The Industrial Revolutions

This week, we’re stepping away from Europe and the United States to look at the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the rest of the world. Among other places, we’ll be visiting Mexico, Brazil, Egypt, India, China, and Australia.Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

This week we discuss how railroads rapidly spread across Great Britain, the United States, and Continental Europe between 1830 and 1848. In particular, we’ll focus on the unique ways railroads developed in each country, the civil engineers who built them, and the economic and social impacts of Railway Mania.Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

By the 1820s, canal transport could no longer keep pace with the efficiencies of mass production in British factories. It would take a new machine – built by impressive (and often colorful) characters – to move freight and passengers on railways at previously unimaginable speeds.Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain made the surprising success story of the Rothchilds possible. And the Rothschilds, in turn, made the Industrial Revolution possible across the rest of Europe. In this episode, we’ll cover:Mayer Amschel Rothschild’s business in the Frankfurt ghettoNathan Rothschild’s activities in industrial ManchesterThe big gamble the Rothschilds made against NapoleonHow Salomon and James Rothschild brought the railroads and other industry to the ContinentAnd moreCheck out “Pessimists Archive” Podcast: https://pessimists.co/Support the Industrial Revolutions on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

Dive into the fascinating world of classical economics, where optimism mingles with skepticism. Discover the impactful ideas of Jean-Baptiste Say and David Ricardo, especially around free trade and labor. Unpack the economic clash over the Corn Laws in 19th century Britain, revealing the tension between landowners and industrialists. Explore the evolution of economic theories that address labor exploitation and the value of goods, while tracing the influence of key thinkers on modern economics and socialism.

Going back to the 1600s, the development of modern financial systems transformed life on planet earth. Debt markets and stock markets helped industrialization spread and remain ever-growing. They’ve also created a new phenomenon: The boom-and-bust cycle. And it seems that we, as a species, have decided that the key benefits of financial modernization – technological progress and mostly continuous economic growth – outweigh the anxieties and the risks of it.Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

The practice of slavery was as old as the written word. But in the age of Europe’s global empires, it took a racist and even more sinister turn. Then, in the years between 1807 and 1819, with the rise of liberalism and industrialization, western powers began to end the transatlantic slave trade as a first step to ending slavery. In this episode, we’ll discuss how it happened in France, Great Britain, and the United States.Support the podcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

As chemistry advanced in the 18th Century, it was applied to perhaps the all-time greatest dream of humankind: Learning how to fly. In this episode, we meet the men who made it possible as “Balloonmania” took off in France, and then across the industrializing world.Support the Industrial Revolutions on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/indrevpod

The Industrial Revolutions is on Patreon! Become a sustaining supporter today: https://patreon.com/indrevpodThe Industrial Revolutions store is live! Get your t-shirts or sticker here: https://industrialrevolutionspod.com/storeAs capitalists invested in machine technology, they put many of their traditional competitors out of business, forcing them into the factories as deskilled workers. Then, between falling incomes and rising prices, those began to strike back. And the Luddites – a shadowy network of militant 20-somethings, led by a man who probably never existed – went to war with the machines and their owners. This is their story.

One of the world’s first coal-powered factories was the Albion Mills, smack-dab in the heart of London. Built by Boulton & Watt, it put the competition out of business. Its eventual destruction was a source of inspiration, not only for a burgeoning labor movement, but for one of Britain’s most important poets – and England’s unofficial national anthem.