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PODCAST

History Impossible

Alexander von Sternberg

History Impossible covers some of the less-known, strange, and supposedly impossible events, people, and ideologies throughout history that are all nonetheless true. The settings and time periods range from the Second World War to ancient Japan to medieval Europe, and many more. The show engages with difficult ideas and impossible decisions that were made by human beings like you or me, always to significant effect. It goes out of its way to grant agency to all of its subjects and does its best to

history

All Episodes

203:17

Rags: The Pure-Hearted Mutt of the First World War...

History Impossible ·

2023/05/16

Dogs have been man’s best friend for millennia, so it stands to reason that man’s best friend will follow man into the depths of hell, that is, war. This wasn’t simply to rip and tear the throats of man’s enemies (though that certainly would play a part) or to serve as cannon fodder. Oftentimes, the dogs utilized in war—war dogs—would outshine their human counterparts in acts of heroism. This has been going on for thousands of years, but it became apparent just how valuable dogs were during the

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141:36

The First Woke President

History Impossible ·

2023/05/02

In this newest episode of History Impossible, I was joined by my friend, comrade, and frequent collaborator CJ Killmer, host of the Dangerous History Podcast, primarily to dive deep into the question of one of America's most underrated villains, President Woodrow Wilson, particularly on his track record and beliefs regarding one of the dooziest of topics: race. And to put it bluntly, Wilson, as outlined by CJ in his recent 5+ hour episode concerning this subject that's part of his larger Woodrow

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209:04

Pandemic: A Plague Coda

History Impossible ·

2023/03/22

While there is plenty to say about how a pandemic affects us while we’re in the middle of it, there is just as much, if not more, to say about how a pandemic affects us when it ends.As of May of 2023, over three years have passed since the outbreak of COVID-19 and, according to the President of the United States Joe Biden, the emergency has ended. And yet, many people around the world, but in America in particular, continue to grapple with the realities of the pandemic that wreaked havoc on our way

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119:26

The Fictions of History

History Impossible ·

2023/02/14

Hello everyone. This is an audio version of the essay I wrote for the History Impossible Substack (as well as here!) called "The Fiction(s) of History." In this special episode, I take a dive into the dueling narratives of historical progress (what my friend CJ Killmer of the Dangerous History Podcast calls the teleological approach to history; yes, he's much smarter than me) and historical cycles of the Strauss-Howe and Turchin-Nefedov variety. It's not all philosophy, despite the subject matter,

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173:50

The Blonde Conspiracy feat. Greg Zink (An Impossible...

History Impossible ·

2023/01/24

In this newest History Impossible conversation, I’m speaking with Greg Zink, the host of the Smoke Filled Rooms podcast, a new and up-and-coming show that gives us a deep dive into political true crime. I’ve been following Greg since he started his show in early 2022, beginning with a series on the Nuremberg Trials, and when he tackled a topic I had been considering doing myself ever since I threatened all of you with a return to Hollywood’s scandalous history—namely, the death (and life) of Marilyn

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104:10

Stakeholder Nazism (An Impossible Polemic)

History Impossible ·

2023/01/02

Happy 2023, everybody. I hope everyone's 2022 was a good one. It's hard to believe we're really getting into this new decade often portrayed as "the future" in old-school sci-fi/cyberpunk stories, isn't it?Anyway, I wanted to close out 2022/open up 2023 with something a little different; as you know I'm essentially turning my written Substack posts into audio versions for the supporters of History Impossible so you can all get some good exclusive content and this one is no exception. However, this

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133:36

The Birth of the Lexicon, Part II: The American...

History Impossible ·

2022/12/19

In this second part of our story about the birth of the Oxford English Dictionary, we cover the second half--perhaps the second hemisphere, to use a brain pun--of the main minds behind the creation of the multi-volume book. This is the story of William Chester Minor, an American polymath of sorts similar to James Murray, though of far greater education and class status.Minor's time growing up in Ceylon (what is now Sri Lanka) is discussed, as is his military education and time serving in the U.S

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98:00

The Birth of the Lexicon, Part I: The Scottish...

History Impossible ·

2022/12/12

If ever there was a story whose subject was small but whose effect was immense--i.e., the central theme of Infinitesimal Impossibilities--this would be that story.We don't often think about where words come from, and when we do it's usually pretty selective. This is for good reason: the English language has an almost unquantifiable number of words. And yet, back in the 19th century, the first serious endeavors were made to quantify these multitudes of words. The United States came first with the

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46:54

Ken Burns' Water-Carrying Failure

History Impossible ·

2022/11/21

Hey everybody. This is the first of hopefully many audio versions of the essays/analyses I write for the History Impossible Substack. This one is going up on the public feed of the podcast (though you're all getting this before that release) so the bulk of my listeners can get a sense of what you fine people who support the show financially are getting to read and hear. But moving forward, all pieces written here will, for paying subscribers be available early to read. When the audio version goes

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296:05

Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany

History Impossible ·

2022/10/25

NOTE: Please stick through the intro. There's an important announcement.WARNING: This episode contains the use of offensive racial epithets and disturbing depictions of bigotry that some listeners may find upsetting.What was like to be a child and grow up during the rise of the Nazis? Many have given us memorable answers to that question. There are even those who are still alive and remember it, however vaguely, though we are quickly losing them to the passage of time. But a more pressing and

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99:23

Assassinations and Historical Discontents (ft....

History Impossible ·

2022/09/13

In this special episode of History Impossible--and The Eastern Border--I was lucky enough to sit down with the host OF The Eastern Border, Kristaps Andrejsons, in what I am calling my fastest guest turnaround I've done with the show so far. It was meant to be, however, given the whirlwind of news that continues to come from his area of expertise, that is, the Eastern Border, namely involving the Russo-Ukrainian War, and above all, how all that relates to the history of that region. Because, as is

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136:26

The Fuhrer’s Court Jew Part II: The Fall of Icarus

History Impossible ·

2022/08/02

You can only fly so close to the sun for so long before the wax starts melting.This was a lesson that Erik Jan Hanussen, the most successful and famous clairvoyant in Europe (and quite possibly the world), would have to learn the hard way, as he positioned himself closer and closer with his friends in the nascent National Socialist Party of Germany. They would very quickly--through everything from IOUs to decadent parties, to private consultations--connected like symbiotic lifeforms, one feeding off

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128:07

The Fuhrer’s Court Jew Part I: In League With the Devil

History Impossible ·

2022/07/19

It's been well-documented, especially on History Impossible, that many of the Nazis in the upper echelons of power had a certain fascination with the occult, the otherworldly, and the non-Western. One thing, though, that has perhaps stirred the imaginations of our fair share of trashy pulp novels more than any other eccentricity possessed by the elite of the Third Reich was simple: magic. This wasn't embodied by anyone better than the famous clairvoyant Erik Jan Hanussen, who became known not just

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142:43

Ukraine and the Latvian Podfather (An Impossible...

History Impossible ·

2022/06/15

Note: Supporters of History Impossible over on Patreon currently have access to the uncut version of this interview, complete with more banter and fun discussion regarding how weird America is. Head over to www.patreon.com/historyimpossible and consider becoming a patron today so you can hear the uncut versions of conversations had on this show plus much more!In this edition of the Impossible Interviews series, we're joined by the one and only Kristaps Andrejsons of the famous Eastern Border Podcast

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273:43

Hitler‘s Bastards

History Impossible ·

2022/04/25

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains some graphic depictions of war and civilian casualties."Treason" is a funny word: it carries with it such a strong stigma that it can sometimes feel like a true curse when deployed. This is likely because of the consequences facing anyone charged with such a crime (i.e., one of the only crimes apart from murder that can be met with a death sentence, at least in the United States). And yet, despite it being so serious, we still occasionally hear it said

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172:08

Ideological Realignments: Past, Present, and Future...

History Impossible ·

2022/03/05

In the midst of world events feeling significantly more historical than usual, we're joined by the host of the Dangerous History Podcast CJ Killmer--in our fifth overall collaboration!--to have a long, free-wheeling discussion of the notion of "realignment", a subject studied far and wide by political scientists of every stripe.The question of whether or not this is a tradition baked into American political DNA is addressed, as is the role of populism and populist backlashes, both in history and in

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77:55

An Impossible Interview V: Goran Adamson

History Impossible ·

2022/01/26

Impossible Interviews returns with an excellent guest, Göran Adamson, professor of sociology and writer of numerous books including Populist Parties and the Failure of Political Elites, The Trojan Horse: A Leftist Critique of Multiculturalism, and, most importantly in the context of this interview and History Impossible more broadly, Masochistic Nationalism: Multicultural Self-Hatred and the Infatuation with the Exotic.Listeners of the previous episode of History Impossible--the Hitler Avatar and

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299:19

The Hitler Avatar and His Masochistic Priestess

History Impossible ·

2021/12/30

Everyone knows who the Nazis were and what the Nazis did. Many also know what they, at least Hitler, generally believed. But far fewer actually understand what animated the truest of the true believers who saw Hitler as their prophet and savior. Far fewer still understand that much of this philosophical animating force didn't even concern Germany or the Germanic people as they saw them.So disgusted were they--at the occasional exasperation and even mockery of the Fuhrer himself--at the trajectory of

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91:15

Infinitesimal Impossibilities 03: The Warlord‘s Cook

History Impossible ·

2021/09/28

The Infinitesimal Impossibilities subseries returns with a story in which Molly and Alex look at one of the most ruthless dictators of the 20th century...from the perspective of his personal chef. It's all drawn from the work of Polish journalist Witold Szablowski in his incredible 2020 book, How to Feed a Dictator (which it should be noted, Alex misdated during this first episode as being 2016). Uganda's infamous Idi Amin is discussed through the eyes of his personal chef, Otonde Odera, who not

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210:17

The Muslim Nazis V: Taking Hitler By The Hand

History Impossible ·

2021/09/03

As Hajj Amin al-Husseini hurdles toward his destination with which we started this entire series, the scope of our tale expands drastically with the arrival of the Nazis themselves. Though this isn't to say they weren't always there, lurking in the background of Palestinian Littlefinger's schemes and dealings. In fact, it would be inaccurate to say that he hadn't been well aware and in open communication with them. Always playing the angles. In this mid-season finale of our story, we'll be looking

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