• Champagne or Sparkling Wine
• Gin
• Lemon Juice
• Simple Syrup

** Featured Recipe directions are available within the show or on the exclusive Instagram account of The Hungry Historian - @hungry_historian.

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“The coming of the wireless era will make war impossible, because it will make war ridiculous.” - Guglielmo Marconi, 1912

Long before the first shots were fired in August 1914, Europe had been quietly preparing for disaster. In this episode, join the Hungry Historian as he traces the tangled web of events, ambitions, and anxieties that pushed the continent towards the brink of total war.

From the rise of nationalist movements to colonial rivalries, from shifting alliances to the dangerous confidence of military planning, we examine how a seemingly stable world was actually balancing on a fault line.

We’ll explore the diplomatic crises that nearly sparked conflict years earlier, the growing public appetite for confrontation, and why leaders repeatedly chose escalation over compromise. The assassination at Sarajevo may have lit the fuse, but this episode reveals just how long that fuse truly was.

Follow along as we unravel the political pressures, human miscalculations, and cultural forces that transformed a regional crisis into a global catastrophe, setting the stage for the most devastating war the world had ever seen.

As for a featured recipe, Chef Money is stopping by with the perfect addition to your next sandwich making adventure, and one that is inspired by the leaders of the First World War. You won't want to miss out on this recipe for "Kaiser Rolls"!

Cheers!

Kaiser Rolls

Ingredients:

• White bread flour
• Yeast
• Egg
• Softened Butter
• Sugar
• Salt
• Cold Milk
• Poppy Seeds
• Sesame Seeds

** Featured Recipe amounts and directions are available within the show or on the official Instagram page of The Hungry Historian.**

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"In fourteen years Leopold has deliberately destroyed more lives than have suffered death on all the battlefields of this planet for the past thousand years..." - Mark Twain

In this episode of The Hungry Historian, we dive into one of the darkest and most disturbing chapters of colonial history: the reign of King Leopold II over the Congo Free State.

What began as a supposed humanitarian mission quickly descended into a brutal system of forced labour, mutilation, and terror. All orchestrated to satisfy one monarch’s insatiable appetite for wealth and influence.

Follow along as the Hungry Historian discusses the tactics Leopold used to disguise exploitation as philanthropy, explore the violent machinery of the rubber trade, and follow the courageous voices who dared to expose the truth to the world.

From Henry Morton Stanley’s expeditions to the global humanitarian campaign that eventually forced change, this episode unravels the layers of greed, deception, and suffering that defined the Congo under Leopold’s rule.

Join the Hungry Historian as he examines how this grim period reshaped international activism, challenged Europe’s imperial conscience, and left behind a legacy Congo continues to confront today.

As far as a Featured Recipe goes, this time around Chef Money is switching out his cooking apron for his bartender one, and presenting you with his spin on a classic bar shooter - the Black Russian

Trust me, you'll need one or two of them following this tale of terror. It is not for the faint of heart.

Cheers!

Featured Recipe

Black Belgian

• 2 ounces of Vodka
• 1 ounce of Kahlúa
• Ice
• Rocks glass

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History isn’t just the tale of kings and queens, of armies and empires. It’s also the story of how we’ve suffered, how we’ve punished, and how far humanity has gone to make death a spectacle.

In this Halloween special, The Hungry Historian ventures into the blackest corners of the past. To the places where execution was an art form, and pain was meant to echo.

From the slow scrape of the blade to the crack of the rope, from ingenious devices of torment to punishments so vile they were outlawed even by tyrants, this episode is a grim reminder that cruelty is as old as civilization itself.

You’ll hear about deaths meant not just to end life, but to send a message. The tools, the theatre, the terrifying imagination behind them. Ritualized agony. Sanctified suffering. Justice twisted into horror.

Across centuries and continents, we’ll unearth stories that reveal what happens when power, vengeance, and fear collide. A place where death becomes performance. These are the moments history tried to forget… but the screams still linger.

So dim the lights, pour yourself something strong, and settle in. Because tonight, The Hungry Historian isn’t serving comfort, nor is he in the pursuit of a goodnight story.

Tonight, he is serving carnage.

⚠️ Listener discretion is very much advised. This one isn’t for the faint of heart.

Available now wherever you get your podcasts.

Cheers!

Ratcliffe's Colonial Catch

Ingredients:

• 5 pounds fresh mussels, scrubbed and debearded
• 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
• ⅓ cup fresh lime juice
• ⅓ cup dry white wine
• 1 ½ tablespoons Thai red curry paste
• 1 ½ tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon Fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 cups chopped fresh cilantro

*Featured Recipe directions and Chef tips available within the show

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"If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, if he can live on after he's dead, then maybe he was a great man." - James Dean

Before he was a legend frozen in time, James Dean was a small-town boy with a hunger for something greater. In this episode, The Hungry Historian explores the brief but blazing life of one of Hollywood’s most enduring icons.

Follow along through his humble beginnings in Indiana to his meteoric rise in 1950s cinema, as Dean captured the restless spirit of a generation. This, before his sudden and tragic death in September 1955.

We’ll trace his path through East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, and Giant; delve into the cultural storm he helped ignite; and examine how his untimely death transformed him from actor to myth.

Decades later, James Dean remains more than a name. He’s an idea, a symbol of youth, rebellion, and the eternal chase for meaning under the glare of fame.

When it comes to Featured Recipes, this one is coming at the PERFECT time, for Canadians at least. You will definitely want to add Chef Money's "James Dean's Green Beans" to your upcoming Thanksgiving feast.

Cheers!

James Dean's Green Beans

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of fresh Green Beans, washed and chopped
• 1 cup Green Onions, washed and chopped
• 1 Lime, zested and juiced
• 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
• (at least) 2 cloves of Garlic, minced
• 1 tsp White Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1 tsp Chili Oil
• 1 tsp toasted Sesame Seeds (optional)

** Featured Recipe directions and Chef tips are available within the show or on the official Instagram account of The Hungry Historian (@hungry_historian)

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"The men were simply mown down. They advanced in lines which seemed to melt away under the enemy’s fire." — British officer reflecting on the Battle of Loos

In this episode join The Hungry Historian as he turns back to September 1915 and the bloody fields of northern France to examine the Battle of Loos.

Often overshadowed today by the Somme and Passchendaele, Loos was nonetheless a watershed moment in Britain’s First World War experience.

It marked the first large-scale use of poison gas by British forces, the baptism of fire for Kitchener’s New Army of volunteers, and a clash that revealed the deep rifts between Britain’s military leaders, most notably the strained relationship between Generals Haig and French.

Follow along with The Hungry Historian as he explores the strategies and missteps, the personal accounts from soldiers in the trenches, and the sheer human cost of a battle where bravery was too often met with futility.

From the hope of a breakthrough to the harsh reality of stalemate, Loos remains a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made and the lessons learned during the early years of the Great War.

As for today's Featured Recipe, Chef Money is stopping by to give you a quick and easy recipe for the most classic of sides inspired by a character in today's tale - General French Fries

Cheers!

General French Fries

Ingredients

• 5-6 large potatoes
• 2 TBSP of olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 TBSP corn starch
• salt and pepper to taste

** Featured Recipe directions and Chef tips available within the show!