Historical Blindness

A look at conspiracism and "alternate history" as a genre in Russian scholarship, and the theories of one Russian mathematician who would rewrite all of history using science. Be sure to visit the website at HistoricalBlindness.com for a full transcript, images, citations, and links to further reading.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a coda to my series on Nazis and the occult, I felt compelled to address the modern myth that the Holocaust didn't happen or was exaggerated. In this episode, I examine Holocaust deniers and their fallacious arguments. Visit the blog at HistoricalBlindness.com for images, citations, and links to further reading. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the final installment of my series on Nazi Occultism, I finally get to the weird Nazi obsessions with lost civilizations and mythical artifacts. Like a true-life Indiana Jones villain, Himmler dedicated his pseudo-archaeological expeditions to proving misguided theories of anthropogenesis and cosmogenesis and to finding artifacts that may never have existed. Some legends, it seems, are true.Be sure to visit HistoricalBlindness.com for the full text of the episode along with images and citations and links to further reading.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Part Two of my series, I question how involved in the occult Adolph Hitler was and look to the SS and Heinrich Himmler as the neo-pagan and mystical influence at the heart of Nazism. Be sure to visit historicalblindness.com and find the blog post for this episode to view images, follow links to further reading, and review my citations.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here is the episode whose release I delayed by a week. In it, I explore the dark roots of Nazism, from a neo-paganism preoccupied with the Nordic Pantheon, to a folksy back-to-the-land movement that evolved into a nationalist sentiment, to an ideology of racial supremacy all tied up with contemporary myths and pseudoscience. This will be the first in a series. As always, visit the blog at HistoricalBlindness.com to access the episode transcript, associated images, links to further reading, and citations for books and academic sources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Continuing from my series on the Great Sea Serpent, I examine another supposed aquatic monster, for a study of whether dinosaurs survived in the deep waters of the earth wouldn't be complete without an examination of the Loch Ness Monster legend. This one started out as a Blind Spot coda to the Leviathan series, but Nessie demanded her (his?) own full-length episode. Instead, as a coda to the last several episodes and a transition to the next topic, keep an eye out for an upcoming Blindside exclusive. As always, visit historicalblindness.com after Tuesday for the full transcript with images and links to further readings.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Here's part two of my series on sea serpents! In this episode, much like the mythological motif of a god wrestling against a serpent that represents chaos at the dawn of creation, we see science struggling against the notion of sea serpents in the 19th century, which would throw their scientific worldview into chaos. Be sure to visit the website at historicalblindness.com to view images and find links to further reading.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Without further delay, please enjoy this first installment in a series on the myths and mysterious sightings of sea serpents. In the last episode we discussed the extinction of the the dinosaur, but did all of them die off? Could there be some surviving dinosaurian species that has was the basis of our foundational sea monster and dragon myths, creatures that have been encountered by sailors throughout history? Be sure to visit the website at historicalblindness.com to view images and find links to further reading as well as a list of scholarly sources.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I examine another massive extraterrestrial impact, this one prehistoric and blamed for ending most life on earth. But what really caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? Do we know, or is it a blind spot in prehistory? Be sure to visit the website at historicalblindness.com to view the blog post with images and further reading.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I look at the Tunguska Event. This is a cosmic horror story about an explosion of mysterious origins in a remote wilderness. I tell the tale of the blast, its aftermath, its investigation over several decades, and the mystery that continues to surround it. Visit the blog at historicalblindness.com for images, links to further reading and citations for academic sources.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices