History Impossible

History Impossible is back sooner than some may have anticipated for another installment of the Infinitesimal Impossibilities series, this time recorded in the spirit (and in the last hours) of Halloween 2020. This time, we cover a story that takes place in early 19th century New Orleans. It begins with a fire, or rather perhaps concludes with one. A large mansion whose hosts had been entertaining guests, catches fire from its upstairs kitchen. As people pour into the streets to watch the blaze, they see one of the slaves screaming from an upstairs window before she is engulfed in flames. When the fire brigade arrives, they demand to enter the premises to put out the remaining flames and check for survivors. The owner of the home, a Madame Delphine LaLaurie, and her husband, Dr. LaLaurie, wave away such suggestions. The fire brigade nevertheless gets their wish and enters the home, searching for survivors. After breaking open a secret door, the horrors they encounter on the other side beggar belief. Just as they discover the secret room, Dr. and Madame LaLaurie are spirited away in a carriage, never to be seen again. Who was Madame LaLaurie? Who was her husband, the good doctor? What was found behind the secret door? To where did this couple from the cream of the New Orleans high society crop disappear? Why did people come to believe the rebuilt mansion and its grounds were haunted? How much of the stories spun about the Mad Madame, as she came to be known, are even true? How does Nicolas Cage fit into all this? This will all be answered and more in this next installment of Infinitesimal Impossibilities. History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon and PayPal:Elias BorotaMatthew DakusKyle DillonGavin EdwardsPeter HauckDevin HrehaMike KalninsBenjamin LeeTyler Livingston Jose MartinezMike MaylebenJudy McCoidKostas MorosMolly PanJake PetersenJohn PisanoEdmund PlamowskiBrian PritzlPJ RaderAlison SaloSamEmily SchmidtSteve UhlerRicky WortheyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.

This episode is dedicated to Franco Bolelli.Since it's the year of our lord 2020, it was only inevitable that we'd talk about pandemics on History Impossible.What follows is an exploration of not just a pandemic and not just the most physically destructive pandemic in all of human history. What follows is an exploration of what a pandemic actually does. And by "does," we're talking about what it does to the human body, the human mind, and the wider social psychology of societies themselves, and of course, the historical consequences that result.The 1918 H1N1 Influenza A pandemic--better known as the "Spanish flu"--is known as a lot of things. A bizarre historical footnote that no one wanted to discuss. A force of nature more destructive than the Great War itself, rivaled only by the Second World War. And according to a small handful of medical historians, sociologists, and economists, quite possibly the reason for how things in that so-called "War to End All Wars" turned out and thus, everything that happened afterward.These are all things that will be covered and more, as the impossible case is laid that the Spanish flu was not just the secret fuel that powered the monumental tragedies of the 20th century, but gives us insight into the very thing that could eventually act as the fuel for the tragedies for the 21st.Special thanks to Vinny Andreotti, Sergey Cheremisinov, and Molly Pan & Eric Guillen for their incredible musical skills.History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon and PayPal:Elias BorotaMatthew DakusGavin EdwardsPeter HauckDevin HrehaMike KalninsBenjamin LeeTyler Livingston Jose MartinezMike MaylebenJudy McCoidKostas MorosMolly PanJake PetersenJohn PisanoEdmund PlamowskiBrian PritzlPJ RaderAlison SaloSamEmily SchmidtSteve UhlerRicky WortheyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.

As many of you are aware, I was recently featured among many other, far more talented history podcasters on Daniele Bolelli's History on Fire podcast in which we all discussed various figures and events in history that created massive ripples that no one could have predicted. My segment was focused on Confucius and how he basically shaped Chinese civilization forever, from the level of the family to the running of the government even under the Communists.In a generous move, the fine people at Luminary Media decided to let all of us present our segments on our own podcast feeds, so if you would like to hear my segment on its own as a little bonus, here you go! It's short (well, miniscule) by History Impossible standards, but it's got all the hallmarks: a weirdo main character, far reaching effects and influence, and consequences no one could possibly have predicted. Many thanks to Daniele Bolelli for organizing this, to my amazingly talented fellow podcasters, and to the folks at Luminary for making this all possible.History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon and PayPal:Elias BorotaMatthew DakusGavin EdwardsPeter HauckDevin HrehaMike KalninsBenjamin LeeTyler Livingston Jose MartinezMike MaylebenJudy McCoidKostas MorosMolly PanJake PetersenJohn PisanoEdmund PlamowskiBrian PritzlPJ RaderMark ReedAlison SaloSamEmily SchmidtSteve UhlerRicky WortheyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.

As History Impossible reaches its two year mark and the episodes get longer and longer, I figured that now was the time to do something different, namely to add a new show to the History Impossible family, as I've been calling it: Infinitesimal Impossibilities. These are stories that are simply too small--bite-sized, if you will--in comparison to the epic stories that have come to characterize History Impossible and to help me out with this, I've brought on my amazing Pop Quiz co-host (and victim) Molly Pan to help keep us on course. And speaking of staying on course, this first Infinitesimal Impossibility is indeed about a device that had a lot of a trouble staying on course without an amazing pilot behind it (and an ingenious design for its time). That would be the American Turtle, the first combat submarine ever deployed in the world. What makes this story so seemingly impossible has everything to do with when this device operated, namely in the lack of appropriate technology and the insane ingenuity and clever know-how by its creator, David Bushnell. So sit back and enjoy this first of hopefully many installments of Infinitesimal Impossibilities. As always, many thanks to Molly Pan for the artwork AND co-hosting duties. History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon and PayPal:Elias BorotaMatthew DakusGavin EdwardsPeter HauckDevin HrehaMike KalninsBenjamin LeeTyler Livingston Jose MartinezMike MaylebenJudy McCoidKostas MorosMolly PanJake PetersenJohn PisanoEdmund PlamowskiBrian PritzlPJ RaderMark ReedSamEmily SchmidtRicky WortheySteve UhlerBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.

Japan in the 16th and 17th century was going through profound changes, not least of which being the ongoing civil war that had been ripping it apart for over a century, with warlord fighting warlord on a whim, the famed samurai chopping each other to bits on scales rarely seen elsewhere in the world. The other profound change involved men in black robes preaching the word of a god that the Japanese people had never heard of, but who many nonetheless gravitated toward. The Jesuits of Portugal followed by the Franciscan friars were in the process of converting an entire nation to their religious apparatus, as part of a long game of colonization, all while the three great unifiers of Japan--warlords who took control in sequence, sometimes by force--we struggling to bring Japan together under their own banner. It was in April of 1600 that everything would change for everyone, when a Dutch ship piloted by one of the best English pilots Europe had ever seen, laid anchor off the coast of the southern island of Kyushu, its crew starving and half-mad after nearly two years trying to brave the two largest oceans on earth, losing not just most of their crew but the other four ships of the fleet she'd been a part of.  The pilot of this ship would not only become the spokesperson for both the Dutch and the British, but essentially all foreign powers trying to do business in Japan from here on out. And somehow, against all odds, he would manage to not just impress the shogun vying to rule over all of Japan--the famous Tokugawa Ieyasu--but he would become so valuable to the man and to his kingdom that he would become one of the few non-Japanese men to be granted the title of samurai, and one of even fewer Europeans.  This pilot's name was William Adams, and he was and remains the only British samurai to this day. This is the story of how something this impossible managed to happen, all through the simple act of assimilating to this new and alien culture. History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon and PayPal:Elias BorotaMatthew DakusGavin EdwardsPeter HauckDevin HrehaMike KalninsJose MartinezMike MaylebenJudy McCoidKostas MorosMolly PanJake PetersenJohn PisanoEdmund PlamowskiBrian PritzlPJ RaderMark ReedSamEmily SchmidtRicky WortheySteve UhlerBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.

In the mid-19th century, as one country in the West was on its way toward the most famous civil war, another country in the East was in the grips of one far larger and more significant than any that had come before or would come afterward, if only in terms of numbers. By the end of this conflict, known as China's Taiping Rebellion, over 20 million people would lay dead, and China's relationship with the West would never be the same.While the man who started this conflict--a self-proclaimed prophet and younger brother to Jesus Christ named Hong Xiuquan--was forming the seeds of this rebellion within his tortured mind, the man who would change the course of the Rebellion itself was coming of age and beginning his habit of traveling the world looking for adventure and action. That man's name was Frederick Townsend Ward, and his influence would be felt and then eventually forgotten across the world, thanks to his largely omitted place within the ranks of great men who fought in this great conflict.This is the story of Frederick Townsend Ward, as well as the story of the fall of China as everyone--including the Chinese--would know it for nearly 100 years. This is the story of how an American adventurer became an American mercenary and then became a citizen of the Chinese Empire, and more importantly, a hero to its people, namely those living in the growing port city of Shanghai, largely thanks to his formation of the greatest soldiers China had yet to see: the Ever Victorious Army, whose elite training at Ward's hand would shape the future of China's military forever.History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon and PayPal:Elias BorotaMatthew DakusGavin EdwardsPeter HauckJose MartinezMike MaylebenJudy McCoidKostas MorosMolly PanJohn PisanoEdmund PlamowskiPJ RaderMartin ReddinMark ReedStephen RoblemSamEmily SchmidtRicky WortheySteve UhlerBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.

In this newest entry into the Impossible Interview series, I had a chance to sit down (via Zoom) with the incredibly talented and generous-with-his time J.D. Huitt, the brains behind and face of History Underground and the excellent History Traveler series on YouTube (remember: LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE!). He ranks among the top three history content creators that I diligently follow on YouTube for his excellent-quality videos exploring famous (and not-so-famous-but-should-be-famous) historical locations, ranging from Arlington Cemetery to the beaches of Normandy to Ford's Theater to a German U-boat housed in a museum I somehow missed while living in Chicago. It's a little overwhelming at first due to the sheer volume of content, but it's all top-notch and I was glad to get to know a fellow history fan a little better (and keep in mind: J.D. is fighting the good fight working as a high school history teacher and from the sounds of it, doing it very well).This was more of a two-way interview since it both appears here in glorious audio form and on YouTube in video form, but it turned into a very interesting conversation both about History Impossible's process and History Underground's process, as well as the psychological approach to history, the consequences and realities of COVID-19, the weaponization of history, and even our stories of encountering political extremists. It was a fun time for both of us and I think it'll be a fun time for all of you as you wait for the next installment of the West Meets East trilogy.And quick note before anyone corrects me: I called J.D. the first history teacher I've managed to interview for the podcast, by which I meant the first HIGH SCHOOL history teacher I've gotten to interview. My previous two conversations with Daniele Bolelli and CJ Kilmer were indeed conversations with history teachers, but they are operating at the college level, so I'd be more inclined to call them professors. Semantics aside, enjoy the show!History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon and PayPal:Tony AndroskyElias BorotaMatthew DakusGavin EdwardsPeter HauckJose MartinezJudy McCoidKostas MorosMolly PanJohn PisanoPJ RaderMartin ReddinMark ReedStephen RoblemSamEmily SchmidtRicky WortheySteve UhlerBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.

Surprise!In light of the current quarantine in which becoming starved for content is actually a very real possibility, as well as a way to say thank you to all of you for your patience as I toiled away at this most recent episode, I decided the time would be right to toss a freebie everyone's way, with a special thank you directed at all of you kind enough to be financially supporting History Impossible through Patreon and PayPal donations.Normally the Pop Quiz is a fun goof to be enjoyed by the Patrons of History Impossible, but since everyone needs a laugh now and then--whether it's because life is being a jerk to a lot of us right now or because listening to the mainline History Impossible episodes can just be so soul-crushing (believe me, I'm right there with you)--both Molly and I thought it would be appropriate for the Pop Quiz to be available to everybody who tunes in. We know it's not for everybody, but it can indeed be a fun distraction. Regardless, from the bottom of my and Molly's hearts, thank you for listening, enjoying, and laughing, and please: stay safe out there.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.

Let's set the stage:The most explosive event of the 20th century has just occurred and it has nothing to do with Nazis or atomic bombs or American blue jeans. In 1917, the world's largest terrestrial imperial power began to rip itself apart and would continue to do so during the next half decade, leading to the only other power with the ability to challenge the United States.The First World War and the Russian Revolution are both well-tread territory, as is the subsequent Russian Civil War, but what many might not realize is that these events were much more complex than Great Powers destroying one another or  Communists overthrowing the Romanov monarchy. The world had been turned upside down. And not only were there far more interests at play in this new Great Game of the 20th Century--including everyone from Russians to the Chinese to the British to the Japanese--but a vacuum had been created, threatening to suck away and destroy any and all traces of meaning that had been built up over the previous millennium. That vacuum--more of a singularity--was unlike anything that had ever been experienced and it acted as a calling card for all sorts of bizarre and unlikely figures of differing political and religious ideologies, searching for the purpose that they lost. And since their world was no longer one they recognized, they would all become seduced by the legends and real-or-imagined mystique of the lands of Genghis Khan. Hardly any of these figures and their followers ever directly crossed paths and hardly any of them could ever be considered allies or fellow travelers of one another, with some being communists, others being religious nationalists, and some even being monarchist reactionaries. However, they all had one thing in common: they had been seduced by "the East" and were all determined to find their place in it, regardless of how ablaze with chaos and violence it had become. This is a story of legend and prophecy, of grand adventure and harsh survival, woo-woo telepathy experiments and communist sexual liberation, brutal theocratic violence and revolution, and a warlord that would fit right in with the world of Apocalypse Now or Blood Meridian: this is Central Asia in the early 20th century and the Europeans who tried to make it their last hope.History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon and PayPal:Tony AndroskyElias BorotaMatthew DakusGavin EdwardsPeter HauckJose MartinezJudy McCoidKostas MorosMolly PanJohn PisanoPJ RaderMartin ReddinMark ReedStephen RoblemEmily SchmidtJake SmithMatthew WilsonRicky WortheyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.

In this inaugural 2020 episode of History Impossible (and on the one year anniversary no less!), I sit down with CJ Killmer, host of the long-running and incredibly well-done Dangerous History Podcast. CJ has been one of my long-time inspirations for his capacity for detailed, deep dives into parts of history I literally had no interest in for most of my life (i.e. The American Civil War) and manage to completely draw me in with his nuanced, but strong takes. In this conversation, we discuss a wide range of topics, from anarchism to the Civil War's moral gray areas to the long-held notion of the American civic religion before moving on to get into the weeds as to why Woodrow Wilson just might be one of the most nefarious presidents in American history. It was a fun, in-depth, and incredibly illuminating conversation and I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did having it.Music provided by Pudge and Punk Rock Opera.History Impossible has been made possible by the following generous supporters on Patreon and PayPal:Elias BorotaMatthew DakusGavin EdwardsPeter HauckTrevor LindborgJose MartinezJudy McCoidKostas MorosMolly PanJohn PisanoPJ RaderMartin ReddinStephen RoblemEmily SchmidtJake SmithMatthew WilsonRicky WortheyBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/history-impossible--5634566/support.