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

We examine the so-called "zero point of history," the "first temple," the "world's oldest building," the massive and deeply ancient complex of stone-age megalithic monuments on a hilltop in Turkey, which since being uncovered in the 1990s, has dramatically overturned received ideas about the beginnings of civilization. Please sign up as a patron to hear patron-only lectures, including the previous installment of "Doorways in Time" on The Library of Ashurbanipal: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

In the final lecture on Florida, we examine how the tropical state, thanks to innovations like DDT, orange-juice concentrate, and air conditioning, was able to boom at an unimaginable pace, rocketing into the top five biggest states in the union, with massive scientific and artistic communities, a diverse immigrant mosaic, and after the Civil Rights movement, exceptionally volatile and unpredictable politics. We consider the importance of the last great expression of Florida utopianism -- namely, Disney World -- and the shift into a perceived playground of anarchy and American dreams gone mad, as personified in the notorious "Florida Man." Rolling Stone article outline ways to help Florida, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico following Hurricane Ian: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/hurricane-ian-victims-help-donate-florida-puerto-rico-cuba-dominican-republic-1234601215/ Suggested further reading: Gannon, "Florida: A Short History"; Nolan, "Fifty Feet in Paradise: The Booming of Florida." Please sign up as a patron at any level in order to hear patron-only materials, including the latest "Myth of the Month" on Conspiracy Theories -- https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Sam interviews historian Margarita Fajardo, a professor of history at Sarah Lawrence College, about her new book, “The World That Latin America Created,” which traces how a movement of scholars and statesmen centering around CEPAL, a UN economic commission based in Santiago, Chile, formulated a new world-view and far-reaching agenda to foster unity and development in Latin America; the so-called “Capalinos” rose to dominance and set the policy agenda in Brazil and other countries in the 1950s and ‘60s and then set the stage for dependency theory, which took the world by storm in the 1970s. We also discuss how the travails of the Cepalinos might shed light on the transformations currently happening in Chile, Colombia, and other Latin American nations and the horizons that they might open up. Margarita’s book opening will be at: Location: Recirculation (a branch of Wordup Community Bookshop), 876 Riverside Drive, New York, NY Time: Saturday Sept. 24th, starting at 11am. Please support this podcast to hear patron-only materials, including the recent lecture on Conspiracy Theories: www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

We consider how the crisis of legitimacy and breakdown of order following the downfall of the Zhou dynasty spurred on a flowering of philosophy, as various scholars and sages sought new principles to guide life and achieve harmony, giving rise to the enduring teachings of Taoism and Confucianism, as well as other long-forgotten sects ranging from draconian legalists to humanitarian pacifists. Hear the first lecture on China here: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/china-pt-1-making-the-middle-kingdom Image: Song-era painting of a landscape with three men laughing, symbolizing Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Please support this podcast to hear patron-only materials, including the recent lecture on Conspiracy Theories: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Where do conspiracy theories come from? Why do some people believe in them and not others? Aren't some of them true? And what kind of purpose or agenda is served by setting apart "conspiracy thories" as a distinct realm of thought? We weigh and examine all the different perspectives, and consider why conspiracy theories are an unavoidable and fundamental aspect of modern democracy. This is a short excerpt -- please become a patron at any level to hear the whole discussion and all the patron-only lectures: https://www.patreon.com/posts/myth-of-month-20-70438551

Unlocked after one year for patrons only: The secretive Gnostic stream of Christianity, which taught a radically different metaphysics and spiritual cosmology from "orthodox" doctrine in the first four hundred years of the church, was largely lost to history, until 1945, when a camel-herder in a remote part of Egypt stumbled upon an old ceremic jar with 13 massive books containing 52 ancient Gnostic texts. We consider what the so-called "Nag Hammadi LIbrary," which may have been hidden in the desert to protect it from destruction, reveals about the origins and importance of the Gnostics' secret teachings. Image: A Nag Hammadi codex open to the beginning of the Apocryphon of John. Suggested further reading: Jean Doresse, "The Discovery of the Nag Hammadi Texts"; Elaine Pagels, "The Gnostic Gospels." Please sign up as a patron to hear all patron-only lectures: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

We follow the southward-racing juggernaut of modern Florida, from statehood in 1845 to the 1930s – the insatiable quest of visionaries and megalomaniacs, from Jewish utopians, to slave-driving planters, to evangelical missionaries, to black politicians, to hotel magnates, to messianic cult leaders, to women’s suffragists, to Cuban revolutionaries, to bohemian poets, to impose a sense of order upon the chaotic and unruly wilderness of tropical Florida. Though ignored in our national mythology and dismissed as a southern backwater, the state was the site of the first confrontation of the Civil War, and of the longest-lasting and most aggressive Reconstruction regime, which created the first universal public school system in the South and fostered the first booming tourist economy in America, spearheaded by none other than Harriet Beecher Stowe. We conclude our journey through Florida with an examination of Florida literature, ending with an analysis of Wallace Stevens’ ode to Florida, “The Idea of Order at Key West.” Suggested Further Reading: Foster & Foster, “Beechers, Stowes, and Yankee Strangers: The Transformation of Florida”; J. T. Kirby, “Mockingbird Song: Ecological Landscapes of the South.” Please sign up as a patron to hear the next Myth of the Month – www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

We follow the long struggle to build power, wealth, and lasting harmony on the rich but harsh and unforgiving landscape of China – from early farming villages, to the quasi-legendary early emperors, through dynasties obsessed with ritual and divination, the age of fragmentation and warring states, and finally, the dramatic quest for unification by the ruthless emperor that gave China its name. We learn the causes and contexts for the creation of the first Great Wall, the invention of wet rice farming and hydraulic engineering, the composition of ancient classics like the I Ching and the Art of War, and the appearance of the powerful philosophies of Confucianism and Taoism. Hear my next lecture on China here: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/china-pt-2-water-and-music-early-chinese-philosophy Suggested further reading: Li Feng, “Early China”; Yap & Cotterell, “The Early Civilization of China” Image: Bronze ceremonial vessel from Zhou dynasty Please sign up as a patron to hear the next Myth of the Month -- https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

--Three pendant amulets, in form of a forearm with closed fist --made of silver; ---about ½ inch to 2/3 inches long --found in midden at site of Spanish outpost, Los Adaes, in present-day Louisiana --dated to 18th century These three silver amulets in the form of a fist, found among the remains of the Spanish colonial fortress of Los Adaes in modern-day Louisiana, were intended to protect women and infants against the evil eye during childbirth. They reflect the fear, conflict, and struggle over control of sex and reproduction, as well as good and evil magic, at a remote colonial outpost. Please support to hear all patron-only lectures, including the previous installment of "100 Objects" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/61475405 Link to Twitter Space discussion for listeners and supporters, on July 2nd: https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1ypKdEwVRWgGW?s=20

Unlocked after a year for patrons only: An elaborately carved oak chest of unknown origin, but marked with the initials of a young unmarried lady, exemplifies the first regional artistic style ever to arise in the American colonies -- the "Hadley Chests" of the Connecticut River valley. Suggested reading: Clair Franklin Luther, "The Hadley Chest." The Winterthur Museum catalog entry on the chest, with more photos: http://museumcollection.winterthur.org/single-record.php?resultsperpage=20&view=catalog&srchtype=advanced&hasImage=&ObjObjectName=&CreOrigin=&Earliest=&Latest=&CreCreatorLocal_tab=&materialsearch=&ObjObjectID=&ObjCategory=&DesMaterial_tab=&DesTechnique_tab=&AccCreditLineLocal=&CreMarkSignature=&recid=1958.0696&srchfld=&srchtxt=hadley+chest&id=452a&rownum=1&version=100&src=results-imagelink-only