In 1976, nine French wine judges did the unthinkable: they blindly selected two California wines over France's most elite vintages in what became known as the Judgment of Paris. This shocking upset sent shockwaves through the wine world and forever changed the global industry. French wine had dominated for centuries, built on a rigid classification system and prestigious terroir, but California winemakers like Warren Winiarski of Stag's Leap and Mike Grgich of Chateau Montelena proved that world-class wines could be produced anywhere with the right combination of climate, soil, and expertise. The tasting was organized by British expat Steven Spurrier, who ran a Paris wine shop and saw the American Bicentennial as a perfect marketing opportunity—but neither he nor the lone reporter in attendance, George Taber of Time magazine, expected California to actually win.

Today's guest is Kevin Ferguson, author and grandson of legendary winemaker Mario Gemello, who ran the Gemello Winery in Mountain View, California for nearly half a century. Ferguson shares the immigrant roots of California's wine industry, including how a $190 loan from the Beltramo family allowed his great-grandfather to bring his family from Piedmont, Italy to America. He discusses the legacy of working-class winemakers like his grandfather, whose 1970 Cabernet finished first in the 25th anniversary re-enactment of the Judgment of Paris, and explores how wineries like Ridge—founded by retired SRI engineers—brought scientific precision to the Santa Cruz Mountains. As we approach the 50th anniversary events in 2026, Ferguson reveals how this single tasting transformed California from an upstart curiosity into a world-class wine region that continues to rival the best of France.

In 1976, nine French wine judges did the unthinkable: they blindly selected two California wines over France's most elite vintages in what became known as the Judgment of Paris. This shocking upset sent shockwaves through the wine world and forever changed the global industry. French wine had dominated for centuries, built on a rigid classification system and prestigious terroir, but California winemakers like Warren Winiarski of Stag's Leap and Mike Grgich of Chateau Montelena proved that world-class wines could be produced anywhere with the right combination of climate, soil, and expertise. The tasting was organized by British expat Steven Spurrier, who ran a Paris wine shop and saw the American Bicentennial as a perfect marketing opportunity&mdash;but neither he nor the lone reporter in attendance, George Taber of Time magazine, expected California to actually win.
Today's guest is Kevin Ferguson, author and grandson of legendary winemaker Mario Gemello, who ran the Gemello Winery in Mountain View, California for nearly half a century. Ferguson shares the immigrant roots of California's wine industry, including how a $190 loan from the Beltramo family allowed his great-grandfather to bring his family from Piedmont, Italy to America. He discusses the legacy of working-class winemakers like his grandfather, whose 1970 Cabernet finished first in the 25th anniversary re-enactment of the Judgment of Paris, and explores how wineries like Ridge&mdash;founded by retired SRI engineers&mdash;brought scientific precision to the Santa Cruz Mountains. As we approach the 50th anniversary events in 2026, Ferguson reveals how this single tasting transformed California from an upstart curiosity into a world-class wine region that continues to rival the best of France.

For history lovers who listen to podcasts, History Unplugged is the most comprehensive show of its kind. It's the only show that dedicates episodes to both interviewing experts and answering questions from its audience. First, it features a call-in show where you can ask our resident historian (Scott Rank, PhD) absolutely anything (What was it like to be a Turkish sultan with four wives and twelve concubines? If you were sent back in time, how would you kill Hitler?). Second, it features long-form interviews with best-selling authors who have written about everything. Topics include gruff World War II generals who flew with airmen on bombing raids, a war horse who gained the rank of sergeant, and presidents who gave their best speeches while drunk.

A show about American history, world history, World Wars 1 & 2, the Civil War, and much more.

History Unplugged Podcast

For history lovers who listen to podcasts, History Unplugged is the most comprehensive show of its kind. It's the only show that dedicates episodes to both interviewing experts and answering questions from its audience. First, it features a call-in show where you can ask our resident historian (Scott Rank, PhD) absolutely anything (What was it like to be a Turkish sultan with four wives and twelve concubines? If you were sent back in time, how would you kill Hitler?). Second, it features long-form interviews with best-selling authors who have written about everything. Topics include gruff World War II generals who flew with airmen on bombing raids, a war horse who gained the rank of sergeant, and presidents who gave their best speeches while drunk.

History Unplugged

How Two California Wines Shattered Centuries of French Supremacy in a Blind Taste Test

Throughout the 16th century, one man stood between the Ottoman Empire and European domination, yet his name has been largely forgotten. Gabriele Tadino was an Italian military engineer whose genius transformed medieval warfare and saved Europe from one of history's greatest conquerors, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. In 1522, Tadino defied his Venetian masters by sneaking away in the night to defend Rhodes, where 700 Knights Hospitaller faced an impossible siege against 100,000 Ottoman troops. His revolutionary innovations—from acoustic devices using stretched skins and bells to detect enemy tunnels, to star-shaped fortifications that could withstand cannon fire—turned him into a legend among Renaissance military minds. Despite losing an eye in combat, Tadino continued directing the defense, holding off Suleiman for six months and forcing the Sultan to negotiate a peaceful surrender rather than achieve outright victory.

Today’s guest is Edoardo Albert, author of “The Man Who Stopped the Sultan.” We see how Tadino's expertise came at a crucial moment when gunpowder was rendering centuries-old walls obsolete and Europe's power-hungry rulers—Henry VIII, Francis I, and Charles V—were too divided to mount a unified defense against Ottoman expansion. He pioneered counter-mining techniques like "camouflets," controlled explosions that buried enemy sappers alive, and ventilation shafts that redirected the force of gunpowder blasts away from fortress walls. His genius extended from Crete's massive Martinengo Bastion, which still stands today, to the walls of Vienna in 1529, where his underground warfare tactics stopped Suleiman's advance into Central.

Throughout the 16th century, one man stood between the Ottoman Empire and European domination, yet his name has been largely forgotten. Gabriele Tadino was an Italian military engineer whose genius transformed medieval warfare and saved Europe from one of history's greatest conquerors, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. In 1522, Tadino defied his Venetian masters by sneaking away in the night to defend Rhodes, where 700 Knights Hospitaller faced an impossible siege against 100,000 Ottoman troops. His revolutionary innovations&mdash;from acoustic devices using stretched skins and bells to detect enemy tunnels, to star-shaped fortifications that could withstand cannon fire&mdash;turned him into a legend among Renaissance military minds. Despite losing an eye in combat, Tadino continued directing the defense, holding off Suleiman for six months and forcing the Sultan to negotiate a peaceful surrender rather than achieve outright victory.
Today&rsquo;s guest is Edoardo Albert, author of &ldquo;The Man Who Stopped the Sultan.&rdquo; We see how Tadino's expertise came at a crucial moment when gunpowder was rendering centuries-old walls obsolete and Europe's power-hungry rulers&mdash;Henry VIII, Francis I, and Charles V&mdash;were too divided to mount a unified defense against Ottoman expansion. He pioneered counter-mining techniques like "camouflets," controlled explosions that buried enemy sappers alive, and ventilation shafts that redirected the force of gunpowder blasts away from fortress walls. His genius extended from Crete's massive Martinengo Bastion, which still stands today, to the walls of Vienna in 1529, where his underground warfare tactics stopped Suleiman's advance into Central.

How an Italian Engineer with 700 Knights Defeated 100,000 Ottoman Troops at the Siege Rhodes

America's Founding Fathers feared a standing army would inevitably threaten civilian governance. Yet 250 years later, the U.S. military remains a strange outlier among nearly every nation that has ever existed—maintaining its strength and popularity while never attempting a coup. How did America get this right when so many other nations, from Turkey to Latin America, have seen their militaries seize power?

The story begins with George Washington, who inspired mutinous soldiers to become the first army in a thousand years not to threaten democracy. But Washington's example alone doesn't explain America's success. Structural factors—dispersed urban centers, a benign international security environment, and urgent domestic threats from Native American conflicts—created a weak federal army and strong militia system that prevented military consolidation of power.

Today's guest is Kori Schake, author of The State and the Soldier: A History of Civil-Military Relations in the United States. We see many counter-intuitivie things, like how the Founding Fathers had it backwards. The creation of a professional military actually reduced challenges to civilian control. We know this because key crises tested this system that the US military was able to overcome without seizing power. They include Alexander Hamilton's ambitions to raise an army for foreign conquest, Aaron Burr's plot to overthrow the United States, Andrew Jackson's unauthorized invasion of Florida, Ulysses S. Grant navigating feuds between president and Congress, Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, Truman's firing of MacArthur during the Korean War, and confusion over nuclear launch authority during the Cold War.

As the public increasingly pulls the military into partisan divisions, the question remains: can America's exceptional civil-military relations endure?

America's Founding Fathers feared a standing army would inevitably threaten civilian governance. Yet 250 years later, the U.S. military remains a strange outlier among nearly every nation that has ever existed&mdash;maintaining its strength and popularity while never attempting a coup. How did America get this right when so many other nations, from Turkey to Latin America, have seen their militaries seize power?
The story begins with George Washington, who inspired mutinous soldiers to become the first army in a thousand years not to threaten democracy. But Washington's example alone doesn't explain America's success. Structural factors&mdash;dispersed urban centers, a benign international security environment, and urgent domestic threats from Native American conflicts&mdash;created a weak federal army and strong militia system that prevented military consolidation of power.
Today's guest is Kori Schake, author of The State and the Soldier: A History of Civil-Military Relations in the United States. We see many counter-intuitivie things, like how the Founding Fathers had it backwards. The creation of a professional military actually reduced challenges to civilian control. We know this because key crises tested this system that the US military was able to overcome without seizing power. They include Alexander Hamilton's ambitions to raise an army for foreign conquest, Aaron Burr's plot to overthrow the United States, Andrew Jackson's unauthorized invasion of Florida, Ulysses S. Grant navigating feuds between president and Congress, Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, Truman's firing of MacArthur during the Korean War, and confusion over nuclear launch authority during the Cold War.
As the public increasingly pulls the military into partisan divisions, the question remains: can America's exceptional civil-military relations endure?

Why America's Military Never Became a Threat to Democracy

Thomas Jefferson’s 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists famously described the First Amendment as building a "wall of separation between church and State." This line has been the gold standard for those who point to the secular origins of America and the threat of funding any sort of religious activity. But this idea of America as a secular republic built on Enlightenment ideals misses a critical truth: Christianity has been at the center of American public life since European colonization began 500 years ago. The Constitution didn't create a wall between church and state—it inadvertently created a "free market" for religion that allowed Christian activists to expand their influence in unexpected ways.

Today's guest is Matthew Avery Sutton, author of Chosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity. We see the different versions of Christianity imported during European colonization and how the absence of state control unleashed wildly eccentric religious movements that couldn't have happened in Europe. From revivalist preachers like Jonathan Edwards and Peter Cartwright to Billy Graham, and from liberal Congregationalists to twentieth-century mainline denominations, American Christianity constantly evolved.

We see this in the story of Abraham Lincoln, whose skepticism toward traditional Christianity in his twenties nearly derailed his political career. In his 1846 race against Methodist circuit rider Peter Cartwright, Lincoln faced accusations of being an infidel after openly rejecting his family's Christian faith. This episode reveals how, contrary to popular belief, America's founding generation allowed religious liberty not out of principle, but pragmatism—they needed to keep a fractious coalition together.

To understand what makes America unique, we must account for how Christianity shaped—and was shaped by—every major historical development in U.S. history. From tent revivals to megachurches, from abolition to segregation, Christianity's "free-market" evolution in America created something unlike anywhere else in the world.

Thomas Jefferson&rsquo;s 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptists famously described the First Amendment as building a "wall of separation between church and State." This line has been the gold standard for those who point to the secular origins of America and the threat of funding any sort of religious activity. But this idea of America as a secular republic built on Enlightenment ideals misses a critical truth: Christianity has been at the center of American public life since European colonization began 500 years ago. The Constitution didn't create a wall between church and state&mdash;it inadvertently created a "free market" for religion that allowed Christian activists to expand their influence in unexpected ways.
Today's guest is Matthew Avery Sutton, author of Chosen Land: How Christianity Made America and Americans Remade Christianity. We see the different versions of Christianity imported during European colonization and how the absence of state control unleashed wildly eccentric religious movements that couldn't have happened in Europe. From revivalist preachers like Jonathan Edwards and Peter Cartwright to Billy Graham, and from liberal Congregationalists to twentieth-century mainline denominations, American Christianity constantly evolved.
We see this in the story of Abraham Lincoln, whose skepticism toward traditional Christianity in his twenties nearly derailed his political career. In his 1846 race against Methodist circuit rider Peter Cartwright, Lincoln faced accusations of being an infidel after openly rejecting his family's Christian faith. This episode reveals how, contrary to popular belief, America's founding generation allowed religious liberty not out of principle, but pragmatism&mdash;they needed to keep a fractious coalition together.
To understand what makes America unique, we must account for how Christianity shaped&mdash;and was shaped by&mdash;every major historical development in U.S. history. From tent revivals to megachurches, from abolition to segregation, Christianity's "free-market" evolution in America created something unlike anywhere else in the world.

How Two California Wines Shattered Centuries of French Supremacy in a Blind Taste Test

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