Confused Heap of Facts – Details, episodes & analysis

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Confused Heap of Facts

CGSC, Command and General Staff College

Education

Frequency: 1 episode/16d. Total Eps: 62

Historians from the CGSC Department of Military History discuss topics in military history, ranging from antiquity to the near-present.

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Data updated on 04/07/2026

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Score global : 49%

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Episode 61.5 – Schedule Announcement

Monday, September 23, 2024 • Duration 00:27

A short of announcement that we'll be moving to a once-a-month model for CHF instead of the twice -a-month.

Episode 61 – Brown on Eisenhower’s New Look

Sunday, September 15, 2024 • Duration 01:16:27

Dr. Jonathan Abel is joined by Dr. Gates Brown to discuss Eisenhower’s New Look policy. They outline the background to Eisenhower’s strategic views via the late 1940s and early 1950s. They explain what Eisenhower’s approach to deterrence was via the New Look and Massive Retaliation. They explore the responses within the Army, particularly the Pentomic Division, to that policy. They then conclude with some lessons learned from the period.

“History is only a confused heap of facts.” – Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

Host: Dr. Jonathan Abel, CGSC DMH

DMH Podcast Team: Drs. Jonathan Abel, Mark Gerges, and Bill Nance

Artwork: Daniel O. Neal

Music: SSG Noah Taylor, West Point Band

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Episode 60 – Rafuse on the 1862 Valley Campaign

Sunday, September 1, 2024 • Duration 57:26

Dr. Jonathan Abel is joined by Dr. Bill Nance to discuss the 1862 Valley Campaign of the U.S. Civil War with Dr. Ethan Rafuse. They discuss the background of the campaign and how it fit into the other Union efforts that spring. They detail the fighting in the valley and how Union efforts failed. They conclude with lessons from the campaign, including Stonewall Jackson’s operational art and leadership.

“History is only a confused heap of facts.” – Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

Host: Dr. Jonathan Abel, CGSC DMH

DMH Podcast Team: Drs. Jonathan Abel, Mark Gerges, and Bill Nance

Artwork: Daniel O. Neal

Music: SSG Noah Taylor, West Point Band

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Episode 59 – Abel on Early Modern European Military Theorists

Thursday, August 15, 2024 • Duration 01:05:39

Dr. Bill Nance interviews Dr. Jonathan Abel about military theory during the early modern period, especially in France. They discuss the gap in knowledge between Machiavelli and Clausewitz that many modern students of the subject have, and how it developed. They detail the theorists who worked between those periods and how theory evolved. They talk about the Military Enlightenment and how it led to the works of Jomini and Clausewitz at the advent of the modern era.

“History is only a confused heap of facts.” – Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

Host: Dr. Jonathan Abel, CGSC DMH

DMH Podcast Team: Drs. Jonathan Abel, Mark Gerges, and Bill Nance

Artwork: Daniel O. Neal

Music: SSG Noah Taylor, West Point Band

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Episode 58 - Kuehn talks JC Wiley

Thursday, August 1, 2024 • Duration 01:00:37

Dr. Jonathan Abel is joined by Dr. Bill Nance and guest Dr. John Kuehn to talk about an under appreciated theorist: JC Wiley. They discuss his background and how it shaped his theory. They note his service record in World War II, including his participation in the foundation of the Combat Information Center (CIC). They then explore his theories, including how strategy relates to the other levels of war.

"History is only a confused heap of facts." - Phillip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

Host: Dr. Jonathan Abel, CGSC DMH

DMH Podcast Team: Drs. Jonathan Abel, Mark Gerges, and Bill Nance

Artwork: Daniel O. Neal

Music: SSG Noah Taylor, West Point Band :

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Episode 57 – Clemis on Dau Tranh

Monday, July 15, 2024 • Duration 01:01:41

Drs. Jonathan Abel and Bill Nance sit down with Dr. Martin Clemis to discuss Vietnamese communist strategy in the Vietnam War, especially what is known as “dau tranh.” Clemis describes the holistic communist approach that stymied efforts by the French, Americans, and Chinese to defeat it. He traces its origins in Marxism and Maoism, and he discusses how it functioned. Finally, he offers some personal opinions on why the US struggled with dau tranh.

“History is only a confused heap of facts.” – Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

Host: Dr. Jonathan Abel, CGSC DMH

DMH Podcast Team: Drs. Jonathan Abel, Mark Gerges, and Bill Nance

Artwork: Daniel O. Neal

Music: SSG Noah Taylor, West Point Band

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Episode 56 – Nagel on Race Relations in the US Army 1900-1918

Monday, July 1, 2024 • Duration 01:03:05

Drs. Jonathan Abel and Bill Nance are back with Dr. Amanda Nagel to talk race relations in the US Army in the early twentieth century. The dig into social and military issues as Jim Crow began its long reign in the US, including the Army. They detail the struggle of Black American officers to find justice and equity in the Army leading into World War I. They discuss some of the influence that that war had on the topic, looking forward to the burgeoning civil rights movement.

“History is only a confused heap of facts.” – Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

Host: Dr. Jonathan Abel, CGSC DMH

DMH Podcast Team: Drs. Jonathan Abel, Mark Gerges, and Bill Nance

Artwork: Daniel O. Neal

Music: SSG Noah Taylor, West Point Band

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Episode 55 – Babb on the Russo-Japanese War

Saturday, June 15, 2024 • Duration 55:53

Dr. Jonathan Abel, with Dr. Bill Nance, talks with Dr. Geoff Babb about one of the most important twentieth-century conflicts: the Russo-Japanese War. They discuss why the Russians were not prepared for the war, while the Japanese were. They detail the difficulties both sides faced in fighting it. They conclude by discussing its influence, particularly looking towards World War I.

“History is only a confused heap of facts.” – Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

Host: Dr. Jonathan Abel, CGSC DMH

DMH Podcast Team: Drs. Jonathan Abel, Mark Gerges, and Bill Nance

Artwork: Daniel O. Neal

Music: SSG Noah Taylor, West Point Band

Read moreCollapse

Episode 54 – LTC Hatzinger on the US Army Mortuary Service

Friday, May 31, 2024 • Duration 01:09:56

Drs. Jonathan Abel and Bill Nance talk to LTC Kyle Hatzinger, PhD, from the Department of Sustainment and Force Management, about the US Army Mortuary Service. He describes its origins in the nineteenth century during the US Civil War and the Spanish-American War. He details how many of the Mortuary Service’s traditions and procedures originated in World War I. He concludes by discussing how those evolved over the remainder of the twentieth century.
“History is only a confused heap of facts.” – Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

Host: Dr. Jonathan Abel, CGSC DMH

DMH Podcast Team: Drs. Jonathan Abel, Mark Gerges, and Bill Nance

Artwork: Daniel O. Neal

Music: SSG Noah Taylor, West Point Band

Read moreCollapse

Episode 53 – Abel on the French Revolution

Wednesday, May 15, 2024 • Duration 01:20:01

Drs. Jonathan Abel and Bill Nance discuss the French Revolution. They explore its origins and its various stages. They discuss the different groups involved in it and their machinations as they sought to gain power and shape France in their image. They explore the military aspect of the Revolution as it came to an end under Napoleon. They conclude by examining some of its various elements and legacies.

Corrections: the Glorious Revolution in England took place in 1689, not 1789, and the French fully conquered Italy only during the War of the Second Coalition.

“History is only a confused heap of facts.” – Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

Host: Dr. Jonathan Abel, CGSC DMH

DMH Podcast Team: Drs. Jonathan Abel, Mark Gerges, and Bill Nance

Artwork: Daniel O. Neal

Music: SSG Noah Taylor, West Point Band

Read moreCollapse

Confused Heap of Facts – Details, episodes & analysis

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Confused Heap of Facts – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify