History on Fire
Where history and epic collide--"History on Fire" is a podcast by author and university professor Daniele Bolelli.
BONUS EPISODE Dan Carlin’s “The End Is Always Near”
“That is the nicest guilt trip anybody has ever given me in my entire life.” — Dan Carlin
Dan Carlin is one of my all time favorite human beings, and on top of that an incredible podcaster. He’s now a published author as well. In this episode we chat about his new book, The End is Always Near. The conversation covers more than should theoretically be possible to cover in little over an hour—from Dan’s understanding for Thanos’ plight to the collapse of civilizations, the concept of Gross National Happiness, the delusion of infinite growth in a finite system, Jared Diamond, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, meteors, nuclear weapons, James Burke, the need for nuance, the future of Common Sense, what to do when people can’t agree on basic evidence, social media, incredibly fast historical changes, and the nicest guilt trip in Dan’s life.
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Podcast Episodes
EPISODE 65: The Taiping Rebellion (Part 3): A River of Death
“Everywhere in southern Anhui they are eating people.” Zeng Guofan “Infants but recently born were torn from their mother’s breasts, and disemboweled before their faces. Young strong men were disemboweled, mutilated, and…
EPISODE 64: The Taiping Rebellion (Part 2): Jesus’ Chinese Younger Brother
“Is not this insurgent movement truly wonderful? These rebels keep Sabbath as we do, they pray to God daily, they read the Scriptures, they break the idols, and they long for the time when, instead of those heathen templ…
EPISODE 63: The Taiping Rebellion (Part 1): Drug Dealers and Visionaries
“The entire story of the Taiping Rebellion might be told, from one perspective, as the rage of a failed exam candidate writ large.” Stephen Platt “They may not intend to harm others on purpose, but the fact remains that…
EPISODE 62: Plagues, Mystery and Dancing
“The universities do not teach all things, so a doctor must seek out old wives, gypsies, sorcerers, wandering tribes, old robbers, and such outlaws and take lessons from them. A doctor must be a traveler… Knowledge is ex…
EPISODE 61: Raiders in the Night
“Never in history had the United States Army been called on to rescue such a large number of POWs from so deep in enemy territory.” William Breuer “We were in the best shape of our lives, and with this mission we underst…
EPISODE 60: Fear and Loathing in Mongolia (Part 2)
“On these hills, where everywhere were rolling skulls, skeletons, and decaying body parts, Baron Ungern used to like to go to rest.” One of Ungern-Sternberg’s officers “Look at [Europe's] past full of fire and blood and…
EPISODE 59: Fear and Loathing in Mongolia (Part 1)
“My name is surrounded with such hate and fear that no one can judge what is the truth and what is false, what is history, and what is myth.” Roman von Ungern-Sternberg “Ungern had fused with the war, and equally, the wa…
EPISODE 58 Sitting Bull: Wounded Knee (Part 5)
“There a papoose cries by its mother’s breast which, cold and insensible, can nourish it no more; there lies a young girl with her long hair sticky of blood, hiding her mutilated face… And here—here rests the beautiful y…
EPISODE 57 Sitting Bull: Compulsory Civilization with a Side of Murder (Part 4)
“Sent to report on a story that wasn’t there, reporters invented one.” Heather Cox Richardson “Lakota will kill you.” A meadowlark speaking to Sitting Bull in a vision “If the white men want me to die, they ought not to…
EPISODE 56 Sitting Bull: Compulsory Civilization with a Side of Murder (Part 3)
“Kill the Indian and save the man.” Richard Pratt “The life my people want is a life of freedom. I have seen nothing that a white man has, houses or railways or clothing or food, that is good as the right to move in the…
