Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong cover image

Historiansplaining: A historian tells you why everything you know is wrong

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Apr 6, 2021 • 41min

War & Pandemic, a Historian's Perspective; and Teaser: "The Founding Fathers"

Since the Covid-19 pandemic has killed over half a million Americans, is it historically sound to say that the disaster is "bigger" than World War II? What do such comparisons mean, and are they illuminating? Such questions are truly a new dilemma, since from ancient and biblical times through the First World War and the Spanish Flu pandemic, people have usually understood war and pestilence as going hand in hand. Here, I present a recording of my recent interview with a journalist about putting pandemic and war into historical perspective, followed by an excerpt from my recent patron-only lecture on "Myth of the Month 16: The Founding Fathers." Image: "Death on a Pale Horse," by Gustave Dore, 1865. Music: Fandango, by Soler or Scarlatti, early 1700s, arranged for Midi file by El Gran Mago Paco Quito. Please become a supporter to hear all Myths of the Month: www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632
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Mar 13, 2021 • 1h 16min

Emergency Podcast: The Royal Crisis in Historical Context

The messy exit of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from the royal family marks the third great crisis of the British monarchy in the past hundred years – following the abdication of Edward VIII to marry an American divorcee in 1936 and the breakup of Charles and Diana’s marriage in the 1990s. Michael and I discuss the ramifications for the monarchy, Britain, the empire, and the world, situating the disaster in the context of the crown’s central role in the long-running struggle to redefine Britain as it loses its imperial status. Since the reign of Victoria, the monarchy has lost its political “hard” power but has correspondingly gained in the “soft” power of social influence and celebrity, rising to become the primary symbol representing the British nation to itself, and forcing the monarch to navigate the tension between Britain’s place at the head of the multi-racial Commonwealth and its connection to Europe. The appearance and quick departure of a bi-racial American woman in the royal family serves as a test of the monarchy’s supposed embrace of a color-blind future. Link to beginning Vernon Bogdanor’s lecture series at Gresham College on the monarchy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZUQd22OdVk Please support in order to hear the upcoming Myth of the Month on the “Founding Fathers” – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632
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Mar 4, 2021 • 1h 33min

The Voynich Manuscript, the "World's Most Mysterious Book" -- A Historian's View -- pt. 2

The Voynich Manuscript -- often called the "world's most mysterious book" -- consists of 116 leaves of parchment covered in outlandish botanical and astrological drawings and thousands of lines of undeciphered text in an unknown language. A century after images of the codex were first published, still not one line has been decoded. What could it say? And more importantly from the historical perspective, who created it and why? This is the most balanced and impartial consideration of the evidence that you will find. Hear the first part of our investigation of the Voynich manuscript here: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/the-voynich-manuscript-the-worlds-most-mysterious-book-a-historians-view-pt-1 In this second part, we examine the mysterious text, and evidence as to its provenance and chain of ownership. Please become a patron to hear all the Myths of the Month – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632
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Feb 22, 2021 • 1h 11min

History of the United States in 100 Objects -- 15: The Newport Spirit Bundle, 1700s

A small cloth sack, containing nails, beads, glass, and a cowrie shell, found under the floorboards of the garret of the oldest house in Newport, Rhode Island, points toward the continuation and adaptation of African practices in New England and throughout the complex "African Atlantic." We discuss with Michael J. Simpson, Phd student at Brown University, who is researching slavery and the slave trade in Rhode Island. Thank you to the Newport Historical Society for their help on this installment. Image: Components of the spirit bundle in a museum display -- 2005.12, Collection of the Newport Historical Society. Suggested further reading: Jason R. Young, "Rituals of Resistance: African Atlantic Religion in Kongo and the Lowcountry South in the Era of Slavery"; Judith Carney, "Black Rice"; Wyatt MacGaffey, "The Personhood of Ritual Objects," Etnofoor, 1990; Woodruff, Sawyer, and Perry, "How Archaeology Exposes the Nature of African Captivity and Freedom in Eighteenth-Century Connecticut," in Connecticut History. Please become a patron to hear all of the History of the United States in 100 Objects – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632
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Feb 14, 2021 • 1h 22min

The Sabbatai Zevi Messianic Movement

I discuss, with Michael of "Xai, how are you?", the life and times of Sabbatai Zvi, the purported messiah of the 1660s, and the massive messianic awakening that he sparked and that swept across the entire Jewish diaspora in 1666, drawing in men and women, wealthy and poor, clergy and laity, Sephardic and Ashkenazi, and even Jews and gentiles. We consider the development of messianic theology and kabbalah that paved the way for the Sabbatian movement, as well as the lasting imprint that it left on Judaism in the modern era. Please become a patron to hear all the Myths of the Month – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632
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Feb 11, 2021 • 1h 41min

The Voynich Manuscript, the "World's Most Mysterious Book" -- A Historian's View -- pt. 1

The Voynich Manuscript -- often called the "world's most mysterious book" -- consists of 116 leaves of parchment covered in outlandish botanical and astrological drawings and thousands of lines of undeciphered text in an unknown language. A century after images of the codex were first published, still not one line has been decoded. What could it say? And more importantly from the historical perspective, who created it and why? This is the most balanced and impartial consideration of the evidence that you will find. In this first part, we consider the physical features and visual content of the book. In the second part, we examine the mysterious text, and evidence as to its provenance and chain of ownership: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/the-voynich-manuscript-the-worlds-most-mysterious-book-a-historians-view-pt-2 Please become a patron to hear all the Myths of the Month – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Suggested further reading: Carlo Ginzburg, "The Night Battles" and "Ecstasies: Deciperhing the Witches' Sabbath"; Tucker and Janick, "Identification of Phytomorphs in theVoynich Codex," hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/pdfs/hr44…1-phytomorphs.pdf
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Jan 27, 2021 • 1h 34min

Myth of the Month 15: "The State"

What did Shakespeare mean when he wrote that “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”? Why do we call independent countries “states” endowed with “sovereignty”? Why do historians and philosophers speak of “state formation” and clashes between “church and state”? How did these concepts come about, and what do they mean in international law and political theory? The answer runs from absolutist royal courts through the French Revolution and the Weimar republic of Germany; after centuries of struggle and democratization, the concept of “the state” has formed to fill the vacuum left behind by the Crown. Please become a patron to hear all the Myths of the Month – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Image: Christiansborg, the parliamentary palace of Denmark. Recent NPR segment in which I am quoted – https://www.npr.org/2021/01/26/960631333/covid-19-deaths-draw-comparisons-to-other-tragic-death-tolls Introductory episode of “God Save America,” on religion in the US – https://soundcloud.com/godsaveamerica/0-introduction
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Jan 26, 2021 • 26min

UNLOCKED: History of the United States in 100 Objects -- 10: The Peregrine White Cradle, ca. 1620

Unlocked for the public after one year for patrons only: --Made of willow wicker on a wood frame --Made ca. 1620, most likely in the Netherlands --Allegedly brought on the Mayflower; held by the Pilgrim Hall Museum, Plymouth, Mass. This rocking cradle was reportedly stowed on the Mayflower in anticipation of the birth of Peregrine White, the first English child born in New England, who came into the world as the ship was temporarily anchored in Provincetown Harbor. Passed down for centuries in the wealthy, powerful, and embattled White and Winslow families, the cradle reflects both the Pilgrims' unprecedented ambition to create a self-perpatuating European society in exile, and their strict child-rearing practices that sought to shape the infant into a miniature adult. Please become a patron to hear all lectures on the History of the United States in 100 Objects! ---- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632
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Jan 13, 2021 • 1h 41min

Creating the Caribbean -- The Colonial West Indies, pt. 1, 1496-1697

How did a chain of sparsely populated islands, stalked by earthquakes, hurricanes, and deadly tropical diseases, become the most powerful and prosperous colonies on earth? We trace how bands of adventurers, including pirates and Crusader knights, took advantage of Spain's fragile hold on the Caribbean islands, superior seafaring skills, and the growing slave trade, to build unlikely new societies, while the Irish and African laborers that they forced into service adapted or struck out for freedom. Image: 17th-century drawing of Tortuga, while it was ruled by the "Brethren of the Coast." please become a patron! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Inaugural episode of "God Save America," on religion in the United States: https://soundcloud.com/godsaveamerica/0-introduction
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Jan 9, 2021 • 2h 49min

Unlocked: Myth of the Month 10, pt. 4: the Shakespeare Authorship Controversy

Unlocked for the public, after one year for patrons only, the final lecture of the series on Shakespeare: Could it be that "Shakespeare" wasn't Shakespeare? -- That someone else, perhaps a highly-educated aristocrat, actually wrote the works attributed to the actor from Stratford? Am I a crackpot for even entertaining such a ridiculous idea? We consider the evidence. I know this is an absurdly long one, but forgive me, it was so much fun to research and record. please become a patron! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Suggested Further Reading: S. Shoenbaum, "Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life"; Diana Price, "Shakespeare's Unorthodox Biopgraphy"; James Shapiro, "Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare?"

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