“It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter he kingdom of God.” — Matthew 19:24
“And the great owners, who must lose their land in an upheaval, the great owners with access to history, with eyes to read history and to know the great fact: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. And that companion fact: when...
2024-02-13 07:34:03 +0000 UTC View Post
New original content created for the History on Fire YouTube channel.
In today’s video, I’ll touch on just five cases of ‘deadly dinners’--including meals with everyone's favorite crazy emperor, Caligula, to dining with Mongol generals Jebe and Subotai, sharing a bite with Vlad the Impaler, and more.
If you enjoy the content, please subscribe to the channel, and tell other people about it.
When one of my grandmothers was a teenager during WWII, she was a partisan who actively fought against the fascist regime and the Nazis propping it up. This is perhaps why I am fascinated by stories of women participating in resistance against Nazis and Fascists during the war. I guess it feels more personal. Stories like the ones I’ll tell you about today remind me that I exist because of a roll of the dice. If a couple of things had gone differently, my grandmother would have ended up lik...
2024-02-01 20:03:35 +0000 UTC View Post
Recently, I joined Bernie from the Fan of History & What’s New In History Podcast to talk about an AMAZING LiDAR survey of the Yucatan lowlands. We discuss life in the "Pre-Classic" Mayan world which is contemporary with such famous events in the Near East as the sack of the Elamite capital of Susa by Assyria, the destruction of the Temple of Solomon by the Babylonians, and the Greco-Persian Wars including the Battle of Thermopylae.
That, and the usual historical and philosophical...
2024-01-25 02:18:01 +0000 UTC View Post
A quick essay about why I had to turn down a lucrative deal :)
2024-01-18 18:52:37 +0000 UTC View Post
Today I turn 50. Here's something I've wanted to write for a long time
2024-01-11 18:29:09 +0000 UTC View Post
“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 the parts cut off thrust into their own mouths…” A British testimony on the Qing treatment of POWs
If I were to ask you which is the deadliest conf...
2024-01-10 20:15:23 +0000 UTC View PostMy apologies for forgetting to post here part 2 of the Taiping series. I just fixed that. And to add substance to my apology, I'll post the third and last part of this series in a couple of minutes! :)
2024-01-10 20:11:02 +0000 UTC View Post
“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 temples, they shall have Christian chapels, and worship together with us… is it not a remarkable era in China?” — A Christian missionary wife about the Taiping Rebel...
2024-01-10 20:09:09 +0000 UTC View Post
I just released a new mini-documentary on YouTube. I’m going to keep releasing mini-docs throughout 2024 to see if the channel gets enough traction. If it does, great. Then, I’ll keep doing it. If it doesn’t, by the end of 2024, I’ll probably stop with the documentaries since they take more time to edit than podcast episodes. So, if you’d be so kind as to subscribe to the YouTube channel, it’d be deeply appreciated. it's free :)
2024-01-04 18:15:51 +0000 UTC View Post
My grandfather, Stelio, was born on Jan 3 1917--107 years ago. During WWII, along with his unit he joined the Allies and fought his way up north. I spent a ton of time with him and my grandmother until he died in 2000 shortly after his 83rd birthday. He was always good to me.
2024-01-03 23:23:23 +0000 UTC View Post
A story of how I grew up, and a musical playlist to spread a little happiness
New mini-episode! Merry Christmas! And thank you so much for your support. It truly makes all the difference.
In the early 1900s, human beings were pushing into the wilderness of Hokkaido, destroying the habitat of an extremely large sub-species of brown bear. What could possibly go wrong with this plan? You are about to find out in this episode.
2023-12-24 01:22:40 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's an essay I just published on Substack. You don't need a subscription there to check it out. Just click the link. Have a great one!
2023-12-20 19:47:37 +0000 UTC View Post
A new History on Fire YouTube video!
2023-12-13 20:34:45 +0000 UTC View Post
In the 1240s, the Mongol army seemed unstoppable and well on its way to conquer all of Europe. In this quick video, I explore how booze may have been the key ingredient that prevented the conquest. I hope you enjoy it!
2023-12-06 20:27:35 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's an essay I just published on Substack. You don't need a subscription there to check it out. Just click the link. Have a great one!
2023-11-29 18:59:45 +0000 UTC View Post
In 1815, a volcano explodes in Indonesia. The consequences are far-reaching: millions of people starve, and a German inventor creates the first prototype for bicycles. Things don’t stop there. A group of friends vacationing in Switzerland, including the legendary Lord Byron, is forced to abandon their plans for outdoor activities in favor of sitting by the fire. As a result, a teenage Mary Shelley revolutionizes the horror genre, and one of her friends writes the first modern vampire novel....
2023-11-26 15:47:15 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's an essay I just published on Substack. You don't need a subscription there to check it out. Just click the link. Have a great one!
2023-11-22 02:46:29 +0000 UTC View Post
“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 they are so obsessed with material gain that they have no concern whatever for the harm they can cause to others.” Lin Zexu about British opium traders
“Heaven i...
2023-11-17 20:22:16 +0000 UTC View Post
“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 experience.” — Paracelsus
“They indulged in disgraceful immodesty, for many women, during this shameless dance and mock-bridal singing, bared their bo...
2023-11-17 20:17:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's an essay I just published on Substack. You don't need a subscription there to check it out. Just click the link. Have a great one!
“If you know the way broadly you will see it in everything.” — Miyamoto Musashi
Ever since I started History on Fire, one topic has been the most consistently requested by listeners. Over the years, I received hundreds of messages asking me to cover the life of Miyamoto Musashi. That time has come. Here we go.
In this second and final chapter of this series, I’ll explore some of the key events in the latter parts of Musashi’s life: from the siege of Osa...
2023-11-06 22:33:02 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's an essay I just published on Substack. You don't need a subscription there to check it out. Just click the link. Have a great one!
The lead character in our episode has been the subject of an anime series, historical fiction novels and movies that are being developed about his life. This is the tale of Yasuke, an African man, who became a Samurai in 16th century Japan, and even served under one of the principal figures in Japanese history, the infamous Oda Nobunaga. The story is as good as it gets, but sources are extremely thin, so in this episode I’ll thread carefully between what we historically know (very little) a...
2023-10-16 18:53:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Just published a new essay on Substack about history and how the passing of time erases... just about everything. For your convenience, in case you don't want to click on the Substack link, I'll paste the text here:
"This thing all things devours;
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats mountain down.” JRR Tolkien
Perhaps subconsciously, most people believe that they will ...
2023-10-14 18:14:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Here's my new YouTube video: a quick overview of the material I cover in Episode 101, but this includes archival images and the stunning good looks of yours truly :)
2023-10-05 19:57:12 +0000 UTC View Post
Today, you get a brand new episode one week ahead of the public release and ad-free!
“All warfare is based on deception.” Sun Tzu
Ever since I started History on Fire, one topic has been the most consistently requested by listeners. Over the years, I received hundreds of messages asking me to cover the life of Miyamoto Musashi. That time has come. Here we go.
Musashi has been the subject of one of the greatest bestsellers ever written, a novel b...
2023-10-02 17:37:50 +0000 UTC View Post
In honor of Caravaggio's birthday, I just published this essay about him. I hope you find it interesting
2023-09-28 23:35:58 +0000 UTC View Post
I was recently a guest on the Game-Changing History podcast. Given that it's a history podcast, and some of you may be interested, here's a link for you.
2023-09-24 06:31:12 +0000 UTC View Post