Hardcore History - Rex's feed

Blueprint for Armageddon VI

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:25:23 GMT

The Americans are coming, but will the war be over by the time they get there? Germany throws everything into a last series of stupendous attacks in the West while hoping to avoid getting burned by a fire in the East they helped fan.

Blueprint for Armageddon V

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:23:54 GMT

Politics, diplomacy, revolution and mutiny take center stage at the start of this episode, but mud, blood, shells and tragedy drown all by the end.

Blueprint for Armageddon IV

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:22:32 GMT

Machine guns, barbed wire and millions upon millions of artillery shells create industrialized meat grinders at Verdun and the Somme. There's never been a human experience like it and it changes a generation.

Blueprint for Armageddon III

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:21:21 GMT

The war of maneuver that was supposed to be over quickly instead turns into a lingering bloody stalemate. Trench warfare begins, and with it, all the murderous efforts on both sides to overcome the static defenses.

Blueprint for Armageddon II

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:19:47 GMT

The Great Powers all come out swinging in the first round of the worst war the planet has ever seen. Millions of men in dozens of armies vie in the most deadly and complex opening moves of any conflict in world history.

Blueprint for Armageddon I

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:18:29 GMT

The planet hadn't seen a major war between all the Great Powers since the downfall of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. But 99 years later the dam breaks and a Pandora's Box of violence engulfs the planet.

The American Peril

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:17:00 GMT

Imperial temptations and humanitarian nightmares force the United States of the late 19th Century to confront the contradictions between its revolutionary self-image and its expanding national interests.

Extra Wrath Of The Khans

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:16:08 GMT

Prophets of Doom

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:14:49 GMT

Murderous millennial preachers and prophets take over the German city of Munster after Martin Luther unleashes a Pandora's Box of religious anarchy with the Protestant Reformation.

Wrath of the Khans V

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:14:05 GMT

Succession issues weaken the Mongol Empire as the grandchildren of Genghis Khan fight over their imperial inheritance. This doesn't stop them from dealing out pain, suffering, and ironically good governance while doing so.

Wrath of the Khans IV

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:13:36 GMT

The death of Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire, should have slowed the momentum of Mongol conquests, but instead it accelerated it. This time though, all of Europe is on the Mongol hit list.

Wrath of the Khans III

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:12:47 GMT

The expansion of Genghis Khan's conquests continues, with locations as far apart as Europe and China feeling the bloody effects of Mongol warfare and retribution. Can anything halt the carnage?

Wrath of the Khans II

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:11:58 GMT

The Mongol leader Genghis Khan displays an unmatched level of strategic genius while moving against both Northern China and the Eastern Islamic world. Both civilizations are left stunned and millions are slaughtered.

Wrath of the Khans I

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:11:24 GMT

In one of the most violent outbursts in history a little-known tribe of Eurasian nomads breaks upon the great societies of the Old World like a human tsunami. It may have ushered in the modern era, but at what cost?

Extra Logical Insanity

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:10:38 GMT

Extra Thor's Angels

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:09:37 GMT

(Blitz) Logical Insanity

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:08:09 GMT

Thor's Angels

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:06:08 GMT

What started as a standard podcast episode morphed into an audio book on what used to be called "The Dark Ages" in Europe. Dan gets into many areas he should probably avoid...gods, Germans, bikers, Jesus...

(Blitz) Radical Thoughts

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:05:16 GMT

Using the two 20th Century "Red Scare" eras as case studies, Dan looks at the fear that can be generated by potentially dangerous ideas and examines the way such powerful mass emotions can cloud human judgment.

Death Throes of the Republic VI

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:04:17 GMT

In a massive finish to the "Dan Carlin version" of the fall of the Roman Republic, conspiracies, civil wars, beatniks of antiquity and a guy named Caesar figure prominently. Virtually everyone dies.

Death Throes of the Republic V

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:03:34 GMT

The last great generation of the Roman Republic emerges from the historical mists. The dynamic between Caesar, Cato, Cicero, Crassus and Pompey forms the axis around which the rest of this tale revolves.

Death Throes of the Republic IV

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:03:08 GMT

Sulla returns to Rome to show the Republic what REAL political violence looks like. Civil war and deadly partisan payback will pave the way for reforms pushed at sword point. Lots of heads will roll...literally.

Death Throes of the Republic III

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:02:24 GMT

Rome's political violence expands in intensity from riots and assassinations to outright war as the hyper-ambitious generals Marius and Sulla tear the Republic and its constitution apart vying for power and glory.

Death Throes of the Republic II

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:01:20 GMT

Disaster threatens the Republic, but the cure might be worse than the disease. "The Dan Carlin version" of this story continues with ambition-addict Marius dominating the story and Plutarch dominating the sources.

Death Throes of the Republic I

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 14:00:00 GMT

The wars which elevate Rome to superpower status also sow the seed for the downfall of its political system. Money, slaves, ambition, political stalemate and class warfare prove to be a toxic, bloody mix.

Globalization Unto Death

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:57:43 GMT

Ferdinand Magellan is the lead character in this episode about the collision between the Old and New worlds and what Dan calls "Globalization 1.0".

(Blitz) Suffer the Children

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:56:47 GMT

Dan's exposure to the idea of "psychohistory" gets him thinking about how children were raised in the past. Could widespread child abuse and bad parenting in earlier eras explain some of history's brutality?

Ghosts of the Ostfront IV

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:56:16 GMT

In Part Four of the Ostfront series covering WW2 on the Eastern Front, Dan looks at the German retreat from Soviet territory and the retaliation by traumatized Soviet soldiers and civilians on their former tormentors as Berlin falls and the Nazi high command commits suicide.

Ghosts of the Ostfront III

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:55:29 GMT

In Part Three of the Ostfront series covering WW2 on the Eastern Front, Dan looks at the situation in the U.S.S.R. during 1942 and early 1943, including the dreadful Battle of Stalingrad.

Ghosts of the Ostfront II

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:54:50 GMT

In Part Two of the Ostfront series covering WW2 on the Eastern Front, Dan looks at the attempt to take Moscow and the many compelling stories surrounding the momentous 1941 German offensive.

Ghosts Of The Ostfront I

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:54:12 GMT

Part One covering the conflict between the Germans and the Soviet Union in the Second World War. Dan gives an introduction to the subject and discusses the causes and opening moves of Operation Barbarossa.

(Blitz) Addicted To Bondage

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:53:39 GMT

Is slavery a natural feature of human societies? Dan looks at this timeless, evil institution and wonders if we have made as much progress freeing ourselves from its influence as we think we have.

The Dyer Outlook

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:53:13 GMT

Dan discusses the past, present and future with influential Canadian historian, broadcaster and columnist Gwynne Dyer.

Classical Hanson

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:52:26 GMT

Dan discusses history with famed historian, political commentator and classicist Victor Davis Hanson.

Punic Nightmares III

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:49:49 GMT

In one of the great displays of resiliency in all history, the Romans refuse to buckle under murderous Carthaginian pressure. Instead they recover, defeat and destroy Carthage, and conquer most of the Mediterranean.

Punic Nightmares II

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:49:17 GMT

Darkness, horror, war and carnage dominate Part 2 of the Punic War trilogy as Hannibal rampages across Italy and pushes Rome to the brink of doom.

Punic Nightmare I

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:48:45 GMT

Was it geopolitics or simply bitter hatred that fueled the ancient bloodbaths known as "The Punic Wars"? Dan highlights the unimaginable things people experienced during this intense face-off between Rome and Carthage.

History Under The Influence

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:48:18 GMT

This first "Blitz Edition" of the show looks at the hidden side of history, the impact of drugs and alcohol on past events. Dan has a whole list of historical figures he wants to drug test.

Apache Tears

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:47:45 GMT

A traumatized people who traumatized their neighbors, the Native American tribe known as Apache were among the last Indians to surrender to the U.S. Government.

A Fly On James Burkes Wall

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:47:11 GMT

In this episode, Dan discusses history with famed television host, author and science historian James Burke, the man the Washington Post called "one of the most intriguing minds in the Western world".

Judgment At Nineveh

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:46:25 GMT

Will our modern society ever decline and fall? Dan uses that idea as a backdrop for a look at the first great empire in history, the biblical-era Assyrians. Were they ancient Nazis, or the guardians of civilization?

Nazi Tidbits

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:45:58 GMT

What accounts for the fascination people still have with Adolf Hitler and the Nazis? Dan looks at some of the ideas of the German National Socialists and examines the demonic, charismatic Nazi Führer.

Desperate Times

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:45:21 GMT

The tough economic climate after the First World War fostered the growth of radicalism around the world. Did it also create tougher people? Dan looks at the connection between tough times and the "Greatest Generation".

The Macedonian Soap Opera

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:44:46 GMT

When Alexander the Great bequeathed his empire "to the strongest" he set off a funeral contest that shook the world for decades. Murder, marriage, intrigue, and drama all feature prominently in the story.

Bubonic Nukes

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:43:36 GMT

What would happen if half the population died in a short period of time? Dan looks at the Black Death and other plagues that created almost apocalyptic conditions in the past...and maybe in the future.

Steppe Stories

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:43:06 GMT

Blood-sucking Scythian warriors, tattooed ice mummies, Amazons killing so they can mate, pot smoking head-hunters, scalp-taking, koumiss-drinking Mongols, Turks, Huns, and Aliens. What's not to like?

Thoughts on Churchill

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:41:17 GMT

Dan takes a look at various elements of the dramatic life and career of the great British leader.

The What-Ifs of 1066

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:51:50 GMT

How might history have been changed if the events of the momentous year 1066 had turned out differently? Dan examines Normans, Vikings, Saxons, Bastards, Conquerors, Confessors, Godwinsons and Hardradas.

Darkness Buries the Bronze Age

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:51:11 GMT

What was the cause of the collapse of the Bronze Age? War? Famine? Natural disaster? Sauron, The Dark Lord? Dan looks at all the potential villains...except for Sauron.

Scars of the Great War

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:49:46 GMT

Dan looks at the shock and awe caused by the First World War and marvels at how connected we still are to the empire-shattering effects of the conflict contemporaries simply referred to as "The Great War".

The X-History Files

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:49:03 GMT

Napoleon is supposed to have said that “History is a set of lies agreed upon”. With that in mind, Dan looks at some of the alternative and pseudo history ideas that many people embrace.

Shield of the West

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:48:32 GMT

Spartans, Athenians, Persians and references to Star Trek all make appearances in this look at the dramatic and extremely consequential Greek and Persian wars.

Meandering Through The Cold War

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:47:41 GMT

Dan meanders through a conversation about causes and effects of the Cold War without ever talking much about the actual events of the conflict.

Romancing the Tribes

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:47:21 GMT

Shawnee chief Tecumseh and Arverni king Vercingetorix both tried to unify their tribal peoples to face overwhelming foes. Dan examines the romance of their lost causes.

The Organization of Peace

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:46:57 GMT

The early 20th century League of Nations stood for peace, cooperation, disarmament and international understanding. What happened?

Guns and Horses

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:46:28 GMT

The West is Mike Tyson and the East is Muhammad Ali in this episode as Dan mixes Art Bell with Hans Delbrück in this look at a possible reason for the military decline of the near East.

Alexander Versus Hitler

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 08:32:49 GMT

Dan compares the way the modern world sees Adolf Hitler with the way history views Alexander the Great and wonders if the two men were not more alike than different.

(Blitz) Old School Toughness

Tue, 27 Apr 0010 14:58:35 GMT

Does the toughness of peoples play any role in history? How can historians deal with such an amorphous human quality? Historiography, boxing, barbarians, philosophy and wisdom are among the subjects touched upon.