Historiansplaining: A Historian Tells You Why Everything You Know Is Wrong

From 1763 to the 1840s, Florida was repeatedly tossed and traded among the British, Spanish, and American empires, as all sorts of adventurers -- from Greek and Turkish indentured workers, to Scottish speculators, to Seminole warriors, to West African widows, to British Army deserters, to Mexican pirates, to "Cracker" cattle-herders -- attempted to establish themselves and exploit the subtropical landscape. Under American rule, two societies take shape in the Florida Territory -- one of cotton plantations and the other of backcountry homesteads -- and come to loggerheads over questions of development and ultimately, the idea of statehood. Join as a patron to hear the latest lecture on the Library of Ashurbanipal in Iraq, the largest archaeological discovery of ancient texts ever made -- https://www.patreon.com/posts/67307781

We take stock of the growth of "Historiansplaining," which has brought together listeners and guests, ranging from scholars and critics to regular working people, from America to Asia and Australia. We consider the different lectures that have proved most popular and attracted the attention of journalists, and we preview possibilities for the future, such as videos and series on music in history, which may be realized with enough patron support. Finally, we hear the names of all current active patrons, and an excerpt from the latest patron-only lecture, examining the largest discovery ever made of texts and documents from the ancient world, the Library of Ashurbanipal, in Mosul, Iraq. Please sign up on Patreon to hear patron-only lectures, including "The LIbrary of Ashurbanipal" -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

We consider the struggles of European colonists and missionaries, indigenous tribes, and African laborers to protect their territories and secure their freedom through two tumultuous centuries of Spanish rule in Florida. From the first arrival of yellow fever, to the construction of an indestructible limestone fortress, to the creation of the first black-led town in America, the Spanish era laid the foundations of a distinctive Floridian society which miraculously persisted and was never conquered by its powerful enemies to the north. Article in Cincinnati Magazine in which I am quoted about the Scottish & Irish Travellers: https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article/just-call-us-kin-cinnati-the-travelers-that-visit-spring-grove-cemetery/ Please support this podcast and hear all lectures -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

How did the Holy Grail transform from the object of a purifying spiritual quest to a Faustian symbol of the corruptions of power? We consider the evolution of the Grail myth from the later medieval romances through Le Morte D'Arthur, the works of Tennyson, Wagner, and T.S. Eliot, and the portrayals of the Grail by Monty Python, Dan Brown, and Jay-z, and finally we consider the modern quests to uncover the hidden truth of the Grail -- whether as a pagan fertility symbol, a Christian spiritual allegory, or a code identifying the secret bloodline of Jesus Christ. My first lecture on the Holy Grail: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/myth-of-the-month-19-holy-grail-pt-1 Image: Mural of Galahad's attainment of the Grail, Edward Austin Abbey, Boston Public Library, early 1890s. Suggested further reading: Richard Barber, "The Holy Grail: Imagination and Belief"; Arthur Edward Waite, "The Holy Grail." Please support this podcast and hear all lectures -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

Why did an enigmatic relic discussed in a series of medieval romances of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table leap out of the Arthurian myths and rise to become the most famous object in the history of literature? What does the vessel represent spiritually, morally, and sexually? And what the heck is a "grail" anyway? We begin by examining the medieval legends and what they say about the origin, nature, and miraculous powers of the sought-after holy relic. My previous lectures on the Arthur cycle: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/myth-of-the-month-12-the-arthur-cycle-part-1-making-king-arthur https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/myth-of-the-month-12-king-arthur-pt-2-the-rise-and-fall-of-camelot Suggested further reading: Richard Barber, "The Holy Grail"; Arthur Edward Waite, "the Holy Grail" Image: Mural depicting Galahad achieving the Grail, by Edward Austin Abbey, Boston Public Library, 1890s Please support this podcast and hear all lectures -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530

Unlocked for the public after 1 year on Patreon for patrons only: The "Founding Fathers" -- the most rarefied club in American history -- stand in for everything we love or hate about this country, from its civic an religious freedom to its white supremacism. As if carved in stone (which they oftentimes are), they loom over every political debate, even though most of us know next to nothing about them, or even who counts as one of the group. Coined by that immortal wordsmith, President Warren Harding, the phrase "Founding Fathers" serves as an empty vessel for civic emotion, conveniently covering over the actual history of struggle, conflict, and contention that shaped the American republic. Suggested Further Reading: Woody Holton, "Forced Founders" and "Unruly Americans and the Origins of the US Consitution"; Gordon Wood, "The Radicalism of the American Revolution"; Gerald Horne, "The Counter-Revolution of 1776"; Charles Beard, "An Economic Interpretation of the United States Constitution"; Joseph

After 1500, Florida becomes a battleground in a new struggle for control of North America; we discuss the repeated doomed attempts by French and Spanish adventurers, from Ponce de Leon to the Huguenot colonists at Fort Caroline, to establish a foothold in Florida, until Spain finally succeeds in creating a lasting European stronghold at Saint Augustine. Hear part 1 here -- https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/fortresses-on-sand-the-history-of-florida-pt-1 Please support this podcast to help keep it coming and hear patron-only lectures! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Follow the podcast on Twitter -- @historiansplain

I join with Geoff Shullenberger of "Outsider Theory" to discuss the sweeping and challenging new book, "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity" by David Graeber and David Wengrow. We consider the book's marshalling of new archaeological evidence to debunk mechanistic and deterministic assumptions about the rise of civilization, its deep rejection of Marxism, and its insistence on the human ability to imagine and create an infinite range of social and political futures. We examine the weaknesses and limitations of the book, including its over-emphasis on personal freedom, its gross inaccuracy with regard to the eighteenth century, and its blindspot regarding the profound powers of myth, ritual, and the natural environment, all of which deeply guide and shape societies in ways that Graeber & Wengrow ignore or casually discount. Please support this podcast to help keep it coming and hear patron-only lectures! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Other books & authors mentioned: Marshall Sahlins, "The

We discuss the complex and multilayered history of Florida, beginning with the prehistoric peoples that survived in and mastered the tropical landscape, built monumental mound complexes, and formed powerful kingdoms that would eventually confront the first European invaders. Image: Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Gulf of Mexico Please support this podcast! -- https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

I give an update on my historical activities this winter and plans for the podcast, as well as a brief teaser from the latest installment of the History of the United States in 100 Objects. My lecture on the History of the British and Irish Travellers: https://soundcloud.com/historiansplaining/history-of-the-british-and-irish-travellers My latest patron-only lecture in the History of the United States in 100 Objects: https://www.patreon.com/posts/61475405 Image courtesy of the Mackinac State Historic Parks, Michigan

Before Columbus had even set foot in America, medieval Europe and the Islamic Middle East already had a long history in trading and exploiting slaves. An important branch of the slave trade involved buying captives from the shores of the Black Sea and trafficking them through the Mediterranean to the commercial cities of Italy or to Egypt, where many of them became slave soldiers or even rulers (called "Mamluks"). We discuss the history of the trade, who these thousands of slaves were and what became of them with Hannah Barker of Arizona State University, author of "That Most Precious Merchandise: The Mediterranean Trade in Black Sea Slaves, 1260-1500." Image: Pillar capital with sculpted faces of foreign peoples, including Turk and Tatar, Doge's Palace, Venice. Please support this podcast to hear all patron-only materials, such as "History of the United States in 100 Objects" -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 New website! -- www.historiansplaining.com

We consider the strange ambiguous developments of this year, including the political paralysis in the US, the furors over mask and vaccine mandates, and most importantly, the labor reshuffle or "great resignation," in light of crises past, including the bubonic plague and World War I and World War II, which have tended to bring class conflict and upheavals of the labor regime in their wakes. We examine the classic Frank Capra Christmas movie "It's A Wonderful Life," made 75 years ago in the aftermath of World War II, as an illustration of the post-war settlement that has shaped the conditions of work and home life since that time, and finally thank the 116 patrons that currently support this podcast. Please support this podcast to hear all patron-only materials, such as "History of the United States in 100 Objects" -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

--Wainscot great chair with turned and carved ornaments --Made of Oak, by unknown maker in New York or Connecticut, 1660-75 --Owned by John Winthrop, Jr.; held by Connecticut Historical Society How do the enigmatic designs on an oak chair belonging to the governor, doctor, and alchemist, John Winthrop, Jr., reflect the teeming underground world of mystical and esoteric thought in colonial southeastern New England? Suggested reading: Neil Kamil, "Fortress of the Soul"; John Brooke, "The Refiner's Fire"; William Woodward, "Prospero's America"; Robert F. Trent, review of “Fortress of the Soul,” in American Furniture, 2005. CORRECTION: This is the fourteenth, not fifteenth, installment in the series. Please support this podcast to hear all installments of History of the United States in 100 Objects -- https://www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

America marked this year the 100th anniversary of the race massacre that destroyed the Greenwood district of Tulsa, the so-called "Black Wall Street," but left out of the commemorations were the contexts that led to the outbreak of civil violence: the town's Indian origins in the Trail of Tears; the massive cattle and oil booms that gave rise to a powerful and organized class of business magnates; the city's chaotic and crime-ridden expansion, which fueled vigilantism, including lynchings of both white and black victims; and the patriotic frenzy of the First World War and the Red Scare, with its hysterical fear of Bolshevism and revolution. Finally, we consider the recovery of Tulsa from the shocks of the 1921 massacre, the Klan's reign of terror, and the Depression, after which it has evolved into a comparatively liberal cultural capital amidst the conservative Plains Midwest. Tulsa is an extreme example in miniature of America's tumultuous and confused rise to industrial power. Suggested further read

Unlocked after a year for patrons only: Why do we divide history into epochs separated by "revolutions"? Astrology. How did Magellan chart his course around the globe? Astrology. How did Ronald Reagan schedule his acts of state? Astrology. We trace how the highest of the occult arts evolved from interpreting omens in ancient Babylonia, to containing medieval epidemics, to providing fodder for middle-brow magazines. Whether you are a believer or not, astrology is the secret rhythm of our lives. Become a patron in order to hear all patron-only lectures, including Myth of the Month 14: The Founding Fathers -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Suggested further reading: Benson Bobrick, "The Fated Sky"; Nicholas Campion, "The Great Year," Julie Beck, "The New Age of Astrology," The Atlantic magazine; Elijah Wolfson, "Your Zodiac Sign, Your Health," The Atlantic magazine; Sonia Saraiya, "Seeing Stars," Vanity Fair magazine. Image: Horoscope (birth chart) cast for Iskandar Sultan, grandson of Tamerlane,

In 1974, group of Chinese farmers drilling a well in a parched field in a far northwestern corner of China found pieces of terracotta sculpture, which would point the way to East Asia's greatest ever archaeological discovery -- a tremendous trove of sculpted warriors, each one unique, amassed in a great army marching eastward from the necropolis of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor. Just spared destruction in the Cultural Revolution, the army is most likely only the tip of the iceberg of the wonders still waiting to be excavated deep within the emperor's burial mound. Become a patron in order to hear all patron-only lectures, including the previous "Doorways in Time" about the Nag Hammadi Library & the Gnostic Gospels -- -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

At a time of intensifying hope and anxiety over the direction of the Supreme Court, we take stock of how the lawmaking process and the judiciary have changed over the past fifty years with the mobilization and funneling of large amounts of money into the political realm; we focus especially on the little-known but pivotal "Powell Memo" of 1971, in which a lawyer for the Tobacco Institute decried the rising tide of attacks on the "free enterprise system" and proposed a coordinated counter-offensive by the business class that sounds uncannily close to our present reality. The Powell Memo forms a critical moment for understanding the intense politicization of judicial appointments, the ubiquity of political advertising on the airwaves and in print, and ironically, the recent rise of a new "anti-capitalist" radicalism. Please support this podcast and hear the recent lecture on the Nag Hammadi Library and the Gnostic Gospels -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632

In the first installment on the Robin Hood mythos, we consider how the legend of Robin Hood has evolved from a series of brutal tales of a medieval outlaw bandit in the fifteenth century to that of the swashbuckling champion of the poor of modern pop culture, and how he picked up sidekicks like Friar Tuck and Maid Marion along the way; we consider the literary significance of the early stories as an expression of the frustrations and aspirations of the yeoman class. Suggested further reading: Maurice Keen, "The Outlaws of Medieval Legend"; J. C. Holt, "Robin Hood"; A. J. Pollard, "Imagining Robin Hood." Please support this podcast to hear the further discussion of the mythological and religious themes of Robin Hood myth, and the examination of whether there was a historical Robin Hood -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Image: Woodcut illustration of the yeoman from a late fifteenth-century edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, shortly after reused to depict Robin Hood.

What do Hindus believe? What rituals, traditions, and ethical principles does one follow as a Hindu? What does Hinduism say about the soul and spiritual enlightenment? We trace the development in ancient and classical India of the multi-layered and comprehensive philosophy of life that we today call Hinduism, from the ancient rites of the Vedas, through the dramatic epics of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, to the rise of the ecstatic musical and mystical worship of bhakti. Please support this podcast and hear the recent lecture on the Nag Hammadi Library and the Gnostic Gospels -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632 Image: sculpture of Krishna defeating a horse demon, Gupta period.

We discuss the complex geography of the Indian Subcontinent, and how early societies in India, beginning with the mysterious Indus Valley Civilization, developed cities, technology, art, and literature, giving rise eventually to the flourishing Maurya and Gupta empires and the inventions of the Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu religions. Image: Asoka pillar with lion amidst the remains of Vaisali, Bihar, India. Please support this podcast and hear the recent lecture on the Founding Fathers! -- www.patreon.com/user?u=5530632