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Peter Zablocki

Peter Zablocki

Historian, author, and host of the History Shorts podcast; professor of world history at Caldwell University.

Aug 31, 2026

10:45
And so I just imagine you had to pick you had to pick and maybe leave out some people to tell this story.
10:52
Yeah, absolutely.
10:53
And the idea for me is I wanted this because over the course of these eight days, we really have three different theaters happening.
11:03
And the idea was to push the story forward over these eight days while I'm jumping between a bunker in Japan and also the press room in the White House.
11:13
And I'm also jumping into the Russian front in Manchuria, you know, Manchukuo.
11:18
So I'm kind of jumping between the Russians, the Americans and the Japanese.
11:22
Right.

7 MINS LATER

18:11
That would be so cool to just for a day visit, you know, whatever set they're working on at the time.
13:07
Mm-hmm.
13:07
But in this letter, which is signed by Smith, it states that Strang is the next successor.
13:14
And a lot of people don't buy this.
13:16
However, enough people do.
13:18
And that's where it becomes interesting.
13:19
And the main person that buys this is Smith's own mother.
13:22
Says, no, this is my son's handwriting.

12 MINS LATER

25:49
Why is this such a controversial move for someone to make in 1850s America to go, you know what? I am now a king.

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