Explaining History

In this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by award-winning French Canadian author Mireille Gagné to discuss her acclaimed novel, *Horsefly* – a powerful, genre-defying work inspired by a top‑secret biological warfare laboratory that operated on Québec's Grosse Île during the Second World War.The novel draws on a forgotten chapter of shared Allied history. In 1942, British, American, and Canadian forces established a clandestine facility on Grosse Île – an island in the St. Lawrence River that had previously served as a quarantine station for European immigrants. Their mission: to develop anthrax as a weapon of mass destruction, producing enough to kill the world's population thirty times over. The operation, known as Project M, was part of a broader effort that included the infamous Gruinard Island tests in Scotland – where anthrax spores rendered the island uninhabitable for decades.But Mireille's story is not primarily about scientists and generals. It is about the ordinary people – the residents of neighbouring islands, many of them French Canadian, who were recruited as labourers, caretakers, and assistants. They slaughtered cattle, handled organs, washed themselves with harsh red soap, and transported dangerous materials – often without understanding the full extent of the risks. They worked in silence, bound by military secrecy, and carried a heavy burden that they never fully spoke about.Mireille grew up on Île‑aux‑Grues, part of the same archipelago as Grosse Île. She heard fragments of these stories as a child – whispered, half‑remembered, dismissed by some as dementia. Her mother, who arrived on the island in the 1970s, tried to ask questions but was met with silence. It was only when Mireille began interviewing grandchildren that the stories began to emerge – piecemeal, tentative, shameful. The men who had worked there rarely spoke before they died; the families who survived did not want to revisit the past.*Horsefly* moves between the 1940s and the present day. In the contemporary timeline, a suffocating heatwave grips Québec, violence is on the rise, and a man caring for his grandfather with dementia must journey back to Grosse Île to understand the cryptic wartime past that is consuming him. The novel explores themes of memory, transhumanism, and the long shadow of war – a reminder that the "good guys" in the Second World War also pursued weapons of unimaginable destructiveness.**Topics covered:**- The top‑secret Grosse Île biological warfare laboratory (Project M)- Operation Vegetarian and the Gruinard Island anthrax tests- Britain's Porton Down and the Allied biological weapons programme- The role of Canadian scientists, including Frederick Banting- The recruitment of local French Canadian labourers- The silence and shame of those who worked there- Mireille's personal connection to the story- The novel's exploration of memory, trauma, and transhumanism- The contemporary relevance of biological weapons research---*Mireille Gagné's Horsefly is published by New Cross Press and is available now. Please consider buying from an independent bookshop or directly from the publisher.**If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.*Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Toscanini Conspiracy – Arturo Toscanini, Fascism, and the Italian Resistance with Filippo IannaroneIn this episode of the Explaining History Podcast, we are joined by Italian author Filippo Iannarone to discuss his acclaimed crime novel, The Toscanini Conspiracy – a story that weaves together a real‑life cold case, the anti‑fascist resistance of conductor Arturo Toscanini, and the author's own family history of heroic opposition to Mussolini and Hitler.The novel began with a chance encounter. While travelling in Val d'Orcia, Filippo discovered a small inn called Locanda Toscanini and asked the host why it bore the name of the legendary conductor. The answer opened a door to a forgotten story: the murder of Dr. Rinaldi, a physician and friend of Toscanini, in 1935 – the same year Mussolini invaded Ethiopia. The case was never solved. But as Filippo dug through newspaper archives and court documents, he found that it exposed a hidden world of anti‑fascist activity in a small Tuscan village.That village became a gathering place for intellectuals, artists, and dissidents – including the explorer Umberto Nobile, fashion designer Salvatore Ferragamo, and Anita Garibaldi – all resisting the tightening grip of Mussolini's regime. At the centre of it all was Arturo Toscanini, the most famous conductor in the world, who had already been beaten by fascist thugs for refusing to play the regime's anthem. Later, he would reject a personal invitation from Adolf Hitler to conduct at Bayreuth – a decision that carried immense symbolic weight.But Filippo's story is also deeply personal. His uncle, Major General Michele Iannarone, was a hero of the Italian Resistance. A monarchist officer who served on the Eastern Front and developed contacts with German officers opposed to Hitler, he became one of the commanders of Rome's clandestine military resistance after the fall of Mussolini in July 1943. When Rome was occupied by the Nazis, his network of thousands of partisans coordinated with the Allies, saved Jewish families, and kept the German army occupied until the Americans arrived.We discuss the brutal civil war that raged in Italy from 1943 until well after the war's end, the forgotten role of monarchist partisans, the trauma of the "years of lead" in the 1970s, and the uncomfortable continuities between fascism and today's far‑right movements across Europe and America. Filippo also reflects on what Toscanini would make of our current moment – and why telling these stories matters more than ever.Topics covered:The real‑life cold case that inspired the novelArturo Toscanini's anti‑fascist activismThe 1935 Italian invasion of Ethiopia and its domestic consequencesThe alternative community of dissidents in Spiazza, TuscanyMajor General Michele Iannarone and the monarchist partisansThe military clandestine front in occupied RomeThe Via Rasella bombing and the Ardeatine massacreItaly's post‑war civil war and the "years of lead"The erasure of monarchist partisans from official historyParallels between 1930s Italy and today's far‑right movementsFilippo Iannarone's The Toscanini Conspiracy is available now in English. Please consider buying from an independent bookshop or directly from the publisher.If you enjoy the podcast, please consider supporting us – we are migrating from Patreon to Substack. Details in the show notes.Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Description:In this episode, Nick explores a question currently weighing on the minds of historians and observers alike: are we witnessing the opening stages of a third global conflict? Drawing on the work of Richard Overy and examining the "quasi-peace" of the 20th century, Nick argues that our definitions of "World War" may be too narrow, often ignoring the unrelenting conflict experienced by the Global South since 1945.We delve into the "hollowing out" of the American economic imperium—a transition from the industrial powerhouse of the Eisenhower era to a financialized economy struggling with internal stagnation. Nick compares the relative decline of the United States to Britain’s post-war trajectory, examining how the rise of China as a strategic, state-planned power has fundamentally broken the neoliberal order of the 1990s. From the resource-driven proxy wars in Venezuela and Iran to the looming shadow of the Taiwan Strait, we ask: can a "Great Power settlement" be reached, or are we destined for a generational period of violent transition?Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.▸ Support the Show & Get Exclusive ContentBecome a Patron: patreon.com/explaininghistory▸ Join the Community & Continue the ConversationFacebook Group: facebook.com/groups/ExplainingHistoryPodcastSubstack: theexplaininghistorypodcast.substack.com▸ Read Articles & Go DeeperWebsite: explaininghistory.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.