Patrick Luiz Sullivan De Oliveira

Patrick Luiz Sullivan De Oliveira is an assistant professor of history at IE University in Madrid and author of Ascending Republic. He discusses the surprising revival of ballooning in 19th-century France, illustrating how this once-novelty became a symbol of national identity post-Franco-Prussian War. The conversation dives into the balloon's cultural symbolism, its association with social status, and the significant yet overlooked contributions of women in the field. De Oliveira also ties ballooning to French colonial ambitions and the evolution of flight into modern warfare.