On August 2, 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded the tiny emirate of Kuwait. The resulting conflict triggered a chain reaction that changed the world. In this first installment in a three-part series, we trace the origins of the Kuwait crisis, chronicle Saddam’s rise to power in Iraq, and explore America’s symbiotic relationship with the Persian Gulf.  SOURCES: Aburish, Said K. Saddam Hussein: The Politics of Revenge. 2000. Atkinson, Rick. Crusade: The Untold Story of the Gulf War. 1993. Al-Radi, Nuha. Baghdad Diaries. 1998. Charles Rivers Editors. The Gulf War. 2018. Coll, Steve. Ghost Wars. 2004. Coll, Steve. Branigin, William. “US scrambled to shape view of ‘Highway of Death’”. 3.11.1991. Corrigan, Jim. Desert Storm Air War. 2017. Coughlin, Con. Saddam: His Rise and Fall. 2005.  Dunnigan, James F. Macedonia, Raymond M. Getting It Right. 1995.  Finlan, Alastair. The Gulf War 1991. 2003.  Gordon, Michael R. Trainer, Bernard E. The General’s War. 1995.  Hallion, Richard P. Desert Storm 1991. 2022.  Hiro, Dilip. Desert Shield to Desert Storm: The Second Gulf War. 1991.  Hiro, Dilip. Cold War in the Islamic World. 2018. Karsh, Efraim. The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988. 1989. Karsh, Efraim. Rautsi, Inari. Saddam Hussein. A Political Biography. 1991. Khadduri, Majid. Ghareeb, Edmund. War in the Gulf, 1990-1991. 1999.  Mufson, Steven. 1990 Aug 6. “Kuwait Assets Form Vast, Frozen Empire”. The Washington Post. Murray, Williamson. Woods, Kevin M. The Iran-Iraq War. 2014. Meacham, Jon. Destiny and Power. 2015. Morris, David J. Storm on the Horizon. 2004.  Riedel, Bruce. Kings and Presidents: Saudi Arabia and the United States. 2019. Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead. 2003.  Wyndham, Buck. Hogs in the Sand. 2020.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Where does the two-day weekend come from? In this standalone episode of Conflicted, we trace the historical trajectory of that oasis of leisure and free time we call “the weekend”.  From its mystical beginnings in the religions of antiquity to its hard-fought development in Gilded Age America, we’ll untangle the surprising origins of everyone’s favorite part of the week.  SOURCES: Hunnicutt, Benjamin. Free Time: The Forgotten American Dream. 2013. Onstad, Katrina. The Weekend Effect. 2017.  Loomis, Erik. A History of America in Ten Strikes. 2018. Murolo, Priscilla. Chitty, A.B. From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend. 2001. Green, James. Death in Haymarket. 2006.  Brecher, Jeremy. STRIKE! 1972.  Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. 1980. Thomas, Gordan. Morgan-Witts, Max. The Day the Bubble Burst. 1979. BBC. (2019, September 5). Who invented the weekend? BBC Bitesize. Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. “Presidential Speeches: Downloadable Data.” Accessed Feb 19, 2023. data.millercenter.org  Captivating History. The Industrial Revolution. 2020.  Grossman, Jonathan. “Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage.” Monthly Labor Review 101, no. 6 (1978): 22–30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41840777. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a plot to assassinate Mohandas Gandhi unfolds, the Mahatma goes to existential lengths to reconcile India’s Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities. Meanwhile, a shadow war erupts between India and Pakistan over the picturesque kingdom of Kashmir, threatening the future of both nations. Jawaharlal Nehru bids farewell to friends, a lover, and the innocence of the nation he must now lead. A dying Muhammed Ali Jinnah reflects on his choices.  Sources: Akbar, M.J. Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. 2011. Tharoor, Shashi. Nehru: The Invention of India. 2003. Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What The British Did To India. 2017. Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2007. Guha, Ramachandra. Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World. 2018. Collins, Larry; Lapierre, Dominique. Freedom at Midnight. 1975.  Sarila, Narendra Singh. The Shadow of the Great Game. 2005. Charles Rivers Editors. The Punjab. 2018. Charles Rivers Editors. British India. 2017. Puri, Kavita. Partition Voices: Untold British Stories. 2019. Malhotra, Aanchal. Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects From A Continent Divided. 2017. Von Tunzelmann, Alex. Indian Summer. 2007. Zakaria, Anam. The Footprints of Partition. 2015. Ahmed Akbar. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity. 1997. Urvashi, Butalia. The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. 1998. White-Spunner, Barney. Partition. 2017. Lawrence, James. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. 1997. Hamdani, Yasser Latif. Jinnah: A Life. 2020. Fischer, Louis. Gandhi. 1950.  Kidwai, Anis. In Freedom’s Shade. 2011.  Saxena, Chandni. “ON RELIGION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON WOMEN DURING PARTITION OF INDIA.” 2014.  “India: A People Partitioned” Broadcast on the BBC World Service, 1997. Compiled and presented by Andrew Whitehead, producer Zina Rohan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The “chief sufferers” of Partition, according to Mohandas Gandhi, were women. As the subcontinent descended into chaos, women of all three religious communities become prime targets in the war for honor and land. Across the Punjab, tens of thousands of women and girls were assaulted, abducted and trafficked across the border. In response, the governments of India and ­Pakistan worked together to recover them – with mixed, and tragic, results.  Sources: Akbar, M.J. Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. 2011. Tharoor, Shashi. Nehru: The Invention of India. 2003. Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What The British Did To India. 2017. Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2007. Guha, Ramachandra. Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World. 2018. Sarila, Narendra Singh. The Shadow of the Great Game. 2005. Charles Rivers Editors. The Punjab. 2018. Charles Rivers Editors. British India. 2017. Puri, Kavita. Partition Voices: Untold British Stories. 2019. Malhotra, Aanchal. Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects From A Continent Divided. 2017. Von Tunzelmann, Alex. Indian Summer. 2007. Zakaria, Anam. The Footprints of Partition. 2015. Ahmed Akbar. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity. 1997. Urvashi, Butalia. The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. 1998. White-Spunner, Barney. Partition. 2017. Lawrence, James. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. 1997. Hamdani, Yasser Latif. Jinnah: A Life. 2020. Fischer, Louis. Gandhi. 1950.  Kidwai, Anis. In Freedom’s Shade. 2011.  Saxena, Chandni. “ON RELIGION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON WOMEN DURING PARTITION OF INDIA.” 2014.  “India: A People Partitioned” Broadcast on the BBC World Service, 1997. Compiled and presented by Andrew Whitehead, producer Zina Rohan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Partition finally becomes reality in August 1947, the new boundary sparks a mass migration in the Punjab and Bengal. Atrocity and ethnic cleansing soon follow. The Sikhs, a long-ignored but well-armed religious minority, mobilize to stake their claim. Edwina Mountbatten and Jawaharlal Nehru plunge into the fray, desperate to assuage a refugee crisis in the city of Delhi.  Sources: Akbar, M.J. Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan. 2011. Tharoor, Shashi. Nehru: The Invention of India. 2003. Tharoor, Shashi. Inglorious Empire: What The British Did To India. 2017. Khan, Yasmin. The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan. 2007. Guha, Ramachandra. Gandhi: The Years That Changed The World. 2018. Sarila, Narendra Singh. The Shadow of the Great Game. 2005. Charles Rivers Editors. The Punjab. 2018. Charles Rivers Editors. British India. 2017. Puri, Kavita. Partition Voices: Untold British Stories. 2019. Malhotra, Aanchal. Remnants of Partition: 21 Objects From A Continent Divided. 2017. Von Tunzelmann, Alex. Indian Summer. 2007. Zakaria, Anam. The Footprints of Partition. 2015. Ahmed Akbar. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity. 1997. Urvashi, Butalia. The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India. 1998. White-Spunner, Barney. Partition. 2017. Lawrence, James. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. 1997. Hamdani, Yasser Latif. Jinnah: A Life. 2020. Fischer, Louis. Gandhi. 1950.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices