S8 Ep572: 9. Professor Paul Thomas Chamberlain of Columbia University recounts the November 1941 White House meetings where U.S. leaders prepared for an imminent, yet poorly understood, Japanese attack. He explains that military planners initially focused on the Ph
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 12 March 2026
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
9. Professor Paul Thomas Chamberlainof Columbia University recounts the November 1941 White House meetingswhere U.S. leaders prepared for an imminent, yet poorly understood, Japaneseattack. He explains that military planners initially focused on the Philippines and discounted a strike on Pearl Harborbecause they underestimated the lethality of aircraft carriers. Chamberlain highlights that this era marked the transition from traditional battleship-centric warfare to the carrier-dominated strategies that would define the Pacific theater. (9)
1942 MERCHANT MARINE
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| 0:47.2 | It's a great pleasure to welcome Professor Paul Thomas Chamberlain. |
| 0:51.9 | He's a Columbia University teaching contemporary history, |
| 0:55.2 | that is, within the last hundred years, |
| 0:56.8 | especially the subject of his new book, |
| 0:59.9 | Scorched Earth, a global history of World War II. |
| 1:04.6 | Professor, congratulations, a very good evening to you. |
| 1:07.7 | We go right to a moment you very carefully described. November 25th, |
| 1:13.0 | 1941 at the White House. President Roosevelt held a meeting with Secretary of State Cordell |
| 1:17.9 | Hall, Secretary of the Navy, William Franklin Knox, Army Chief of Staff, George Marshall, |
| 1:23.9 | Admiral Harold Stark of the Navy, Secretary of War, Henry Stimson. |
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