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PODCAST

Reflecting History

Reflecting History

Reflecting History is an educational history podcast that explores significant historical events and themes without losing track of the ordinary people involved. Covering a wide variety of topics, it explores the connection between history, psychology, and philosophy.

history philosophy

All Episodes

36:30

Episode 77: Against the Grain Part IV-Collapses and...

Reflecting History ·

2020/07/06

What do we mean when we say that a civilization collapsed? This is an extremely common way to speak about ancient societies and governmental systems. It typically carries a negative connotation, but did these "collapses" actually represent decreases in the well being of the human beings who fell victim to them? A similar series of ponderings can apply to the term "Dark Ages." Dark for who? Why? In what context? In his analysis of collapse, dark ages, and the dichotomy between barbarians and

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22:26

Episode 76: Learning to Be You

Reflecting History ·

2020/06/15

Personal identity and the self are major concepts of historical and philosophical study. But applying these concepts to others IS history. It's a major purpose of what we do. This episode discusses the famous thought experiment "the Ship of Theseus," and Greg Egan's excellent short story "Learning to Be Me." The lessons learned from these sources can help us think about our current crisis by remembering to listen, understand others, and put yourself in someone else's shoes. P.S. Against the Grain

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44:57

Episode 75: Against the Grain Part III-Mortality and...

Reflecting History ·

2020/05/25

If the civilizational narrative of progress as a result of human use of agriculture is flawed, then why did states and civilizations develop? How do we define a state? Were the earliest states single entities that magically appeared when enough people congregated in one area, or is it again better to think of states as one method of organization on a carousel of early human organization and activity? We tend to think of states and governments as positive developments for the well being of humanity,

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38:09

Episode 74: Against the Grain Part II-The Domus Complex

Reflecting History ·

2020/05/04

In what ways did early humans landscape and change the environment over time? How did early humans develop agriculture? Why was grain such a staple crop for early humans? While the standard historical narrative seems to depict the discovery of agriculture as a single watershed moment that humanity never looked back from, it might be more useful to think of agriculture as one technique in a carousel of human ingenuity and environmental landscaping that early humans continuously spun and adjusted on

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31:56

Episode 73: Against the Grain Part I-The...

Reflecting History ·

2020/04/13

In some ways, common historical narratives form the backbone of our study of history. There are certain historical stories that are as old as history itself, and are thus taken for granted by the historical layman. One of the most common historical narratives is a narrative of progress: human beings lived as hunters and gatherers, until eventually learning how to farm-the development of agriculture led to permanent settlements, specialization of labor, domestication of plants and animals, a need for

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28:22

Episode 72: This is Water

Reflecting History ·

2020/03/23

As David Foster Wallace points out in his famous commencement address "This is Water," life is filled with simple realities that are difficult to talk about or even comprehend. Upon close examination, sometimes these simple and boring platitudes can have deeper meanings that change the way we look at the world. From the purpose of education, to exercising control over what we think about, to the truths that hide in plain sight, David Foster Wallace makes an argument for living an examined life that

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32:42

Episode 71: The Allegory of the Cave and Simulation...

Reflecting History ·

2020/03/03

The Allegory of the Cave from the ancient Greek philosopher Plato is one of the oldest and most discussed philosophical works in history. Prisoners are chained up in a cave, thinking the shadows they see on the wall in front of them represent all that reality has to offer. Plato's cave has obvious parallels to a modern world in which people seemingly live in the same world, but a different reality. The Cave also has much to tell us about truth, knowledge, and what it means to live a good life. But

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45:52

Episode 70: Did Hitler Fix the German Economy?

Reflecting History ·

2020/02/11

Economic history is notoriously complex and difficult to gain insight from. Nazi history is notoriously complex and strangely enough it seems many ignore the lessons that should be gleaned. Combine these two realities and the result is a Nazi economic history that is controversial and potentially misleading. Some have claimed in recent years that while not wanting to condone Hitler's atrocities, he did help to fix the German economy after the Depression. Does this claim that Hitler "fixed" the

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54:16

Episode 69: The Bosnian War Part VII-The Women of...

Reflecting History ·

2020/01/21

In the aftermath of the Bosnian Genocide, oral historian Selma Leydesdorff interviewed the female survivors of the tragedy. She was able to discover and document the strength and determination that each survivor of catastrophe possesses. The women of Srebrenica tell incredible tales of life before the war, life as a refugee, the experience of being part of an ethnic cleansing campaign, and of course the psychological burdens of surviving genocide. But hidden inside the deep memories is an important

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48:19

Episode 68: The Bosnian War Part VI-Safe Area Gorazde

Reflecting History ·

2019/12/31

The town of Gorazde in eastern Bosnia was promised protection from ethnic cleansing. In the midst of mass murder, violence, and chaos, the United Nations designated Gorazde, Srebrenica, and other locations as "safe areas." Refugees and victims of ethnic cleansing flocked to these areas for safety and protection. The people of these towns celebrated, thinking their suffering was finally over. But words are wind. When the time came for victims to call for help, they were answered with the worst reply

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36:53

Episode 67: The Bosnian War Part V-Forgiveness

Reflecting History ·

2019/12/10

The Bosnian War is known historically for it's vicious cruelty. Ancient hatreds and the impact they had on the people of Bosnia are often used as a primary explanation for the conflict. Kenan Trebincevic was a survivor of the war, wracked by hatred and anger. After escaping his homeland to America, he made a visit to Bosnia years later to face down his past and get vengeance for what he and his family were made to go through. On his journey home, he discovered perhaps a more powerful force than

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28:53

Episode 66: The Bosnian War Part IV-War Journalism...

Reflecting History ·

2019/11/19

As Bosnia was torn asunder by war and destruction, a newspaper known as Oslobodjenje endured the heat of the Siege of Sarajevo and gained worldwide recognition for it's reporting and it's ability to continue publishing papers in a war zone. Their building was destroyed, their supplies were minimal, and their people were killed, but somehow the paper endured. The reporters at Oslobodjenje provided a valuable service to the community by keeping the people informed of big picture events in the war, but

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01:12:45

Episode 65: The American Civil War with S.C. Gwynne

Reflecting History ·

2019/11/10

For this episode, I sat down with author and historian S.C. Gwynne to discuss the American Civil War and his latest book, "Hymns of the Republic." We talked about Lincoln's opinions on slavery, the causes of the Civil War, why many refuse to see slavery as the primary cause of the war, the African-American experience during the war, medical disasters during the war and the role of Clara Barton, the brutality of the war for the common soldier, the critical election of 1864, how we should think about

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25:51

Episode 64: The Bosnian War Part III-Hatred

Reflecting History ·

2019/10/28

Hatred is often given as the historical reason for wars and other nasty events throughout history. There was certainly plenty of it to go around in Bosnia during the 1990's, but how have historians been able to make sense of it? Why did neighbors, friends, and countrymen begin to turn on each other and do horrible things to each other? Is the best answer simply hatred? Or is there something deeper at play? It turns out psychological forces like cognitive dissonance may be able to explain some of

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39:38

Episode 63: The Bosnian War Part II-The Siege of...

Reflecting History ·

2019/10/07

For well over two years, Bosnian Serb forces bombarded Sarajevo in an attempt to destroy the city and break the spirit of the people who lived there. Thousands of civilians (including children) were killed in an attempt by Bosnian Serb forces to divide the city and stir ethnic hatred. People lived without food, running water, electricity, or heat. While survival became the priority for most ordinary people, their collective experience of surviving against the odds and standing up to a bully

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47:46

Episode 62: The Bosnian War Part I-The Perils of...

Reflecting History ·

2019/09/16

No one who lived through it will ever forget what happened in Bosnia during the 1990's. What had been a unified and (mostly) peaceful region only a few years before melted down into war, chaos, and genocide. The causes of the war are hotly debated, probably due to the complexity of the conflict. Ultimately it was ethnic, political, and religious differences that merged with nationalism to give the 20th century one last European war to be haunted by. This is part one in a series on the Bosnian War

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27:33

Episode 61: Chance, Randomness, and Luck in History

Reflecting History ·

2019/08/26

Historians, philosophers, and armchair historians have often pondered the role of chance in history. To what extent does randomness or luck dictate what happens to us? Are the events of history just a random spin on the wheel of fate, or is there a more determined explanation of historical events? Bringing up questions about historical free will, determinism, and cause-effect relationships, this episode goes through some of the history of people thinking about these types of questions. It also

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51:04

Episode 60: The Fall of the Roman Republic Part...

Reflecting History ·

2019/08/05

When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon to ignite yet another Roman Civil War, nobody at the time knew that this was the end of the Republic. Caesar's victory in his clash with the forces of Pompey, his former friend and member of the 1st triumvirate, led to Caesar's rule as dictator in which he tried to alleviate the problems of the Republic in a similar fashion as popular reformers of years past. But the Ides of March were coming, and Caesar's heir Octavian would emerge from a struggle with Marc

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56:35

Episode 59: The Fall of the Roman Republic Part V-The...

Reflecting History ·

2019/07/15

With the Republic rebuilding after the wreckage caused by Marius and Sulla, a new cast of political characters was taking power in Rome. Julius Caesar, Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, Cato, and others are all legends of history for good reason. The interplay between these men and their competing ambitions combined with the long term structural issues that had plagued the Republic since the beginning to create the conditions for one last Civil War that would put the dying Republic out of it's misery. This

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42:05

Episode 58: The Fall of the Roman Republic Part...

Reflecting History ·

2019/06/24

As violence increasingly became a tool at the disposal of corrupt and cynical Romans, it also became a last resort for frustrated and hopeless Romans and Italian Allies. As a result of the Republic's failure to address systemic social and economic issues, the Social War broke out between Rome and the Italian Allies. In the aftermath of this devastating war, the famous Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla waged a titanic and bloody war for the fate of the Roman Republic. The endemic violence and

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178 results

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