x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Making sense of this crazy world

historymadeeasier

I am a student of history, a teacher of history and a writer of history. You could say history is a passion of mine. I have a website for students and I had been mulling around this idea of a podcast for some time. Would people be interested? Would I make it interesting? That’s essentially what was holding me back. But with a new year starting, the craziness still all around us, I thought what the hell – give it a go, John! The primary purpose of the podcast is to use history to help us make a

history documentary

All Episodes

20:49

The Great Leap Forward: Farce and Famine

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/08/06

Thgis second episode looking at China’s Great Leap Forward in the 1950s will show just how crazy and tragic the whole thing was, and why I call this episode ‘Farce and Famine’. It also serves as an example of just how one person can destroy the lives of millions. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

19:46

China and the Great Leap Forward

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/07/30

This week I’m going to take a look at the first of two disasters that were the end product of Mao policies. This first, the Great Leap Forward, was ideological and economic in nature but its cost was measured in human terms: millions of human lives. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

18:42

Mao and The Long March

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/07/23

Having looked at China before the Chinese Communist Party came to power, I want to take a few episodes to look at the man who dominated Chinese history from the end of the ‘century of humiliation’ to his death in 1976. The man whose body still sits in a mausoleum in the middle of Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing: Mao. This episode looks at some of the reasons why he gained power. Intro and outro music curtesy of

en

22:45

24 How history is taught in schools

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/07/16

History is important to countries because it shapes the collective memory of the next generation, the way they see their own country and its place in the world. Pride, patriotism, knowing your friends and your enemies, knowing who you think you can trust and who you can’t trust, are all influenced by how history is taught. This episode will consider how history is taught in schools. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

13:05

What the ’century of humiliation’ means to China today

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/07/09

I really like a phrase I came across in preparing this episode. It comes from in an article produced by the European Foundation for South Asian Studies called Assessing the ‘Century of Humiliation’. It says how ‘Contextualising history means contextualising behaviour’. To put it the other way round, to understand a country’s behaviour today, we have to look at it in the context of its history. For its historical experiences play a major part in how it sees the world today. And this episode looks at

en

21:38

The Chinese Century of Humiliation

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/07/02

This was in fact a long century, lasting 110 years. For it began with the First Opium War with Britain which began in 1839. And it didn’t end until the end of WW2 and the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. It was a century in which China and the Chinese people suffered at the hands of imperial powers, mostly from Europe and Japan, but a little bit from America too. Every Chinese leader over the last century has regarded it to be his historic task to overcome that ‘century of

en

19:53

The Chinese and their history

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/06/25

If China is to become a dominant player, if not the dominant player, in the 21st century and beyond, then it is important that the rest of the world reaches an understanding of just what it is we are dealing with. We see the world very much from the perspective we have been taught: the British perspective, the European perspective, the American perspective. Well, China’s culture, its values and its history is very different, and so too is their view of the world we share. Intro and outro music

en

21:19

Understanding Chinese culture

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/06/18

With this episode I’m going to give you a few insights to China – its history and its culture. I think it’s important because I think the world is going to change radically in the not-too distant future. The Western perception of how things should be done – free markets, democratic norms, the rule of law, human rights – are going to be challenged by different civilisations, notably China’s. Intro and outro music curtesy of

en

25:09

The significance of Chinese History

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/06/11

The leaders of the G7 met recently and China was high on the agenda for their discussions. Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, said that China posed 'the greatest challenge of our age.' He's not wrong, but how well does he know China? This episode begins a little series on China by giving some illustrations of the significance of the awakening giant. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

10:45

The consequences of the Iran-Iraq War

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/06/04

This episode looks at the consequences of the Iran-Iraq War as they rippled out across time from Iran and Iraq and their people, to the region as a whole and to the wider world. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

18:50

The Iran-Iraq War

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/05/28

We’ve been looking at the impact of Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini on their people, and I’m going to end this mini-series by taking a look at the Iran-Iraq War. Lasting eight years, from 1980 through to 1988, the Iran-Iraq War was one of the longest wars since WW2, and it was one of the most bloody. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

19:25

The impact of Saddam and Ayatollah Khomeini on...

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/05/21

We are looking at the impact of Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini on history and on people’s lives, and in this episode, it is the effect on the Iraqi and Iranian people that I will focus on. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

21:31

The nature of rule in Saddam’s Iraq and Ayaltollah...

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/05/14

We are looking at the impact of Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini on history and on people’s lives, and in this episode, I’m going to look at the nature of their rule. Saddam is often described as a dictator, enforcing his vision of how a society should be, the policies that will make that vision a reality, and destroying anyone who thought differently. Whereas In sharp contrast, Ayatollah Khomeini's regime was a theocracy. Intro and outro music curtesy of

en

28:53

Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini - their rise to...

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/05/07

“History is always about people” and this episode will look at the rise to power of two individuals who had a profound effect on history and not just in their own countries but in the Gulf states as a whole and, indeed, on the world. These two men were going to shake things up and the world is today a very, very different place, far less stable, than before they came to power. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

26:22

13By-passing the twentieth century

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/04/30

In the light of the coronation of Charles III, this episode considers the role of the British monarchy in a class system that prevents a meritocracy and leaves Britain still looking as it did in the nineteenth century. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

21:48

12 Ukraine - In a spirit of balance 2

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/04/23

This is the second of two episodes that look at the accusations of war crimes made against Putin and Russia, and attempts to strike a sense of balance by looking at similar war crimes. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

27:45

11 Ukraine - In the spirit of balance 1

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/04/16

This is the first of two episodes that look at the accusations of war crimes made against Putin and Russia, and attempts to strike a sense of balance by looking at similar war crimes. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

18:49

11 Be careful what you wish for

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/04/09

I'm interrupting my schedule with this one-off episode, to consider the dangers of putting political leaders on trial. Clearly, I’m responding to Trumps arraignment this week in New York. There are dangers attached and we’ve all been listening to very clever political commentators telling us about the dangers in Trump’s case. I'm sharing an historical precedent with you and I make some controversial comparisons!

en

32:08

10 Explaining the war in Ukraine - So why?

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/04/02

This is the final episode in my mini-series that sets out to explain the war in Ukraine. We began this series by considering Putin’s mindset, and that’s where I want to return to in order to wrap things up. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

19:55

9Explaining the war in Ukraine - the occupation and...

Making sense of this crazy world ·

2023/03/26

In this penultimate episode in my mini-series that sets out to explain the war in Ukraine, we go to Putin’s Russia and the seizure of Crimea. Intro and outro music curtesy of slip.stream: https://slip.stream/tracks/58fb6726-c035-4d10-a8e8-eba70e5164ad

en

148 results

Similar Podcasts

The Old Front Line

Paul Reed

Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Retrospectors

جنود خلدهم التاريخ

ALSUMOOD PODCAST

Film History - Daily

Inception Point Ai

Madonna - Audio Biography

Inception Point Ai