Conflicted: A History Podcast

In the late spring of 1212, a spontaneous mass movement of 30,000 children arose in medieval France. Led by a 12-year-old shepherd boy named Stephen from the small village of Cloyes, the “Children’s Crusade” swore to march on the Holy Land and peacefully reclaim the city of Jerusalem from Muslim control. In this first episode of a two-part series, we examine the origins of the Children’s Crusade, the historiographical controversy surrounding it, and the enigmatic figure at its center, Stephen of Cloyes.



SOURCES:

Asbridge, Thomas. The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land. Ecco, 2010.

Clayton, Joseph. Pope Innocent III and His Times. Bruce Publishing Company, 1913.

Cunningham, Hugh. The Invention of Childhood. BBC Books, 2006.

Gabriele, Matthew, and David M. Perry. The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe. Harper, 2021.

Gies, Frances, and Joseph Gies. Life in a Medieval City. Harper Perennial, 2010.

Gray, George Zabriskie. The Children's Crusade. Houghton Mifflin, 1870.

Hourly History. The Crusades: A History from Beginning to End. Hourly History, 2016.

Jones, Dan. Crusaders: The Epic History of the Wars for the Holy Lands. Viking, 2019.

Maalouf, Amin. The Crusades through Arab Eyes. Translated by Jon Rothschild, Schocken Books, 1984.

Nicolle, David. The Fourth Crusade 1202–04: The Betrayal of Byzantium. Illustrated by Christa Hook, Osprey Publishing, 2001.

Norwich, John Julius. Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy. Random House, 2011.

Sayers, Jane. Innocent III: Leader of Europe, 1198–1216. Longman, 1994.

The Crusades. Captivating History, 2019.

Chronicles of the First Crusade. Edited by Christopher Tyerman, Penguin Classics.

Medieval Christianity. Captivating History, 2020.

Trow, M. J. The Children's Crusade. Pen & Sword History, 2008.

Hunnicutt, Wendell, editor. “Speech of Urban II at the Council of Clermont, November 26, 1095.” Reading List: Western Civilization, University of Texas at Arlington, https://websites.uta.edu/hunnicut/reading-list/readings-western-civilization/speech-of-urban-ii-at-the-council-of-clermont-november-26-1095/. Accessed 6 July 2026.

Farkel, William. “The Ebstorf Map: Unlocking Medieval Cartography and Its Hidden Meanings.” The Cartographic Institute, https://thecartographicinstitute.com/the-ebstorf-map-unlocking-medieval-cartography-and-its-hidden-meanings/. Accessed 6 July 2026.

“15 Medieval Jokes That Still Hold Up Today.” Medievalists.net, 23 May 2023, https://www.medievalists.net/2023/05/15-medieval-jokes/. Accessed 6 July 2026

Medievalists.net. (2024, April 17). How to be a shepherd in the Middle Ages. Medievalists.net

Lanigan, Dennis T. “The Departure – An Episode of the Child's Crusade, 12th Century, by Joanna Boyce Wells.” The Victorian Web, 22 July 2024, https://victorianweb.org/painting/wellsjb/paintings/5.html. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

This episode is sponsored by Rula. Rula patients typically pay $15 per session when using insurance. Connect with quality therapists and mental health experts who specialize in you at https://www.rula.com/conflicted #rulapod
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In the third and final installment of the series, President Theodore Roosevelt mobilizes the full industrial might of United States to “make the dirt fly” in Panama and succeed where the French Syndicate failed. But many perils await them in “The Zone”. From disease-bearing mosquitos and intractable terrain, to labor problems and lethal accidents, the Panamanian jungle will not be tamed without a fight. 

 

SOURCES:

Burton, Anthony. The Canal Pioneers: Canal Construction from 2500 BC to the Early 20th Century. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2018.

Charles River Editors. The Panama Canal: The Construction and History of the Waterway Between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2013.

Diaz Espino, Ovidio. How Wall Street Created a Nation: J.P. Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, and the Panama Canal. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003.

Greene, Julie. The Canal Builders: Making America’s Empire at the Panama Canal. New York: Penguin Press, 2009.

Karabell, Zachary. Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.

Keller, Ulrich. The Building of the Panama Canal in Historic Photographs. New York: Dover Publications, 1983.

Lasso, Marixa. Erased: The Untold Story of the Panama Canal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019.

Lindsay, John. Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama. 2003.

Lopez, Sean J. Chokepoint: The Epic History of the Suez Canal. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2024.

Marlowe, Elias. A History of Panama: Canal, Conquest, and Independence. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2012.

McCullough, David. The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.

Morton, Levi P. “No. 105. Mr. Morton to Mr. Frelinghuysen.” Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 1, 1884, U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian, 5 July 1884,https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1884/d105

Parker, Matthew. Panama Fever: The Epic Story of the Building of the Panama Canal. New York: Doubleday, 2007.

Cohen, Lucy M. “The Chinese of the Panama Railroad: Preliminary Notes on the Migrants of 1854 Who ‘Failed.’” Ethnohistory 18, no. 4 (1971): 309–20. https://doi.org/10.2307/481071.

“The Tragedy of the Chinese.” Panama Railroad Historical Society, www.panamarailroad.org/chinesetragedy.html

“Many Canal Workers Killed,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed May 16, 2026, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/1085.

https://newsroompanama.com/2026/03/22/clear-rules-and-fair-compensation-indio-river/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://frontera.library.ucla.edu/recordings/coge-el-pandero-que-se-te-va-0

“Wilson Blows Up Last Bar Between Oceans; Canal Becomes Reality.” The Audubon County Journal (Audubon, Iowa), October 17, 1913. Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection.

“Canal Is Opened by Wilson’s Finger.” The New York Times, October 11, 1913.
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After the French project to build a canal through Panama collapses in 1889 amidst disease and financial scandal, US President Teddy Roosevelt resolves to pick up where they left off. However, powerful interests in Washington are aggressively lobbying for a different route – not through Panama, but Nicaragua. As debate rages and backdoor deals are made, Panama becomes a lightning rod for controversy…and revolution. 

 

SOURCES:

Burton, Anthony. The Canal Pioneers: Canal Construction from 2500 BC to the Early 20th Century. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2018.

Charles River Editors. The Panama Canal: The Construction and History of the Waterway Between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2013.

Diaz Espino, Ovidio. How Wall Street Created a Nation: J.P. Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, and the Panama Canal. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003.

Greene, Julie. The Canal Builders: Making America’s Empire at the Panama Canal. New York: Penguin Press, 2009.

Karabell, Zachary. Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.

Keller, Ulrich. The Building of the Panama Canal in Historic Photographs. New York: Dover Publications, 1983.

Lasso, Marixa. Erased: The Untold Story of the Panama Canal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019.

Lindsay, John. Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama. 2003.

Lopez, Sean J. Chokepoint: The Epic History of the Suez Canal. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2024.

Marlowe, Elias. A History of Panama: Canal, Conquest, and Independence. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2012.

McCullough, David. The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.

Morton, Levi P. “No. 105. Mr. Morton to Mr. Frelinghuysen.” Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 1, 1884, U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian, 5 July 1884,https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1884/d105

Parker, Matthew. Panama Fever: The Epic Story of the Building of the Panama Canal. New York: Doubleday, 2007.
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In August of 1914, the United States of America completed a man-made waterway through the Panamanian isthmus, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for the first time in history. But that engineering triumph was the culmination of decades of toil, conflict and death. In this first episode of a multi-part series on the Panama Canal, we trace the origins of its construction, beginning with the doomed French attempt and its tragic protagonist, Ferdinand de Lesseps. 

 

 

SOURCES:

Burton, Anthony. The Canal Pioneers: Canal Construction from 2500 BC to the Early 20th Century. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2018.

Charles River Editors. The Panama Canal: The Construction and History of the Waterway Between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2013.

Diaz Espino, Ovidio. How Wall Street Created a Nation: J.P. Morgan, Teddy Roosevelt, and the Panama Canal. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 2003.

Greene, Julie. The Canal Builders: Making America’s Empire at the Panama Canal. New York: Penguin Press, 2009.

Karabell, Zachary. Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.

Keller, Ulrich. The Building of the Panama Canal in Historic Photographs. New York: Dover Publications, 1983.

Lasso, Marixa. Erased: The Untold Story of the Panama Canal. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019.

Lindsay, John. Emperors in the Jungle: The Hidden History of the U.S. in Panama. 2003.

Lopez, Sean J. Chokepoint: The Epic History of the Suez Canal. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2024.

Marlowe, Elias. A History of Panama: Canal, Conquest, and Independence. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2012.

McCullough, David. The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870–1914. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1977.

Morton, Levi P. “No. 105. Mr. Morton to Mr. Frelinghuysen.” Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 1, 1884, U.S. Department of State Office of the Historian, 5 July 1884,https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1884/d105

 

Parker, Matthew. Panama Fever: The Epic Story of the Building of the Panama Canal. New York: Doubleday, 2007.
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As the Japanese police prepare for a raid on the Aum Shinrikyo compound, cult leader Shoko Asahara launches a desperate chemical weapons attack in downtown Tokyo. During the height of Monday morning rush hour, Aum terrorists target five commuter trains with sarin gas, killing 13 people and scarring the psyche of an entire nation. In the aftermath, survivors struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives and adapt to new realities. 

 

SOURCES:

Amarasingam, A. (2017, April 5). A history of sarin as a weapon. The Atlantic. 

Brackett, D. W. Holy Terror: Armageddon in Tokyo. 1996.

Cotton, Simon. “Nerve Agents: What Are They and How Do They Work?” American Scientist, vol. 106, no. 3, 2018, pp. 138–40. 

Danzig, Richard; Sageman, Marc; Leighton, Terrance; Hough, Lloyd; Yuki, Hidemi; Kotani, Rui; Hosford, Zachary M.. Aum Shinrikyo: Insights Into How Terrorists Develop Biological and Chemical Weapons . Center for a New American Security. 2011

“Former ER Doctor Recalls Fear Treating Victims in 1995 Tokyo Sarin Attack.” The Japan Times, March 18, 2025..

Gunaratna, Rohan. “Aum Shinrikyo’s Rise, Fall and Revival.” Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses, vol. 10, no. 8, 2018, pp. 1–6. 

Harmon, Christopher C. “How Terrorist Groups End: Studies of the Twentieth Century.” Strategic Studies Quarterly, vol. 4, no. 3, 2010, pp. 43–84. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26269787. 

“IHT: A Safe and Sure System — Until Now.” The New York Times, 21 Mar. 1995.

Jones, Seth G., and Martin C. Libicki. “Policing and Japan’s Aum Shinrikyo.” How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al Qa’ida, RAND Corporation, 2008, pp. 45–62. 

Kaplan, David E. (1996) “Aum’s Shoko Asahara and the Cult at the End of the World”. WIRED. 

Lifton, Robert Jay. Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism. 1999.

Murakami, Haruki. Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche. Translated by Alfred Birnbaum and Philip Gabriel. 2001.

Murphy, P. (2014, June 21). Matsumoto: Aum’s sarin guinea pig. The Japan Times. 

Reader, Ian. Religious Violence in Contemporary Japan: The Case of Aum Shinrikyo.  2000.

Tucker, Jonathan B. “Chemical/Biological Terrorism: Coping with a New Threat.” Politics and the Life Sciences, vol. 15, no. 2, 1996, pp. 167–83. 

Ushiyama, Rin. “Shock and Anger: Societal Responses to the Tokyo Subway Attack.” Aum Shinrikyō and Religious Terrorism in Japanese Collective Memory., The British Academy, 2023, pp. 52–80. 

Williams, Richard. 2003. “Marathon Man.” The Guardian, May 16, 2003.

“Woman bedridden since AUM cult’s 1995 sarin gas attack on Tokyo subway dies at 56.” The Mainichi (English), 20 Mar. 2020,

“30 Years After Sarin Attack — Lessons Learned / Brother Kept Diary For Sister Caught in Sarin Attack, Chronicling Her 25-Year Struggle With Illness” The Japan News, 19 Mar. 2025,
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