In Relevant History, solo podcaster Dan Toler examines the trends and ideas that shape our modern world. The first season is about the idea of nationalism, and how different societies understand their national identities. From France to Ethiopia, from the Delhi Sultanate to the Dutch Republic, we travel through time and space to explore the roots of cultures around the world, and how those national trends have shaped their history.
Episodes
Saturday Feb 12, 2022
Saturday Feb 12, 2022
Siberia is the world’s largest wilderness and last frontier. The Russian conquest this vast territory begins in the 1500s, but will take more than a century to complete. By the end of Russian expansion, the Tsar rules not just all of Siberia, but also Alaska and even parts of California.
How did a regional power in far-eastern Europe come to control such a vast land? And why did they do it? Here, Dan tells the first half of the story, from Russia’s medieval origins until the opening of the frontier and the founding of the Romanov dynasty.
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Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRQYSSR91oAy-_2_2BQ5wjI01GWSWvtUWn0ZCkQBMuQhSikJwqyId2HlWg_bQiTZ7YrS-T7Fz6gnFWb/pub?lsrp=1
Music credit: Sergey Cheremisinov - Black Swan
Sunday Jan 23, 2022
Sunday Jan 23, 2022
The Iroquois people, properly known as the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, are one of the largest and most influential of Native American groups. So, who are these people? What were they doing before European colonization, and how did this affect their society?
Dan starts with an overview of colonization, then delves into the founding myth of the Haudenosaunee. When the Europeans show up, the Iroquois people are practically a modern nation. But as more and more colonists arrive on their borders, they will need to adapt if they want to preserve their nationhood.
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Official website: https://bit.ly/3btvha4
Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQ9AdxwjQ8EtmzEu6a7jFIyOFO_X4rtF-wCvXdXM_4KUd31a5Z8tKgpaSWUEw9NRoWzVA4iWtRD4DqW/pub
Music credit: Sergey Cheremisinov - Black Swan
Monday Jan 03, 2022
Monday Jan 03, 2022
In the ending days of the Thirty Years’ War, both sides struggle desperately for any advantage. Under First Minister Cardinal Mazarin, France is fighting a war on three fronts. But military heroes like the Prince de Condé give her an advantage over the stagnant Spanish Empire. Meanwhile, Swedish general Lennart Torstensson leads his army into the very heartland of the Austrian Empire.
Can the Habsburg powers of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire withstand this assault? Will the fledgling Dutch Republic finally gain their independence once and for all? One way another, the end of the war and the Peace of Westphalia will change the world forever.
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Official website: https://bit.ly/3btvha4
Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRta8zistDAzRl4uauNzkdZeIU6aoiQc6JqrAbhNL0SCtPES5JhZjlvEhZmHGuKo9ixZn7IU3qFcsx9/pub
Music credit: Sergey Cheremisinov - Black Swan
Thursday Dec 09, 2021
Thursday Dec 09, 2021
France’s entry into the Thirty Years’ War did not happen in a vacuum; decades of political sparring and power politics led to that point. To fully understand why and how France got into the war, it’s important to see France through the eyes of Louis XIII, or better yet, through the eyes of his most important advisor, Cardinal Richelieu.
Born as Armand Jean du Plessis, Richelieu is one of the most influential – and overrated figures in all of history. He’s a priest, a general, a scholar, a diplomat, and a brilliant politician. It will take all of his skills to hold France together, and stand against the combined Habsburg powers of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire.
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Official website: https://bit.ly/3btvha4
Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTOX-pLT7cTHQtRNZofjsK9GgNmZgjZccjq89dJxft9OjCUVd0gR9BWn6a3Ajy5_neXXLDWgwZ0718l/pub
Music credit: Sergey Cheremisinov - Black Swan
Sunday Nov 21, 2021
Sunday Nov 21, 2021
In 1626, King Christian IV of Denmark-Norway joined the Thirty Years’ War as a champion of the Protestant cause. Within four years, he would be sent home with his tail between his legs. But the Protestants would gain a new champion: the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus.
In a few short years, the Lion of the North would forge a military reputation equaled by only a handful. Just as importantly, he would keep the Protestants in the fight, forcing the Catholic Habsburg monarchy to continue a costly, draining war. Here is Gustavus Adolphus’ story, and how he shaped the course of history.
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Official website: https://bit.ly/3btvha4
Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTyEbrFsmM2A3B5A5hJ9xBQ-IM4EeR0GFov0_xL7CUIB2rsD8-HxOUD_0fvYqAIqC543Q9NXg10qlmD/pub
Music credit: Sergey Cheremisinov - Black Swan
Thursday Nov 04, 2021
Thursday Nov 04, 2021
At the beginning of 1618, the Holy Roman Empire is at peace. By the end of the year, there is a rebellion in Bohemia, and Protestants and Catholics throughout the empire are at each others’ throats. In the Third Defenestration of Prague, Bohemian Protestants, tired of royal abuses, have literally thrown Emperor Ferdinand’s royal representatives out the window.
This local revolt could have been restrained to Bohemia. But Emperor Ferdinand makes a series of blunders and overreaches that draw outside powers into the war. Within a few years, the Thirty Years’ War will engulf much of Europe.
Check out The History Voyager podcast, with Ben Kitchings: https://t.co/lD9RQOe76R?amp=1
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Official website: https://bit.ly/3btvha4
Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vR4-v4x0gAnLnaeUbjZI-9RLq-xUKtYGVAdrFOrMG0u8Ua1NdlZCOglorMelWZx1BinAah5aKKJkYSr/pub
Music credit: Sergey Cheremisinov - Black Swan
Wednesday Oct 20, 2021
Wednesday Oct 20, 2021
In the middle of the 16th century, Habsburg Spain rules over the world’s first global empire – an empire on which the sun never set. But their new king, Philip II, is dead set on centralizing his rule. All of his domains, even the newest, must submit to his taxes, his legal code, and most of all to the dreaded Spanish Inquisition.
In the freedom-loving Spanish Netherlands, this royal overreach would not stand. Led by William of Orange, the Dutch people would rise up to resist Spanish tyranny. This would begin the 80 Years’ War, one of the world’s longest conflicts. And in the process, it would create a new nation, the Netherlands.
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Official website: https://bit.ly/3btvha4
Episode transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vSCvckS96O6c4cz_voX4aW9xTEYjh60ahuPBbWTT0iATq7XGZ4wZ32RtSYJBQam21lbKVEo-byPureP/pub
Music credit: Sergey Cheremisinov - Black Swan
Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
Tuesday Oct 05, 2021
American Society for Suicide Prevention (please consider donating) - https://supporting.afsp.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.event&eventID=1&language=en
TIMESTAMPS:
EPISODE 1: BOOZE, STRYCHNINE, AND FERAL DOGS – THE STORY OF THE 1904 MEN’S OLYMPICS – 04m: 20s
EPISODE 2: CORPORAL VOJTEK – 30m: 20s
EPISODE 3: THE FIRST SERIAL KILLER (WE KNOW ABOUT) – 54m: 33s
EPISODE 4: SPOOKY HISTORY – 1h: 28m: 47s
Music: “Krampus’s Workshop” by Kevin MacLeod
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
Tuesday Sep 28, 2021
In the early 1500s, the Catholic Church is plagued by corruption, and the Pope is blind to his people. To fund the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, he offers to sell indulgences; money in exchange for eternal salvation. In Germany, a priest named Martin Luther takes offense.
The resulting crisis is bigger than anyone – even Martin Luther – expected. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V will suddenly be forced to deal with not just foreign invasion, but civil war within his own empire. The outcome would change Christianity, and the world, forever.
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Music credit: Sergey Cheremisinov - Black Swan
Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
Tuesday Sep 14, 2021
When Bohemian priest Jan Hus begins preaching some novel theological concepts, he thinks he’s engaging in mere academic expression. Instead, he gets sucked into an ecclesiastical war between three Popes and an emperor. Against these forces, he fails.
But the legacy of Jan Hus would spread beyond Bohemia. Over the next century, he would become a symbol of church reform, and his teachings would form the backbone that would change Christianity forever.
Also, I apologize for my inconsistency in the pronunciation of “Sigismund” and “Hussite.” I am an American.
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Official website: https://bit.ly/3btvha4
Music credit: Sergey Cheremisinov - Black Swan