The Industrial Revolutions
The story of how a primate species created a world full of skyscrapers, airplanes, nuclear weapons, and vaccines. From the mass production of cotton weaving in the first industrial revolution of the 18th Century, to the digital revolution of today, this podcast will explore the ways our world has rapidly changed.
Latest episodes
12 snips
Feb 1, 2019 • 29min
Chapter 2: Europe in the Middle Ages
Europe was (rightly or wrongly) considered the backwater of the civilized world for most of history. So how is it the Europeans built global empires and changed the world with industrialization?In this 25-minute episode, I’m going to run through the developments of the Middle Ages and the circumstances of life in Europe that gradually led to a new world order. Topics include:The impact of Ancient RomeThe Dark AgesThe CrusadesThe Black DeathTrade with the Islamic WorldThe early days of modern financeThe rebirth of learning and practical inventions
19 snips
Jan 31, 2019 • 40min
Chapter 1: Genesis
In this episode, we cover the origins of human society, which remained relatively unchanged until the Industrial Revolutions:How we evolved into “smart man”How we stopped foraging and started farmingHow we started building citiesHow we developed trade and moneyHow we developed government and religionHow we invented writingHow we developed a system of social inequalityHow our ideas spread out across the Eurasian landmass
Jan 7, 2019 • 4min
Introduction
When the founding fathers wrote the U.S. Constitution in the 1780s, life on planet earth had changed very slowly over the previous 10,000 years. Life in 1780 wasn’t all that different from life in 1500. Life in 1500 wasn’t all that different from life in 1250. Life in 1250 wasn’t all that different from life in 1000. And so on, and so on.But then the human experience changed completely: Where we live, how long we live, when we work, when we sleep, how we go about our lives. It’s time we told that story. This is the Industrial Revolutions.
