Segment from Watch The Throne

Royal Scandal

Former BackStory producer Emily Charnock talks to Peter, Ed and Brian about how King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to marry an American divorcée named Wallis Simpson.

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

The Hot Dog King

Writer Will Swift talks to the hosts about how King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (parents of the current Queen Elizabeth) were perceived by Americans during a 1939 visit and recalls the story of when President Franklin Roosevelt served the royal pair hot dogs at a picnic.

00:06:14

It’s Good To Be Under The King

According to historian Barbara Clark Smith, not only did Americans love King George III, they felt more secure and had more political rights under his rule.

00:10:37

Drama Queen

American socialite Elizabeth Patterson hoped her marriage to Napoleon Bonaparte’s little brother Jerome would transform her and someday make her a queen. Charlene Boyer Lewis tells why Patterson didn’t get the happily-ever-after ending she was looking for.

00:11:35

Royal Scandal

Former BackStory producer Emily Charnock talks to Peter, Ed and Brian about how King Edward VIII abdicated the British throne to marry an American divorcée named Wallis Simpson.

00:05:18

Holding Court in Chi-Town (Podcast only)

While reading an excerpt from Erik Larson’s book, “The Devil in the White City,” actor Adam Brock brings the story of the Infanta Eulalia to life.

00:05:57

I Was A Teenage Beauty Queen

BackStory listener Stephanie Pounds tells the hosts about the time she was named a County Fair Queen.

00:05:36

Royal Pain

Japanese Emperor Hirohito was transformed from one of the three great enemies of the United States during WWII into a kinder, gentler monarch after the war. Historian Noriko Kawamura tells how General MacArthur and a PR campaign changed the way we saw Hirohito, but may not have changed the actual man.

00:09:35

All Hail King Peggy (Web extra)

What happens when an American woman is named king of a Ghanaian village? Brian talks to Pegelene Bartels, King of Otuam.

00:05:08