#470 – James Holland: World War II, Hitler, Churchill, Stalin & Biggest Battles

The following is a conversation with James Holland, a historian specializing in World War two, who has written a lot of amazing books on the subject, especially covering Western Front, often providing fascinating details at multiple levels of analysis, including strategic, operational, tactical, technological, and, of course, the human side, the personal accounts from the war. He also cohosts a great podcast on World War two called We Have Ways of Making You Talk. And now a quick few second mention of each sponsor. Check them out in the description or at lexfreeman.com/sponsors. It's the best way to support this podcast. We've got Shopify for selling stuff, Element for electrolytes, AG one for multivitamins, and Notion for team collaboration. Choose wisely, my friends. And now onto the full ad reads. I do them differently than most podcasts do. Usually, I barely talk about the sponsors. Instead, just take this moment to talk about the things I'm reading or thinking about. A little Bob Ross like heart to heart between you and me. Also, unlike most podcasts, I don't do ads in the middle. So they all are bunched up here in one place. You can skip them if you like. But if you do, please still check out the sponsors. I enjoy their stuff. Maybe you will too. If you want to get in touch with me for whatever reason, go to lexfreeman.com/contact. Alright. Let's go. This episode is brought to you by Shopify, a platform designed for anyone to sell anywhere with a great looking online store. Did you know that the legendary Silk Road was not actually a single road, but an extensive network of trade routes connecting east and west, spanning over 7,000 miles in the upcoming episode on Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire? We touch on this. But, of course, Silk Road spans much wider in time than the rise and the fall of the Mongol Empire. It facilitated trade and cultural exchange for over fifteen hundred years, roughly from January. It was spices, tea, paper, gunpowder moving west, and gold, silver, glassware, and horses moving east. But I think the fascinating thing again is the exchange of culture and the exchange of ideas. Anyway, sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com/lex, all lowercase. Go to shopify.com/lex to take your business to the next level today. This episode is also brought to you by LMNT, my daily zero sugar and delicious electrolyte mix. Did you know that us humans can lose over two liters of sweat per hour during intense exercise, especially in hot conditions? I've gone to study this particular physiological process across many, many years of my life when I had to cut a lot of weight. Sweat is fascinating, isn't it? But as you sweat, you're losing sodium, potassium, magnesium, and so you have to replenish it. I think about the ultra marathon runners and the events like the Badwater Ultra marathon. I think it's a 135 miles …