Creating History

ClearStory
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Creating History

From Creating History - the team behind Creating Churchill - comes a gripping new season of high-stakes diplomacy, backroom negotiations, and world-altering decisions. This is Summitry. Twelve episodes exploring pivotal meetings that shaped history. When Hitler met Chamberlain. When Kennedy clashed with Khrushchev. When Bush and Blair stood shoulder to shoulder. When Trump had a shouting match with Zelenskyy. History isn’t just written - it’s negotiated. Hosted by Russell Barnes and historian David Reynolds, Summitry takes you inside the rooms where power, pressure and politics collide. Each episode unpacks a defining diplomatic summit, revealing the human drama, strategic manoeuvring and lasting impacts of these encounters. Featuring expert analysis and rich historical context, this series pulls back the curtain on the meetings that changed the course of history. In an era of fractured alliances and shifting global power, understanding the past has never been more urgent. Because when leaders meet, the world changes… Follow the show at @Creating_Hist on X or Instagram, and send us your comments, voice notes and questions by email to: info@clearstory.co.uk Creating History is a ClearStory production. www.clearstory.co.uk

  1. Summitry: Nutcracker

    6D AGO

    Summitry: Nutcracker

    Step into the pressure cooker of Cold War diplomacy as we dissect the explosive 1961 Vienna Summit - a face-off between John F. Kennedy, America’s untested young president, and Nikita Khrushchev, the coarse and caustic Soviet leader hardened by years in Stalin’s shadow. These two leaders collided in a high-stakes game of brinkmanship. Kennedy sought to project strength; Khrushchev aimed to dominate. But beneath their polished façades lurked brittle egos, domestic pressures, and fatal miscalculations. Over two fraught days, their clash of personalities spiralled into a diplomatic disaster, setting the stage for the Cuban Missile Crisis and America’s plunge into Vietnam. This wasn’t just a summit—it was a tinderbox. Why did talking nearly ignite a war? How did ego and insecurity rewrite the course of history? “Nutcracker” unpacks the perilous dance of power, revealing how the wrong words, at the wrong time, can push the world to the edge.

    50 min
  2. Summitry: Big Three

    MAR 27

    Summitry: Big Three

    In this episode: we dissect the Tehran and Yalta summits between the so-called ’Big Three’ of Allied leaders in World War Two, American President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin. At Tehran in late November 1943, the Allies hammered out their strategy for defeating Nazi Germany. At Yalta in February 1945, they attempted to lay the groundwork of a post-war world as the war entered its final months. So these were the most consequential summits of World War II, arguably of the 20th century. They resolved some key disagreements among the Allies, but they also exposed deep tensions that would go on to shape the Cold War and the entire post-war order.

    39 min
  3. Summitry: Peace for Our Time part 2

    MAR 20

    Summitry: Peace for Our Time part 2

    In this second episode dissecting the tense negotiations of September 1938, when Neville Chamberlain raced against time to prevent a war with Hitler’s Germany over Czechoslovakia, historian David Reynolds and producer Russell Barnes unpack the dramatic backstory of the Munich Agreement. While Munich is often remembered as a capitulation to Nazi aggression, the reality was messier - a labyrinth of diplomacy, desperation, self-delusion and high-stakes brinkmanship. Discover the zigzagging drama behind the infamous pact and why its legacy remains so fiercely debated. Was it a surrender... a product of hubris ... or a strategic bid to buy time for rearmament?

    43 min
  4. Summitry: Peace for Our Time part 1

    MAR 13

    Summitry: Peace for Our Time part 1

    Step into the high-stakes world of 1938, where peace in Europe hung on a series of summits between Adolf Hitler and Neville Chamberlain, culminating in the notorious Munich Agreement of 30th September. Historian David Reynolds and producer Russell Barnes dissect Neville Chamberlain’s desperate bid to avoid war, 20 years after WW1’s ”war to end all wars”, and explore the clash of wills between a democratic leader and a dictator hellbent on conflict. From tense negotiations to the birth of modern summitry, this is diplomacy under a microscope - raw, risky and relentlessly human.

    39 min
  5. Inventing Summitry

    MAR 6

    Inventing Summitry

    In episode 1 of Summitry, producer Russell Barnes and historian David Reynolds explore the backstory of high-stakes diplomacy on the world stage, from the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520)—where Henry VIII and Francis I staged the ultimate power flex—to the Congress of Berlin (1878), where Europe’s balance of power was redrawn. Fast forward to today: with seismic shifts in world affairs, the rise of digital diplomacy, and Trump’s dramatic, unpredictable summits, understanding the history of summitry has never been more urgent.

    31 min
  6. Creating Churchill: CONCLUSIONS

    11/30/2024

    Creating Churchill: CONCLUSIONS

    In the final episode of the series, published on the 150th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s birth, David and Russell bring together the main themes of the podcast, discussing Churchill’s positive and negative character traits as seen through his contemporaries’ eyes and responding to questions and comments sent in by listeners.

    39 min
  7. Creating Churchill: DEVOTED CRITIC

    11/28/2024

    Creating Churchill: DEVOTED CRITIC

    In this episode, we come to the person who knew Winston Churchill better than any other, and for the longest time - his wife of 56 years, Clementine. Their marriage was a stormy but very successful double act. Through Clemmie’s eyes, we see Churchill at his most vulnerable and insufferable…

    48 min
  8. Creating Churchill: OPPOSITION

    11/21/2024

    Creating Churchill: OPPOSITION

    In this episode, we explore Winston Churchill’s relationship with his political opponent Clement Attlee: Labour leader, wartime coalition colleague and eventually Churchill’s successor as Prime Minister in 1945.

    30 min
See All (17)

Trailer

About

From Creating History - the team behind Creating Churchill - comes a gripping new season of high-stakes diplomacy, backroom negotiations, and world-altering decisions. This is Summitry. Twelve episodes exploring pivotal meetings that shaped history. When Hitler met Chamberlain. When Kennedy clashed with Khrushchev. When Bush and Blair stood shoulder to shoulder. When Trump had a shouting match with Zelenskyy. History isn’t just written - it’s negotiated. Hosted by Russell Barnes and historian David Reynolds, Summitry takes you inside the rooms where power, pressure and politics collide. Each episode unpacks a defining diplomatic summit, revealing the human drama, strategic manoeuvring and lasting impacts of these encounters. Featuring expert analysis and rich historical context, this series pulls back the curtain on the meetings that changed the course of history. In an era of fractured alliances and shifting global power, understanding the past has never been more urgent. Because when leaders meet, the world changes… Follow the show at @Creating_Hist on X or Instagram, and send us your comments, voice notes and questions by email to: info@clearstory.co.uk Creating History is a ClearStory production. www.clearstory.co.uk

Information

  • Creator
    ClearStory
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    17
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Creating History

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