We're Not So Different

In this episode, our 15th on Historical Materialism, we look at the years 1795-1815, aka, the Napoleonic era. Luke and Eleanor discuss how one man was able to stand astride history and use an army to smash most of the remaining vestiges of feudalism across western and central Europe, his many mistakes, and how, even though he hated the English, Napoleon ended up exporting their version of capitalism to the rest of Europe and eventually the world. also other stuff happens too, maybe

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor look at the years from 1750-1795 wherein we finally introduce Capitalism, America has a revolution, France has a much, much cooler revolution, and liberal ideas begin their spread across the world.

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor continue following the trajectory of historical materialism by discussing the emergence of the bourgeoisie, their first attempts at asserting power in the English Civil War, legislative enclosure, the Ottoman transformation, and the age of absolutism. covers the years from 1642 to 1750.

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor discuss a bunch of events that should've remained localized but, due to new technology, colonialism, and more, became huge events that changed the history of the entire human race. we talked about how the 30 Years' War led to the Peace of Westphalia, which directly led to World War 1. then we talk about internal Chinese politics that had massive global implications and helped spur on the Great Divergence. check it out! also: this is our 50th episode and we're so excited to keep doing them, thanks for listening!

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor continue the series on Historical Materialism by talking about how colonialism shaped the world in the Early Modern Era as well as the start of Mercantilism and the first true financial markets in the world. capitalism is right around the corner now...

in this episode, Luke and Eleanor discuss the end of the Medieval, or Post-Classical, era and the beginning of the Early Modern Period. they discuss a number of factors that pave the way for capitalism, including the rise of the printing press, the appearance of modern banking and lending practices, the Renaissance, and, finally, the Protestant Reformation.

happy new year, we're back! in this episode, Luke and Eleanor continue going through the series on Historical Materialism and finally make it to the Black Death, the mother of all external system shocks that kills anywhere from 15-40% of humans on earth and cracked the foundation of feudalism so badly that it would never recover.

happy holidays to all! in honor of Christmas, we decided to do a quick episode on the connections between Saturnalia and Christmas as well as look at what Christmas during the Middle Ages looked like. so check it out and have a happy holiday season!

Friday afternoon episode time! Luke and Eleanor continue the series on Historical Materialism by talking about the Medieval climate, which changed drastically between the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age, both of which caused massive changes across much of the world. They also discuss the rise of the modern nation-states, which began to take shape around this time.

and we're back after a one week hiatus! in this episode, Luke and Eleanor begin by discussing some of the more controversial modes of production that have been proposed, then move back into the early Middle Ages to discuss how the concept of Divine Right of Kings became entangled with modern state formation and the earliest instances of primitive accumulation of capital before it became a driving force later during the Age of Exploration.