'The Rest Is History' Hosts Talk Trump, Rome, What's Next for the U.S.

Key Points:

• Historians Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland have achieved major success with their podcast, The Rest Is History, which was Apple’s Show of the Year in 2025 and garners over 20 million monthly streams, expanding into tours, books, and spinoff content.
• The podcast’s appeal lies in the hosts’ dynamic friendship and engaging banter, combining deep historical knowledge with humor and curiosity, covering a wide range of topics from ancient Rome to modern political events.
• Sandbrook and Holland emphasize the evolving nature of historical interpretation, influenced by current events, and critique the over-moralization of history in academia, advocating for narrative-driven storytelling that captures the excitement of history.
• They regard Donald Trump as a historically consequential figure due to his cultural and political impact, contrasting him with other presidents like Obama, and discuss how popular culture often shapes historical legacy more than politics.
• The hosts reflect on the role of soft power, the changing nature of popular culture, and the challenges of political polarization, while previewing future podcast topics including the English Civil War, Crusades, and Russian Revolution.