{"podcast":{"title":"HISTORY This Week","slug":"history-this-week-186536","podcast_index_feed_id":186536,"rss_url":"https://rss.amperwave.net/v2/feed/audacynetwork/history-this-week","website_url":"http://www.historythisweekpodcast.com/","image_url":"https://images.castfire.com/image/661/0/0/0/0-8382930.jpg","author":"The HISTORY® Channel | Back Pocket Studios","episode_count":326,"summary":"This week, something big happened. You might have never heard of it, but this moment changed the course of history. A HISTORY Channel original podcast, HISTORY This Week gives you insight into the people—both famous and unknown—whose decisions reshaped the world we live in today. Through interviews with experts and eyewitnesses, each episode will give you a new perspective on how history is written. Stay up-to-date at historythisweekpodcast.com and to get in touch, email us at historythisweek@history.com.HISTORY This Week is a production of Back Pocket Studios in partnership with the History Channel.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-08T18:20:34.640440+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-this-week-186536"},"episode":{"title":"Parting the Desert Between Two Seas","slug":"parting-the-desert-between-two-seas","published_at":"2026-04-27T08:31:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-this-week-186536/parting-the-desert-between-two-seas","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-this-week-186536","url":"http://historythisweekpodcast.com","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/v9Uiw3bGr54f6BVZKSyc/pscrb.fm/rss/p/serve.castfire.com/audio/8247113/8247113_2026-04-14-053613.192.mp3?rssID=6398","summary":"April 25, 1859. About 150 people have gathered on the shores of Lake Manzala in Egypt. And one of them, a mustachioed, retired French diplomat, steps forward. He raises his pickaxe and strikes a ceremonial blow. The audacious goal is to cut through the desert to connect the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, creating a new trade route between the East and the West. Changing global trade and geopolitics forever. Today: the Suez Canal. Why did the tremendous efforts of a Frenchman end up enriching the British Empire? And how, decades later, did the canal play an unexpected role in the birth of modern Egypt? ​​Thank you to our guests, Ibrahim El-Houdaiby and Professor Aaron Jakes, for speaking with us for this episode. Thank you also to Dr. Bella Galil for talking with us. If you want to read more about the Suez Canal, Zachary Karabell's Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal is a great resource. ** This episode originally aired April 25, 2022. Get in touch: historythisweek@history.com Follow on Instagram: @historythisweekpodcast Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com","meta_description":"April 25, 1859. About 150 people have gathered on the shores of Lake Manzala in Egypt. And one of them, a mustachioed, retired French diplomat, steps forw…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1990,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/history-this-week-186536/episodes/parting-the-desert-between-two-seas/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/history-this-week-186536/parting-the-desert-between-two-seas.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}