Connecting The Present

Most of the human story is so-called "pre-history," which in fact is inseparable from history and still going on today. We trace the origins of the human species around 300,000 years ago in Africa, including our early adaptation into long-distance hunters.  We examine our long and awkward co-existence with other human-like species such as Neanderthals and Ebu Gogo, as well as our slow development of critical technologies like sewing and pottery that allowed us to out-compete them.  We trace the dangerous and improbable journey across sea channels and deserts that a small band of our distant ancestors had to make in order to populate the entire world beyond Africa.  Finally, we consider the mysterious roots of the technology that eventually allowed for the rise of urban civilization -- agriculture.
Please sign on as a patron to hear the sequel -- "Land of Vital Blood: Pre-Columbian America" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/15158590

In Search of the Dawn: Human Prehistory

The first part of an examination and discussion of Douglas Murray's controversial book, "The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam" (Bloomsbury, 2017), and its dire warning that a wave of migrants with beliefs and customs inimical to the West are on the verge of changing Europe forever.  We weigh his careful debunking of elite mythology about immigration against his own falsehoods and manipulations of the facts.  Finally, we consider his harrowing portrayal of a continent adrift without a sense of purpose, history, or belonging, and the truly difficult questions that it raises.
Please sign on as a patron to hear the second part of this review! -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/16314679

Book Review: "The Strange Death of Europe" -- Part 1

The early modern era – from the 1400s through the 1700s – is the monarchical age par excellence, with  royal courts presiding over consolidated realms and monstrous armies capable of crushing smaller neighbors and internal rivals.  The map of Europe transformed, and the reasons were, firstly, technological: the printing press broke through previous barriers to the creation of texts, allowing for the rapid spread of new ideas and propaganda, while new infantry tactics and gunpowder allowed royal governments to batter down the power of mounted knights and castles.  Society became ever more centered on royal power and patronage, leaving behind a vestigial nobility to seek out a new role in the world or give way to nostalgia, as dramatized in the first great psychological novel, Don Quixote.  We conclude by considering Cervantes’ novel as a touchstone of the shift from the medieval world, where reality is defined by social relationships, to the modern, where reality is defined by the senses.
Please sign on as a patron in order to hear the next lecture in the series -- on "Making the Modern State: Spain, Portugal, and the Inquisition"! -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/16827184

The Print and Gunpowder Revolutions, 1300-1700

We trace how Portugal and Spain, two previously marginal European kingdoms, rapidly and unexpectedly exploded onto the world scene, building a chain of fortified colonies stretching from North Africa to China, and conquering the larger and richer empires of Mexico and Peru.  The early Iberian colonizers sought to continue the tradition of the Crusades and the Reconquista, and saw their foreign conquests as steps towards retaking Jerusalem; the benefited not only from superior weaponry and navigation, but from cataclysmic disease epidemics that brought the Pre-Columbian empires to their knees.
Please contribute what you can in the spirit of knowledge and inquiry! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632
Suggested further reading:  Russell: "Prince Henry 'The Navigator': A Life";  Restall, "Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest";  Brading, "The First America."

Spanish and Portuguese Expansion and the Conquest of the Americas

All of history is, to one degree or another, mythology -- the weaving of a coherent, usable narrative out of the chaos of people's lives.  We consider how societies all over the world, since before the beginning of civilization, have developed myths to explain the world that they experience.  We also trace some of the major schools of academic history, which have tried to fashion overarching storylines to give meaning to human struggles -- from Biblical providential history to Marxism to postmodernism.  We begin by examining the most central myth of the origins of American society: the "first Thanksgiving."
Suggested further reading:  Giambattista Vico, "The New Science";  Marc Bloch, "The Historian's Craft";  Hayden White, "Metahistory"
Please sign on as a patron to hear the first "Myth of the Month" lecture -- on "The Enlightenment" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/17538756

The Myths We Make: Using the past as an ideological tool

We trace how a small group of scholars, obsessed with classical antiquity, mastered the more ancient form of Latin, thus unlocking the worlds of Roman and Greek politics.  Seeing themselves as the peers and equals of the ancient statesmen, the "humanists" called for a new form of learning aimed towards action and ambition.  Machiavelli sketched out the path to princely power, Erasmus excavated the original meanings of the Bible, and Michelangelo captured the subtle powers of the human body.  The humanists invented the idea of a "modern" era distinct from the "Dark Ages," and furthered the transformation of Europeans' grasp of reality -- from a realm defined by social relationships to one defined by the senses.

Please become a patron of this podcast in order to hear the next lecture in this series -- on: "The Life of the Commoners -- Adaptation and Rebellion, 1400-1600" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/18094403

Suggested further reading:  Jacob Burckhardt, "The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy";  JGA Pocock, "The Machiavellian Moment";  Pamela Smith, "The Body of the Artisan"

Renaissance Humanism

We trace the roots of the idea of witchcraft in the "cunning folk" of the Middle Ages.  We consider how the church and state began to fuel fear of witchcraft and persecute witches in the tens of thousands during the age of the Renaissance and the Reformation.  We consider theories of why witch-hunting arose so dramatically in this age, including economic strain and political agendas. Finally, we examine evidence for an enduring shamanic belief system centering on ecstatic night journeys that may have provided the inspiration for the mythical witches' sabbath.

Please sign on as a patron in order to hear the next installment in this series on "The Century of Splintering: The Reformation in its Swiss and Radical Phases, 1519-1619" -- www.patreon.com/posts/18658722

Suggested further reading: Margaret Murray, "The Witch-Cult in Western Europe";  Norman Cohn, "Europe's Inner Demons";  Carlo Ginzburg, "Ecstasies";  Mary Beth Nortion, "In the Devil's Snare";  John Demos, "Entertaining Satan."

Witchcraft and the Great Witch-Hunt, 1484-1700

We trace the waves of crop failure, famine, pestilence, and war that swept over Europe in the 1600s as the climate sank into a “Little Ice Age” and armies literally marched across frozen seas.  In the midst of unimaginable crisis, alchemists, astrologers, and apocalypticists scoured the Bible for prophecies to explain the disasters around them as part of the approaching End Times.  Many of the defining institutions of the modern world we know today – such as overseas colonization, investor-owned corporations, public education, religious toleration, and scientific academies – have their origins as attempts to cope with the crisis of the seventeenth century and prepare the way for the Second Coming.

Sign on as a patron in order to hear the next installment in this series, on "The Catholic Reformation" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/19116040

Suggested Further Reading:  Webster, "The Great Instauration";  Yates, "The Rosicrucian Enlightenment";  Hobsbawm, "The Crisis of the Seventeenth Century"

Age of Ice and Fire: The General Crisis Of The Seventeenth Century

What is behind the popularity of Outlander?  Why have crazed fans of the show from around the world begun to overrun Scottish castles? – and why did the UK Prime Minister secretly meet with TV executives to stop its premier in 2014?  We examine the show’s success in light of Scottish history and politics, and in the context of the ongoing romance of Scotland, by which modern people project their longings for tradition, attachment, and honor onto a small, craggy country in the north of Britain.

Please become a patron and contribute what you can in the spirit of knowledge and inquiry!
www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

The History of Scotland, the Romance of Scotland, and "Outlander"

We unearth the tangled roots of the earliest forms of modern science,  beginning with the radical alchemical theories of the rabble-rousing  healer called Paracelsus, and running through the heated debates over  Galileo's astronomy, which broke down the distinction between the earth  and the heavens.  Due to these shocks, the old teleological, or purpose-driven, scheme of the world broke down, giving way to a free-for-all of speculation and apocalyptic excitement.
We question the historical meaning of the concept of  "science," and consider how modern-day pop scientists like Neil DeGrasse  Tyson portray the past selectively in order to build the myth of reason  and science as beacons of light amidst superstition.
Sign on as a patron to hear pt., “The New Powers, 1660-1800” -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/41656789

Suggested further reading:  Walter Pagel, "Paracelsus";  Charles Webster, "The Great Instauration";  Francis Bacon, "The New Atlantis";  Pamela Smith, "The Body of the Artisan";  Deborah Harkness, "The Jewel House";  Frances Yates, "Giordano Bruno" and "The Rosicrucian Enlightenment";  Thomas Kuhn, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions";  Steven Shapin, "The Scientific Revolution"

Scientific Revolution, Part 1 -- Alchemy and Apocalypse, 1500-1660

We follow how a relatively obscure family of Swiss counts took advantage of the chaos of the late Middle Ages to become the most powerful dynasty in the history of central Europe, towering over European affairs, ruling "an empire on which the sun never sets," and even setting their sights on the dream of global dominion.  We then consider the obstacles that the French, the Ottoman Turks, and the Protestants threw in their way, leading to the disastrous Thirty Years' War and their gradual fall from power.

Please become a patron in order to hear the next twp installments in this series --
"Age of Absolutism 2:  Tudor England" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/27439446
&
"Making The Modern State: Spain, Portugal, And The Inquisition" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/making-modern-16827184

Suggested further reading:  Paula Sutter Fichtner, "Meaning Well: The Curious Life of a Habsburg Idealist."

Age of Absolutism 1:  Central Europe and the Rise of the Habsburgs

In the first half of my discussion of Patrick Deneen's "Why Liberalism Failed," I examine the structure of Deneen's argument, tracing his effort to connect present-day crises in education, science, culture, and morality to the fundamental flaws in "liberalism," which he calls the "operating system" of modern Western society, and which he claims has left us isolated, lonely, and afraid, with our social system possibly on the brink of collapse into a totalitarian nightmare.  Cheers!

Please support Historiansplaining, in the spirit of knowledge and inquiry, and to get more free lectures in the bargain!
Sign up here to listen to this review, part 2:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/23955111

Book Review: "Why Liberalism Failed" -- Part 1

Universities are unique -- a quintessential product of the High Middle Ages that has miraculously survived and even flourished in the modern world. In the first part of the history of universities, we examine the origins of the first universities in the power struggles of Popes and emperors; the ways that medieval students learned, lived, and annoyed their elders; and the ways that universities adapted to and withstood serious challenges from Renaissance humanism and the republic of letters.
Next will be the rise of universities in America, the modern research university, and the current crisis of academia.

Please support Historiansplaining, in the spirit of knowledge and inquiry, and to get patron-only lectures such as part 2 of this history of universities:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/25222358

Suggested further reading:  Walter Ruegg, ed., “A History of the University in Europe,” 4 vols.;  William Clark, “Academic Charisma and the Origins of the Research University”;  Olaf Pedersen, "The FIrst Universities."

Image: "Master and Scholars," illustration from "L'Image du Monde," copybook by Gautier de Metz, 1464, in collection of British Library.

Intro music: Domenico Scarlatti, Sonata in D minor, played on harpsichord by Wanda Landowska.

History of Universities, Part 1:  Flower of the Middle Ages

After one year for patrons only, the fourth Myth of the Month becomes free for the public:

Do societies become more "secular" as they become modern? Do science, technology, or democracy weaken religious belief?  We consider theories of secularization ranging from Max Weber's story of "disenchantment" to Charles Taylor's "A Secular Age."  Current survey data show a dramatic rise in the number of "nones" -- those who do not adhere to any particular religious group, even though most of them still pray, read scriptures, or express belief in God.

Please support this podcast in order to hear all patron-only lectures -- including Myth of the Month #5 -- Capitalism! -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/20915273

Suggested Further Reading:  Charles Taylor, "A Secular Age";  Max Weber, "Science as a Vocation";  Pew Research Center, "In America, Does More Education Equal Less Religion?"

Image of abandoned church courtesy of Emma (https://www.flickr.com/people/27505473@N02) via Flickr.

Myth of the Month 4: Secularization -- or, Send in the Nones!

Freemasonry: What is it? Where does it come from? What is one taught as a Freemason? What do they do in their closed-door rituals -- and why?  Freemasonry in the 1700s is my own field of research, and as a thank-you for reaching 50 patrons, I give a deep illumination of this unusual Society's roots in the gatherings of stonemasons in the late Middle Ages, its mythical connections to Solomon's Temple and the Crusades, and its elaborate system of symbols and initiatory rituals, which cast the Masons as a quasi-priestly caste with a shamanic connection to the world of the dead.

Please support this podcast and hear the next lecture! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Suggested Further Reading:  David Stevenson, "Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland's Century";  Margaret Jacob, "Living the Enlightenment";  Jessica Harland-Jacobs, "Builders of Empire";  Ric Berman, "The Foundations of Modern Freemasonry";  Steven Bullock, "Revolutionary Brotherhood";  Jasper Ridley, "The Freemasons"

Freemasonry -- Its Origins, Its Myths, and Its Rituals

We consider the vast sweep of Central Asian history, from the first nomads to tame the horse and gain mastery of the steppes, to the splendrous cities of the first Silk Road, to the rise of Ghenghis Khan. Few Westerners learn the dizzyingly complex and tumultuous history of Central Asia, even though it forms the linchpin connecting all the major civilizations of the Old World, from Europe to Persia to China. Finally, we consider the unsettling paradox of the Mongol empire, which fostered a vibrant cosmopolitanism at the same time that it brutally repressed subject peoples.

Please support this podcast, in order to hear all patron-only lectures, including, "The History of Central Asia -- pt. 2", on the rise of the Ottoman Turks and the Russian empire, the Soviet era, and the struggles over mineral resources, nuclear sites, and global trade in the post-Soviet age -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/29126231

Suggested further reading:  Peter Golden, "Central Asia in World History";  Gavin Hambly, "Central Asia";  Rene Grousset, "The Empire of the Steppes"

In the Ocean of Land:  The History of Central Asia -- pt. 1

Struggles between chief executives and legislatures are dominating the news on both sides of the Atlantic, as Americans debate impeachment and the UK is engulfed by a Brexistential crisis. Most of the terms and precedents for these struggles go back to the 1600s and King Charles I's efforts to govern without the support of Parliament, which led to political backlash, civil war, and social upheaval from the halls of Westminster to the smallest peasant farmsteads.

Please support this podcast in order to keep the lectures coming and make them regular and dependable! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Suggested further reading:  Hill, "The Elizabethan Puritan Movement";  Tyacke, "The Anti-Calvinists";  Walzer, "The Revolution of the Saints";  Mendle, ed., "The Putney Debates"

The Road to Civil War:  Class Conflict and Constitutional Crisis in Stuart England, 1603-1650

Who was William Shakespeare?  He is far more elusive, and his life more obscure, than his fans and biographers will admit.  We consider the massive, bloated mythology that has built up around the great Bard over the centuries, and then examine the remarkably scant surviving documentary records from the writer's own lifetime, which tend to paint a both bizarre and unflattering picture.

The first of three installments examining the reality of Shakespeare.

Please support this podcast in order to keep the lectures coming and make them regular and dependable! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Suggested further reading: S. Schoenbaum, "William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life";  James Shapiro, "Contested Will:  Who Wrote Shakespeare?";  Diana Price, "Shakespeare's Unorthodox Biography."

Join as a member to hear the in-depth exploration of the "Shakespeare Authorship Controversy" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/32922586

Myth of the Month 10:  Who Was Shakespeare? -- pt. 1:  The Monument and the Man

What do Shakespeare's sonnets actually say?  What can they tell us about the life or character of the man who penned them?
Not only romantic and philosophical, the sonnets are erotic, desperate, and often angry, laced with shocking sexual imagery and emotional confession;  as a group, they break all conventions of Elizabethan poetry, and trace the ghostly outline of two passionate affairs -- one a brief, tawdry fling with a mature voluptuous woman, and one a long, fraught relationship with an androgynous young man.

This will be followed by a discussion of the publication of the sonnets,  the possible identities of the "Dark Lady" and "Fair Youth," and their relation to the plays; and then by a discussion for patrons only of the "authorship controversy."

Please support this podcast in order to keep the lectures coming and make them regular and dependable! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Join as a member to hear the in-depth exploration of the "Shakespeare Authorship Controversy" -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/32922586

Poems analyzed in this lecture:  1, 18, 20, 27, 33, 50, 52, 80, 86, 116, 127, 128, 129, 144

Full text of Shakespeare's sonnets, searchable:  http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/Archive/allsonn.htm

Suggested further reading:  Katherine Duncan-Jones, ed., "Shakespeare's Sonnets";  Joseph Pequigney, "Such Is My Love";  Lynn Magnusson, "A Modern Perspective" in Folger Shakespeare Library's edition of Shakespeare's Poems.

Myth of the Month 10: Who Was Shakespeare? -- pt.  2: "Comfort and Despair"

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

Connecting The Present

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